J attended University of Florida baseball camp during the first part of the week. I blogged about my thoughts and feelings on the day I dropped him off. Now I'll share something about his camp experiences. He said the camp was very intense and they did a lot of hard work. It was pretty much baseball from morning til night, including speed and agility, field work, position specific work, hitting and games. The camp was run by the head coach of UF baseball, who in the words of Coach C is a baseball genius. Assisting him were the UF assistant coaches, along with coaches from several other colleges and some current UF players. J felt like he learned some valuable skills at camp to improve his game, had fun, and made some new friends along the way. Being on the UF campus playing baseball also reinforced in him the dream of college baseball. Which brings me to the second part of this post.
J has three years til college. That's it. Three short years before my baby leaves home for college and the pursuit of his greatest dream. As a mother, my role is to support that dream, however out of reach it may seem at times. I never want him to look back one day and regret not going for his dreams. Even if all of his dreams don't come true, I want him to always have the certainty that he did everything possible to make them a reality. That being said, I want to be able to provide him with all the tools he needs to help him achieve his dreams. I've spoken all summer of what a terrific coach Coach C is. Not only has J learned a lot from him, he looks up to him as a friend and role model. The two of them clicked right from the start. Coach C says he sees a lot of himself in J. All of this led hubby and I to the realization that perhaps Coach C was the perfect person to mentor J along the road to college baseball. We decided to ask him how he felt about doing something like that and happily, he said he was both honored and flattered that we had such faith in him. I also asked him flat out if he truly thought J has a shot at college baseball. The answer was yes, without hesitation. J has a lot of hard work to do to get there, but Coach C definitely sees college baseball in his future. He's working out a pretty rigorous training program for J, along with helping him with a list of possible colleges, coordinating future trips to showcases to get him scouted, and most of all continuing to be the friend and role model J has come to know and admire this summer. Hubby and I offered to pay him for his time but he refused, saying that he was truly happy to be able to mentor J through this exciting time in his life. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have such an upstanding young man to mentor and guide our son. Hopefully, in the next few years, I'll be able to report that the team of J and Coach C have achieved the pinnacle of baseball success, both as player and coach. Along the way, hubby and I will continue to offer unconditional support as J reaches for his dreams.
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