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A new era of youth athletics in Palmetto Bay was recently ushered in when Baurball, Miami’s award-winning soccer school, and RAE Lacrosse collaborated to offer two well-attended sports camps.
The camps brought players from both sports together for a clinic that entailed a series of calisthenics, stretches and running along with inspirational messaging from Baurball Camp Director Hart Baur and RAE Lacrosse’s Matt Ogelsby. The primary focus of the collaboration was to bring these two sports together and send a strong message that positive thoughts and energy are vital to a player’s success both on and off the field.
“Sports are a microcosm of life and many young players are being taught that winning is everything and that’s simply not true,” says Hart. “Many other important things matter such as hard work, good sportsmanship and the value of teamwork, and we set out to share that meaningful message.”
Hart and his wife Elena founded Baurball in 2021 to develop local youth into competitive and versatile athletes. Hart is a former standout soccer player who graduated from Palmer Trinity High School and played for four years at the College of William and Mary. He was the head soccer coach of Christopher Columbus High School for more than 20 years.
“I met Matt at Coral Reef Park last year and noticed he was doing what I do with soccer, but he did it with lacrosse,” explains Hart. “Matt was teaching technique and game situational skills, but also he was teaching character. We started talking and learned that we both of us had attended Camp Tecumseh in New Hampshire as boys, where attitude, respect and effort are taught as core values. Then it all made sense; we had the same vision for what we were doing.”
Matt is a three-time All American who played at Duke University and is a member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. His company RAE stands for Respect, Attitude and Effort.
“Meeting Hart was serendipitous on all levels,” says Matt. “Although Coral Reef Park is very far from Camp Tecumseh, the fact that we shared that formative experience as youths where the sports field was our greatest teacher is amazing,” adds Matt.
Palmetto Bay resident Melanie Pendray’s nine year-old son Luke has been attending Baurball sessions for a year and a half. “Baurball has made a significant, positive impact on my son’s development and his enjoyment of the game,” she says. “After the Thanksgiving clinic my son caught us up on his takeaways, which were about attitude, effort and hard work.”
The Baurball-RAE collaborative camps have marked a new beginning in Palmetto Bay, demonstrating that different sports can work together toward the common goal of making children good citizens, leaders, teammates, sons and daughters.
“Not everyone can be a Division 1 athlete, but everyone can be a great citizen,” says Hart. “Matt and I learned a lot of life lessons on those fields in New Hampshire, and we want to give those lessons back. RAE and Baurball are building good people who also happen to get really proficient in their respective sports.”
Please visit www.baurball.com and www.raeallday.com to learn more.
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