Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics
The Twins Community Fund has announced its 2008 Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics schedule!
A total of 35 communities throughout the Upper Midwest will host free clinics in 2008. The Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics program provides boys and girls from throughout the Upper Midwest with the opportunity to enhance their baseball and softball skills, while also hearing positive messages about staying in school and away from drugs and alcohol. Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics are funded and administered by the Twins Community Fund.
The 2008 schedule is as follows:
| Date | Time | Community | Location |
| Saturday, April 26 | 10 a.m. | Mendota Heights | Sibley High School |
| Saturday, May 3 | 10 a.m. | New Brighton | Family Service Center Gym |
| Saturday, May 3 | 9 a.m. | Bloomington | Kelly Fields |
| Saturday, May 10 | 10 a.m. | Stillwater | Lucy Winton Bell Athletic Fields |
| Saturday, May 17 | 10 a.m. | Hastings | Pioneer Park |
| Saturday, May 17 | 10 a.m. | Mound | Wolner Field |
| Saturday, May 24 | 10 a.m. | Ellsworth, WI | Ellsworth Middle School |
| Saturday, May 24 | 10 a.m. | Blaine | Blaine Baseball Complex |
| Saturday, May 31 | 10 a.m. | Rogers | North Community Park |
| Saturday, May 31 | 10 a.m. | Shoreview | Chippewa Middle School |
| Friday, June 6 | 2 p.m. | Kasson | Veterans Park #1 |
| Saturday, June 7 | 9 a.m. | Elgin | Eckstein Field in Plainview |
| Thursday, June 12 | 10 a.m. | St. Paul | Barnes Field (Concordia University Campus) |
| Friday, June 13 | 2 p.m. | Montevideo | Montevideo High School |
| Saturday, June 14 | 9 a.m. | Willmar | Swanson Baseball/Softball Complex |
| Saturday, June 14 | 10 a.m. | Rosemount | Jaycee Park |
| Friday, June 20 | 2 p.m. | Upsala | Upsala Baseball Field |
| Saturday, June 21 | 9 a.m. | Pierz | Pierz School District Softball Fields |
| Saturday, June 21 | 10 a.m. | Waconia | Brook Peterson Fields |
| Thursday, June 26 | 10 a.m. | South Minneapolis | Powderhorn Park |
| Friday, June 27 | 2 p.m. | Karlstad | Join Oistad Field |
| Saturday, June 28 | 9 a.m. | Grand Forks, ND | Apollo Complex |
| Wednesday, July 2 | 2 p.m. | Crookston | Hyland Complex/Jim Karn Field |
| Thursday, July 3 | 11 a.m. | Fosston | Fosston Sports Complex |
| Friday, July 11 | 2 p.m. | Owatonna | Dartts Park |
| Saturday, July 12 | 9 a.m. | Mayer | Old School Park |
| Saturday, July 12 | 11 a.m. | Mora | Trailview Ball Fields |
| Friday, July 18 | 2 p.m. | Moorhead | Matson Field |
| Satuday, July 19 | 9 a.m. | Wahpeton, ND | John Randall Field |
| Friday, July 18 | 2 p.m. | Babbit | Municipal Little League Field |
| Friday, July 25 | 2 p.m. | Milbank, SD | Legion Field |
| Saturday, July 26 | 9 a.m. | Graceville | Clinton Baseball Field |
| Saturday, July 26 | 10 a.m. | St. Cloud | Whitney Park C-2 |
| Friday, August 1 | 2 p.m. | Tracy | Tracy Area High School Field |
| Saturday, August 2 | 9 a.m. | Springfield | Riverside Park |
History
The summer of 2008 marks the 47th year the Minnesota Twins and the Twins Community Fund have offered free youth baseball/softball clinics. New to the 2008 season is a new name, Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics Presented by the Minnesota Twins Community Fund replaces the old name. Created in 1961 by longtime Twins scout Angelo Giuliani, the clinic program serves as a way for the ball club to promote the games of baseball and softball to boys and girls throughout the region. Since the program's inception, more than 800,000 youth have taken part in Twins clinics in the Upper Midwest and Southwest Florida.
The current clinic format, which focuses on throwing, hitting and base running, was developed by Twins Senior Advisor to the General Manager and former General Manager Terry Ryan and former Twins executive and current Arizona Diamondbacks Special Assistant to the General Manager Bob Gebhard.
The Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics have always been, and will continue to be, available to participants and communities free of charge. Funding for the Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics is provided by the Twins Community Fund and clinic sponsors.
Clinic Format
Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics are designed to teach basic fundamentals including hitting, fielding and throwing, while also providing participants with positive messages about staying in school and away from drugs and alcohol.
No registration is required to participate in a clinic.
The clinics provide quality hands-on instruction for boys and girls ages 6-16. The format is broken down into two 1 ½ hour sessions. The first session is for youth ages 6-9 years old and the second session is for youth ages 10-16. Participants are divided into three groups and rotated between hitting, fielding and throwing stations.
Clinics are typically scheduled on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings during the months of April through August.
The Twins provide safe youth-friendly equipment. Youth participants are asked to bring their baseball or softball gloves.
Clinic Staff
The Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics instructors have a combined 200+ years of baseball coaching/playing experience. The staff is comprised of former baseball players, coaches, scouts and/or teachers. Teams of 3 - 4 instructors will travel to and administer each clinic.
Clinic Host Responsibilities
The organization and/or community hosting a Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinic has a few responsibilities leading up to the day of the clinic:
Clinic Sites
The Twins Community Fund requires clinic hosts to secure an outdoor and indoor site for the clinic date. Given the number of Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinics held each season; it is difficult to reschedule a clinic due to inclement weather. If severe weather persists, a clinic will move to the indoor location.
Promotion
The Twins Community Fund expects that hosts will do everything within their means to promote a Play Ball! Minnesota Youth Clinic to the families of their community and surrounding communities.
To properly promote the clinic, clinic hosts should consider the following:
Advertise and promote the clinic in local newspapers, community bulletin boards, local radio, the nearest Twins Radio Network station, local TV and cable access station (please note that most newspapers and television and radio stations will do public service announcements for free)
Inform all youth baseball and softball programs about the clinic, and make sure that all coaches are given the information
Incorporate the clinic into an already-scheduled league or civic event
Speak to local reporters about covering the clinic
Create and distribute promotional flyers
Stress that parents are encouraged to attend and participate with their children
Remind families that the clinics are FREE and require NO REGISTRATION
Twins Community Fund staff will help host communities promote their clinics by distributing press releases to statewide and local news outlets, providing hosts with images and logos for flyers and posters, and advertising in Twins publications, on in-stadium signage, and in Twins television and radio broadcasts.
Day of Clinic
Clinic hosts are asked to designate people to help clinicians set up and welcome/direct participants. If possible, please make arrangements for a facility for clinicians to shower and change.
Twins Contact Information
All questions, concerns or information regarding the clinics should be directed to the Twins Community Fund staff:
Josh Ortiz
Twins Community Fund
34 Kirby Puckett Place
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone: (612) 375-7510
Fax: (612) 375-7480
joshortiz@twinsbaseball.com