{"id":45711,"date":"2020-01-10T09:09:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T14:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=45711"},"modified":"2020-01-10T09:09:37","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T14:09:37","slug":"twins-to-hold-youth-clinic-in-lehigh-acres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2020\/01\/twins-to-hold-youth-clinic-in-lehigh-acres\/","title":{"rendered":"Twins to hold youth clinic in Lehigh Acres"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Little\nLeaguers around Lee County will get the chance to participate in youth clinics\nput on by the Minnesota Twins in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each of the clinics is open to youth 5-13 years of age, of all skill levels, or, younger children who are accompanied by an adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The\nTwins have had a long standing relationship with Lee County,” said Mark\nWeber, manager of Florida business operations for the Twins. “We feel we\ncan grow the game for boys and girls here in the area.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nTwins, who call Hammond Stadium home for spring training, have hosted clinics\nin the county for over a decade, and the team is dedicated to giving the youth\nhere a chance to participate in either baseball or softball activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\nwant to expand the game to the youth,” Weber said. “We love to bring\nout the young players and coaches and have some fun for a few hours. We need to\nmake sure kids get a taste of what baseball and softball are all about, and\nthat the Twins organization cares about the youth and giving them a great\nexperience.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntwo-hour clinics will see Twins instructors and younger players in their system\nteach fundamentals including throwing, hitting and fielding. Weber said that\nplayers and coaches alike enjoy getting to spend time with the youth and that\nfor many, it sparks fond memories of when they were a kid playing ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Players\nlove working with the kids,” Weber said. “It brings them back to a\nyouthful time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nTwins are even holding clinics for youth with limb restrictions and special\nneeds, ensuring that everyone will get the chance to experience the game of\nbaseball\/softball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s\nall about giving kids confidence,” Weber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nNubAbility Clinic, founded and organized by Sam Kuhnert, who himself was born\nwith one hand, is not age restricted and is aimed at bringing those with limb\nrestrictions onto the field to participate in the game. The clinic’s motto is,\n“Don’t need 2.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weber\nsaid the Twins were the first MLB franchise to get involved with Kuhnert and\nNubAbility, and is a wonderful program for youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nTwins, who have been spending the beginning of each Major League season at\nHammond Stadium for three decades, work to ensure their clinics reach all areas\nof Lee County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\nalways want to make sure we touch at least all of the areas of the\ncounty,” Weber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\neach clinic, kids are given a baseball and the opportunity to mingle with the\nplayers — no doubt a highlight for them, giving them the chance to have their\nnew favorite player autograph a ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s\nfun to see the players having fun with the kids,” Weber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan. 25\n— Lehigh Little League, 1-3 p.m.; 1400 West 5th St., Lehigh Acres. Contact:\nChris Van Note: 239-443-7813 or Cvannote@ymail.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feb. 17\n— Twins Open House at Hammond Stadium, after MLB workout, 1-2 p.m.; 14100 Six\nMile Cypress Parkway, Fort Myers. Contact: Victor Gonzalez (386)-292-4003 or\nMark Weber (239)-887-9326<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Little Leaguers around Lee County will get the chance to participate in youth clinics put on by the Minnesota Twins in the coming months. Each of the clinics is open… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":45712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32,40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45711"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}