Next week, former MLB player and current Shelton State baseball coach Bobby Sprowl will be in Athens teaching young kids the fundamentals to reach the next level.

Athens Bible School hosts the camp annually and this year it will be held on the new field. Sprowl said parents can show up Monday morning with their child to get them on the diamond. The camp is for kids between the ages of 6–17. Registration is $125 for June 12-15 from 9 a.m. — 2 p.m.

There are about 60-80 children expected at the camp. Athens and Scottsboro are the only two places he travels to do the camp anymore. He does still host it in Tuscaloosa where he’s been the Shelton State head coach since 1995.

He said over his many years of baseball coaching and these camps, he’s seen a change in the baseball landscape here.

“It probably started about 15 years ago where baseball in North Alabama wasn’t the best at the time,” he said. “Now on a regular basis this whole are could be the hot bed of baseball. Every program is a competitive program. They’ve gotten better and it’s really gotten better up here to the point where a lot of guys get the chance to play at the next level.”

With all of that time, he’s seen kids grow up coming to his camp.

“A lot of kids have been coming for years,” Sprowl said. “I’ve been doing it long enough where you get dads who came to camp so that’s always something.”

He said he’s still an old time baseball guy and that means focusing on the basic skills needed to perform well no matter if you’re on the mound or at the plate.

“You win the game the same way whether it’s college, whether it’s high school, whether it’s pro ball, whether its major leagues. We really stay with the fundamentals,” he said.

He said one of those things he believes in is having bat control before worrying about power and being able to control the bat in the strike zone. He said knowing the strike zone is going to help a player’s batting average increase so sticking with this kind of work in the camp is what he said will have players grow in those three days.

“That’s basically the way I’ve coached my team for as long as I’ve been coaching,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to teach them — the stuff we teach our players.”

Campers will play with their age group or grade level. Campers are also expected to bring their own glove, shoes and bat, and catchers can bring small catching gear and batting helmets. For more information, call Bobby Sprowl at (205)-886-6240.