From the time I was a little kid I dreamed about growing up to become a College baseball player. I was on track until 9th grade when I broke my right elbow throwing a pitch.
It took 6 months until I could throw again, and well over a year until I could pitch without any pain.
Missing that much time at a key developmental age forced me to sit and watch while my peers and competition passed me and became better players. Coming back from that injury was terrifying, it took a long time for me to trust myself to pitch again. Then in my grade 11 year, I was throwing 78-82mph and College coaches told me I had missed my window to play College ball.
At the time I cursed my injury and hated the difficult path it forced me to pursue in order to achieve my goal. However, looking back, I was fortunate because I learned lessons that continue to bless my life today. Not being the most talented player growing up taught me to be humble and to work hard, two things that continue to carry me through my journey as a college player. By lacking the physical tools to attract college coaches I was forced to maximize the intangible tools such as mindset and body language.
It wasn’t till the end of my Senior year that UBC decided to give me a chance to realize my childhood dream of playing college baseball.
Two summers after being told I would never play college baseball I was pitching in the All-Star game of one of the top developmental summer collegiate leagues in North America. Not everyone’s path is going to be what they expect, and the doubt of others can be difficult to overcome. People can tell you that you’ll never accomplish something, but the only person who can stop you from accomplishing it is you.
Earlier this spring I was throwing 90-94mph and teams were looking at me for the 2019 MLB draft.
After pulling myself from a game in February with elbow pain I have since discovered that I have a partial tear in my UCL and will have to undergo Tommy John surgery which entails a 12 month return to play rehab program. At the moment it feels like my dreams have been crushed all over again. Once more, the path I have to take may not be the one I hoped to, but it will offer me new opportunities to grow and there is certainly no room to start doubting myself now.
Adam McKillican, UBC Baseball.
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