POULSBO — It was the first year of the Junior Viking Baseball Skills Clinic and more than 50 participants in different experience levels — from grades K-8 — joined North Kitsap baseball coaches and players to sharpen their skills.

“It’s been great. We have a bunch of enthusiastic kids,” NK head baseball coach Jeff Weible said of the camp, April 4-5 at North Kitsap Stadium. “Let’s just hope the weather holds.”

The sky, although overcast, allowed the sun to peak out onto the diamond for campers practicing pitching, catching, and base running. Throughout the clinic’s informational activities, bursts of “Tag” and “Simon Says” kept the younger kids excited and engaged. Laughter was heard across the field as kids collaborated with the varsity players.

Mel Crowley, a junior on the varsity baseball team, has been playing baseball for years. As he joked with and praised his group, he received high fives and hugs from happy campers.

“It’s fun,” Crowley said. “Playing with these kids, teaching what we got and working with them is so much fun.”

On top of the camp being a fun and a relatively low-cost spring-break activity for kids (fees benefit the North Kitsap Athletic Boosters), Weible said campers were showing a good level of knowledge retention from the day before.

“This morning we asked them what they learned from yesterday, and a bunch of them recited things we’ve taught them,” he said.

Important advice like “Don’t ever slide into first base,” and “Make sure your knuckles are lined up when hitting,” resonated with the campers.

Weible said, “Today we’re just working on the basic skills. I don’t know how often they hear it from their other coaches, but hopefully they’ll go out and be better players because of it.”

Along with Weible, coaches Jared Prince, Dave Green, Todd Gowin, and Jayson Gore coached the participants.

Gabriel Fee, a 7-year-old camper, said his favorite part of baseball camp was the fly balls and grounders. Alex Ander, a 6-year-old camper, said his favorite part was “throwing the ball.”

Despite being on spring break, most of the North Kitsap varsity players were present to assist.

“This is something we’ve always wanted to do,” Weible said. “This is an opportunity [for the players] to give back to kids and the program.”

North Kitsap senior varsity baseball player Taylor Woodworth worked with younger campers on the basics of fielding ground balls.

“It never hurts for the kids to practice and learn,” he said. “It’s pretty nice to help little kids and see them really enjoy baseball.”

As the campers learned the fundamentals of the sport, they also developed a sense of teamwork and work ethic to practice on and off the field. A message at lunch delivered by the coaches emphasized the importance of school, hard work and dedication.

“I’m glad to see them excited about the sport,” Weible said. “If every kid takes away at least one thing from the camp, then it’s been successful … Hopefully, through work of mouth and kids telling their friends, we’ll have 100 campers next year.”

Weible and his coaches and players also host a football camp in the summer. For more information, contact Weible at jweible@nkschools.org or call 360-981-6972.