Monday, May 20, 2013

Summer League Batting Practice

http://youtu.be/0XA2M2aGX3Y

The Summer Allen Baseball season is officially kicked off with the second consecutive weekend of batting practice which consisted of four (Friday and Saturday of each weekend) different four hour sessions, which gave each of the players the opportunity to get in upwards of three hundred swings on each day.  THis proves to be great for muscle memory, strength, confidence and of course blisters and callouses. 

Matthew has been added to their 16U Navy team, which will be coached directly by Skip Allen and is comprized of some pretty awesome tallent at the 16 and below age group. THis is shaping up to be a very exciting and busy summer season.  We should be able to get a couple of good travel tournaments in which will double as a family vacation.  (Detroit and Orlando are distinct possibilities)...  

Thursday, May 16, 2013

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.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

COACH SKIP ALLEN
COACH MATT COULSON, SKIP ALLEN & JEFF ALLEN
GOLD GLOVE AWARDS TOURNAMENT 
IN ORLANDO FLORIDA 
December 26 through December 31, 2012


May 13, 2013

The first weekend of practice involving two consecutive days of 4 hours of practice are officially in the books.

  A large group of 15 through 18 year old boys gathered at The Oaks batting cages for the exciting opening weekend of The Allen Baseball Summer Season.  All were excited to get started with the hard work required to belong to one of the best Nationally ranked programs in the South.

All of the program veterans as well as many new faces listened intently to one of Coach Skip Allen's patented 30 minute speeches that is designed to motivate as well as inspire each and every one of them to become the best that they can possibly be.  It is as gratifying to me to see all of the exhausted, sweaty faces of the new guys walk away from his speeches with a big grin on their faces as it is to see Skip greet each of his program veterans with a hug when he sees them.

This program is not all "Cake and Ice Cream", as it requires a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication to be a part of it.  Trust me, the ones who don't make the grade and/or don't stay with the program for one reason or another, simply don't want to work hard.  As rewarding as this program is, you have to put in the work to reap the rewards.

All of the coaching staff, from Coach Skip Allen, to Coach Jeff Allen, Coach Matthew Coulson and Coach Cody Stewart are dedicated baseball men who love the game and love working with kids who are motivated and willing to set and achieve goals in life as well as the great game of Baseball.



After a somewhat stressful Spring season with the Katy High School Sophomore team, where Matthew played the entire season as the starting right fielder and ended the season with close to a .400 batting average, we are excited to start another season with the Allen Baseball Club.

The Allen Club is a Nationally competitive program for High School athletes that is designed to prepare them for College level baseball, giving the opportunities to showcase their talents in front of many College coaches and scouts.

This blog is created to follow the upcoming baseball exploits of Matthew Chilton, recording both triumphs and failures as he continues to pursue his goal to play College Baseball.
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Matthew has played at every level in the Nations program and been very successful over the years; although we have had some issues finding coaches that he has the proper chemistry with.
After traveling to the Nations 14U World Series in Colorado last year where Matthew pitched 2 one-hitters and hit well over .500 for the tournament, we decided that it w time for him to look for some more challenging opportunities.  After many conversations, Internet searches and phone conversations, we made contact with Skip Allen with the Allen Baseball Club.  I had several long conversations with him before I ever introduced Matthew to him and his program.

We attended two rigorous four-hour practice sessions on consecutive days at the beginning of last Fall's baseball season as a tryout, where Matthew decided that he found exactly what he was looking for.

The Allen Baseball program has proven to be by far the best program that we have ever been involved with.  Everyone is treated like they are part of his family.  There is absolutely no favoritism, that I have been able to see, as all are recognized for hard work and improvement and any who slack-off are chastised and inspired to work harder, just as any good father would treat his own son.
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I will be posting personal statistics, as well as photos and information about fellow team mates and team activity throughout the season and beyond.