If I had to describe my first week at the Athletic Evolution Youth Fundamental Clinic, that word would be AWESOME! I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this week. I am getting ready for the baseball season and I wanted to get faster and stronger. We spent a lot of the first day working on agility and speed. We did sprints, agility work with cones, wall sits and hop overs. At the end of the first day my legs felt like spaghetti. My Dad says that is a good thing! On the second day, we did some of the same speed/agility drills but we also worked a little on strength in my arms. We did a lot of different exercises that helped my arms and shoulders. After two days I am sore but I know that it is going to make me a better and stronger player. The best part about it is that the coaches make it fun for us. I work out for one hour, two days a week and the time really went by quickly.
Athletic Evolution is located in Woburn and is very big. It has batting cages, a basketball court, a big area for weights, turf for running sprints, and even a mini hockey rink (very cool). The owner played college football at Syracuse and he teaches a lot of the same techniques that his coaches taught him. There are a lot of different programs for every skill level and there are a lot of kids that go there after school and on the weekends.
On Sunday I finished my four week pitching camp at Extra Innings in Woburn. It was a really good camp and helped me get a head start on all of the rest of the kids in my league. We learned the best pitching techniques and focused on throwing strikes. The coaches made up games for us to play which was fun. They also showed us how important staying balanced is when you are pitching and worked with us on some drills to help us with our balance.
I will be going to the Extra Innings camp during April vacation which will be good because it is the same week that our league starts. Extra Innings is starting to get busier because there are a lot of kids that are getting ready for High School and AAU tryouts. Opening Day is right around the corner and you will be behind your competition if you don’t head down to Extra Innings.
I started the Extra Innings pitching clinic on February 14th in Woburn. It was a great start to the baseball season. There was a small group of kids and two coaches that showed us the best way to pitch and catch. We started with some basic stretching and throwing and then worked on being balanced, the follow through, and the proper position for your pitching hand and your glove hand. If you watch a pitcher in the Major leagues, their wind-up is the same for every pitch so the batter doesn’t know what pitch they are going to throw. They are very successful but they practice every day.
Extra Innings is a great place to go to practice hitting, pitching, catching and fielding. There is still snow on the ground so this is the best way to get a head start.
The clinic runs for 4 weeks and they also have other clinics that feature hitting, pitching and catching and clinics for February and April vacation (I’m going!).
I’ll check back in each week to let you know what else we learned.
Today I read “The Big Game” Coloring book to my 5 year old sister, Samantha. I enjoyed reading it. It was about a boy who was excited to play in a championship baseball game. The story was fun and easy to read and taught me some good lessons. My sister liked that you could color in the pages. The book was written by Wayne Soares who is from the Boston area. He also wrote a book called “Are You A Good Sport?”. I would highly recommend this book for anyone that wants a good, quick book to read.
You can order a personalized copy of the book ($12) be emailing Wayne Soares at waynesoares1@juno.com
Last weekend my family and I went to the homeless shelter called The Pine Street Inn in Boston to make a difference in someone’s life.
We decided to donate some of our time to people less fortunate than ourselves. It was not very hard at all. It was actually quite fun! Sometime you might be able to help them out too.
We went to do a special Christmas program called family gift wrapping. We got to wrap gifts that companies had donated to the Pine Street Inn. Another thing we did was make cards for the guests staying there. Those were probably the only gifts and cards they are going to get all Christmas. Imagine only getting one present all Christmas. It would not feel very good.
In the time we were there I made four Christmas cards, and my sister Hannah made four cards. We made them from paper, glue and decorations. My Dad made only two cards because he was making them very carefully. My Step-Mom Julia made five cards, and she helped the rest of us make our cards more pretty. Julia is good at making Christmas cards.
There are many ways you can help the Pine Street Inn. You can make a financial donation in any amount by mail or online. Maybe have a company sponsor a drive for food or new clothing. If you want to do something with your whole family volunteering with your family is a great way to spend time together, engage in meaningful activity and have fun.
If your BASEBALL TEAM is interested to set up a service project at The Pine Street Inn, contact Coffie Fields in the Volunteer Department at 617-892-9186 or via email at Coffie.Fields@pinestreetinn.org.
Whether you want to see a good, heart-felt movie, or you’re a big college football fan; The Blind Side is for you. In not your typical Sandra Bullock comedy, Bullock portrays Leigh Anne Tuohy, a religious mother of two and a devoted wife from the South. Tim McGraw plays her husband, Sean, in a southern hospitality setting filled with love and care. Michael Oher, played by Quinton Aaron, is a homeless teenager hoping to play football that begins to attend private school with Tuohy’s daughter.
In the movie, Mrs. Tuohy sees Oher walking on the side of the road in the cold when she decided to ask him where he was heading. With no response, she told him to get in the car, where her family took him in for the night. A spot was made for him on the couch that night, and in the morning, Leigh Anne found the pillows and blankets folded up neatly in their place.
What was at first a temporary stay turns into a home for Oher once Tuohy realizes he has nowhere to go. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, the Tuohy family agrees to work with Michael to help him have a better life, starting with a home. College was next on the list for Michael, and the Tuohy’s who are both Ole Miss alumni, decide to have Miss Sue, one of his teachers, tutor him through passing his senior year.
College football coaches start seeing some of the skill Oher has on the football field, drawing interest from the scouts. Soon enough, Oher has schools contacting him, visiting him, and luring him to play for them.
Oher becomes the feel-good story soon after getting drafted 23rd overall in the 2009 NFL Draft to the Baltimore Ravens. Someone who was raised by a crack-addict mother and a father he never met, changed his life around for the better. It was a long way for Michael Oher, but come every Sunday, he is making his family proud on the football field.
Me and my friends went to Ultimate Adventure paintball in Billerica this weekend. For most of us it was our first time so we were not sure what to expect.
The playing field was in the woods and they set up bunkers for you to hide behind or in.
We got into two teams and played many different games like Capture the Flag, Protect the President, and Eliminate the Other Team. My favorite game was Eliminate the Other Team because we all worked together to eliminate the other team. For every game there was a lot of strategy involved and the more times you played the better you were.
I would advise you to wear two layers of clothes, gloves, and a hooded sweatshirt because the paintballs can hurt if they hit you directly.
Overall, it was very fun and I can’t wait to do it again. I would recommend it for anyone over 10 years old.
Today a painter named Rob Surette came to the Marshal Simonds Middle School in Burlington. He painted Mother Theresa, Abe Lincoln, Albert Einstein, the Statue of Liberty, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mozart. He was different than any painter I have ever seen because of how fast he painted and it seemed like he was just throwing the paint at the board.
When I saw the Statue of Liberty I thought it was supposed to be a painting of George Washington with the United States in the background. He was amazing and only took three minutes to paint each painting. My favorite painting was of Abe Lincoln because at the end he threw the paint at the black spots which made a red white and blue background. He told us to never stop believing in ourselves and to ignore anyone that tells you that you can’t do something.
His Grandfather’s told him that they would always support him and that they knew he was going to be an artist the first time they saw him do a painting of his house when he was in school. I would highly recommend seeing Rob Surette if you ever get the chance.
“A Glove of Their Own” is a great book for all ages. It tells the story of a group of kids that love baseball but don’t have the best equipment. They still play at the playground everyday because they love the game. The book is fun to read and has great pictures.
I think the message of “A Glove of Their Own” was that it doesn’t matter if you have the best equipment or the best fields. The only thing that matters is that you enjoy the game and like being around the kids you are playing with.
Proceeds from each sale of the book will be donated to organizations that make sure children across the nation have a glove of their own.
I would highly recommend reading “A Glove of Their Own”. to order the book go to www.agloveoftheirown.com
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was a great, enjoyable action packed movie that has some comedy and a little romance but a lot of action. This is a movie for the summer you don’t want to miss. The acting was nicely done with a great job by Shia Labeouf as Sam, Meagan Fox as Mikaela, Josh Duhamel as Major Lennox, and Tyrese Gibson as Master Sergeant Epps. The battle for Earth has ended but the battle for the universe has just begun. After returning to Cybertron, Starscream assumes command of the Decepticons, and has decided to return to Earth with force. The Autobots believing that peace was possible finds out that Megatron’s dead body has been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox and revives him using his own spark. Now Megatron is back seeking revenge and with Starscream and more Decepticon reinforcements on the way, the Autobots with reinforcements of their own, may have more to deal with then meets the eye.
By Ryan Winn
