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| Shawn Pender |
All Star Baseball Academy is pleased to have Cincinnati Reds Major League Scout Shawn Pender as a member of our staff. Pender, a local Haverford, PA resident, has been running camps and programs for ASBA for many years, and is a valuable member of our instructional team. A former minor league player in the Pittsburgh Pirates' system, Pender was a standout athlete at Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square and he later starred for Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.
All Star Baseball has teamed up with The Haverford School to offer a Pre-Season Baseball Training Camp in February, and Pender has been busy planning the Camp for area players in grades 4 through 9. ASBA Blog Editor Ken Leidheiser recently sat down with Shawn to review his teaching background and focus areas, as well as to preview the Pre-Season Camp at Haverford School.
ASBA: How long have you been running baseball camps and teaching young players?
Shawn: I've run camps and baseball clinics for 25 years now. I love doing it and helping young players get better. With my experience in baseball, I organize the camps so that they
really help players with their fundamental skills. It's great to see them get better and then track their progress.
ASBA: Are there certain drills and focus areas in every camp that you run?
Shawn: Yes, there are 3 important focal points to every camp that I organize and run. First is quality instruction-- teaching the players good baseball fundamentals and key skills to be successful. Number two is make it fun! I like to run short indoor games and competitions, and make it fun for the kids to participate. And the last thing is mentoring. We talk about the importance of schoolwork and sports, and we emphasize academics in addition to baseball training.
ASBA: What about player/coach ratio and coordinating the camps for different age groups?
Shawn: We always offer a good player/coach ratio and feel that's very important. We want to teach in small groups to show the players how to repeat key skills. Repetition is a big thing in all of our camps, and it's big in every single level of baseball, too. We also do age group sorting, so that the groups are right and players are with others of the same age group and skill sets.
ASBA: How long have you been with the Reds?
Shawn: I've been with the Reds on Dusty Baker's staff for 4 years now. I work as a Major League Advance Scout, scouting other teams and individual players for the Reds at the Major League level. I love it, it's been great.
ASBA: Did you play pro ball? Were you drafted?
Shawn: I was signed by the Pirates as an undrafted free agent. I played outfield in college but then I played the middle infield positions and liked playing second base. In the minors in Class A ball, I played every single position in one game, so you could say that I was a good utility player. I played for a couple of seasons in the Pirates system, and then got hurt. I enjoy the game so much that I decided to go into coaching and scouting, and it's been a great experience for me.
ASBA: As a coach and "teacher" of baseball, what is your approach?
Shawn: I believe in the "building block" approach and not completely tearing a player down to start over. Start with the lower half (legs, hips and "core") and work up from there. You need to have a strong lower half to be a successful player, no matter what level you are playing. It's not all about your arm strength or your bat speed. I like to start with what the player does well, and build from there.
ASBA: Are you looking forward to the Pre-Season Training Camp at Haverford School in February?
Shawn: Yes, absolutely. We have a great staff with Haverford School Head Coach Bob Castell working closely with me, and we also have top coaches from All Star Baseball Academy too. The Camp is February 20-21 in the indoor sports facility at Haverford, and the timing is really good for players who want to learn new skills and tune up for their upcoming spring seasons. We encourage area players to sign up with their friends, or even as teams, as this will be great spring training! Players in grades 4 through 9 are invited to sign up wth ASBA and attend.
ASBA: Sounds like a great Camp! And good luck with the Reds this year. Are they looking tough again for 2011?
Shawn: Yes, we've got a super team and we'll try to give the Giants and Phillies a run for their money in the NL this year!!
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