As promised Islandstats.com, we will be posting a 2014 Year In Review.
Because we have covered most Local Sports there is much to report, so unlike others that can fit a Year of Sports in one or two pages we will be posting a couple of sports per day beginning today to make sure you have the opportunity to review each sport.
Today we continue with Equestrian and Baseball.
EQUESTRIAN
One of the highlights of the equestrian year was the performance of show jumper Jillian Terceira on her horse Tamerino at the World Equestrian Games held in Normandy, France in early September when competing against many of the World’s top riders Jillian just missed out on being a finalist after successfully completing the first two rounds.
This was closely followed by the performance of Dressage rider Virginia McKey when competing in the Central American and Caribbean Games held in Jalapa, Mexico in November the result of which gained Bermuda a country spot in dressage at the Pan American Games 2015 which will be held in Canada.
One of the lows was the withdrawl of both Show Jumpers from the Central American and Caribbean Games due to lack of sufficient financial support, resulting in a missed opportunity to qualify for the Pan American Games 2015.
BASEBALL
The 2014 Y.A.O Baseball Bermuda (YA)) season was once again a very exciting year for the program.
3 former YAO players continue to excel overseas. This goes to show everyone Baseball does not have to end at 15. KJ Moreno, a YAO participant since Tee Ball, continued to chase his dream and enrolled at Vauxhall Baseball Academy in Alberta Canada. Adam Hall, another former player to continue to impress overseas, having taken part for the second year in a row at the Tournament of 12, sponsored by the Toronto Blue Jays, in association with Baseball Canada. The YAO also has Braxton Stowe Jr. recently committed to Division I St. Louis University, in St. Louis Missouri, having spent the past 4 years starring for Trinity Christian Academy in Florida.
The YAO season got started in mid-March this year, having held a 2 day clinic for over 80 children. The clinic was run by Les McTavish, Head Coach and Director of Operations of Vauxhall Baseball Academy. In addition to his work at Vauxhall he is a scout for the Seattle Mariners and has been a pitching coach for Canada's Jr. Team. The YAO is hoping to bring Les back in 2015.
The season finally got underway in April with over 250 children taking part in Tee Ball, Rookie, Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth Divisions. The YAO had over 50 volunteers helping out with field maintenance, umpiring, coaching and running the concession stand. The league cannot thank these volunteers enough as well as the parents of our young ball players.
The Tee Ball teams had a great year learning the game of baseball. The Rookie league crowned their champion Yankees. The Rookie league also had their first traveling team. A group of 11 players went down to the Cal Ripken complex in Aberdeen Maryland and competed in a tournament. While they came up short, it was a great experience for the kids.
The Cal Ripken Division crowned their Champion Orioles at the end of the season. The Cal Ripken Division also had a traveling team and came back with one of the most successful tours by a YAO Traveling team, going 3-3. The Babe Ruth Division remained competitive all year, eventually crowning their champion Pirates.
While the field did sustain some damage the past few months, we expect to be back up and running by the Spring 2105.
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