It’s not secret that baseball in the summer time has become somewhat of a big deal, especially considering now that one of Troy’s Dixie Tournament teams is making a trip to Mississippi to challenge for a Dixie Youth World Series title.

Expectations for Troy’s team to finish no better than first every time they compete in a tournament of this magnitude are always high considering that these kids go through various training programs to help give them the tools they need to succeed on the field in the Dixie tournaments and beyond if they are looking to play at a high school, collegiate or even professional level.

One of those training programs is the prestigious Charles Henderson High School baseball camp that began this past Monday.

Head coach Derek Irons and assistant coaches Trent Givens and Jeremy Jones are overseeing the camp. The trio will cover various aspects of the game for those attending, which will include base running, fielding, throwing mechanics and hitting.

“It’s always a fun week,” Irons said.

“We always enjoy it, getting the kids in community out there and we really just try to spend a lot of time on the fundamentals and basics that we think are important for kids at all ages to know, but especially early on.”

With an age group from kids entering kindergarten through sixth grade at their disposal, Irons and his staff are looking to help mold these kids into Troy’s next generation of baseball players.

In addition to his coaching staff, Irons has brought in a multitude of past and present players from his team to help coordinate with the camp.

“It’s good to get these kids to learn and be around our players,” Irons said.

“Our guys really enjoy it. They want to know when they can come back and help.”

At the end of the day though, Irons is hopeful that those attending camp will get a few things out of his camp besides a new curveball or a new swing.

“First of all we want them to have fun,” Irons said.

“Baseball’s supposed to be fun. We want them to have a good experience here, to have fun, to learn to compete, but then also to take away at least one thing from every aspect of the game. We’re not trying to make them major league all-stars in one day, but we do want them to get better and just try to improve the different areas of their game just a little bit over the course of the week.”