I understand the daylight limitations, vacations, and even field availability, but fall baseball HAS to be the better option for area high schools than spring.  Beginning in mid-August and playing through mid-late October, the season would culminate in a "world series" atmosphere and would be more in keeping with baseball traditions, including actually PLAYING the games.  College coaches could actually even catch a few games. The spring in Illinois is a joke for baseball--and not a funny one.  Last fall the AE Prospect club played 27 games in 6 weeks.  It began in late August.  This spring the AE Mavericks decided to avoid April altogether.  Finally, succombing to offers from area teams, doubleheaders were scheduled last weekend.  Needless to say, we practiced indoors at Academy Elite.  Spring baseball in Illinois is just...bad.

SEASON'S GREETINGS!!! 
I trust the last of the Turkey left-overs has been turned into a soup or pie of some sort (guys, if it's still in the fridge, it's questionable at this point...)

Okay.  Each year I get asked a thousand times about bats, gloves, shoes, etc.  I love to help.  In fact, it gives me some purpose.  As a father of four that is very involved in the day-to-day operations at the homestead, I know the machine can get pretty crazy and "quick and easy" become of paramount importance.  Like you, I want the quick and easy to also offer quality and be free--for the most part--of disappointments.  Disappointments can not only ruin a day, they can cost precious time.  Time is of the essence especially around the holidays.  With that in mind, I spent a month and a half researching the best bats, gloves, and shoes in the world and have posted my findings--complete with INSTANT LINKS right to the source of these great (and sometimes not-so-great) products.  Highlights include the Kelley N Fuego Bat, Adidas cleats and Rawlings Primo Gloves. The links are right under the descriptions in BOLD print.  You can visit AcademyELITE eMagazine for the whole report (December Issue--available on-line now).

At Academy Elite, we are your source for wood bats.  Don't buy 'em anywhere else.  We guarantee ours against breakage and make 'em to order.  We also supply the finest batting gloves at an unbeatable price. We carry sexy apparel for the serious player as well as the whimsical.  From winter and spring jackets for men and women to the latest in performance fleece by mizuno and dri-fit by Under Armour and A4. We even carry the finest golf shirts around...that's right gang...I said GOLF.  I don't like my players to play it, but the clothes are awesome! Just hit the CONTACT US navigation link and let us know what you want--we'll get it for you.
Please have a SAFE and HAPPY season.  Remember to freeze-frame a little quality time with the kiddies and your loved ones--as so many of you told me when I had my first eight years ago--it goes FAST.  How right you were.
Hope to see you all real soon!
PA

LISTEN UP! This is for all of you pitchers out there that are looking at your offseason and wondering which direction to go.  One of my favorite sayings is;  "If you don't know where you're going--any road will take you there."
First things first...SHUT YOUR THROWING DOWN 6-8 weeks.  In some ways it's no different than a bodybuilder needing rest to allow his muscles to soften and to stimulate them into new growth.  The throwing arm takes a fair amount of abuse during the spring and summer--and sometimes the fall.  The holidays are a great opportunity to build your fitness and to stretch and build some muscle and allow the arm a chance to refresh itself.  Some pitching coaches, like Paul Kosinski at The Strike Zone, use the down time to build better mechanics and to help pitchers gain an understanding of the workload and purpose of the work that lies ahead.  Eric Porter, of Academy Elite Baseball likes pitchers to simply focus on cardio and core work and college football; "There's no reason a kid should be throwing off a mound between Halloween and Thanksgiving...none.  I like our staff to get after it in the gym and in the classroom, go to homecoming, spend some family time--go see Grandma...anything--just stay off the bump for awhile."
Finally, make sure you and your pitching coach have a specific plan in mind when training begins.  Most pitchers I see spend way too much time aimlessly throwing.  Develop a slow curveball you can throw for a strike in off-counts.  How about developing a new lane you can command for your fastball to make your decent split become dominant.  How about learning to pitch inside?  These are all worthwhile pursuits you should discuss with your pitching coach.  White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper told me once, "Phil, I've never seen a pitcher succeed without purpose.  They need a plan.  That's a pitching coach's main gig."
Work hard guys...your teams' success will be dictated by the work you do this off-season!

I get emails with touching little anectdotes seemingly daily.  I am blessed that people think enough to include me in their left-clicks.  Today, I recieved one that really hit the target with me.
I like the message and want to share it you.  It  follows...

Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments
together at the airport. They had announced the departure.

Standing near the security gate , they hugged and the mother said , 'I
love you and I wish you enough'.

The daughter replied , ' Mom , our life together has been more than
enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough , too , Mom'.

They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the
window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and
needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed
me in by asking , 'Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it
would be forever?'.

Yes , I have,' I replied. ' forgive me for asking,
but why is this a forever good-bye?'.

'I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the
reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral,' she said.

'When you were saying good-bye , I heard you say , 'I wish you
enough'. May I ask what that means?'.

She began to smile. 'That's a wish that has been handed down from
other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone'. She paused
a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she
smiled even more. 'When we said , 'I wish you enough' , we were
wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good
things to sustain them'. Then turning toward me , she shared the
following as if she were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray
the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may
appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

She then began to cry and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person , an hour to
appreciate them , a day to love them but then an entire life to forget
them.


TAKE TIME TO LIVE.....

To all my friends and loved ones,
I WISH YOU ENOUGH

One of the best ways to get the attention of college coaches is to email them. The problem is most recruits don’t know exactly how to go about doing that. From my own experience, I’ve whittled contacting coaches down to an effective formula. Here are some tips on how to email college coaches for maximum results:

• Have a legitimate sounding email. It looks better to be emailing a coach with an email address that has all or part of your name in it. The goal is to be professional here, and it isn’t too professional if a coach is receiving an email from “kick_ass_badass@hotmail.com”. Don’t hesitate to create a free email account on Yahoo! or Hotmail with your firstname_lastname@website as an email specifically for your recruiting emails. It will help you keep track of all your contacts.
• The subject line. You want the coach to open your email. Simply putting “read this” at the subject line probably won’t do it. Provide a little bit of your information in the subject line. For example, write something like “Mitch Thompson, LHP Prospect from Rockford, IL”. I’ve found that providing your name, your position (you should put down any position that you play, multiple positions look better to a coach), and your location.
• Pack that email with recipients.  search for “athletic directory” on Google. This will give you many, many schools at all levels with coaches you can email. Upon finding the coaches’ emails on your page of interest, copy and paste them into the recipients section. Make sure to go after assistant coaches too; they’re more likely to check their inbox. I would often send out emails to 100 coaches at a time. They really don’t care if there’s a lot of other recipients listed because they do the same thing when emailing their recruits.
• Introduce yourself.  Don’t jump straight into a pitch about why you’re the next million-dollar bonus babyr. Remember, this coach probably still has no idea who you are. Repeating the information from the subject line is a good start: “Hey Coach, my name is Mitch Thompson and I’m a 6’2”, 200 pound LHP from Boylan High School in Rockford, IL, class of 2009.”
• List some of your athletic credentials. Start with some of your athletic feats. How many years have you been a starter? Do you have any honors such as all-league, team captain, etc.? Any other statistical claims (i.e. led the team in steals last season) as well as a 60 time (if it makes you look good) should be included as well, but don’t be so quick to list the results of every single showcase skill out there. Some mystery can be a good thing...
• Move on to academics. You’ve got to be honest here. Coaches want to know how you’re performing in the classroom, and they have to know at some point, so it’s best to not have any surprises. List your GPA (weighted if possible), test scores (ACT, SAT) and any other relevant academic info you can put in there, such as honor roll, AP/IB classes, etc. You have to present yourself as a kid who can appeal to the admissions office as well. Coaches want the whole package.
• Leadership. Any other way you can demonstrate your leadership and character (i.e. volunteering, Boy Scouts, involvement with church) will make you more appealing to a coach and an admissions office. Again, coaches want the whole package.
• Link any other resources you have available. This is why I recommend setting up a free profile with AcademyELITE. You can post all your stats, info, pictures and even some highlights. That way, if your email interests a coach, he can visit your profile to find out even more about you. Say something along the lines of “For more information about me, here is my AcademyELITE  profile: (link here).
• Don’t make it an essay. That’s why it’s good to have a AE profile. You don’t want to write several pages about how awesome you are. Just a paragraph with a few key points about why you would be a good fit for their program, a place to find out more about you, and ways to contact you (include phone numbers, cell phone especially).

  Thank them for their time. College coaches are busy guys. While they should be interested in finding out more about potential recruits, they didn’t have to read your email, so thank them for doing so.

• Tell them how to contact you. When emailing coaches,  provide  name, address, phone numbers, and email address (again). Make it as easy as possible for them to contact you.
• Follow up. If a coach requests additional information, a copy of your transcript, and/or video, don’t hesitate to send it, even if you’re not too interested in the school.