catchmeifucan posted:CaCO3Girl posted:ZIA, while what is happening to your nephew is very normal but it can be detrimental. If his goal is to play at a D1 power 5 or MiLB...well those kids really hone themselves. It's very much going to be which one of these things is not like the other when he stands next to them waiting to be judged. He can't just show up, but that's why those kids are special.
Having said that, those kids also have a drive within them, no one can make a 10, 11, 12 grader train. They either want to push themselves or they don't. They either want it or they don't. I would ask him what he wants out of baseball and then ask him if he thinks his actions are going to result in that goal.
Dont make excuses for him either. My son has an August birthday, he's one of the youngest in his class too but it doesn't stop him from running hills in the neighborhood or biking to LA Fitness 3-5 times a week. He wanted to show up to baseball and run longer than anyone, mission accomplished. He's not the fastest kid or the strongest kid but he's still working hard....being young has nothing to do with it. It's about your goals and who you surround yourself with. Are they better? Do they make you want to be better?
CaCO you are usually spot on but why would you say "August" birthday is one of the youngest. No kids born in Sept, October, November, December, January February, March, April in your area ...lol... August is very favorable. But I totally agree it's not an excuse. My son has a late March Birthday. He was pretty average right up until the hit his growth spurt and then he flew past the kids who had been older for their grade, red shirted, or were playing down. Biggest advantage I can think of is being young. It's basically playing up without the regret.
In iowa, you can't start school if your birthday is after Sept. 15, so August would be among the youngest. My is a Sept. 23, so we didn't get a choice — he was held back a year and is one of the oldest in the class. On the downside, once he turned 18 he started thinking of himself as an "adult" and wanted all those privileges. On the upside, he's very mature compared to many of his teammates.
We laid out for him when he was a freshman a simple deal — we will provide money and support for recruiting, but first he had to show that he would do the work. He went from a kid that I had to drag out of bed in the mornings to a kid who is harassing others to get to the 5:30 workouts, who gets himself to his job on Saturdays at 6:45 a.m. so he can move on to lifting, and who organizes his teammates to do additional workouts outside of the season.
He's never late for practice, always early for games, but often late for school. 