Members of Hampstead Softball Club are hosting a Skills and Drills for Kids training session tomorrow at the club grounds.
It will be lead by players from the Papanui Premier Men’s team which includes Black Sox squad members Jackson Watt, Tyron Bartorillo, Callum Bishop and Ben Watts.
Club president Lyndall Chisnall said it is a free open training day at the Bridge St grounds, in Ashburton for any junior softball players from any club in Mid Canterbury.
It runs from 1pm to 3pm.
She said after the training session the Papanui team will do their own training session and those interested can stay and watch.
Senior players all welcome too, she said.
‘‘We are just trying our hardest yet again to get kids back in to sport and especially softball,’’ Chisnall said.
Club members were currently running free machine pitch classes for schools across the district as another way to help generate interest in the sport.
Machine pitch is a softball league started last year in Ashburton to bridge the gap between T-ball and softball.
The free competition, for primary school players aged nine- to 13-years-old, will run at Hampstead Softball Club grounds every Friday during term 4.
The league uses a Louisville Slugger pitching machine to make sure all pitches are accurate. It is played all over the world, but last year was the first time played in Ashburton.
The good thing about the league is every pitch is hittable and accurate. Batters do not have to worry about being hit by a pitch.
Anyone with a child interested in attending this Saturday’s training session, or those looking to play softball this year, can register via [email protected] or send a message via the Hampstead Softball Club Facebook page.
