Canes Sports Performance

Come Join Our Canes Family!

We are still looking to fill a few positions between our rising 15U Major and 15U AAA teams!

Canes 15U AAA Major - Seeking a High-Level Catcher!

Join the Canes 15U AAA Major team, where you'll have access to our top-notch facilities and experienced coaching staff. Practices will be held at LakePoint, and in our new 10,000 sqft indoor facility at LakePoint Athletics

Contact Jeff Owens for a private tryout at 404-824-3750.

Burning the midnight oil getting turf down and it sure is looking good!

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy? After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage. Then, finally …

“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck,” he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?”

After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches?”, more of a question than answer.

“That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth’s day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?” Another long pause.

“Seventeen inches?” a guess from another reluctant coach.

“That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?”

“Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident.

“You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?”

“Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison.

“Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?”............“Seventeen inches!”

“RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues? “Seventeen inches!”

“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?” Pause. “They send him to Pocatello !” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter. “What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. If you can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'”
Pause. “Coaches… what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate? "

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows. “This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline.
We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We just widen the plate!”

Pause. Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag. “This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?”

Silence. He replaced the flag with a Cross. “And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves! And we allow it.”

“And the same is true with our government. Our so-called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch.”
I was amazed. At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable.

From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.

“If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: "If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …”

With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, “…We have dark days ahead!.”

Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year, looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever known because he was so much more than a baseball coach. His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your players—no matter how good they are—your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches."

And this my friends is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today, and now go out there and fix it!

"Don't widen the plate"

The Canes Southeast is looking to fill a few open positions for our Rising 10U team! Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to develop your skills and compete at a high level.

🏆 Private Tryouts Available
Contact Coach Justin at 404-333-3848 to schedule a private tryout.

📅 Organizational Tryout Date: July 30th
📍 Location: LakePoint
🏆 Age Group: 10U
⏰ Time: 6 - 9 PM
🏟 Field: F9

What we offer:
- Player Development Focused
- Winter Workouts and Skill Development Program
- Practices held at the premier LakePoint facility
- Year-round access to an indoor facility

Join us and become part of a team that values development, competitive spirit, and a family-focused environment! 💪⚾️

📣 Exciting News! 📣

We are thrilled to welcome another talented Softball Trainer, Hannah Trombley, to the Canes Sports Performance family! ⚾️ With 18 years of active softball experience, including a stellar career at Samford University, Hannah brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to our team. She specializes in catching, hitting, and fielding, and is eager to help our athletes reach their full potential.

Join us in giving Hannah a warm welcome! 🙌

Stellar performance last night by Drew Meriwether at Lakepoint pitching a no hitter through 5 1/3 innings and Everett Perkins to finish the complete game no hitter to get the win for the 15u Canes Lawless.

No hitters become more rare as the years go on. We want to be sure to celebrate the things that sometimes happen once in a lifetime for these players. Great work.

We are still looking to fill a few positions for our Rising 11U team!

Register using the link below or reach out for a private tryout.

https://bit.ly/csp-tryout

Both 13u teams are champions and 12u team Georgia was runner up this weekend! Great job boys !!!

Camp starts in about an hour! Still enough room for a few more.

Tomorrow and weds are the day come join our family!!!!

JUNE TRYOUTS FOR THE UPCOMING 2024-2025 SEASON! ⚾️

Practices held at LakePoint
AAA & Major Teams at each age group
Year-round access to indoor facilities
Paid coaches with college or minor league experience

Registration form
https://bit.ly/csp-tryout

Come bring your little ball player to learn from some top coaches and trainers in the area! Great way to have a fun Saturday learning more about this great game and being outside! Like and share!

9u Howell Champs, 12u Hawkins runner up, 13u coach Robbie runner up, coach Ball runner up, great weekend for our Canes! Coach Lawless, Coach Russel also had great weekends with some big time wins!

Player of the week Parker Slayton with a no hitter pitched and his first home run!! Way to go!

Landon with his first bomb this weekend also congrats buddy we’re proud of you !!

I’m looking for a 14u-17u catcher that wants to catch a few live pens tomorrow at our indoor in dallas Ga early afternoon. The 2-3 pitchers you will catch are low 80 fastballs. Pay is $30 for the 90 min. This also can serve as a private tryout if you are looking for a new travel team for next fall.

Tanner with the 12u with his first bomb congrats buddy we’re proud of you!

What a day! Let’s go!

Weston from our 12u hit his first bomb today congrats buddy we’re proud of you !

Seba from our 10u with a 250 foot bomb for his first home run congrats kids were proud of you !!!

Congrats to 10u Holden on the runner up finish this past weekend !!! Proud of you girls !!

Come join our family!!!