By Jonathan Massey
With Summer Program right around the corner, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t reminiscing a little. I’ve had the pleasure of participating in 7 summer programs and coaching 2 and it never fails that 50+ young men come in as strangers and leave as close friends. It is truly quite remarkable.
Now some of y’all might be thinking ‘well that’s just a nice side benefit’. While it is not the ultimate goal of our summer program, it way more important than just a side benefit.
Let me explain: If I asked you ‘Would it be okay if I put a tiny amount of poison in your coffee each morning?’ I bet your answer would be an unequivocal NO. As it should be, I mean who in his or her right mind would allow somebody else to put poison into their morning drink. Yet that is exactly what happens to many people.
“Whoa, Whoa nobody is putting anything in my coffee.” I bet something along those lines just ran through you mind. Well I wasn’t talking about literal poison.
But every time somebody says, “You have to be more realistic with your goals,” or gives a snide comment about the training methods learned at the Ranch. That can be a little bit of mental poison if you allow it to be. A little bit of mental poison adds up- especially over the career of a baseball player.
That’s why these relationships can be so important because as much as we want to be at the Ranch 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, we can’t. So we have to learn to persevere through the negativity of the real world. And when we stumble and fall we have the relationships built at the Ranch to help us out. These are relationships built on hard work, the love of the game and sweat. There is a certain comradery built while doing get up sprints inside a 100 degree, metal barn!
I can tell you that my summers at the Ranch are the most positive times in my life. This type of atmosphere is not only beneficial for athletes but everyone. I have friends from past summer programs that are no longer playing but will tell you that they are able to apply the lessons they learned at the Ranch every day.
If you’re lucky, like I have been, some of these guys will turn into family. We’ve even gone as far doing daily mindset for each other just so that we can get a little Ranch in everyday.
It’s an aspect of the Summer Program that doesn’t always get talked about but I guarantee you it will be a lifelong benefit to your athlete. If you would like more information on the summer program click here.
