Ellis annual free Baseball Camp to kickoff

By Joice M. Dunn

Children from across several southern states are expected to overflow the City of Ruston to attend the 15th annual Wilbert Ellis Baseball Camp on Saturday, July 26. The camp will be held at Fraser Field, 1701 Martin L. King Drive in Ruston from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is free to attend.

Families with children ages 4-15 still have the opportunity to register for the camp. On-site registration will start at 8 a.m. at the Fraser Field registration tent and continue, but registration by 9 a.m. allows the receipt of a raffle ticket. If inclement weather appears in the area, the camp will move to the Zion Traveler Baptist Church Family Life Center Gym, located at 1201 Martin Luther King Dr. 

Coach Ellis, a several time Hall of Famer in the sport from Grambling, Lincoln Parish, to the State of Louisiana and nationally, will open the program with remarks and introductions. The crowd will receive welcomes from Ruston Mayor Ronnie Walker or a representative as well as Grambling Mayor Alvin Bradley and GSU President Martin Lemelle or a representative.

Ellis said the camp’s participation has stretched beyond the borders of Lincoln Parish, reaching families as far as Texas, Arkansas, and part of Mississippi traveling to take part. Since the camp has a no child drop off policy, a parent or guardian must be present. While the campers take part in instruction from local pros, parents learn from community leaders about 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.”

The campers will go through instruction drills from 9 a.m. to noon before taking a lunch break, followed by closing ceremonies from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Davin Pierre, Grambling State University head baseball coach, will lead the instructive part of the camp, dividing campers into base running drills, hitting, throwing, and more. “We want to teach them the fundamentals of baseball,” said Ellis.

Instructors will include Pierre, Perez Knowles, Shemar Page, GSU assistant baseball coaches, and former GSU and Major League Baseball players Ralph Garr, John Lewis, Ronnie Lewis, Bobby Dupree, Gary Eave, and Ira Tuell, among others. The camp will also include current GSU baseball players.

Ellis said, “They love the kids and want to give something back to their communities.”