Youth from Preston, Loon Lake and Cherry Brook, N.S. got an opportunity to interact with the police officers who serve them during the annual TrySport Clinic Tuesday.
“I love this program because it’s giving all these children, these youth, the opportunity to get exposed to a great sport like baseball because a lot of time in our community, the people just play basketball, the students play mostly basketball,” said Matthew Thomas, a Preston native who volunteered his time to help out with the program.
Every summer, the program introduces youth in the area to sports not typically played in their communities.
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It also gives children the opportunity to view police in a community orientated light.
“Police are a part of our community and so it’s important that police and community know each other,” Thomas said. “Not just from an enforcement perspective but more from a communal perspective where they see each other as just people co-existing with the same purpose, which is really trying to make the community a better place.”
That sentiment was echoed by fellow youth leader, Sam Provo, who’s also from the Preston communities.
“It gives them an opportunity to learn that the police are here to help, they’re here to protect and they’re here to serve and who knows we may have future little police chiefs and police officers among us,” Provo said.
This year, Preston-area RCMP members worked with Baseball Nova Scotia to bring baseball skills to the youth.
“The beautiful thing about this is it’s bringing all the communities together,” Thomas said.
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