A Field of Dreamers

#6-Prepare to Perform

This card says "Remember the saying Practice makes perfect?

In college baseball recruitment, Practice makes perfect performance," said Austin.

"Do you have any idea what that really means relative to college baseball recruitment?" Kent asked.

Austin nodded. "I think it means that I have to have my game ready for a faster-level of play."

"You're absolutely correct - but there's more," said Kent. "You're going to need to prepare to perform not only at your games, but your classwork, and how you train too!

You've already got a decent GPA heading into your junior year, but you can't let that slip - ever. You've got your ACT and SATs coming up this fall, and it would seem you're going to do well on those, but you've got to be prepared, ok? You've also got a good work ethic towards how you approach your games; but what are you doing to get faster and stronger? You can't rely on just what you do at team practice if you want to stand out from all the others fighting for the same spot as you."

You've got to get faster and stronger to separate your play from your competition.

So tell me Austin, what're you doing now to Prepare to perform?"

"Outside of our weekly hitting," Austin said, "I've joined a training facility called Athletic Republic. They have training centers all over the country. My dad used to work for the owner, Mr. Graves, in another business, and he's been kind to help design me an affordable program that will help me work on my speed (speed and an explosive first movement), and my power. Mr. Graves says that as my body is certain to grow, the training protocol will help me increase my speed, power, and that explosive first step, and that will not only help separate me from the competition at my position, but also help me recover faster, and hopefully limit the potential of injury.

The thing I get excited most about with this training is that it is all measured and stored in my profile, so the trainers can show me my baseline (where I started my training), and where I am today. So I know in my mind, I'm making progress towards my goals – because I can see the growth as it's measured, rather than me having to feel like I'm getting better."

"So read me the rest of the card," Kent said.

"Sure. It says that the only way I can stand out from my competition is to outwork the competition: I must always prepare my Game for a higher level of play, and to accomplish this, I will take the responsibility to always:

-Be the best student I can be and always practice to make good grades.

-Be the best player I can be by working to improve each aspect of my Game.

-Be the most responsible person I can be in my recruiting effort by always doing the Work, on schedule, in a timely and quality manner."

-Be the most respectful person I can be by showing my gratitude towards others who are helping me become a better player.

"Sounds familiar Austin doesn't it?" said Kent.

Austin and his brothers all nodded their approval.

"Well, then, let this card serve to reinforce all the good things you are doing to prepare your performance in the classroom and on the field. You're doing a great job."

Kent stood and pushed in his chair. "It's time for me to go Morin family, I sure had a wonderful evening with you all, once again, and look forward to our hitting next Sunday boys." The boys all gave Kent a fist-bump and bent down to give Ranger a big hug. Ranger would always protest the attention towards him - but just the same, his wagging tail told another story.