ABOUT PRIME SPORTS ACADEMY / KC SLUGGERS BASEBALL
HISTORY AND HOW WE WORK
TRYOUT PROCESS
PHILOSOPHY - MISSION - OBJECTIVES
Prime Sports Academy Sluggers is a non-profit 501(c)3 "Competitive" amateur youth baseball club serving the Kansas City metro area. PSA Sluggers is a high school feeder organization for the KC Sluggers, led and directed by former KC Royal, Brian Mcrae. The Sluggers are USSSA sanctioned, and are affiliated with KC Sports, the National Alliance for Youth Sports, the Boys and Girls Club of America, and South Metro Sports.
Our club is made up of autonomous, independently run teams ages 7 to High School who share a common goal and combine efforts to achieve maximum success. When teams work together, they accomplish so much more than any single team can by itself. From buying power to collective collaboration, to community outreach and individual growth and development, our teams partner together to achieve similar objectives.
In order to provide boys from our community the best chance at playing competitive baseball with an excellent organization, we do all that we can to recruit athletic and talented players, and we perform tryouts each season while always looking for ways to provide developmental opportunities for players new to the sport, or just starting out, including developmental teams.
We use the tryout process to evaluate the skill-set of players that come to the Academy, and to properly place them on the correct teams, playing at the appropriate level and developmental classification. The process includes standardized evaluations that compares the overall abilities and personal attributes of each potential player with our coaches collectively deciding on which players are the best fit for the Academy and for their teams.
During our tryouts, we primarily look for three things to judge your player's potential to join the Academy. They are:
- LOVE FOR THE GAME - When a player displays a natural passion for playing the game, and expresses a clear desire to want to be there on their own.
- COACHABILITY - When a player shows that they are a good listener, that they can apply what they are taught, and that they are willing to take criticism and instruction from others.
- PLAYER MAKEUP - The overall natural talent, skill set, potential, and baseball/softball IQ that a player shows, including things like range, speed, throwing strength/accuracy, hitting ability, and general baseball knowledge, etc.
Our Coaching Philosophy revolves around our desire to provide a high quality baseball experience for youth in our community.
Our Mission is to promote the development of baseball fundamentals at a highly skilled level and to foster a sense of pride, passion and respect for the game.
Our Objectives are to do all that we can to inspire young players to work hard, to collaborate effectively as a team, and to implement the lessons they learn while in the Academy into everyday real-life situations, and to prepare our players for high school as college bound athletes.
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed" - Michael Jordan
SUCCESS THROUGH FAILURE
One of the number one lessons we teach our players is that baseball is a game of failure. Even the very best hitters fail 7 out of 10 times (.300 batting average). The very best pitchers may only throw strikes 50-75% of the time on a good day. We teach our players how to improve on failures and how to learn that just like with real life, we must get back on our feet and work hard to get it right the next time and not beat ourselves up over past mistakes or errors. However, we also must instill within our players a sense of pride and ownership which comes from hard work and learning that what they are given must be earned. On our players must earn their position, spot in the batting order, and their playing time. Nothing will be given to them. That is what separates competitive sports from recreational sports. If a player expects to come to one or two practices per week, and participate in games, and be a highly competitive player without doing extra work outside of their time with our coaches, they will probably not achieve their goals. The best competitive players typically spend several extra hours per week, a few nights per week, working on their skill (whether it is with parents, with friends or siblings, in private lessons, camps, or academies, or simply watching instructional videos).
During your time with the Sluggers we hope to instill a sense of pride, respect, ownership, and commitment within your players. We will play as a team, but more importantly, we will play as a family and with our heads held high.
What People are saying about Prime Sports Academy
My son has done very well and excelled immensely since being with the KC Sluggers organization!
W. Tibbs in Raymore
Great club! I have 2 boys playing in two different age groups. Neither of them play on Sundays because of religious preference, and none of the coaches ever had a problem with that. In my eyes building character is the most important part of the coaching/team experience and I was proud of the way our coach handled different situations on the team. I think the club is a great value for the money!
L. Kratt in Raymore
Great ball club! My son has enjoyed being part of not just a team, but a
"community" of ball players along with their families. Our coaches did a great job with the boys and we are looking forward to the future! The leaders in this club have put together an amazing organization that will continue to help boys prepare for life as well as baseball!
J. Noblitt in Raymore