UBC Baseball Indoor Training Centre officially opens
VANCOUVER – Monday afternoon marked a special moment for UBC Thunderbirds Baseball, as the program, in conjunction with UBC Athletics and Recreation, officially unveiled the UBC Baseball Indoor Training Centre.
The 12,500-suqare-foot building features a 160-by-32-feet batting area, complete with four batting cages, as well as state-of-the-art batting simulators, the HitTrax and Pro Batter Sports PX2. The centre also hosts a 75-by-24-feet pitching area, which includes three pitching mounds. To optimize training, the facility also features a high-end camera system that will help coaches and players break down swing and pitching mechanics.
For more information on the Thunderbird Baseball Performance Institute, HitTrax Hitting Leagues, and organizational rentals, please visit
UBCBaseball.com
The UBC Baseball ITC, which will also serve as UBC Baseball's head office, features a variety of training camps, clinics, and hitting leagues, that will help advance players of a wide range of skill sets, from eight-year olds up to professional-calibre athletes. The facility has already started molding the next generation of BC baseball players, as community camps for kids in the Little League to Bantam age groups kicked off on September 14.
Aside from the obvious advantages in recruiting, and the improved caliber of training itself, UBC Baseball head coach
Chris Pritchett also brought up an understated reason as to why the new facility his going help iterations of T-Birds for years to come.
"One of the things we talked about on the first day of training was having respect for the game," said Pritchett. "So, we went around the room and asked guys what that meant to them.. Finally, we got to fun. The number one reason way to respect the game of baseball is to have fun, to want to come to the field every day. Now that this place is here, I can't imagine a player that I've ever played with, against, or that's coming up that wouldn't want to come here, play, and get better."
However, the impact of this new facility won't only be felt by UBC's athletes. David Laing, Director of Baseball BC, spoke to how the UBC Baseball ITC will fit into the growing baseball mania across the country, particularly among youth players.
"If you build it, they will come," said Laing, leading with the iconic line from Field of Dreams. "That's undoubtedly going to be the outcome for this facility, this program, and our sport as a whole. If you look at what the [MLB's Toronto] Blue Jays are doing on the national stage, from a competition standpoint generating excitement for fans, both today and in the future, and you have world class facilities like this, in a world-class city, at a world-class university, we can only look forward to exciting days ahead."
The T-Birds will make their return to Thunderbird Park this weekend, as they are set to face Thompson Rivers in a set of back-to-back doubleheaders on Saturday, September 26 at 1 p.m., and Sunday, September 27 at 11 a.m.