Hi,

 

Just a quick end of season email.

 

To Parents -- thanks for your support, patience, sacrifice and financial commitment to allow for your son to participate in the Gamers.  I know that it is not easy and takes a big toll on family commitments.  Even though he may not say it enough, your son is very appreciative of everything that you do.

 

To Players -- thanks for letting me coach you.  When we started the season, I told you it was going to be a hard year and that I was going to challenge you.  You rose to the challenge -- although it always takes longer than expected and is never easy.  You are still "work in process" being molded as a mature baseball player.  But you have come a long way and I am proud of you.

 

I respect your hard work.  You practiced more and played more than any Gamer team than we have ever had.  You won more games than any other Gamer team has.  But, you also ran the second most poles in the program history due to lack of mental discipline.  Your cardio condition is quite impressive.

 

I look forward to coaching you one more year at 15u next season.  I have gotten close to you and care about you a lot.  Which means that I am going to continue to be just as demanding and am going to set my expectations higher.  We need to close the gap between potential and performance, which is still quite large.  We have some work to do...

 

I will be communicating to you soon about Fall Baseball.  My recommendation it is take 2 weeks off from all baseball activities between now and start of school.  Give your body a chance to rest and recover.    

 

Then, in mid-August start your offseason strength training.  For most of you, we are looking for 10-15 lbs of muscle between now and March 1st 2014.  That is 2lbs per month, which is achievable if you start in August.  You need a combination of smart weight lifting, training and nutrition. 

 

Baseball-wise, start swinging the bat a little in 2 weeks.  There is no reason to take hitting off for more than a couple of weeks.  If you are playing Fall Baseball, also start playing long toss in 2 weeks.  I will probably get something set up for our age group to do some informal workouts in late August.   

 

Parting thought -- grades as a freshman start counting towards your high school GPA.  Every year we have kids that blow off their first semester of freshman year and then spend 4 years trying to make up for it.  Take freshman grades seriously and get off to a fast start in the first couple months of school.  It a a lot  easier to win in the classroom if you get an early lead.  It is hard to come from behind!!

 

Thanks!

  

Coach Gallion