Restoring glory to the mound

GBASA president serious about softball development

By NICKITO JOHNSON

FN Sports Reporter

The Bahamas' sports history pages reveal that in softball this country was once ranked third in the world. In the mid 80s that ranking began falling and it continued to fall; however, softball enthusiasts are making a conscious effort to recapture that status.

Under the Grand Bahama Amateur Softball Association (GBASA) headed by president Daryl Weir, In-house Softball organization was in Grand Bahama to assist the local association with clinics in the area of pitching, while making a softball video tutorial to be sold throughout the world.

During this session the pitching coach from the United States helped local pitchers to fine-tune the skills, while learning some of the finer points of playing the game of softball.

"I came down to help the pitchers, both the juniors and seniors," said coach Bill Hillhouse.

This visit will also include Hillhouse assisting with the national team pitchers, player development and the GBSA development."

"This is my second time here and basically each time I come to Freeport the same group of people helping them to sharpen their skills and work out some of the bad habits."

Primarily, pitching is the main focus of the trips made by Hillhouse to Grand Bahama, because it is the one area that teams appear to be struggling in.

He recalled hearing that The Bahamas was once a powerhouse in the sport; adding that if pitching techniques can improve "there is no reason why this little country cannot return to the top."

In terms of the talent he said, "there is a tremendous amount of talent and most of the people here seem to be extremely athletic so that makes coaching easier."

Despite the athletes' talents coach Hillhouse admitted to there being a problem. "Many of the pitchers have bad habits or have been trained to do things incorrectly, which means that you have to start over and that takes a little bit more time."

He credits the younger and more mature athletes for their quickness in learning the practice drills. "This too made my work a lot easier."

Coach Hillhouse said that he would like to see The Bahamas get back to where it should be and could be in the sport of softball. "There is a climate to play year round here and why that is not happening I really do not know," he said.

The rule of thumb in any sport is that the more you play the better you get.

Hillhouse said that he enjoys coming to Grand Bahama because "the people are so hospitable and both times I have been here I have been treated like royalty."

During this visit the coach is also shooting a pitching video that will be on sale throughout the world, where he says that the climate and the people have been ideal for that.

He added that the video would be available at www.Houseofpitching.com or www.softballone.com and it's being produced by Kera Johnson-Hirsch and Leslie Wiser.

CAPTION

TEACHING SKILLS — American pitching coach, Bill Hillhouse has returned to Grand Bahama and for the second time he is lending his expertise to local softball players, particularly pitchers. Coach Hillhouse like president of the GBASA, Daryl Weir is serious about The Bahamas recapturing its former softball glory. (Sports photo by Nickito Johnson)

© 2003 The Freeport News