More than 100 attend GVHS Youth Softball Camp

by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News

Vale Basham and her friend Olivia Frisch collected their gear on the final day of the Grain Valley High School Youth Softball Camp.

The two sixth graders took their time in the Eagles dugout, as if they wanted the camp to continue well into the afternoon.

Basham, who has a great last name for a softball player, explained that it resulted in her nickname.

"My last name's Basham, like bash 'em, when your hitting the ball," she said, with a grin. "So my nickname is 'Brick Wall Bash 'em,'" She said. "I think it's a pretty cool nickname."

So does assistant coach Katie Kelly, who quipped, "Vale is a brick wall behind the plate, and when she's hitting, she bashes the ball. She had a great camp."

So did Frisch, who a pitcher who looks forward to being a battery mate with Bashman when they are freshmen.

"It's so cool to pitch to Vale in the camp," Frisch said. "We know each other and familiar with each other and that will be important when we get to high school. This was a great camp for me because I got to work on my hitting and the release of my pitches. This is the second time I've attended the camp, and I will attend every camp until I reach high.

"Coach Courter has a great camp. And I think there were so many kids at this camp because his softball team is so good."

Last season his 33-3 team set a regular-season record for most wins, before they were upset in the district finals by Columbia Rock Bridge.

"That loss still stings," the personable Courter said. "But camps like this recharge my battery. I've had as much fun as the campers, and what was really cool about this week's camp was we had about 15 high school players working the camp. In the past few years, they attended the camp."

Courter said about 20 campers attended the first youth camp, with 30 the following year and 40 in 2024.

"We had early registration, and I'm like, 'WOW!' We're going to have 95 kids in camp," he said. "Then, with late sign ups and some walk ups we finished with about 108 - and I couldn't believe it. We had two camps - kindergarten through fifth grade from 9 a.m. to 10:30 and sixth through eighth grade from 10:30 to noon.

"We worked on all the basics, and I think the kids had a great time, and learned a lot, too."

As always, one of Courter's assistants, who checked players in and wrote a name tag for each of them, was his daughter Caffrey, who will be a freshman this fall.

"I love being around my dad and working his camp," Caffrey said. "And like my dad said, the girls learned a lot and had a lot of fun. It hot - and I mean really hot - but we have water breaks and he kept the girls so busy they didn't have time to think about the weather."

​Some of the more than 100-plus campers who attended the third annual Grain Valley High School Youth Softball Camp, posed for a team photo during the three-day camp. It was the largest camp Eagles coach Flip Courter and his staff have worked with since he took over as head coach three years ago. Photo credit: Grain Valley Softball Program

Grain Valley High School Youth Softball Camp participants, from left, Olivia Frisch and Vale Basham, collect their gear while visiting with Eagles softball coach and camp director Flip Courter on the last day of camp. This year's camp attracted more than 100 elementary school aged players. Photo credit: Bill Althaus