The PAL North Brevard Blaze End-of-the-Season Picnic was a huge success. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the OUC Recreational Area was the perfect place to hold such an event. There was plenty of food and plenty of fun for everyone. Activities included Karaoke, volleyball, horseshoes, Polish Horseshoes and just plain old relaxing with family and friends.

     We were also honored by having Meghan Cornett come to our picnic to give an inspirational talk to our parents and players. Meghan Cornett was a star High School Softball Player for the Merritt Island Mustangs before receiving a four year scholarship to the University of South Carolina where she played first base. She had a spectacular College Softball career and has the distinction of playing every inning of every game for the whole four years that she played! She was also made a name for herself in the batters box by maintaining one of the highest batter averages in the conference.

     Meghan told her story about how she started out wanting to play soccer, but was instead signed up for Little League Softball. She started out as a pitcher and struggled in the beginning with her speed and accuracy. After a while, it just seems like it just all the sudden came together for her and it seemed that she just couldn’t miss the strike zone! Meghan started playing Travel Softball and played for many teams. She would often have to travel long distances to go to practices. She was very dedicated to excelling in Softball and her parents were extremely supportive. In High School Softball and travel ball, Meghan spent almost every inning played as a Pitcher, but made sure that she kept up her batting and fielding skills. Her dedication to acquiring skills in positions other than pitching would prove to be quite valuable in the years to come.

     When Meghan was in her Senior year of High School, she injured her shoulder. Even though it was recommended by her doctor that she give the shoulder time to heal, Meghan was dedicated to her Merritt Island Mustang team and pitched anyhow. This would have serious consequences in the future by causing long term damage to her shoulder that greatly reduced her pitching speed and accuracy. When she was recruited by the University of South Carolina, she was recruited to play First Base. It was her ability to play several positions and her phenomenal batting abilities that helped her to land her scholarship. Her good grades and great attitude didn’t hurt either.

     Meghan had a lot of advice and wisdom to share with our girls. For one, she said it is better to sacrifice and miss the parties and hanging out with your friends now and to work hard towards your goals because the rewards will be so much better later. She didn’t have a boyfriend throughout her high school years. Meghan says boys are bad! What she missed in High School was more than made up for in college as a college student athlete.

     She also said that having good grades are required to play Division 1 sports. Outstanding athletes with poor grades will probably not be able to play division 1 softball and might have to start their college years playing for a community college or a lower division team. Good grades now will better your chances of being recruited to a top ranked team in the future.

     Meghan said that being a college student athlete has many advantages over being just a regular student. For one, student athletes hang out with other student athletes. These are people who are focused and committed and will go places. Student athletes enroll in their required classes one week ahead of the regular students, giving them the opportunity to get the best professors and the classes they need to finish their degree. If you have academics problems, the athletic department will give you every opportunity and every form of assistance to make sure you will succeed scholastically. They will set up study halls and supply you with a tutor to help you. Regular students don’t get this kind of help.

     She also had this advice for players and parents: if you are visiting a college campus for any reason, try to schedule an appointment with the College Softball Coach. This will be an opportunity to introduce yourself to the Coach and an opportunity for the Coach to let you know what they expect from you. Coaches can not approach a player until their Junior year of High School, but can talk to anyone that approaches them. When the recruiting process starts, the Coaches will already know you and will be more inclined to take a look at your talents.

     Her main message was to diversify your skills, stay focused, stay committed and to work hard now and reap the better rewards later.

Meghan is seen here receiving her Official Blaze Gear Bag as part of her becoming an Honorary North Brevard Blaze Team Member. This is the same gear bag that the North Brevard Blaze players use. She is only the second person ever to receive this prestigious honor.

The girls are singing a group Karaoke song.

The girls are dancing to the Cha Cha Slide.

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Coach Martin Asinari and his daughter singing together.

     The PAL North Brevard Blaze would like to thank Reliant Energy Indian River Station for generously sponsoring the PAL North Brevard Blaze. Reliant Energy’s business philosophy is founded on building solid relationships with the people and communities they serve and our team truly appreciates and is humbly honored by being sponsored by Reliant Energy.

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