The New York Mets Baseball Academy took their summer instruction team to the fields in Syosset the last two weeks of August to help the Syosset Baseball Association players build stronger fundamental skills of the game with the pros.

This is the third year that Syosset has been a site that the New York Mets Baseball Academy has come to the fields. Each year has gotten better and stronger with this year being no exception. Over the two weeks there were over 200 players attending.

On Monday, Aug. 21, 120 players reported to training camp, getting registered for the week's activities. They were then broken down by age for player evaluations. The mornings thereafter, the coaches worked with the players on key fundamentals of the game including hitting, fielding, running, throwing and pitching.

The afternoon consisted of a game to take the morning's skills learned and put them to work in game situations. On Wednesday, Aug. 23, the players were privileged to have four of the New York Mets come down to help and assist with their morning workouts including first base coach Sandy Alomar, hitting coach Rick Down, bullpen coach Tom Nietto and catcher Mike DeFelice. The entire group was broken down into groups where the New York Mets staff were able to give close attention to each player.

The week's events concluded with the traditional awards ceremony to conclude a great week of baseball and fun had by all.

Week two started off with inclement weather to get 85 new players registered into training camp and up and running for the week. The week's events continued same as week 1 with one change. Due to the fact that the New York Mets were now on the road, this week's players were treated to baseball knowledge and skills by some of the greats that played prior for the home club. 1969 New York Mets championship first baseball, #7 Ed Kranepool, joined 1986 New York Mets championship outfielder, #15 George Foster, to work with the players on infield and batting skills throughout the day.

During both weeks, the player appearances during instruction were followed by an opportunity for the players to take home their memories of working with their favorite Mets with autographs on their hats and any other baseball things they might have brought in anticipation of meeting these players.

Syosset Baseball Association would like to thank the New York Mets Baseball Academy for their efforts, dedication and commitment throughout the two weeks and prior leading up to the two weeks together. With this year's overwhelming success, the owner and founder Kevin Surdi and general partner Tom Hopke are already planning on next year's date to make next year even better and stronger than this year.

A calendar of events for Syosset Baseball Association can be found on the web http://www.syossetbaseball.org.