Just off of Exit 85, heading north on I-95, there is a playground.
“A big kid?s playground,” according to Julie Smith.
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Smith, a former Olympic gold medalist, professional and NCAA softball player, is the head softball instructor at the Ripken Baseball?s camps being held at the Aberdeen complex.
“It is a dream facility,” said Smith, who is from California. “In my wildest dreams I would love to have something like this. What an opportunity for these boys and girls to come out here.”
Smith won a championship at Fresno State and was on the 1996 United States softball team that won the gold medal in Atlanta. She also played several years of professional softball, and in 2005 was the coach and general manager of the now defunct professional team, the New York/New Jersey Juggernaut.
“I called [Ripken Baseball] last year and said, “Hey, do you do anything for softball?? Because I noticed, with everything on the Internet, that there were softball fields,” Smith said. “They called me back a week later and said, ?Let?s get something done.?”
Smith has spent the last week and a half in Aberdeen coaching kids the age of 8 to 18. Being an instructor and coach stems from Smith being fortunate enough to have good coaches most of her life.
“My travel coach used to pick me up because I didn?t have a ride,” Smith said. Smith said her coach at Fresno State, Margie Wright, always preached to give back more than you take.
“I feel my philosophy is a good balance between trying to push the kids and teaching the importance of giving back,” Smith said.
Adam Christ is the Director of Baseball Operations for the Camps and Clinics Division of Ripken Baseball. Christ said that the kids love the professional touch the camp has, including instructors of Smith?s caliber.
“Cal is out here every day for the two weeks of the Ripken Experience camps and Bill is very hands-on with the camps,” Christ said.
“The best thing to do is watch them come down on the well-manicured fields,” Christ said. “The first thing they will do is reach down and feel [the grass] and roll in it to see if it is even real.”
CAMPING OUT AT ABERDEEN
» At the seven weeks of camps in Aberdeen, there are kids from about 42 states and seven countries.
» 700 teams plan to play in about 23 tournaments at the Aberdeen Complex between March and October.
» Steve Garvey, Ken Gerhart, John Habyan, Rick Krivda, Joe Orsulak and Mark Parent are former major leaguers that are currently or have been instructors at the Ripken camps in Aberdeen.
