YOUTH
Led by High Quality coaching, Rake City offers a developmental youth program, designed to teach players, dedication, a team-first mentality, how to work hard and compete day-in and day-out. With an emphasis weight room knowledge and understanding the mechanics of pitching, fielding, hitting and catching, the youth program is where we first teach the Rake City way to approaching baseball and creating a foundation for success through life, with our GRIND 4 MINE motto. The players in our youth program will receive instruction from staff members who have played baseball collegiately and/or professionally.
Fall Ball
Our Fall Ball program starts the development and competition process for each age group. Fall Ball begins during the second weekend of September and runs every Saturday and Sunday morning through mid October. The 6 weeks creates sessions for our players to build a foundation for success.
Saturdays and Sundays serve as a developmental days with a focus on fundamentals. The format is structured to create a controllable game environment, repetitions, base- running, and situational thought process where teaching can take place.
We encourage all players to join us in the fall, especially new players to the organization, because players must EARN their spots in this organization. The players have six weeks to show our coaching staff what type of player they are and which team they want to be on.
*Fall is an extra expense and not included in the overall cost of the season.
Monthly Clinics
Offered to all youth players, the clinics take place every Monday and Wednesday night, starting on the first Monday in September and running through March.
The classes are 90 minutes and focus on fundamental skills, building core strength, running form, establishing an explosive first step, and acceleration and deceleration, all to enhance athleticism and understanding the boundaries a player can push himself to.
Core strength focuses on body weight training, jump training and sled training, to properly build strength throughout the body. Later in the program weights are added, not heavy but controlled, to build strength and power.
*The clinics are not included in the cost of a player playing for Rake City and are due monthly.
Winter Training
Rake City’s youth winter training will be once a week, either Saturday or Sunday for 2 hours , November through March.
The winter training is included in the cost for all age levels, November through March for 12u, 13u, and 14u (10u/11u starts in January) .
Winter training is another chance for each player to showcase their skills to the coaching staff before teams are selected in March.
Our priority in the winter is breaking down a player’s swing and instructing the necessary adjustments to maximize their skill. We slow down the process of hitting for the youth, to make sure they understand what is going on in their swing, why certain things are happening, and how to adjust. We use tee-work and mirror swings, so players can start to feel and see what is really going on. Later in the winter we focus on the mental side of hitting, approach and situational hitting.
In March, we try to rent out the Rosemont Dome to allow the players to work out with their selected teams. At the dome, instruction centers on defense. Infielders get mass ground balls, outfielders work on route-running, communication and how to play the fence. We also work on team defense and hold intra-squad games, if possible.
Team Selections and Spring Seasons
Each team will play a competitive schedule in line with the team’s level of play. This will allow each player to develop as much as possible throughout the season at a pace that maximizes their potential. A player’s placement is made for a certain reason, whether it is because of the level of play or for the player to get more reps at a certain position. Each player will be assigned to a team as the staff sees fit.
HIGH SCHOOL
DEVELOPMENT ON AND OFF THE FIELD
To succeed in baseball, and more importantly in life, you must learn to grind. Grinding is pouring your blood, sweat and tears into your work. Grinding is having a desire to out-work everyone else, regardless of the situation. Grinding is a commitment. The one that grinds the most is the one that gets the most.
Fall Baseball
Our fall high school program is centered around preparing the players to compete in elite-level tournaments that will provide our players with the competition and exposure necessary to reach the next level of baseball.
At the 17/18U level, our players will participate in Perfect Game’s Kernels Foundational Tournament, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at the end of September.
Our 15U/16u players will attend a local tournament and play age up.
The teams will start practice the first week of September, and they will be held every Saturday and Sunday until their respective tournament.
During the fall season, our players will undertake the knowledge and responsibility of what it takes to be a part of Rake City and the work necessary to achieve great things.
*Fall is an extra expense and not included in the overall cost of the season.
After-school workout program
Our after-school workout program is structured to turn a good player into a great one.
Starting in September, we structure an after-school workout program where our high school players can train in our facility four days each week. Mondays and Wednesdays will be dedicated to mobility, weight training, understanding the importance of proper mechanics while lifting and how to fight through pain. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, players will work on hitting with Rake City instructors, while also working on speed and agility on Tuesday.
*The High School workouts are not included in the season cost for Rake City and are due monthly
*Workouts will be held at Academy
5446 Dansher rd
Countryside, IL 60525
Winter Training
Our winter training is where we concentration our focus on addressing the mechanics of our players, from fielding and hitting, to pitching and catching. The players will be trained for four consecutive months by Rake City staff members, engaging in hands-on instruction to improve all aspects of their game.
Beginning in November, our winter training runs through the end of February. Training will take place every Saturday or Sunday inside our facility, and last for 90 minutes at each age level. For those that do not attend the high school offseason workout program, there is a 30-minute workout following the 90-minute baseball-focused training.
The month of February is dedication to bringing together all aspects of the offseason workouts and training, betting our players in game-like settings, with pitchers and hitters facing each other in live at-bats.
Players will leave winter training with 20-30 live at-bats be more prepared than their peers when starting practice for the high school season.
