WESTFIELD–It’s not often people are excited to be in a police station, but for a local youth baseball team yesterday that’s all they were.
The Rookie Westfield Police Association team and their families were given a tour of the facilities by one of their coaches, Mike Csekovsky, who is also a Westfield police officer. The players, ranging from ages 6 to 8, along with their parents and some siblings, were able to see much of the equipment police use, as well as given a tutorial on police work.
“The tour was amazing and the kids are fired up,” head coach Erik Pedersen said. “Maybe this sets a standard.”
The children, most of whom have never been in a police station before, saw a lot of what law enforcement use on the job daily, but were also enamored by the simpler things. One example was during their stay in the lobby, where they found a security camera that was filming them, and playing the video on a screen inside the police station. The boys proceeded to jump and gesture at the camera, excitedly yelling.
Csekovsky shows teh crowd the prison cells.
The crowd was also treated to seeing the vehicles police officers use, including a preemptive showing of a new police vehicle. The police department’s new “Zero” motorcycle, which is an electric-powered motorcycle, was on display for the children, along with the traditional police car and gas-powered motorcycle.
Chase Ouellete wears Csekovsky’s vest.
The kids and their families were also able to go further inside the police station, seeing the workout room, the roll call room and even the cells for prisoners. Additionally, the children were able to wear officer Csekovsky’s bulletproof vest, which proved to be a struggle for many of them, many of them noting how heavy it was. Even the parents who lifted up the bulletproof vest mentioned its weight, surprised that an officer wears that on a daily basis.
For the team and their families, this tour was part of the growing up and growing together that the team has gone through.
“It was really awesome, watching them go from tryouts to tee ball to coach pitch to them pitching themselves,” Sara Switzer, mother of 7-year-old Renato Switzer, said. “I love watching them grow.”
Pedersen shared the sentiment.
“we had a great time and was a great experience for them,” he said. “They made a lot of new friends and we saw them grow.”
The team’s final game is this Sunday. And although their record hasn’t been kept, the coaches consider them all winners.
