When the Central Arizona Vaqueros baseball team comes to town this week for the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series, members of the Grand Junction Downtown Rotary Club will be as busy as the players.
The Downtown Rotary Club is hosting the Vaqueros, which won the Western District title last Saturday to earn a place in the JUCO tournament. And spearheading the Rotary group’s efforts will be Barbara Traylor Smith, president of Retirement Outfitters, LLC, and chair of the club’s JUCO team host committee.
“We are essentially their concierge while they’re here,” says Traylor Smith, who is in her fourth year of serving on the club’s host committee. “There are lots of details that have to be addressed.”
Each of the 10 teams from throughout the country that come to Grand Junction for the tournament has a local service-club host. The hosts play a crucial role in keeping the teams and their fans happy and comfortable during their stay.
The JUCO organizing committee takes care of basic logistics such as booking hotel rooms and practice facilities for the teams. But the hosts provide many of the extras, such as a barbecue for the team and their families.
Because some teams exit the double-elimination tournament as early as Sunday, Traylor Smith says the trick is to schedule the barbecue early. For Central Arizona, the barbecue is Saturday night at Canyon View Park.
“We will feed somewhere between 80 and 100 people,” Traylor Smith says.
Hosts also provide water, Gatorade, and other supplies to teams for practices. Occasionally, hosts run errands for the teams – Traylor Smith says she once had to go back to a team’s hotel and retrieve a player’s forgotten glove. She once took a player to the JUCO doctor for a sinus infection.
The host club also supplies bat boys and bat girls for its team’s games at Suplizio Field, and the club serves as a tour guide for teams and their families. When teams win and remain in the week-long tournament for several days, players and their families often take in some sights around the Grand Valley in their spare time. Such touristy activities can include golf and visits to Colorado National Monument and Grand Mesa.
“Some of these kids have rarely or never seen snow, so we’ve taken them to Grand Mesa to play in the snow,” Traylor Smith says.
The host club also makes sure members of the team get to the annual youth clinic, in which JUCO players and coaches teach baseball basics to local kids.
All in all, the host clubs work to make sure the tournament and Grand Junction are positive, memorable experiences for the players.
“Some of these kids will go on to four-year schools, and some of them will be drafted. But for some of them, it’s their last time in a uniform,” Traylor Smith says.
JUCO is a Grand Junction tradition, and this year’s tournament opens Saturday, May 28, at Suplizio Field at Lincoln Park. For information about the tournament, visit http://www.jucogj.org/.
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