Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Against the Odds with Die-Hard Dedication

Becoming an NCAA athlete is not something you just hope for. The odds are stacked against you. D1 colleges can only award 12 scholarships per year, and chances are the upper class-men are benefiting from many of those scholarship, and only 2% of ALL  high school athletes will go onto play college sports.

YUP . . . the odds are definitely not in my favor but I have faith in me. I will hurdle every possible obstacle. This is my life and I will work my ass off to make my goals, my reality.
            

Academic Hurdles
The stronger your GPA and the higher your SAT/ACT scores, the more college choices you will have. I'm a fairly decent student but I struggle in math. I have to work harder, to earn a higher GPA.  This is Jared my math tutor, we meet twice a week, so that I'm always test ready.  


Speed Hurdle 
Speed is a critical element to softball. I'm so lucky that my speed and agility trainer is Brian Davis, former NFL player, and one the fastest defensive corners of his time.  Brian trains a lot of professional athletes . Every training session I'm pushed WAY beyond my comfort zone. Not only is my speed and agility improving, but I'm also becoming mentally strength, as an athlete.


Fielding Hurdle 
I dedicate a lot of time working on my fielding fundamentals. My club coach, Ashley Muenz is a former ASU Sun Devil and National champion. Most girls spend most of their time on their offensive skills, and neglect working on the defensive game.  My fielding skills may be my best asset. I know how valuable a dependable infielder is to a team.


Batting Hurdle 
Last fall I struggled with being a consistent batter. My average was okay, but "okay" is not gonna get me in a starting line up ,at a D1 college.  I'm proud to report, I'm crushing the ball every game. When I'm not practicing on the fields, 
I work in the cage. I knew all of the power had to come from my lower half, I just did not know what that felt like, I do now.  My batting average for high school season 
is 550+.

Myself Hurdle
I started my blog to separate myself from the 1000's of other athletes, who are 
also trying to impress college coaches. I did not expect to learn so much about 
myself along the way.  I just came to the realization that while I'm chasing my D1 goals, I have a blessed life, I know what I want for my life, and I'm proud of the person I'm becoming.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You go girl! Hope I get a chance to see you play again. I'm sure you'll go far. -John Claus

Unknown said...

Thank you for commenting - I'm sure Leah is well on her way!