The Long Island Ducks hosted the Junior Ducks camp this week at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. The camp allows children to participate on the field and play baseball with Ducks players and coaches selected from the staff.
St. Joseph's University's head baseball coach Tom Caputo leads the camp and he explained that he hand selects every staff instructor, as they are all former players for the esteemed coach. Caputo said that the camp has been going strong now for 18 years and it hosts children from age 3 to age 12.
The campers work all week with their respective little leagues and then come on the field for the final day of instruction. North Shore Little League in Rocky Point was well represented, but the leagues come from all over the island over the summer. Each child is paired up with kids of their age range as they are walked through practice stations, led by Caputo's former players. From fielding grounders properly, to speed drills and of course batting and pitching seminars, the camp is set up to cater to everyone's skill set, while also highlighting the special attributes each athlete has.
Speaking with campers they said they enjoyed the scrimmages the most but the ability to interact with the coaches and Ducks players made the week for them. Speaking with Nick Heath and Al Alburquerque you could get the sense that it meant as much to the players as it did to the kids. Heath said "it's nice to come out and interact with the kids and get involved. While we play there isn't much opportunity to interact with the fans but this gives us this chance to listen to the kids and hear what they have to say." He went on to explain his favorite moments are when "they are sponges and you can be eye to eye level with them as a teacher and see when it connects."
Both Alburquerque and Heath were on the field making the older players do pushups and they could barely get through them because of the laughter. You could see from the stands the fun that they were having and you could hear the Ducks players telling the campers "this is baseball it's fun, it's always supposed to be fun."
After the long day campers lined up to get autographs from the players, manager Lew Ford and of course the Ducks mascot Quacker Jack. Everyone left with a great experience, some newly learned baseball skills, autographs in their hands, but the most important thing each camper left with was a smile. That is exactly what the goal was.