As another school year swiftly comes to an end, we, the parents, as well as Matthew, the player are looking forward to another busy Summer baseball season.  As is usually the case, we know that we should be careful what we ask for because we have become so involved in baseball that we never have any real time for vacations or personal time that don't involve baseball.

It looks as though he will be a part of the Katy high School summer baseball program as well as the Allen Baseball Club Summer program which will require at least 6 to 8 hours of weekly practice sessions, weekend tournaments that could require up to 5 or 6 games per weekend and a weekly double-header for the high school.

You would think that this sort of rigorous schedule would probably cause most kids to eventually go through some sort of burn-out, which I have always half-heartedly expected; although, after several years of year-round baseball, Matthew has not even come close to getting tired of it.  Believe me, I initiate conversation at least once per year and give him the opportunity to let me know if he is having any of these type of feelings.

When he was 12 years old and expressed an interest in playing select baseball and working more and more in the off season, I told him that I would support him 100 percent as long as he worked hard and proved to me that this was something that he really wanted to do.  I also told him that if he ever decided to stop, that I would support that decision also.  So far, he has never backed up from the hard work and has never shown any sign of wanting to do anything else.  He is extremely motivated and goal oriented, which is more than I could ever say about myself when it came to baseball.