JUPITER, Fla. – Brad Clement looked around the beautiful Roger
Dean Complex and took in the flurry of activity as excitement started to build
before the 2010 Perfect Game WWBA World Championship kicked into action later
Thursday afternoon.
It was the first time Clement, who calls Marshalltown, Iowa home,
had returned to Jupiter since his youngest son, Jeff, took part in the World
Championship in 2001.
“I’m really excited to see how things have changed since I was
more directly involved a few years ago with Perfect Game, and reaquaint with
some of the people that were still doing it then,” Clement said. “Of course,
many people are new and Perfect Game has grown and expanded since then, so I’m
looking forward to establishing and re-creating relationships with people I
already knew.”
Clement, a former high school and little league coach who recently
retired after a long career as a middle school principal, returns to Jupiter
this weekend as an employee of Perfect Game. He said he will work for PG in a
devlopment capacity, with several areas of involvement. Marketing is one such
area, sponsorships and expanision of media coverage are others.
Clement became involved with baseball as a youngster playing the
game and later became head coach at Marshlltown High School from 1980 through
1993. He also coached a team of 12-year-olds from Marshalltown that included
his son Jeff and won the Little League Central Region championship and advanced
to the Little League World Series.
He eventually left the coaching ranks to become an administrator in
the Marshalltown school district. But his track record as a coach kept a lot of
doors open.
“As my kids got older and Perfect Game got started in the mid-90s,
I was able to stay involved with two of my sons playing in high school, and
they began playing with Perfect Game and the Iowa League and some of their
national showcases,” Clement said. “It kept me in the game and I was actually able
to coach some of the Perfect Game teams in various venues and really enjoyed
it.”
After Jeff graduated from Marshalltown High School as the nation’s
all-time high school career home run hitter with 76, and went to a stellar
career at the University of Southern California, Clement stayed in touch with
Perfect Game personel.
“It’s just been a wonderful association, and I just can’t say
enough about the opportunities Perfect Game allows kids to have particularly
from cold-weather states like Iowa, or playing against better people, and
acutually competing against the best people in the country,” Clement said.
Jeff Clement is an alumni of the WWBA World Championship and
played in several other national Perfect Game events.
He was drafted in the 12th round of the Major League
Draft out of high school (2002) but didn’t sign. He went to USC and eventually
became a first-round pick (third overall) in 2005 by the Seattle Mariners. He
was traded to Pittsburgh in 2009 and finished this past season with the
Pirates.
Clement saw first-hand how an event like the World Championship
benefitted his son and other young players.
“I think it is immensely important from several different
standpoints,” Clement said. “From the personal player standpoint, it allows you
to compete at a high level against the best players in the country. To play
with and against the best players game-in and game-out at showcases like this
is immeasurable as far as growth opportunities.”
He continued: “The exposure that provides in front of the hundreds
of professional scouts and college coaches at and event like this pays
dividends as well.”
Jeff isn’t the only of Clement’s sons still involved in baseball.
Mike Clement, who is older than Jeff, is an assistant coach at Texas A&M.