Talk Sport with Richard Gilligan, Tauranga City Baseball

LOTS OF FUN: Tauranga baseball kids just love the sport. Photo/Supplied

Did you know that baseball is one of New Zealand's fastest growing sports?

Tauranga City Baseball Club threw the first ever competitive pitch in Tauranga last season and thus joined the 7000 other people now engaged in baseball across the country.

Interest has grown so much that our pre-season winter training has almost doubled our junior numbers from last year. Our main goal right now is to have as many kids as possible playing baseball and competing in local and national competitions.

We are already representing the Bay of Plenty with pride. Endorsements from Baseball NZ provide us with great encouragement, as well as the praise from the parents of kids already playing the game in Tauranga.

The Tauranga City Baseball Open day is on this Sunday from 11am - 2pm at Gordon Spratt Reserve in Papamoa (wet weather postponement date of Sunday, September 25).

This is a perfect opportunity to find out more about baseball or just to give it a go. We will have pitching contests, longest hits, kiwiball (t-ball) for the little kids, NZ International baseball players, the famous TCB hotdogs and more.

Tauranga City Baseball club offers pre-season training in August and September, Kiwiball (t-ball) skills programme and competition for under-9 boys and girls, junior baseball local competitions for boys and girls, senior baseball for over-16s (social and competitive competitions), national team trials and post-season national tournament representation plus player, coach and umpire development.

Players that excel in baseball have many international sporting and educational opportunities - we hope that one day some of our local junior players will benefit from these opportunities.

The initial opportunities are achieved early in baseball as players are selected from the national club tournaments that we attend yearly.

Training days for coaches, umpires and players are facilitated by Baseball New Zealand.

If you'd like to know more or sign up for baseball and Kiwiball follow us here: www.facebook.com/TaurangaCityBaseballClub