HARLINGEN — With summer and Little League in full swing at this time of the year, kids from around Harlingen and surrounding communities found time this week to sharpen their skills and fundamentals.
Aprroximately 45 young players showed up Monday and Tuesday evening for the annual Harlingen South Hawks baseball camp at Hawk Field.
The camp ran both days from 6 to 8 p.m. and the campers went through stretches, hitting, throwing and fielding routines. All drills were led by Harlingen South assistant coach Matt Benavides, who gets to go back to basics with the young athletes.
“(The camp) really allows us to go back to the fundamentals of the game of baseball. Even at the high school level, fundamentals is what we teach. From a 6-year-old to a high school kid, everything is the same when it comes to the game of baseball,” Benavides said.
Helping out with the camp were a bevy of coaches and athletes from different schools.
Former South baseball players Zack and Jake Martinez were on hand along with Daniel and Ernest Anciso from Harlingen High.
South assistants John Diaz and Josh Gonzalez were lending a hand along with La Feria coach Matthew Molina
“Anyone who has played the game of baseball knows that any information you can get from anyone is going to be the best,” Benavides said. “That’s the way I have learned and been taught. I learned from other great coaches and players.
“You can never know enough about the game of baseball, so anyone you can get more information from is helpful.”
The camp date was chosen to help accommodate the schedules of All-Star Little Leaguers and coaches to help participation.
While the camp was aimed at helping players work on their game, a fun aspect of the camp helped kids interact through an old tradition.
“I think the camp is very beneficial, but the interesting thing is that after every station we have baseball cards,” said Harlingen South head baseball coach Tony Leal. “At the end, the kids are looking and trading baseball cards. It’s really neat. When you think back to your youth, you realize that that’s so old, but kids still do that. The kids are having fun.”
Despite a fee of $30 for both days, Leal and the camp organizers encourage all comers.”
“Everybody is welcome to come. When we throw a camp and a child can’t afford it, we want them to show up. We’re not here to make money,” Leal said.
With the camp helping out so many students every year, Leal and Little League coaches have formed a good relationship and hope to put on coaching clinics in the near future to help one another.