크로스베이스볼 출장일기 58일차

크로스베이스볼
2021-08-06

2021. 08. 05. 

크로스베이스볼 출장일기 58일차 (08/05/21  - Day 4 Review with Coach Koo)

West Texas

As I began my day at 5 AM driving to West Texas, I was actually pretty excited. I never thought that I would ever go back to West Texas, but you know there’s a saying ‘never say never’. It was a 4 Hour drive to Midland College. Unfortunately, today head coach Rodriguez had a family emergency to attend to. However, assistant coach Fanning was more than welcoming and showed me around the facilities. 

Coach Fanning and I sat down and we talked about Canadian players in the past as well as what it would look like for future Kross baseball players to attend Midland college. One of the biggest concerns that came up was their English proficiency scores. In order to attend Midland college, a student athlete must have a Toefl score of 61. Now that may not sound like a high score to a Native speaker, however it is no easy task for a second language learner. Similar to the other schools in this conference, the resources available to the players were astounding. From the weightlifting program to the indoor facility, the players have everything in order to develop and get better in a short amount of time. 

After meeting Coach Fanning it was time to go back to my old college. As I took a quick tour around campus, memories started to flood in. Similar to Midland college, unfortunately head coach Lay was unavailable due to a family matter. He did allow me to meet assistant coach Segovia who showed me around the new stadium. It was such a drastic difference from the years that I played there. He told me that they recently had a $2.5 million upgrade and that more changes were coming. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want a Kross baseball player to attend Odessa college first very soon. Whether it is the education level or the facilities of the school, I do believe that it is a great environment as I have also experienced. Coach Segovia as well as Coach Lay both are open and have always been open to the idea of having international students play on the baseball team.

That is probably the most thankful thing I take away from all of the coaches that I’ve met so far. All of them have been welcoming of Kross baseball players attending their schools. My hope is that I am able to help connect and bridge the relationship between Kross Baseball and these colleges on a continual basis so that Korean baseball players can expand into American colleges at the highest level. 

Whether it is it Midland College or Odessa College, I truly believe that in the next two years we should be able to produce a Kross Baseball player to attend one of these schools. I will also work very hard to ensure that this happens. 

As I have checked and am resting, I am very excited to head back to Roswell tomorrow and watch BY practice on the field! 

Tune in tomorrow to see BY have his first practice at NMMI! 

Let’s Kross Baseball Together!