Baseball Club Research Paper

The school activity that is most important to me is playing baseball on the AAE Varsity Boys Baseball Team. Playing Baseball relieves stress from my schoolwork and my busy every day life. It is a time that I can just relax and have fun in without having to worry about homework, my job, or any other of the extra curricular activities I am involved in. However, now I realize that baseball has given me so many experiences and has taught me so many life-lessons, that it has truly defined the person that I am today. The most important being leadership. After suffering a grueling seasons in my junior year where my teammates were participating in social media battles with other players around the league, where kids on the team continually said degrading

comments to other teammates, and where teammates acted terribly in classes disrespecting teachers, proctors, and administration, I knew something had to change. I had to be the one to step up into a leadership role to change the way the baseball team is acting at games, at school, and even at home. I took steps in doing so and had multiple conversations with leaders I respect around the school such as Coach Darryl Stoudemire and Coach William Dudgeon. In addition, I have read books such as How to Win Friends and Influence People, I have watched countless hours of great professional sports athletes, including my favorite Ray Lewis, and have adapted many of their leadership styles into my own style. All of this communication and reading has already had an impact on me as a leader. Already in my senior year I have been named official team captain and I have been called an inspiration and a great team captain from my teammates.

I have volunteered to tutor my teammates so that they can achieve the 2.3 GPA grade mark to play during season, I have organized player only practices, I have scheduled player only meetings to discuss the necessity of supporting our teammates through our words and actions, I have scheduled team-bonding activities such as dinner, movies, and bowling, and I have scheduled baseball team school clean-up days so that the reputation of the baseball team could start to improve. All of this has taught me that leadership is essential to how a group of people, no matter what circumstance, performs, communicates, and acts. The most inspirational quote that speaks volumes to me and has affected my leadership style is from the one and only William Arthur Ward. He says, Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation.” For the rest of my life I aim to inspire others without domination others and to push for cooperation with every member of any team I will be assembled with. I thank God everyday for the talents he gave me to play baseball because I truly believe he inspired me to play baseball in order to learn this

lesson.