CUL DE SAC—Nearly 50 young athletes age 10 to 13 attended the Baseball International School try-outs at John Cooper Jose Lake Sr. Ballpark Thursday.
The high performance training academy is expected to open in February.
The try-out started with the age 12 and under group at 4:00pm. First the young players were sent off to run. Next came a series of exercise to test athleticism, coordination and flexibility.
Two lines were formed and the group started throwing and catching.
Next the group was sent to the outfield. St. Maarten Pro-baseball Player Rene leveret from South reward batted balls to the group who were expected to field the ball and then throw it into the in-field.
Recording the results was former pro baseball player Glenn Paterson also from St. Maarten.
Infield drills were next up followed by batting.
Once the small boys finished the 14 and unders took the field while
Baseball International School’s founder, Tony Rombley looked over the try out results and addressed the 12 and unders.
“I like what I see,” said Rombley who has family ties to the Island. ”All of you did good.” He continued, “That’s not to say there is not room for improvement. Some of you could work on throwing straighter. Some can improve on their catching and we all could hit with more power.”
Rombley congratulated the boys passed out information about the school and told the boys he would be in touch.
The group left smiling.
The try-out process was repeated for the 14 and under and finally for the older boys.
Rombley started Baseball International School in Aruba and it has been up and running since 2008.
“The school is for all players,” said Rombley. He explained although the training is high performance the athletes will range from top players looking for college scholarships or pro contracts to beginner players who just do not want to spend a lot of time on the bench.
Rombley is a well-known baseball player and manager. Before BIS he set up and ran European Baseball School in the Netherlands starting in 1998.
Rombley is also a coach with several successful campaigns including the 2009 Kingdom Games Champion.
“Now the time has come to give talented players on St. Maarten an opportunity to achieve their dream in Baseball,” said Rombley.
