We attended the Palisades High School Baseball Traditions dinner & auction tonight with Harrison & Spencer. All the players are required to attend, and be dressed in coat & ties. This is the annual fundraiser to raise money to fund the baseball program at the boys High School. Public schools no longer have the funds to support athletic, music, drama or art programs. It's up to the parents and community to supplement the budget shortfall.
So off we went all dolled up with the boys looking so dapper in their new suits -- I only wish teenage girls were in attendance because all the baseball players looked so handsome & dapper!
Brian and I had a blast visiting with fellow baseball parents! One of the guest speakers was a real treat to hear, especially for Brian. It was Brian's old baseball coach from University High School -- Frank Cruz, now the baseball Coach at University of Southern California.
Frank spent twelve years as the head coach at Loyola Maramount University, before moving over to USC this year. Well the sweetest thing is when Coach Cruz gave a "shout out" to his former baseball player Brian Simon! What a treat for Brian's boys to hear that even after so many years, coach still remembers the outstanding baller and promising player Brian was ... only if a different course had been enc
ouraged, who knows what Brian's life would have been had he pursued baseball!
ouraged, who knows what Brian's life would have been had he pursued baseball! The entire evening was a plus for us as we watched our young, maturing teenage boys laugh with their teammates and listen to the great speakers. Not only did prominent coaches speak, but a baseball recruiter from the Washington Mariners talked about what he looks for in players ... and a former Palisades High School baseball player spoke about how he is now in the MLB, drafted in the 5th round out of Pepperdine University (my Alma mater) and what it took to get him where he is today.
Whatever happens with the boys and their baseball careers, the experience and the program they are involved in is teaching them far more than just how to swing a bat or throw a perfect pitch. It is developing them into young men who can be leaders and tonight we couldn't have been more proud of our young men!
