My son is a freshman. His school brings freshmen in for a short session in July. He was able to take two classes and start working with the strength and conditioning guy. In our opinion, this was a GREAT idea. He got two classes out of the way, he learned the lay of the land a little bit and he gained 8 pounds of muscle!
He's not a huge fan of going to school but he is getting good grades. He acts like he has no time to do all of the work but the mandatory study halls for freshmen are filling that perceived void.
Weightlifting is intense, practices seem to be fun. He's learning a new position and gets tons of swings and groundballs each day.
This weekend were the first two scrimmage games. I think he was excited and nervous about the weekend. Didn't get much out of him until he called Friday night. He was 0-4 but hit the ball hard four times and he was happy about that! Then on Saturday, he got his first two hits...a double and a 3-run home run!
This experience seems to be all about him realizing that he belongs there and he CAN do it. HS was always easy in the class and on the field. Now he's got tougher assignments and much more competition for a position in the lineup.
Every day he learns that he CAN get A's in his classes. He CAN get up and lift at 6am every day. He CAN figure out how to eat properly. He CAN learn a new position. He CAN hit D1 pitching. He CAN deny the partying peer pressure.
He is so much more mature and advanced than I was when I was his age. I could not be more proud of him.