Following Mendez: East Coast Professional Showcase Day 5

The East Coast Professional Showcase is over and Mendez (Henry W. Grady HS) and I fly back home on Delta.  This has been a great experience for Mendez and I.  This week, I watched him enhance his leadership and baseball skills.  He showed courage and perseverance.  He made adjustments everyday.  Felecia Calhoun has raised an awesome young man.

His success at this showcase has created new opportunities for young males in L.E.A.D. as well as the Atlanta Public School System.  APS baseball doesn't produce nationally ranked high school baseball players very often compared to Cobb and Gwinnett County because of a lack of financial resources.  Now there is a name that can be recognized among NCAA and MLB scouts with regards to APS baseball.

Mendez carried the hopes and dreams of little leaguers and grade school players on his back here in Florida this week.  APS baseball players will now get a much needed evaluation from college scouts.  It is now up to L.E.A.D. to continue to develop the baseball talent of inner city youth.  Mendez is an example of the player development curriculum that is used in our year round program.  Inner city youth want to play baseball in college and L.E.A.D. will continue to provide the resources and mentorship to make it happen.  Mendez is currently ranked as one of the top 300 high school players in America.

To date, 100% of our Ambassadors have graduated from high school and enrolled in college while 89% of them have received baseball scholarships.  This success rate is impressive when you consider the Atlanta Public School graduation rate of black males being 34%. L.E.A.D. is proud to partner with APS to change the culture and create new levels of success in the classroom and on the baseball field.

Special thanks to Barbara Greene (L.E.A.D. Advisory Board member), Crystal Giles (L.E.A.D. parent), Courtney Mata (Marriott) and Rick Winstel (Delta Airlines) for your help with making this a wonderful experience for Mendez.  Thank you to all of the L.E.A.D. supporters.  On behalf of the city of Atlanta and our partners, than you Mendez for being a great Ambassador!