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Baseball BC Coach of the Year

After a Provincial wide search, Baseball BC names its first “Baseball BC Coach of the Year.”

There are baseball coaches, then there is Karen Hoskins of Lake Cowichan, the Baseball BC Coach of the Year.

Karen coaches her two sons in the T-Ball level in Lake Cowichan.  Her passion and drive is contagious as the kids and the parents learn the fundamentals of baseball.

Karen not only coaches at the T-Ball level, but she makes the kids enjoy them time with their teammates.  Following the season Karen hosts a “Fun Day” for all kids registered in Lake Cowichan T-Ball and bakes them a cupcake in the shape of baseballs.  “I just want kids coming back to play baseball,” says Karen.

She talks with Baseball BC Media Coordinator, Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters)

Here is her nomination from “Amanada”

I would like to recommend Karen Hoskins for coach of the year. (Lake Cowichan T-ball)

Even more than last year, this woman has gone above and beyond the heights of imagination and creativity in finding ways to make t-ball a fun and exciting sport for our children.

She invents games and activities that seem like pure play to the kids, but have skills intertwined and they are learning while having so much fun. Karen also involves the parents so that we are all onboard and supporting our kids.

Karen puts on two practices a week in addition to a game, so the kids are actively involved in the sport, and she plans ways to keep it fun. She brings "basket hats" to practices that kids can throw water balloons into, she brings tires and painted garbage cans for target practice, she has games of parents vs. kids, and she has encouraged all the kids with a weekly reward where each child gets to take home the movie and book Everyone's hero with a copy to keep.

She really is an inspiration to us all in how we can commit to children and how an investment in them makes us all better.

Here is Karen’s nomination from “Krista”

I am nominating Karen Hoskins from the T-ball team Fireball's of Lake Cowichan, BC as coach of the year for 2013.  This last T-ball season my son played T-ball for the first time & had the ABSOLUTE BEST COACH EVER!  Karen Hoskins went above & beyond what any coach I have seen had ever done.  She had our team the Fireball's practice 2 nights a week.  Was very informative to her team & parents.  She not only coached a great team but also helped the other coaches at every game we had.  She is a warm, caring, giving coach who is in this for the players to learn & have fun doing so.   She was the first one there at every game, practice was set up & ready to go.  At the end of the year she put on a t-ball fun day & what a great day it was.  She was there for hours in the morning alone putting up the equipment.  Always a smile on her face.  She was there from beginning to end at our fund raising bottle drive.

Baseball BC would also like to recognize all the coaches that were nominated.  Here are three of those coaches that receive an “honourable mention:”

Parker Kynoch – North Shore Jr. Twins
Raul Verde Rios – Richmond City Baseball
Darren Rock – Aldergrove Dodgers