Major decisions are made daily under the “Gold Dome” that is our Georgia State Capitol building. It is only fitting that the L.E.A.D. Ambassadors are allowed to tour the nostalgic building and meet Georgia’s Governor Nathan Deal.

Being an L.E.A.D. Ambassador is the representation of our great city Atlanta. To date, 34% of African-American males graduate from high school in the Atlanta Public Schools district. Take a deep breath of relief because L.E.A.D. continues to put a big dent in those numbers by graduating 100% of our Ambassadors while 100% enroll into college since 2007.

L.E.A.D. provides inner city Atlanta at-risk males with access to higher education and civic engagement through baseball. We are creating a new player. Student-athletes that are invested in our city. Young men that believe that their legacy is more important than their reputation. Click here to find the next opportunity for you to meet your L.E.A.D. Ambassadors. We are officially the real deal!

I’m writing this blog from the USA Baseball National Training Center. This week 144 players are competing for one of the 20 roster spots for Team USA 18 and under team. I am fortunate to be on the coaching staff for Team PONY this year. These are some of the top players in America that money can buy.  People don’t realize the financial cost involved to become an elite baseball player.

Most of the kids here begin training with professionals and showcase their talent nationally by the age of 12. Below is a breakdown of annual cost to be the best in this game as an amateur.

Instruction (hourly four times per month) $4,800.00 per year
Strength/Speed/Agility Training (hourly four times per month) $4,800.00 per year
Travel Team $2,000.00 per year
Equipment (including bats, glove, cleats, etc.) $1,500.00 per year
Travel (including hotel and food for 15 tournaments) $4,000.00 per year
Total: 17,000.00 per year to be the best

These numbers are high but reflects what the top players in America are spending to be the best. If the families aren’t spending it, someone is sponsoring them financially because of their ability with the return on invest being a college scholarship at the least.

The number of African-Americans competing are low at the collegiate and professional level. In my opinion, the numbers are low in participation because of the high cost to develop and showcase your baseball talent. It is often said the reason for the decline is due to a lack of interest but if that were the case, there wouldn’t be baseball teams in predominately black high schools at all.  Baseball has been in the black community dating back to slavery.  Baseball is a business now.

As a professional instructor for Diamond Directors, I support the position of the game because it provides an opportunity for me to make money doing something that I thoroughly enjoy. I created my organization L.E.A.D., Inc. to provide inner city at-risk Atlanta males with access to higher education and civic engagement through baseball. If you don’t have money or someone willing to sponsor you, you can’t compete at this game beyond high school.

The kids here in Cary are vying for an opportunity to make Team USA deserve to be here because they are talented and continuously make sacrifices to be the best. I still believe that baseball is still America’s favorite pastime but so many kids are being passed over because of lack of financial resources and mentorship.  The answer to these problems in Atlanta is called L.E.A.D.  Click here to learn more about L.E.A.D., Inc.

God has truly blessed me. The best blessing is my willingness and ability to serve others.

I grew up reading and hearing about so many men that fought for the rights of others and those men that put service over self.

One of those men is a living icon, Congressmen John Lewis. Mr. Lewis was considered as one of six major leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.  He was the youngest and only surviving member of that group.

Yesterday, I had the honor of hearing him speak at McGuire Woods about his humble upbringing in a rural town of Alabama. Education was his ticket out of poverty. He studied at Fisk University but God had other plans for him. Plans for him to serve others and help our country end segregation.

Left to Right: Russell Mackenzie, D.M. Therrell HS, Jamarcus Willingham, D.M. Therrell HS; Jacob Walker , Sophomore at Sewanee-The University of the South; C.J. Stewart

I feel that service has always been a strong part of my DNA because of my relationship with God, my parents and loved ones and role models like Congressman Lewis.

Our youth today will strive to be the best as long as we as adults set the proper example. Let’s be intentional with our positive impact.

Thank you Congressman Lewis for being a great role model for me. You are a great American icon.

As a long time GA Tech baseball fan, I am enjoying their resurgent effort.  The Yellow Jackets are off to a great start in the NCAA Super Regionals in Gainesville, FL with a win yesterday over the College of Charleston.  It’s going to be tough to win it all but I like our chances because we have Brandon Thomas.

Brandon is a junior switch hitting outfielder that is leading the Yellow Jackets offensively with a .365 batting average.  He was recently honored by being selected for the ACC Baseball All-Conference Team.  He is also a projected 2012 top round MLB Draft Selection.  If you play baseball at GA Tech, that also means that you have to be a student as well.  Brandon excels at that also.  He was recently named to the Capital One Academic All-America team maintaining a 3.66 GPA in management.

Brandon has been a client of mine through Diamond Directors since the age of 12.  His family has also been a supporter of L.E.A.D. since 2008 while he was a student-athlete at Pace Academy.  While in high school, he helped raise over $3,000 that was donated to L.E.A.D. by families at Pace Academy.  His family also exposed our Ambassadors to the traditions of GA Tech Baseball by attending their annual preseason banquet.

I remember Brandon speaking to our L.E.A.D. Ambassadors in 2010 about his experience as a freshman at GA Tech.  They hung on to every word because he was doing something that they all dreamed of doing.  Being a student-athlete is a big deal.  One of the Ambassadors that took Brandon’s words of advice as a personal challenge was Desmond Stegall.

Desmond recently completed his freshman year at Grambling State University.  He got his first taste of Division I baseball on the field but he is more respected for his 3.86 GPA.

On Friday, June 15th, Desmond Stegall will address a packed crowd of over 150 special guest as we honor our 2012 class of graduating L.E.A.D. Ambassadors at Turner Field’s 755 Club.

Day 1: May 18, 2012
I woke up at 3:30AM to catch a 6:15AM flight with Dj Huyck to Denver, CO.  I have flown into Denver several times but I’m excited about this trip because we are going deep into the mountains.  From the Denver city airport, you can see the snow on the mountain tops and for me that is really weird considering that it is 80 degrees where I stand.

Dj is a good friend of mine that was born in Denver and now lives in Marietta and serves on the LEADership Council of my non-profit organization L.E.A.D.  His mother, Lois Huyck currently lives in a small town called Buena Vista in the mountains of Colorado.  Her and and here husband Charlie built their retirement home there many years ago.  About a year ago, Dj’s father, Charlie died and we are here to organize a baseball clinic in his honor for youth in the town.

Charlie was a successful entrepreneur, an avid baseball fan and most of all a caring husband and father. What a blessing it is for me to be here to serve in this capacity.  Before his death, he dove into this community and supported baseball and youth.  This week, we are going to Honor The Game in his name.

I’m really excited about tomorrow.  We drove by the clinic field site which is the home field for the BV varsity baseball team.  What a view of the mountains from home plate!  I’m laughing right now because as I look beyond the right field fence, I see a couple deer in the back yard of a house.  I’m definitely in the mountains.

This is a small town but everyone is so nice.  The grade school enrollment is 250 students with a total population of less than 3,000 in the entire town.  That’s alright because I’m either going to find or produce some baseball studs from this town.

Day 2: May 19, 2012
It’s showtime!  The RSVP list shows 15 clinic participants but we are prepared for whoever shows up.  We have several baseball players from nearby Western State College which is led by Charlie Huyck’s grandson Dylan.

The cars are pulling in and out comes a young man and young lady that look ready for some baseball. The father is an Atlanta Braves fan born in California.  He grew up watching the Braves on TBS.  His son is athletically built with a firm hand shake and introduced himself to me as Denver.  Really?  Like the city Denver I asked. Your first name is really Denver?  Yes sir he replied and yoou will never believe what his sisters first name is.  The cute little girl said, “hello my name is Atlanta.”  That is awesome!  If Kelli and I have another girl, her name will be Atlanta.

The clinic is starting and we have 24% (60 kids) of Buena Vista’s grade school students here at the clinic.  This is amazing.  Baseball really matters in this town and Charlie Huyck helped make it so.

Dj Huyck has the master schedule and players are rotating from base running, hitting, pitching and fielding stations.  I have the honor of developing the hitters at the clinic.  We had a lot of fun in the hitting stations.  I basically broke the swing down into parts for the kids so that they could understand it and left them with drills that they could do on their own.

There were several talented hitters that caught my eye but my buddy Denver stood out the most.  He is going to be a stud.

After the clinic, we drove 2.5 hours into Denver to have dinner and I got a chance to hang out with Colorado Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler.  I remember working with Dexter when he was 12 years old and now people are walking around the city with his jersey on.

Driving into Denver was exciting to say the least.  As we climbed the mountains in our Tahoe we reached over 10,000 feet and drove through some snow.  This was crazy considering we were just sweating at the clinic.

I’m full from the bacon cheeseburger and I feel asleep all the way back to BV.

Day 3: May 20, 2012
I slept in from a long day yesterday.  Today was so much fun because I went mountain biking followed by another trip to K’s Dairy Delite then we went to the top of the Cottonwood Pass on the Continental Divide.

One of the toughest things that I have ever done in my life is ride a mountain bike up and down hills for 5 miles.  None of my friends will ever believe that I did it but I did.  As I was riding on one strip, a deer crossed 10 feet in front of me.  That is crazy!

I gained a better sense of perseverance as I climbed the mountain.  There were times when I had to climb a steep hill and wouldn’t give up and there were other times when I needed to take a break and walk.  Dj was by my side most of the ride on the ATV and was great encouragement.  That was a real lesson to depend on others.  I couldn’t have done it without his help.  I was also able to accomplish my goal to complete the 5 mile hike because I had a great bike from the Trailhead Bike Shop.  It is vital to have the best equipment when you are trying to accomplish greatness.

So I burned a lot of calories on the bike and I had to enjoy a double bacon cheeseburger, fries and two peanut butter milkshakes at K’s Dairy Delite.  This food is so good and a landmark in Buena Vista.  It is a family owned business of the Huyck’s and a place where Charlie spent a lot of his time.  The atmosphere reminds me a lot of Chick-fil-A because it has that family feel and lots of tradition.

I’m more than full and now it is time to hike to the top of the Cottonwood Pass but this time we are doing it in the Tahoe.  We drove up switch backs and did a few hairpin turns.  It was amazing to see.  We finally reached 12,126 feet and the view proves that there is a God.  I’ve seen views from tall buildings in Atlanta but nothing like this.  My view of the world is forever changed.

I’m on the grind everyday in Atlanta and I am going to spend more quality time with my wife and daughters when I return.  There was a peace and calmness that my trip to BV provided.

I’m really excited that this clinic is going to be an annual event so that I can come back next year and hopefully bring my family. The total population here is a little less than 3,000.  Click here to learn more about Buena Vista.

I’ve seen a part of the world that I never knew existed and people here are happy.  My take away from this trip is to slow down and enjoy life.  We have everything that we can possibly need in the big city of Atlanta and often times we complain because we want more.  There was no fee for me to climb the mountains and see God’s amazing views.  I had time to reflect and speak to God about my purpose on this Earth.

I want to focus on not taking my days for granted and empowering as many people as possible because I am part of God’s plan.

Honor The Game 2012.  Your legacy lives on Charlie Huyck.