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Giles' Baseball Camp Gives Youths Taste Of The Game

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By STEVEN HINTON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 16, 2008

DADE CITY - When Ricky Giles steps on the field this summer, he sees many Pirates fans. They aren't in the stands, but on the field. For the past four years, the longtime Pasco High baseball coach has held a baseball camp for the youths in Pasco County. Kids ranging in age from 6 to 14 come to learn from Giles and from players from the high school baseball team.

"This camp promotes hard work because nothing is given to you, said Giles, who has coached the Pirates baseball team for the past 15 years. "The program helps build a great rapport with kids in the community."
Giles builds this by having players from the high school baseball team work with the younger ones.

"It gives the little ones someone to look up to because all of them want to be a Pirate," he said.

The camp is a lot different from how Giles used to play. When Giles was young, he and his friends would find a field of any kind and would play stickball. And they had to come up with everything from balls to bases to bats. Here, the kids have it all given to them.

"We provide the balls, the field, and we even provide the food for them," Giles said.
Giles almost missed camp this year. The Zephyrhills High School and Saint Leo University alum nearly ended his coaching career after this past season's loss in the regional finals.

"The frustration of almost winning it all and falling short many times almost got the best of me," he said.
Giles needed just a few days to sit back and reflect on the past season, and then he was good to go.

"I didn't want to leave because then I would have felt that I let the kids down," he said.

When he began coaching, Giles wanted to develop a program that would be respected by all. He didn't want people to look at them and think of them as just some country boys.

Years later, he's done just that. He not only has built a contending program at the high-school level, but also a summer program that instills family and sportsmanship values.
Giles said he had much to look forward to this summer. His son, Treyvond, will be heading into the ninth grade at Pasco High School. Ricky said that his son is not going to be treated any differently when he's on the field.

"He's going to have to work hard like everyone else, but he's got some talent," he said.

Asking the head coach when he planned on retiring, he simply replied, "When the Lord lets me know."

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