View File photoFormer UNLV second baseman and Silverado High School standout Ryan Ruiz makes a sliding attempt on a ground ball during the NCAA Division I Baseball Regional in 2004. Ruiz, whose career ended after a car accident, recently formed a 13-and-under traveling team.
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Former Silverado High School and UNLV baseball standout Ryan Ruiz was forced to give up the game after a car accident put a halt to his professional career. But he hasn't let that affect his love of the sport or his plans to stay in baseball, one way or another.
Ruiz recently formed the Southern Nevada Sidewinders, a 13-and-under travel team he plans to coach and build into a success story. The team hosted three tryout sessions before Ruiz selected the roster, and now he's tackling some organizational duties for his program, including finding a regular practice spot for the team and doing some fundraising. He's hoping the Sidewinders will be ready to take the field for some October tournaments.
"It takes a lot of time and effort to get something like this going," said Ruiz, who's balancing coaching duties with a full-time job and planning his wedding for December. "But it's not for me. I just have always loved kids and have a big heart for them, and it's nice to be able to give back."
Ruiz is hoping to build a winner with the Sidewinders, but that's not the top priority.
"I want to be able to give them things that will help them develop into a more versatile player at an earlier age," he said. "It's all about helping prepare them for the next level, which is high school baseball, mentally, as well as athletically. From my own experiences, I'm trying to fill in those gaps to help these young players develop."
Ruiz's development as a player began in Little League, and he was a dominant player at Silverado High School until his graduation in 2000. From there, he moved on to UNLV, starting at second base and short stop.
The Oakland A's grabbed Ruiz in the 19th round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft, and he spent three years working his way up in the team's minor league system.
And then, in September of last year, he was driving on the Las Vegas Beltway when he was rear-ended.
"It was difficult to deal with," Ruiz said of the accident. "Especially because I had been rehabbing that whole year already because of a rotator cuff injury. I worked so hard to get that better and then came the accident. It was a tough decision, but you have to think about the long run when you get into having back issues, and my doctors didn't want me to play anymore.
"It was kind of a shock. I went back into rehab and it was a very long process. I didn't know what I was going to be able to do. And it was hard because I was not at a stalemate with the ball club. I was definitely moving, and that was the hard part. It was tough to walk away."
But Ruiz, who has lived for years in Henderson and recently made a move to the Las Vegas area, is pleased to turn one baseball ending into a new beginning with the Sidewinders.
"I've played in a lot of places and seen a lot of different coaching styles, and I kind of roll all of that into what I think is right," he said. "We want to play hard and have fun. Winning is important, but not as important as developing their game."
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