Tracy Village pitcher Callum Hooley beats the effects of Best Disease to pursue love of baseball

CALLUM Hooley has made the sport of baseball his life, even if his eyes can sometimes deceive him.

Tracy Village pitcher Callum Hooley has overcome an eyesight deficiency.

CALLUM Hooley has made the sport of baseball his life, even if his eyes can sometimes deceive him.

The 24-year-old right arm pitcher and playing coach of Darwin powerhouse Tracy Village, is also a general sports scholarship coach with the NT Institute of Sport, a junior coach and Baseball NT’s development manager.

First restricted by sight problems at age 14, Hooley was diagnosed with Best Disease at age 16, a rare condition that affects vision in the centre of the eye.

Only a handful of people around the world have the disease, where an inherited form of macular degeneration causes the reduction in central vision.

“Baseball wise it meant I had to change from my passion as a catcher to pitching, because I simply could not see the ball as well as I wanted to,’’ he said.

“But I like to tell people it doesn’t change anything for me in everyday life. I can’t get a driver’s licence as a result of it, but that’s something you learn to live with.

“It’s made learning a lot different because I had to concentrate hard when listening to people, taking in all the information and learning to be very perceptive.

“If I had to put it into a phrase it would probably be ‘don’t let your limitations affect your influence,’ because that’s certainly how I feel about myself as an athlete and a coach.’’

Hooley said everything to do with his sight was peripheral — outside the centre of where he was looking.

“It’s basically the opposite of tunnel vision, if you put a dot in the middle of a white board I won’t see it. But if I look at the corners of the board I can see it.

“With baseball I don’t look at something, I look around it. I believe the term for it is scanning and it certainly works for me.’’

Hooley and his catcher use audible signals to communicate, a system of numbers where the catcher calls out to indicate the type of pitch he wants.

“It’s a little bit different, but it keeps people guessing and it works some times,’’ Hooley grinned. “I worked hard for a very long time before I was any good at throwing.

“I started playing when I was seven, so there’s 17 years gone already.’’

Hooley is sure of one other thing, his passion for coaching and development programs with the Territory’s youth is as strong as ever.

“My sole purpose and drive with baseball in the NT is about coaching,’’ he said. “It’s my passion now after I met a man a very long time ago who changed my opinions on what it meant to be a player and a coach in baseball.’’