The Youth Sport Trust (YST) will include baseball and softball as two of the sports to be included this year in the annual YST National Talent Camp, to be held at Loughborough University in December 2015.
Fourteen places will be on offer for baseball and softball athletes and 16 places for aspiring young coaches and officials to attend a unique four-day residential experience that will bring together over 300 of the most talented young athletes, coaches and officials from across England.
The National Talent Camp is funded by Sport England and will be delivered by the Youth Sport Trust and Loughborough University, with support from national governing bodies, sport development agencies, sports coach UK and Sports Officials UK.
The camp is designed to encourage young people to be ambitious about where their interest and talent can take them, and to help young athletes explore and develop skills beyond their chosen sport – skills that can help them excel in a performance environment.
The sports included in the 2014 programme were athletics, boccia, cycling, football, swimming, tennis and volleyball.
Selection and applications
The 14 athlete places awarded to baseball and softball will be filled by selection from BSUK’s High Performance Academy and will be split between seven representatives from baseball and seven representatives from fastpitch softball.
BaseballSoftballUK will be accepting open applications for the eight coaching and eight officiating spots at the National Talent Camp.
BSUK National Development Manager Will Lintern, whose remit includes overseeing our talent programmes, said: “The National Talent Camp is a fantastic opportunity for young people currently involved in our sport. It will provide a real and meaningful environment for our young athletes, coaches and officials to explore their abilities and dreams. I think the chance to work with other sports and learn from their peers in more traditional sports will really make this a special event for the young people involved.”
Leadership opportunity
BSUK will use the National Talent Camp as a platform to launch the coaching and officiating careers of the young people chosen. In addition to the YST camp in December, BSUK will run two workshops for young coaches and officials.
The first workshop, in November or early December, will include coaching and umpire awards as well as an overview of the programme and exploring what a career in coaching or umpiring might look like.
The second workshop, to be held after the YST National Talent Camp, will focus on delivery and how young coaches and officials can get involved in BSUK’s Hit Pitch Programme as Activators.
How to apply
Interested young coaches and officials must be aged 14-19 but not yet in university, and will be able apply for the coaching and officials positions at the National Talent Camp through the BSUK website at some point during the week beginning 3 August. Interviews will be held if needed and selections will be made in September.
As mentioned above, athletes to fill the baseball and softball places at the National Talent Camp will be selected from the High Performance Academies for baseball and fastpitch softball. Tryout dates for the 2015-16 HPA will be announced by mid-August on the BSUK website.
For more information on the YST National Talent Camp or how you can get involved visit the Youth Sport Trust website or contact National Development Manager Will Lintern.