Sprowl baseball camp an Athens tradition
Published 6:00 am Friday, June 15, 2018
- Shelton State baseball coach Bobby Sprowl, right, watches as Eli Hiebert tries to make a catch at first base while Jojo Thallas runs through the base at the Bobby Sprowl Baseball Camp at Athens Bible School Thursday. Sprowl has been hosting a baseball camp in Athens for more than 20 years.
Bobby Sprowl may not be from Athens, but he certainly has seen a lot of local boys grow up year by year because of his baseball camp.
Sprowl, the former University of Alabama and Major League Baseball pitcher who is now the head coach at Shelton State Community College, wraps up another year of his weeklong camp at Athens Bible School today.
“I think it was probably 1995 or 1996 when I first came up to Athens, so it’s been over 20 years,” Sprowl said. “I’ve had dads that came to camp and now their sons are here. It’s a pretty neat experience.”
When Sprowl first came to Athens to run a baseball camp, he had no idea he would still be traveling to the city for camp more than 20 years later.
“When I was coaching at Alabama, we did some road camps and met some people doing that,” Sprowl said. “When I left Alabama, they talked me into coming up to Athens. I’ve been going there since. I enjoy it, the kids are great. They love being out there and want to learn.”
Sprowl said he enjoys seeing many of the same children each year at camp, and being able to see them grow and improve each year.
“It’s neat because you don’t see them for a year, but when you do see them they look the same, only bigger,” he said. “You get to see them grow, and hopefully some of them will come and play for us (at Shelton State) down the road.”
The camp, held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily this week, was for kids ages 6-17. A good mixture of ages were out on the Athens Bible baseball field Thursday doing drills and playing scrimmages.
“A lot of kids nowadays want to go to a one-day showcase,” Sprowl said. “You can see talent there, but you don’t really get to know them. Where with a camp like this, I know everybody out there.”
Sprowl isn’t the only one who looks forward to holding camp in Athens. Many of his assistant coaches look forward to the trip as well.
“There is one guy who has been with me for about 10 years, and he couldn’t come this week and it about broke his heart,” Sprowl said. “The kids were asking about him, and he called me every night asking how it went and how different players were doing.
“This is one of my favorite places to come. I really enjoy it. Athens Bible School does a great job with helping us. I’ve been here over 20 years and have never had what I would call a bad camp.”
