Extracurriculars have become an immense part of the everyday lives of many students across the U.S. There’s only so many spots available at the collegiate level, and even less for scholarships, so athletes devote a ton of their time to reaching that goal of being offered a spot at a university. One of the biggest sports at the college level, after football and basketball of course, is baseball. Only 10% of high school baseball players go on to play at a university. At Pines Charter, two players are forming part of that 10%, one of those being senior Paul “PJ” Abolafia, who has officially signed with Lander University. 

   For Paul and many others, the dream of playing collegiate, and ultimately pro baseball started at a very young age. “Ever since I was a young kid, watching my favorite team, the Yankees, play, and seeing all these guys playing this kid’s game professionally, I knew at that point I wanted to chase this dream.”  He explained that something about the navy pinstripes hooked him, and he knew then that he wanted to do this for as long as possible. 

   As far as the commitment goes, PJ knew early on that Lander would be the school he’d end up choosing. 

   “They contacted me in mid October of last year… they were one of the first teams to contact me, and from that point on I was kind of hooked on it”. 

    Although Paul has made strong bonds at Pembroke Pines Charter and has been in the system since middle school, he spoke on his immediate need for a change of scenery; hence, why he chose Lander. 

   “I wanted to go to a smaller school… it’s a smaller town, which I think I’ll fit right [into], and I’ll enjoy [it] much more” 

   Lander University is located in the small town of Greenwood, South Carolina. It has just over 20,000 people, compared to Pembroke Pines’s 170,000 plus. 

   Amongst all of the deciding factors—education, location, athletics programs, and everything that tags along—perhaps the biggest one was the relationship displayed between the players and the coaches. Abolafia expressed, “From the jump, the coaches truly made me feel like family… they invited me up right away for a weekend… and it was just a great family feel.” 

   Baseball aside, university is still where students continue to go to school and ultimately decide what career they want to take on for, often times, the rest of their lives. That’s why even for athletes, it’s so important to take that into consideration, because unfortunately, sometimes things go sideways. 

   “I wanna get a degree in emergency management. My plan B is to be a firefighter. I wanna develop as a person and as the best baseball player I can be,” which were the ultimate factors in why it was Lander.

    PJ also spoke on what he expects and he’s grateful to have gotten out of Pembroke Pines Charter. “It’s not an easy curriculum at Pines Charter. That’s why we’re such a great school, because it prepares us for college, so when I go to college, I know that my time management has to be on point, and I have to do all the little things right in order to succeed.”

   And with the end of the year also comes some time for reflection. We all have things to be grateful for, and for this particular senior, he emphasized how lucky he is to have received a shot to play a kid’s game for a living, knowing many others don’t. Perhaps that’s why the Jaguars’ current on-base percentage, runs batted, and SLG% leader shed some tears back in October when he made his commitment to Lander University public. 

   “Knowing that I get 4 more years of education through this sport is honestly beautiful to me, and I couldn’t be more excited to start.”

   The Jags are now well past the halfway point on this season, and as they hope to bring back the district title, they will have to lean heavily on the confidence, but most of all, the abilities of scholar athlete, and future Lander bearcat, Paul Abolafia.