Wilbert Ellis Baseball Camp set for July 27
Distinguished community leader Wilbert Ellis is set to host his 14th annual Baseball Camp on July 27, free to all families with kids ages 4-15. Leader photo by Matt Belinson
Families from across the South are expected to flood Ruston once again for the 14th annual Wilbert Ellis Baseball Camp on July 27.
After welcoming over 280 kids last year, Ellis, a Hall of Fame icon in Grambling and Lincoln Parish, expects another strong turnout at Fraser Field to take part in fulfilling baseball and softball instruction from local pros, while parents learn from community leaders about important resources available to them and their children.
“We’ve added to our enrichment time for parents so now parents don’t just drop off and go. They stay now and they get a chance to see the kids out there and they learn for themselves,” Ellis said. “We have attorneys coming, judges coming, somebody from mental health services, somebody from the tax assessor’s office — people from the community that the parents may know about, but they might not know how to access these resources.
“We want to cut down on the drugs, violence and all these things. We stress that. And I want to do it through baseball.”
The camp is free to all families with children ages 4- 15 and is still open for registration. If families wish to register the day of the camp, the process starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 9 a.m. on July 27 at the registration tent at Fraser Field.
Ellis said the camp’s reach has stretched beyond Lincoln Parish in recent years, with families from Texas, Arkansas, and even Mississippi making the trip to participate in the unique opportunity.
Kids will go through instruction drills from 9 a.m. to noon before a lunch break, followed by closing ceremonies from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Grambling State head baseball coach Davin Pierre will lead the instruction portion of the camp, splitting campers up into base running drills, hitting, throwing, and more.
“ We want to teach them the fundamentals of baseball,” Ellis said. “Some kids don’t know how to put a glove on, hold a bat. And that’s where we bring in our guys who have played college ball, minor leagues or major leagues. That’s exciting to have for the kids.”
Instructors will include Pierre, GSU assistant baseball coach Perez Knowles, and former GSU and MLB players John Lewis, Ralph Garr, Ronnie Lewis, Bobby Dupree, Gary Eave, and Ira Tuell, among others.
The camp will also include current GSU baseball players fresh off winning the SWAC Tournament title and making the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2010.
It’s thanks to those volunteer coaches and others that have allowed the camp to continue to grow since Ellis started the event, and he’s grateful 14 years later the camp still creates excitement.
“They love the kids,” Ellis said of camp instructors. “The idea of here’s a kid that has never had someone to hug them and teach them and say, ‘You can. You will. We’re going to help you through this. Don’t give up.’ They want to come back every year and they love it. They want to give something back to their communities.”
The Wilbert Ellis Baseball Camp will be held July 27 at Fraser Field in Ruston from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is free to attend.
