Following the success of the 2021 Academy, Kent Buccaneers Baseball Club are proud to announce that the Youth Academy will become a permanent feature of our Club.

Our brand new youth baseball diamond is currently under construction and phase one (dirt bases) aims to be completed by late April.

The aim of the academy is to secure a future generation of enthusiastic players. This is a great opportunity for any child, especially children and teenagers that have perhaps had a difficult time over the last year due to the ongoing pandemic. This sport allows players to work together as a team, develop skills, and most importantly; make friends along the way. All playing equipment is provided.

Robin Chappell has been appointed as the Youth Baseball Director for the club and will oversee the program as well as take on the role of Head Coach. Further coaches will be present to assist Robin.

We currently have the following age groups:

• T-Ball (4-7 years) - 15 spaces available

• Minors Baseball (8-11 years) - 15 spaces available

• Majors Baseball (12 years and over) - 15 spaces available

All our sessions/games will begin from Monday 18th April and run every Monday evening (5:30pm-7pm) and every Saturday morning (from 10:30am) at our facility: Williams Field, Hadlow, Kent, TN11 0HQ. Free parking is available in the car park by the Village Hall.

The subscription fee is £20 per player £15 per player if you register your child before 18th April. This includes a baseball cap and team jersey - we keep our fees as low as possible because we know that what is really important is the children and them having a good time.

Sessions are run by qualified coaches as well as coaches that are working towards a coaching qualification.

IMPORTANT: All coaches have had DBS checks carried out by KBYA and all lead coaches have completed a ‘Child Protection In Sport’ Safeguarding course through NSPCC. Safety of children is extremely important and we ensure parents/guardians that those volunteers we have coaching youth players have met the requirements to do so. For more information on the safeguarding course, please see here: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/training/child-protection-safeguarding-sport

Friendly games will be arranged wherever possible. We intend to enter a team into the British Baseball Federation Youth National Championships in September (dependent on age groups and numbers) so that the children can play competitive baseball and continue on their path to becoming a great ball-player.