Milwaukee Brewers 2008 Winter Development Camp in Full Swing

Camp designed for Milwaukee Brewers Minor Leaguers to grow on and off the field

01/28/2008, MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers organization is currently hosting the second session of its Winter Development Camp at the Brewers Training Center at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix.

The Winter Development Camp is an opportunity for Brewers minor league players to not only receive extra instruction on the field and in the weight room, but also allows the younger players to take part in various life skills training. The program began during the 2006-07 off-season and grows each year.

"Our Winter Development Camp gives our younger players a chance to grow on the field during the off-season while at the same time growing off the field and getting to know their teammates," said Brewers Executive Vice President and General Manager, Doug Melvin. "It is our desire to help our players become 'complete players.' We want to make sure they are ready to handle situations on and off the field when they become Major Leaguers."

The first session began on November 1 and ended on December 14 while the second session began on January 21 and will end at the end of February. Around 40 players take part in each session. Most are on "scholarship," and are provided an apartment as well as travel expenses and meal money.

During the first session of camp, camp participants were given life development classes that instructed players on personal finance, real estate planning, even cooking. A Spanish teacher gave English lessons to the native Spanish speakers while teaching the English speaking players Spanish.

The cooking classes became a competition as players were broken up into teams and given a certain budget to prepare a meal for the rest of the camp. The group was judged on creativity and, of course, taste of the prepared food with the winning team walking away with tickets to the Phoenix Suns game. The team of RJ Seidel, Eric Farris, Ulrich Snijders and Wily Peralta was victorious during the first session.

Most of the first session was conditioning and off-field work. A lot of the conditioning work was non-traditional as the players participated in pilates, yoga, even an occasional game of "Ultimate Frisbee." The second session primarily focuses on baseball activities, with a continued emphasis on conditioning. On-field activities for the second session take place five days a week and will go through February when the rest of the minor league players will report for full Spring Training.

Participants in the camp also learn the value of service to the community as the group made visits to various Phoenix-area food banks, Special Olympics and Children's Hospital. In addition, the group has done other team building activities like bowling nights, attended Phoenix Coyote hockey and Arizona State basketball games and made a visit to Luke Air Force Base.

Source: MLB

Bookmark/Search this post with:

 •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •