WHETHER it is playing, umpiring or coaching baseball, Byford’s Liam Olesen can do it all.
Now, the 16-year-old has been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime after being invited to attend a three-week development camp in Chicago.
Olesen, who plays for Willetton Baseball Club, said the opportunity came by chance.
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READ NOW“The lady who organised the trip, she invited me and a few others to umpire,” he said.
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“But through whatever happened, they didn’t need any umpires, so they’ve invited me to go over and play instead.”
The camp is a reward for the hard-working Olesen, who despite his age has already established himself in Willetton’s AA side.
“The men’s season started before juniors, so I trained for a few weeks and they needed someone to play in one of the lower men’s grades,” he said.
“So I played for them and after maybe two games I got called up to play AAs.”
Olesen has juggled playing with the seniors alongside his commitments to the under-17s and under-19s teams he also plays in.
However, he has also proven himself a talented umpire, having umpired the Under-13 National Championships in New South Wales last year.
He plans to do the same at the under-15 championships in Adelaide this year.
Olesen said while he prefers playing, umpiring had improved his own personal game.
He also tried coaching, taking charge of his brother’s under-13 little league side last year and guiding them to a grand final berth.