WCBF
Baseball Clinics
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ABOUT OUR BASEBALL CLINICS...
During the week-long event, the children will have the opportunity to learn the correct, BASIC SKILLS of baseball, with emphasis on fun and participation. This is a time for the children to enjoy and share their love of baseball. The clinics are run by coaches who are selected by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). Skills taught include: throwing, fielding, infield/outfield practice, relay drills, rundowns, double plays, hitting, bunting, running, sprints, stealing, sliding, and game situations.
After the morning clinics, the children and chaperones participate in educational and recreational excursions and activiites. The children (with their chaperones) from all the countries are housed together and this enhances the opportunities for getting to know one another. Cultural and language barriers fade quickly!
WCBF/IBAF Coaches
The coaches are all excellent and are always very popular with the participants. In 2007, the coaches were:Steve Sotir, head coach, USA
Larry Bryant, sub head coach, USA
Angel Bonilla, USA
Ila Borders, USA
Hitoshi Hasegawa, Japan
Edgar Perez, Puerto Rico
Rene Rivera, Puerto Rico
Minoru Shimizu, Japan
Mike Valcke, Canada
Tom Valcke, Canada
- Steve Sotir, WCBF 2007 Head Coachabout Steve:
· Head Coach for the World's Children Baseball Fair (6 years)
· Currently Summit/Woodside Athletic Director and Homestead Baseball Coach
· Former Director of Development for the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) (5 years)
· Baseball Coach/Teacher at Clearwater High School (6 Years)
· Baseball Coach, South Team, USA National Sports Festival (2 Years)
· Assistant Baseball Coach at Georgia Southern University and University
of Florida (4 Years)
Larry Bryant:
· Head Coach For the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) in Israel, South Africa, Japan, Curacao, and Austria.
· Georgia Southern University Coach - 20 Years
· Played in the Atlanta Braves Organization
· Highly Sought After Worldwide as a Clinic Speaker
· Camp Director / Head Recruiter for Georgia Southern University - 10 Years
Angel Bonilla:
· Coach at the WCBF for every event - 18 years
· Recipient of the 2001 IBAF President's Special Prize for his participation in every WCBF fair
Ila Borders:
· Left-handed pitcher in college and independent professional baseball.
· She was the first woman pitcher to start a men's NCAA or NAIA college baseball game
(Southern California College in the 1994-96 seasons and Whittier College in the 1997 season)
· The first woman pitcher in men's professional baseball. She played for from 4 seasons 1997-2000 ( St. Paul Saints, Duluth-Superior Dukes, Zion Pioneerzzp)
· She is honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and in the Orange County Hall of Fame.
Hitoshi Hasegawa:
· Has taught and coached youth and amateur baseball teams
Edgar Perez :
It was for me a different experience since I always work with professional player. I really enjoyed and for sure met wonderful people. Thanks a lot for giving me the opportunity to live this tremendous experience.
· Current scout for the Boston Red Sox Major league Baseball Club, Boston, MA - Area Scout, Major League Scout & Minor League Scout
· 1998 to 2006 - Scout for the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball Club, Cleveland, Ohio.
· 2003 to Present - Coach and Instructor for the Professional Winter League Baseball, Puerto Rico
· 2005 & 2006 AA Federation Baseball Manager - In charge of managing & develop a winning team of a 40 game season in which 38 teams play for the national championship.
· 2003 to 2005 Manager of the Pony league Fajardo Royals Amateur Baseball, Fajardo, P.R.
· 1993 to 1996 West Valley College & San Jose State University, San Jose, California
- Played in JC div as catcher for the West Valley College where I was First Team All Conference two years in a row, and played catcher for the San Jose State Spartans.
Rene Rivera:
Very sad news - René Rivera was tragically killed in a work accident on October 22nd, 2007. He worked as a lineman for the power company. Rene was a wonderful IBAF coach and was a generous host to all of us visiting Puerto Rico for the WCBF event. Our sincere condolences to his wife, children, family and friends. His joy and love of life was an inspiration to us all. We have lost a dear friend.
Minoru Shimizu:
* IBAF coach from Japan
* This was his 2nd year coaching at WCBF
* Works at Mitsubishi in Japan
Mike Valcke:
· From Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
· Has been coaching children from the ages of 5 to 19 years of age for 20 years.
· I have been playing this great game of baseball for almost 45 years and I still love it and I am still learning it.
· Has coached 11 years at WCBF
Tom Valcke :
· Current President & CEO of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
· Creator and Head Instructor of Hall of Fame's KIDS ON DECK Program
· Technical Commissioner of baseball for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
· Technical Commissioner for first-ever World Baseball Classic
· Montreal Expos television analyst during their last season
· Coach of Canada's National Team as recently as 2003, back to 1990
· Supervised the Canadian arm of the Major League Baseball Central Scouting Bureau, and was involved with the signing of almost every Canadian in the major leagues today
· Scouted professionally for nine years (final three were spent covering Central California and Southern Nevada)
· Former General Manager of the Calgary Cannons Triple-A club
· Former Executive Director and Technical Director of Baseball Canada based in Ottawa
· Acting Technical Commissioner with the International Baseball Federation
· Have coached 10 times at the largest annual baseball clinic on earth (The World Children's Baseball Fair), including the 2007 WCBF in San Juan, Puerto Rico
· Has taught baseball in 17 different countries
· Born & raised in Windsor, played and coached 20 years there (5-time player and/or coach of National Championship teams)
· Computer Science graduate from University of Waterloo
· Wife Paula (19 years, ten moves!), three children - Alanna (15), Jaxon (10) and Mia (7)
· Loves to distribute gummy worms to the WCBF kids!
