Young Waterloo Region baseball players featured in national campaign
A couple of Waterloo Region kids have been featured in a new campaign to inspire more people to try the sport of baseball.
The Jays Care Foundation recently launched some new commercials to highlight its programs, featuring real participants. Among the kids who make appearances are Greyson Bonnick, 9, and Grady Spain, 10.
“My best part of baseball is [when] I do the home run,” Bonnick tells CTV News.
Greyson Bonnick (left) and Grady Spain (right) appear in a Jays Care Foundation commercial. (Youtube/Jays Care Foundation)
The teammates, from Waterloo and Cambridge, are now in a nationwide campaign that highlights a series of Jays Care initiatives, including Challenger Baseball – the adaptive program both Bonnick and Spain are a part of.
Their coach, Cam Linwood, nominated a few athletes in the program to participate in the commercial.
“Adaptive baseball is exactly that – it adapts to the unique needs of every single athlete. And we really focus on making the game fit the athlete and not making the athlete fit the game,” says Linwood, who also works for the Jay Care Foundation.
Cambridge's Grady Spain, 10, is pictured in Jays Care Foundation campaign aimed at inspiring more people to try baseball. (Source: Jays Care Foundation)
The campaign’s slogan is: “When you belong, you believe.”
“I think the most important part is recognizing that not everyone has equal access to sport programming in Canada. When we look at a campaign like ‘You belong, you believe,’ I think the real big tenet is the fact that when you really feel like you belong to something, you start believing in yourself,” Linwood says.
It’s a message Bonnick wants to share. Asked what he would tell a kid who wanted to play baseball but had doubts about their ability, his answer is simple.
“I could help you out,” he says.
Greyson Bonnick, 9, from Waterloo, is part of an adaptive baseball team in Waterloo Region. (Source: Jays Care Foundation)
Viewers will be able to the see the campaign when watching Blue Jays games on television and when attending in-person at the Rogers Centre.
As for Bonnick and Spain, they were pretty pleased to see themselves on the screen.
“I was happy,” says Bonnick.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Italy's white-collar mafia is making a business killing
Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days. Extortion rackets have gone out of fashion and murders are largely frowned upon by the godfathers.
Spike in 'violent rhetoric' since Oct. 7 attack from 'extremist actors,' CSIS warns
The Israel-Hamas war has led to a spike in 'violent rhetoric' from 'extremist actors' that could prompt some in Canada to turn to violence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns.
Russia announces nuclear weapon drills after angry exchange with senior Western officials
Russia plans to hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced Monday, days after the Kremlin reacted angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine and Moscow warned that tensions with the West are deepening.
Summer forecast: What to expect as El Nino weakens
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza's Rafah ahead of an expected assault
The Israeli army ordered some 100,000 Palestinians on Monday to begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent and further complicating efforts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza.