Bobby Valentine’s First County Bank Athlete of the Month for November is seventeen year old Brian Balkun. A senior at New Canaan High School, Brian was just recently selected to be tri-captain for the upcoming varsity baseball season, which deserves a huge congratulations in itself!
Brian has been playing for New Canaan Baseball ever since he was five years old. He spent the last eight years playing both recreational and travel baseball, and has been pitching ever since the switch from coach pitch to kid pitch. When not pitching, he has played a ton of third base as well.
“Brian was one of our most reliable pitchers last year. He is unflappable when things get tough, and his quiet confidence is contagious. I look forward to him doing big things this coming year and being one of our leaders.” – Coach Anthony Bloss
You may very well know Brian around BVSA as Coach Brian, as he spends a ton of time here both with his New Canaan team but also coaching many of our clinics. He has been a tremendous part of our BAPs, TPTs, and pitching clinics, and we cannot thank him enough for the contributions and value he brings to our BVSA team.
“Brian is simply awesome. It’s so easy to be just an extra set of hands, but Brian goes above and beyond what is asked of him. He does an amazing job working with our kids, developing relationships with them, and having fun while doing it. It’s pretty cool to hear kids come back and ask for Coach Brian.” – Joe Wanderlingh, BVSA Instructor
Brian has been an honor roll student all throughout high school and just recently submitted his college applications. As far as baseball goes, he would love to play club baseball in college.
In his free time, Brian enjoys hanging out with his friends and family. He plays a lot of pickup basketball with his friends. Apparently, they invented a game called “tennis baseball”. So next time you see Coach Brian at BVSA, make sure to ask him how to play!