Georgia Raiders Baseball

WELCOME

To all of our followers old and new. This blog will serve as your source of information regarding our OUTSTANDING baseball organization. We thank you for being a part of the RAIDER NATION!

COACHES CORNER

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!! Baseball season is back. There's nothing like America's Pastime. I get chills through my body watching baseball highlights. From Jackie Robinson stealing home under the tag of Yogi Berra to Kirk Gibson pumping his fist after his homerun in the World Series to Willie Mays' amazing over the head catch to Sid Bream rounding third base and sliding home safely to take the Braves to the World Series, whew!!!!!! You have to be from another planet if you don't love this sport..... I LOVE watching young men play this sport for pure fun and excitement. The GEORGIA RAIDERS baseball organization has garnered National recognition in only three years, and the future looks even brighter!!!!

One thing that my late mentor used to tell me that I will never forget. "People always wanna walk in your shoes until they see the corns on your feet"..... And people hate you for 1 of 3 reasons. 1) They want to be you 2) They hate themselves 3) They see you as a threat

I've been coaching for years, well before I had a son and the key to having a smooth running team is the PARENTS. They can also be the downfall of any team or organization. Every year I make make the majority of parents happy and then there are the ones that don't talk to me anymore. A coaching colleague once told me this about negative parents. He said "When a dog growls at everyone, its not about who's passing by". Its sad that when you have willing people in the community to help parents expose their kids to things outside of the norm, things that 99% of them would never experience, you have parents that will turn on you because they can't manipulate their way into power. Nevermind the fact that the child is having a ball and reaping some positive and life changing benefits while building solid relationships with boys that will be their friends for life. Recently, I just heard the parents of a 5yr old baseball player say that their son is a stud, but he's on a team full of rejects. WHAT??? And we wonder what's wrong with society and the youth being in turmoil. Yes, we lack mentoring in the community, our kids listen to unsavory lyrics in songs, play violent video games and watch questionable movies, but the REAL problem is US parents. As Bernie Mac once said "We're some punk a$$ parents!" Ignorance has become a plague and our youth are catching it like wildfire. Our society has been hijacked by a NOW mentality. If you want to meet a group of the most insecure men on the planet, just stop at your neighborhood ballpark. These are men/dads trying to live vicariously through their sons while undermining every decision and move that the coaches make. Get in the game DADS!! Literally.. Volunteer and become a coach, since every decision you make from the bleachers is the correct one. Don't get out there and just coach your son, coach the whole team. We need more male figures to step up....

Parents, what are we really teaching our boys? If they encounter a situation where they have to compete for anything and its not handed to them, then it's not the right situation. We are not teaching our youth that "LIFE is a COMPETITION". They'll have to compete to get into the college they want to attend, they'll be competing to get that dream job, they'll even compete to get the spouse that they want. But from an early age we tend to give our BOYS a pass. We pacify these young men because we want our kids to have it easier than we had it growing up. We live in the suburbs in our nice houses, nice cars with good jobs, but all we talk about is our sons going to the LEAGUE. And we wonder why academics isn't priority #1... It's US parents!! What happened to using baseball and athletics as a tool to teach good sportsmanship, respect and teamwork. If you have a child that's talented/gifted enough to play at the collegiate or professional level, then that's great. Winning on the baseball field seems to be more important than Winning in life. With more and more males filling up America's jails and African-American boys dropping out of school at an alarming rate, we ALL need to re-focus...

I love watching these 9 year old Georgia Raiders baseball players. Its amazing what you can learn from kids. These boys are incredible!! They NEVER stop having fun and fighting through obstacles that the average kid doesn't encounter. Are the 9U Georgia Raiders special? YES they are. The boys say "they can show you better than I can tell you". America's Team.... #1 in the USA

"You can try and stop a Revolutionary, but you can never stop the Revolution"

RAIDER NATION!!!!!!!!!! Silver & Black Attack

Jerry Clark aka Papa Raider

DAD/Coach/Disciplinarian/Mentor

Friday, July 17, 2009

To: Georgia Team Raiders
From: Darrin Hogeboom Georgia Cobras
Sent: Friday July 17, 2009

I wanted to take a minute to congratulate the Georgia Team Raiders on a tremendous season.

Although our team, Georgia Cobras, competed with the GTR on several occasions, we have the up most respect for the entire GTR organization.

The GTR players are some of the most talented young men in the country. Aside from their athletic ability, they always exhibited great sportsmanship. Several of our GA Cobra players have developed friendships with the GTR players that we hope will last for years.

Most of all I wanted to compliment the GTR coaching staff---Jerry, Nick, John, Mike & Pete run a great program. The perfect mix of encouragement, discipline, instruction and love. It is obvious the players are coached how to play baseball as well as how to grow up to become better men.

The GTR parents are a class act...I hope you all recognize how fortunate you and your sons are to be part of such a great program. The dedication (time & money invested) of Jerry Clark and his foundations is unmatched!

In today's youth athletic programs it is all too often that the coaches become targets...easy targets. The GTR program exemplifies all that is good with youth athletics. Keep in mind the GTR coaches, like the rest of us, are volunteers. They coach because they love baseball and they love the kids who are playing baseball.

You GTR parents are blessed to have Jerry, Nick, John, Mike & Pete and the Jerry Clark foundation...appreciate them and the"job" they do.

Your friends...the Georgia Cobras.