FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME
For the Love of the Game
A baseball academy teaches all the fundamentals - especially character
By Ross Howell Jr. • Photographs by Tibor Nemeth
Scott Bankhead, a former Major League Baseball pitcher and founder of the North Carolina Baseball Academy, threw his first pitch for his Little League baseball team in Mount Olive when he was 7 years old.
“I enjoyed everything about the game,” Bankhead says. “I loved throwing the ball. I loved hitting the ball.”
Back then, there weren’t many professional games broadcast on TV during the summer. And there were hardly any special coaching camps.
But Bankhead was encouraged along by his older cousins, who played for a regional American Legion Baseball amateur team.
Bankhead went on to throw a lot more pitches — first, for his elementary school coaches in Reidsville, where his family moved when he was 9, then for the Reidsville Senior High School baseball team, then as a collegiate player at UNC-Chapel Hill, and finally, pitching for the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees during a 10-year professional career.
After his retirement, Bankhead felt a real passion to pass along his knowledge and affection for the game and dedicated his post-professional baseball life to mentoring young players, both on and off the field.
Bankhead saw a need for better instruction at all levels of the game. He wanted to provide a resource for players of all ages and ability levels, a place where he could have a positive influence on them as athletes and as individuals.
The result?
NCBA, established by Bankhead in 1998.
Located near the Piedmont Triad International Airport, the academy’s facilities are impressive. The campus comprises 12 acres and provides students with indoor- and outdoor-training areas for both baseball and softball, an instructional center, a weight room, indoor pitching mounds with retractable batting cages, performance stations, an artificial turf running track, and a pro shop for equipment.
Students even have their hitting and pitching stills analyzed by Rapsodo and Blast Motion, the same technology used by all 30 MLB teams and 1,200 colleges.
“The philosophy here is to teach the fundamentals of the game,” Bankhead says. “That’s what we do day-to-day at the facility.” And then adds, “Our goal, first and foremost, is to enable players to do well in school, so they will be able to get into college.”
While state-of-the-art facilities and technology are important, the character, quality and experience of the academy’s instructors are essential.
And NCBA coaches have strong Greensboro ties.
Jeff Guerrie, assistant director of NCBA, moved from Florida to Greensboro during his senior year and played baseball at West Forsyth High School before playing for Greensboro College. He coached at Page High School before joining the academy and combines traditional coaching with his expert use of modern baseball training technology.
A graduate of High Point Central High School, Colin Smith played college baseball at North Carolina Central University, Southeastern Community College and Guilford College. He served as head coach of the Lexington Flying Pigs in the Old North State League and teaches NCBA students at all skill levels.
Shane Schumaker played baseball at UNCG and professionally in independent leagues. He returned to coach at UNCG, and later coached both baseball and softball in California. He was an associate scout for the Atlanta Braves before joining NCBA, where he teaches baseball and softball skills — including softball pitching.
A former baseball player at Grimsley High School, Winston-Salem State University and Guilford College, where he completed his degree, Saunders Joplin works with players of all ages, specializing in hitting, catching, pitching and basic skills.
Devin Ponton also played his college baseball at Guilford College. He is currently the head junior varsity baseball coach at Southwest Guilford High School in High Point. With years of baseball experience and knowledge, he coaches players in any area of the game.
To all these instructors, Bankhead drives home the point that personal attention is key to the academy’s success.
“We treat each player as an individual,” says Bankhead. “We help them learn to enjoy the game and to understand that hard work in baseball can lead to success in other endeavors.”
Players can sign up for one-on-one lessons with a coach by appointment. These sessions are tailored to the player’s specific needs — including hitting, pitching, catching, fielding and basic skills.
Coaches also lead training camps throughout the calendar year that offer instruction, drills and practice routines mirroring professional baseball training methods. The goal is to help players gain knowledge, skills and confidence to take them to a higher level.
Finally, there are the NCBA Golden Spikes teams.
The academy’s Golden Spikes program is recognized as one of North Carolina’s premier player development and college prospect initiatives.
Teams are selected through tryouts and bring together the region’s top talent to compete against some of the strongest teams in the nation.
There is a development program for elementary and middle school age players and a college prospect program for high school age players.
“Since the inception of our team program in 2002,” Bankhead says, “we’ve placed more than 100 players at the college or professional level.”
Producing that number of elite players certainly gives Bankhead bragging rights.
But he’ll tell you that’s not the endgame.
Recently, he was out on the golf course and ran into a former NCBA student he remembered well.
This one had gone on to play college baseball and then earned a medical degree.
“Now, he’s a vascular surgeon,” Bankhead says with a smile.
“Sure, we like to see our students reach the highest levels of professional baseball, if that’s what they want,” he adds. “But we’re also a resource for the future doctors of the world.”
