KC Baseball Academy

A New York king was born on this day in 1903. Carl Hubbell won 253 games over 16 seasons with the Giants and captured NL MVP awards in 1933 and 1936.

https://twitter.com/pgmidwestbb/status/1532899885040779264?s=21&t=KHrn4xITori45JbkjW-iTA

Perfect Game Midwest Baseball on Twitter “Ayden Katzberg | RHP | 2025 | MO Upper 70’s fastball with arm side run and developing feel for a breaking ball. Throwing a lot of strikes tonight. ”

KCBA still has a few roster spots left on our 14U AAA team and one of our High School Showcase Teams. Our organization teaches fundamentals all year long, & gives you an unlimited membership to our indoor facility. KCBA can help you reach your goals. Call us for a tryout 816-478-2200 or email us at [email protected]

If I had a $1000 for how many times I have heard this in the past 2-3 months…I would be a millionaire….let me peel back some layers to the onion 🧅 in the recruiting world…

“Coach, we are not hearing back from a lot of coaches.” First, I ask grad year to see if coaches can even respond yet per NCAA rules. Then I ask to hear the list of schools their child has contacted & their GPA….

“…about 5-6 d1 & not even a 3.0 GPA…..”

here in lies the problem…

FACT: You need to cast a wider net…you need to be contacting at LEAST 20-30 schools, 5-8 each level….

FACT: GPAs matter as well…2.8 vs a 3.3 vs a 3.6 are a whole different scenario to a college coach. You have to be accepted to the college AND in many sports & levels there is more academic money available than athletic money.

FACT (many families do not have the perspective of this next one especially): There are TONS of kids to choose from who are equally as talented as your kid across the country. Just because your child is the best in their area doesn’t mean there are not others just like them somewhere else…with better grades.

EXPAND your list. INCLUDE 5-8 of each level. And the lower the GPA, even larger the net you need to cast.

Then I ask, “When did you start this process?”

“A couple months ago (as a senior).”

FACT: In many sports and across various levels, coaches are NOT waiting until senior year to identify players…

Then I ask, “Has their child sent a personalized email? DMs on social media to the coaching staff? Have they completed the recruiting questionnaires on their websites?”

FACT: While the media, especially in movies like the Blind Side (love the movie but…) do not portray the process of the typical kid…

They HAVE to put in the work to contact coaches to show they are interested….do NOT expect coaches are just going to come knocking at your door because they are talented…..

Please pass this info along to a freshman or sophomore in hs you know….

Coach Renee Lopez

Give your college or high school player a KCBA Membership for Christmas to use over their winter break.

-Collegiate Membership $125 (good till January 15, 2022)
-High School Membership $185 (good till February 28, 2022)

Membership includes use of turf field, tunnels, bullpen & workout room.
Purchase online at https://www.esoftplanner.com/v3/planner/memberships.php?access=0dG81LSVxNmo65bDvnRzupqMog==

Or call us at 816-478-2200

Memberships - eSoft Planner

Tryouts today at 1:00 for 14U and High School Showcase Teams. 816-478-2200

KCBA has a few roster spots left on our 14U AAA team and one of our High School Showcase Teams. Our organization teaches fundamentals all year long, gives you an unlimited membership to our indoor facility & has free skills clinics weekly throughout the off season. KCBA can help you reach your goals. Call us for a tryout 816-478-2200 or email us at [email protected]

KC Baseball Academy Indoor baseball training and practice facility. Competitive youth teams & HS Showcase teams. Pitchi

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KCBA still has a few roster spots available on our 14U team and one of our High School Showcase Teams. Click on the link below to register. Players receive free clinics and unlimited membership to our indoor facility.

https://kcbaseball.academy/try-outs/

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Great perspective…..

In the past few months, we have seen 3 of the world's best athletes have to miss some of the biggest events in their sports because of mental health issues.

Sha'carri Richardson, Naomi Osaka, and Simone Biles have all missed major events in their sports because of mental health issues.

Being really good comes with a lot; it comes with a lot of good and a lot of bad. I have three daughters, and this makes me think of the pressure that I put on them to be good at the things that they do. There is a lot of pressure that athletes today have to deal with today that athletes have never had to deal with before. The media pressure, the never-ending presence of social media, and the level of scrutiny that they face from so many angles are obviously overwhelming to some.

What do we do as coaches and parents? In the book Making Work Human, the authors write that psychotherapists know that inner change is generally a three-step process: awareness, acceptance, and action. We should be aware that mental health is a real issue and find where and when mental health issues happen with our athletes. We should accept in a positive and healthy way that something can be cone about it and then take appropriate action.

All three of these athletes were aware of their mental health issues, they accepted it, and they took action. They protected themselves. The results might not be what they wanted, and looking at the level of judgment and scrutiny, it is not what many of the people around the world wanted. But Naomi said something powerful in an interview with Time Magazine. She said:

"Life is a journey. In the past few weeks, my journey took an unexpected path but one that has taught me so much and helped me grow. I learned a couple of key lessons. Lesson one: you can never please everyone. The world is as divided now as I can remember in my short 23 years. Lesson two was perhaps more enriching. It has become apparent to me that literally everyone either suffers from issues related to their mental health or knows someone who does."

You can't please everyone, and you are never alone.

I started this blog years ago because I wanted to document everything that I was learning on my journey to become the best coach that I could be. It has morphed into something bigger, and I now write for a couple of different reasons: I like to write, and I want to help create a positive, healthy space in the sports world.

Stories like the stories of Sha'Carri Richardson, Naomi Osaka, and Simone Biles are important. Even our youth athletes face a lot of pressure. We have to be aware of that. We have to accept that. And we have to be willing to take action to protect them while helping them continue to shoot for and fight for their goals.

https://acoachsdiary.blogspot.com/2021/07/fighting-mental-health-with-awareness.html