For the second straight summer, local softball fan and coach Roger Burkhart is doing his part to make sure area players have a shot at moving on to playing college softball.
On Tuesday, July 27, Burkhart will host The Skills and Drills Exposure Camp at The Batters Box, located in Northern Newton County — on Gateway Drive.
Burkhart will be bringing in five different college coaches, headlined by Missouri head coach Ehren Earleywine. The Jefferson City native led the Lady Tigers to the College World Series for the second straight season. He was at this camp
last year.
Other coaches committed to the camp are Missouri Southern coach Bill Gray, Missouri S&T coach Don Kennedy, Crowder College coach Lori Videmschek and new Pittsburg State head coach Annette Hunt-Shepherd.
“All of the coaches were eager to do it again,” Burkhart said. “For the kids, its an opportunity to be around college coaches and the opportunity to be recruited is good for the area.”
Burkhart’s daughter, Alaina, was a junior this past season at Missouri State. His other daughter, Tana, played at Crowder.
Add onto his experience as a summer coach, he knows a little bit about the college recruiting process.
That in part played a role in his relationship with the coaches attending the clinic.
The camp will have two sessions, the first running from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the second from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The camp is for players junior high and up, including recruitable college freshmen or sophomores.
The cost is $60 and there is a limit of 30 players per session.
“The kids get exposure and good instruction on hitting drills,” Burkhart said. “All of the coaches do something different. It was fun last year. I wanted to make it more of a recruiting thing, which appealed to the coaches.”
Last year, one of the players that attended the camp from Maryville signed with Missouri.
Registration for the camp is underway and you can do so by calling Burkhart at 417-540-0764.
