Uncle Jack’s baseball camp comes to Leamington

By Greg Coulter

Kevin Paradis and B.J. Richardson enjoyed baseball on the west end of Windsor as youngsters and continued through their adult years, spending many seasons of senior ball with the Windsor Chiefs.

Kevin, growing up with a single mom, has never forgotten the support he received from his Uncle Jack Paradis. Before Jack’s passing two years ago, they spoke of running some youth baseball clinics. They witnessed the success of the Knobby’s Kids’ hockey program in Windsor, so Kevin and B.J. decided to give a baseball camp a try.

“It is something that honours the memory of my uncle,” said Kevin. “He was truly like a father to me, took me everywhere and always followed my baseball career.”

2021 was their first event in Tecumseh and this year they partnered with Leamington this week and will be in Belle River in August. They also make use of a baseball simulator at the Central Park rec complex in Windsor.

Thanks to generous sponsorships, the camp is entirely free for all kids, including lunch. There were two sessions running from 9:00-2:30, open to players of Leamington minor ball. Day one was for kids JR rookie to U12 and day two for the older group. A total of 120 kids participated in Leamington.

Kevin Paradis (far left) stands proudly with instructors and some of the 70 players at the end of day one, who took part in Uncle Jacks Baseball camp. The two-day event, in honor of Jack Paradis took place July 18 and 19 at the Leamington ball complex. The free camp was run entirely by volunteers.

SUN photo by Greg Coulter

The program is entirely run by volunteers, many who are active college, past and present local senior players, as well as coaches from Leamington teaching kids the ins and outs of hitting, pitching, infield and outfield game situations. They rotated though stations with emphasis on specific instructions. The day ended with three hotly contested age-appropriate games as the players competed for bragging rights.

Dario Graziano and Paul George, two members of the U11 Lakers travel team, noted “This is lots of fun, we are learning new things. Playoffs start soon, this will help us.”