I am currently a baseball player at Vanderbilt University. I was involved with EMASS for two years, when I was 11 and when I was 12. I believe these were the years of 2011 and 2012. The two years I spent with this team changed my life forever. This program turned not only my baseball career around, but my entire life around. It was amazing to be apart of it all for 2 years and I am forever grateful for that opportunity. For a group of kids to come together and create something so special in such a short amount of time was truly unforgettable. I was fortunate enough to experience this with two groups of young men. It is extraordinary what each of these coaches do and they really leave an impact on your life forever.

 

The baseball aspect was what appealed to me at first. I, along with the other guys on the team, were all the best players on our respected aau teams. EMASS was an opportunity to compete with the best of the best and I wanted to be apart of that. I wanted to be apart of a team where I can seriously evaluate myself with some of the best competition of my age in the area. Through this process I knew that playing with other players of my caliber would only up my game, because personally I always wanted to be the best on every team I played on. This team showed me that talent only took me so far and that I had to work to be the best. We all pushed each other every single day to become the best players we could be. During this time is where I started to see myself step into a leadership role. Especially during my second year with the team, having experienced the year prior. Throughout this two year span I continued to watch myself grow as a baseball player. But, this was not the most important part of what this program did for me personally.

 

What made EMASS so special to all of us was the impact it had on our maturation as people. EMASS taught us how to grow into young men, the right way. One of the first lessons I learned was to shake someone's hand firmly and look them in the eye, this lesson was one that I would never forget. It was the simple things that they taught us that proved to be a huge difference in our lives. Like to say thank you for someone's time and to always thank our parents for the sacrifices they make for us. Or always keeping our shirts tucked in and our hats forward. The little things that go a long way. It was one thing to be told these things, but the coaches and eventually the players all held each other accountable for these things. This is what made us different from the other kids of our age. EMASS developed me into a young man that my parents were proud of and most importantly, that I was proud of.

 

The relationships that I made with my teammates on this team were relationships that I still have today. This is the impact that this program left us. During those two summers, both groups of young men became brothers. In only a short amount of time, we all formed a bond that has lasted forever. I am still in touch with many of my teammates from EMASS. We were 12 years old at the time and now looking back at 20 years old, we have memories that will last forever. And they do, we still reminisce about those times together during those summers. My coaches at EMASS continue to reach out to me to this day to just check in, which means so much to me.

 

Now as a player at Vanderbilt University, at maybe the highest level of college baseball, I can attest that under coach Corbin I am still being reminded and taught the same character traits that I developed during my time at EMASS. This just goes to show how important these things are and why EMASS is such and eye opening experience. I could go on and on about this program because it is so important to me. I will always feel in debt to the EMASS program for all they have done for me. Being apart of the EMASS family made a huge impact on my athletic career, but more importantly it made a huge impact on my life. I will never forget my time with EMASS along with the relationships and the memories that were formed.