Latest news with #Kamloops


CBC
13 minutes ago
- Sport
- CBC
Following in his dad's footsteps, Kamloops baseball player selected in MLB draft
It's been a big week for Tyrelle Chadwick. On Monday, he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies, giving him a taste of the big league. "It's a huge honour to have the opportunity to play at the next level," he told CBC's Daybreak Kamloops host Shelley Joyce. "It's something I've dreamed about for a really long time." Chadwick, who grew up in Kamloops and recently celebrated his 22nd birthday, has played for the Illinois Sate Redbirds since 2023, making 14 appearances this past season. According to Illinois State Athletics, he was third on the team with 43 strikeouts, threw one complete game and was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week in March following seven scoreless innings against Western Illinois University. Chadwick's family is familiar with Major League Baseball; his dad, Ray Chadwick, played for the California Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels) for one season in 1986. The pair sat down for an interview on CBC Radio before Chadwick heads south to start training. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How long have you been playing baseball, Tyrelle? Essentially since I was born. I started playing organized baseball when I was four years old. But I mean, I was quite literally raised at the ballpark. So it's been a long time coming. There was a long time that I thought I was going to pursue basketball and thought I was going to try and play that at the collegiate level. It kind of flipped my later years of high school, especially with COVID, not having a senior basketball season. What happens next? So I will go down to Scottsdale, Ariz., actually. I'll have some medical procedures, like drug testing and a physical, to get cleared for everything. And then I'll sign my contract while I'm down there and I'll hop right into it. Ray, you must be thrilled to bits. How are you feeling? Proud papa, very proud. He wanted to pursue his dreams and now he has that opportunity and it's going to be fun to watch. Tyrelle, you're a pitcher. Right-handed. Will they try to change anything about your pitch, teach you new things or new strategies that you might not already have? Yeah, for sure. I mean, they have a great pitching development program. There's always more stuff to learn. I could see potentially adding another pitch to my repertoire. I currently throw three pitches. I throw a sinker, a slider and a change up. And more than likely I'll probably add a cutter of some kind, something that moves kind of the opposite direction as my sinker, which is my normal fastball. Pretty much everything I throw moves to the arm side of the plate for me as a right-handed pitcher and the cutter would move in the opposite direction and still be able to add a little bit extra deception. How fast do you pitch now? I've been up to 98 [miles per hour]. Most of my starts this year were around 92 to 94. I'd get up to 95 or 96 most of my starts. My separator has always been my fastball from the time I was 11 years old. It's been my velocity. So it was definitely a learning experience to kind of be like, OK, I do need to take a little bit off here. There's pitching development down there that I think will allow me to kind of get back into that 96, 97, 98 range and be able to command that a little bit better with some professional development. Ray, your son has been pitching a touch slower lately. Do you know anything about that? Oh, well, yeah. He struggled. So he came home and did some work and went back this year with that, what they call bowling ball sinker. But he was only throwing it 92 to 94. And you know, he dropped two to three miles an hour, but he got in the zone consistently. Lot better control consistently, he was second in the league in fewest walks in the league and first in the league in ground balls. He made a tremendous jump by coming off of his fastball and letting it work and getting it in the zone. Tyrelle, do you come home and talk to your dad about stuff? Do you still have questions for him or do you look for guidance? Yeah, I mean, we still talk about the game while I'm at school even. I mean, obviously I have coaches down there that I work with on a daily basis. But there's definitely, I think now that I am away from home more, we talk a lot more about the mental side of the game than necessarily specific mechanical developments. Ray, you're currently head coach of the TRU Wolfpack baseball team. What's your advice for aspiring young players who want to go all the way? Just like we said about him, it's hard work and, you know, progressing, getting better each year, getting better each time you step on the field each day, and that's what he's done. And if you do that, you'll give yourself a chance.


CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Friend mourns international student who died in Kamloops, B.C., drowning
Social Sharing Friends and colleagues are mourning the death of a 27-year-old university student who drowned in Kamloops, B.C. Anant Kaul says Jatin Garg was a humble and hard-working student who came to Canada last summer to study business at Thompson Rivers University (TRU). "He was like my family," he said of Garg. "He was like my brother." Kaul said he was shocked when he heard that his friend of 12 years was swept away when he tried to retrieve a volleyball from the Thompson River. "I couldn't accept it," Kaul said. "[All] I could think [was] how hard it would be for his parents, for his family, for his ... little brother. I couldn't even imagine what feelings they would have at that moment." Kamloops RCMP confirmed the body's discovery in a statement on Tuesday, saying it was recovered near McArthur Island Park, a few kilometres northwest of Overlander Park where the young man was playing volleyball on the evening of July 6. Kaul said Garg didn't know how to swim. He said at the time two friends went into the water to help him, but they ended up requiring the help of bystanders. "They saved those two men but they were unable to save or find Jatin," he said. Kaul described his friend as someone who always had a smile on his face. "His strength really touched everyone who ever knew him," he said. Kaul said he is working to raise funds to have his friend's body sent to India where last rites will be performed. TRU president Airini (who uses one name) says the university has been in touch with Garg's family and has offered a range of counselling services for the campus community. "When we face these times of sadness, we walk alongside the family," Airini said. "All of our community is right there in heart and in support." WATCH | Calls for more safety after TRU student's presumed drowning: Presumed drowning reignites calls for river safety in Kamloops 20 hours ago Despite calls for action following the presumed drowning of an international student last Sunday, the city of Kamloops says it has no plans to add additional safety equipment to local beaches. CBC's Jenifer Norwell explains why. She also said the university is working to improve awareness and education around water safety. She said the university has a free course for international students that is "designed to help students, who are unfamiliar with Canadian waterways or who lack prior swimming experience, have the confidence around water."


CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Presumed drowning reignites calls for river safety in Kamloops
Despite calls for action following the presumed drowning of an international student last Sunday, the city of Kamloops says it has no plans to add additional safety equipment to local beaches. CBC's Jenifer Norwell explains why.


CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
Preliminary approval granted for new $10M search and rescue base in Kamloops, B.C.
Plans for a new Kamloops Search and Rescue base in Rayleigh are moving ahead. Directors with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board unanimously approved covering almost 60 per cent of the nearly $10-million cost. The new facility will also be home to a fire hall, replacing the existing one in Rayleigh. The project, first proposed in November 2023, is needed because volunteers said they have outgrown their current space and were called out a record 75 times in 2024. KSAR President Paula Davies said they normally attend fewer than 50 calls per year and often search forests, trails, rivers and lakes beyond city limits. Their Swiftwater Rescue team recently searched the Thompson River for a university student from India who drowned July 6. His body was found July 15 by a KSAR volunteer kayaking near McArthur Island Park. KSAR's Frank Pryce said the complex will include a training centre for volunteers from smaller outlying communities. "We've had conversations with them and they're all keen to be able to come here, so we're doing training that is going to help all the teams because they're all in very small buildings that don't have the ability to do all that stuff," said Pryce. The City of Kamloops is expected to commit $2.4 million at an upcoming council meeting. The rest of the money, $1.4-million, will come from Kamloops Search and Rescue through a fundraising campaign. KSAR President Paula Davies hopes people they've helped rescue in the past will make donations. "If they see the benefit of SAR teams and they have the means of making a donation, then that's great. Everything helps," said Davies. Ashcroft Mayor Barbara Roden chairs the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. She said it makes sense for the TNRD to jointly fund this facility with the City of Kamloops, but she also wants support from other levels of government. "They are there in every corner of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, and it is going to benefit so many people over so many years," said Roden. "Why the province cannot fund something like search and rescue is absolutely beyond me. This is a case where the province needs to step up to the plate and start contributing." It's not clear how soon construction could start because Kamloops city council has yet to approve its share of funding. The lease for the existing base in Mission Flats expired at the end of January 2025. The new site is on city-owned land at 4420 Devick Road. Davies said there's no rush to start construction because the city has given them permission to stay in Mission Flats until the new facility is ready. "The city has graciously said that as long as you are working towards a home and basically will be gone as soon as we can move into our new home, they will let us stay there for the time being, so we won't be kicked out onto the street."


CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
Clearwater, B.C.'s population could nearly double if massive copper mine goes ahead
The District of Clearwater, north of Kamloops, is preparing for what could be a major change. Taseko Mines has announced it is moving ahead with environmental assessments for the Yellowhead Copper Project. While this doesn't mean approval, the CBC's Jenifer Norwell reports, the community has to start preparing now just in case.