Amherstburg, Ont. youth baseball team records video to stay sharp during COVID-19
CBC News | Posted: March 31, 2020 11:56 PM | Last Updated: March 31, 2020
Amherstburg Cardinals were forced to cut their practice season short, but have found ways to stay game-ready
When the COVID-19 pandemic meant players with the Amherstburg Cardinals mosquito baseball team weren't able to practise together anymore, head coach Kristopher Roehler found the perfect way to stay sharp: Record a practice video.
Taking inspiration from a similar video he saw where French players worked together — from a distance, of course — to make it seem like they were playing catch, Roehler reached out to players' families and shared the idea.
With the help of their parents, all 16 players — aged 10 and 11 — recorded themselves catching and throwing a baseball from somewhere off-screen.
It took about a week-and-a-half to put the video together, in part because some parents are essential workers.
"Some of them are in health-care, some of them are working long shifts in different areas," Roehler said. "So they said, 'Yes, we want to be a part of this, but sorry, you're going to have to wait for our video.' And I said, 'No problem, you guys are doing an awesome job and I don't want to make anything more stressful."
And though players performed different variations on catching and throwing the ball, Roehler said none of the scenes in the video were scripted.
Roehler even enlisted the help of his son, who is too young for the team, in recording a section of the video featuring a baseball-playing dinosaur.
"It was up to the family," he said. "The parents were awesome, because they're the ones who had to do all the video work."
Roehler edited the video together himself using a free video-editing app called YouCut, and released the final product on Facebook.
Watch the Amherstburg Cardinals practice during COVID-19:
He said reactions have been "extremely positive."
"It's a nice distraction," he said. "Some people have said it's a cool way to connect the kids together, even though they can't see each other."
The Cardinals' regular season starts in May, with April usually the month that players practise outside.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, Roehler said he's not sure when players will be able to return to the field.
"April's not happening and May we're not sure," he said. "Maybe at some point we can go outside, if they lift the restrictions to practise and to just be around each other whenever it's safe."
"So we're just going to follow that lead."