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What’s In A Name?

September 6, 2013 by C.J. Stewart

Calyx Jaxson was born into the world on Wednesday, September 4th at 8:05AM weighing 8lbs and 8 oz to his awesome parents Callix and Amanda Crabbe. To his friends and family, Calyx will be known as C.J.

I met Callix in 2000 when he was a rising senior at Stone Mountain High School. I was in my second year as a professional swing coach, learning what it meant to be a professional and I was also in my first year as a professional scout for the Cincinnati Reds.

For three months, my job was to evaluate Callix’s speed, hoping for an increase so that I could report it to my scouting supervisor in hopes that Callix would get drafted. He indeed was drafted that year by the Atlanta Braves, but he chose to attend Young Harris Junior College over LSU as a student/athlete. The following year he transferred to Manatee Junior College (FL) and was drafted and signed by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Through all of this, I accepted the responsibility of being his mentor and swing/life coach. I had done all of the things that he wanted to do and I believed He could do them too and much more. My wife and I made it a priority to help him reach his goal of being a Major League Baseball player, loving husband and father and community leader. He thought we were preparing him to be drafted but we knew we were preparing him to win at the game of life.

I remember telling Callix in 2000 that I would never watch him play a game until he was in the majors. On April 3, 2008, I saw my mentee, Callix Crabbe, play baseball for the first time against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. I was filled with emotion then as well as now. We did it! He was starting at second base for the San Diego Padres.

Today, Callix is a beloved husband and father to two healthy children Calyx Jaxson Crabbe (C. J.) and Alana Naessa Crabbe (age 2).

What does it mean to me to have Callix name his son after me? To know that he thinks that highly of me is truly a blessing. It’s a testament to how God is using me and I give all the honor to Him. I am grateful to Callix and Amanda for blessing me in this way; the student has now become the teacher.

9 reasons why I didn’t drop out of high school

September 3, 2013 by C.J. Stewart

I was far from being a perfect kid and I’m even further from being a perfect adult. I was raised by a mother and father that didn’t tolerate foolishness. It was dealt with immediately.
As a child, I did the right things in life because it was encouraged. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have graduated from high school with perfect attendance or with academic honors. Sports and girls were my love and passion.

Around the 8th grade, going to school began to be a burden to me. I was making good grades but I couldn’t see how good grades would equate to a career. Especially my career. I wanted to be a professional baseball player and an entrepreneur as my back up plan.

Here are 9 reasons why I didn’t drop out of high school.

My church
I was raised at Elizabeth Baptist Church on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Southwest Atlanta. It was considered cool to serve on an auxiliary at church. Church taught me morals. It would have been immoral to drop out of school when so many people in the city of Atlanta sacrificed their life and freedom for me to get a free education.

My mentors
I never had mentors that played professional baseball but they were accomplished in other areas and willing to put me in the right place at the right time to accomplish my goals. I was willing to stay the course in school because they hadn’t let me down and I didn’t want to let them down.

A few of my coaches and mentors (left to right) Mike Hurst, Rusty Hudson, Emmett Johnson and Dave Whitfield

My grandmothers
Could you imagine telling your grandmother that you dropped out of high school because it was too hard and you were too lazy to do the work??? After all the hours that she has worked to provide for you??? I couldn’t do it, and the thought of it makes me sick now.

My parents
What parent brings a child in the world for them to fail? Mine didn’t. Neither one of my parents have a college degree but they introduced me to Christ, work ethic and discipline to name a few. They too had some rough times but they didn’t give up on me so how could I drop out of school?

Dad and mom with my daughters

My coaches
I’m not the only one that had coaches give countless hours of their time to ensure that I could learn life lessons in sports. They never got paid a dime to help me. There is no way that I could see one of my coaches in public and look him in the eyes and say that I dropped out of high school.

The Milliner Family were my coaches age 13-16 at Old National Athletic Association

My teachers
I remember all of my teachers by first and last name. I spent more hours at school than I did at home. I had some teachers that I didn’t like because they didn’t take it easy on me. They pushed me towards excellence even when I didn’t know excellence was the best thing for me. The good teachers are put on assignment by God. To quit on my teachers was to quit on God.

My friends
All of my true friends were smart. Some were lazy like me but they were all smart. If I had dropped out of school and was the only one at home chillin’ while everybody else was at school, I would have gotten ridiculed (AKA “joned out”) to the dullest. So immature and so lame on so many levels.

My future wife
I always wanted to get married young to a good woman. No chance in the world that a good woman would want a man without a high school education.

My unborn children
I loved my parents and I dreamed of having children that loved me. I dreamed of the day that my kids would go to kindergarten, graduate from high school and college. I guess I wouldn’t be a good example to them if I had dropped out of high school.

60% of African-American males in Atlanta Public Schools will not graduate from high school. Question for you young men: If you drop out of high school, who are all the people you will let down? Here a a hint, start with the man in the mirror.

UGA has become a short distance away

August 26, 2013 by C.J. Stewart

I met Scott Stricklin about 12 years ago when he was a young assistant coach at Georgia Tech under the leadership of head coach Danny Hall. He later coached at Vanderbilt and his alma mater Kent State University where he played for Danny Hall.
Scott was learning the ropes of coaching and networking just like me. I was developing the talents of players on travel teams through private instruction for a fee preparing them to play in college.

I have always viewed Scott as the consummate professional. He has always been approachable and uses his ability to coach as a means to develop other coaches and players.

Scott Stricklin and CJ Stewart

Ultimately, coaching is about taking someone from where they are to where they need to be. In most cases, players have no idea of where they need to be. Thus the need for a coach. The title of coach shouldn’t be taken for granted.

L.E.A.D.’s mission is to empower an at risk generation to lead and transform their city. We use baseball as a vehicle to do that. We have partnered with Atlanta Public Schools (APS) since 2008 to serve an at risk generation. A generation of youth that doesn’t realize the full value of a high school and college education. This is demonstrated in the fact that 60% of African-American males are not graduating from APS high schools. Click here to see L.E.A.D.’s Impact Stats.

L.E.A.D. is more than activities. We shift the mindsets of our Ambassadors from individuals to the consideration of an entire city.

CJ Stewart at UGA’s Foley Field

Today I was able to share L.E.A.D.’s mission with the new University of Georgia head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. I was joined by Kevin Young who serves as the head coach for the Martin Luther Middle School Cobras. The King Cobras are one of eight middle schools in our year round Middle School Character Development League in partnership with Atlanta Public Schools (APS). Kevin is also a teacher at Grove Park Elementary School (APS).

Coach Kevin Young at UGA’s Foley Field

Scott listened to our organization mission with understanding as well as with sincere concern for the increase of African-American males competing as student-athletes in the sport of baseball within the NCAA. There are less than 6% of African-Americans competing in baseball within the NCAA. Think about what Atlanta feels like if we have more African-American males from APS graduating from college.

Coach Kevin Young, Courtney Gay (UGA Student Affairs) and CJ Stewart

All it takes to change the culture of baseball in the inner city of Atlanta is for someone like Scott to care through speech and action. Scott is in an amazing position of influence as the head baseball coach at the University of Georgia. I look forward to opportunities for our Ambassadors to be empowered by Scott and exposed to the legacy of the University of Georgia. Go Dawgs!

L.E.A.D. is on a new mission…will you join us?

August 17, 2013 by C.J. Stewart

L.E.A.D. is on a mission with a new mission. We are now empowering an at-risk generation to lead and transform the city of Atlanta. When we do this, our Ambassadors will lead their city to lead the world.

The Varsity is an iconic restaurant founded by Reinhardt University graduate Frank Gordy

We do a lot and get great results and with so much going on, an outsider can easily get confused about what L.E.A.D. does. So I reached out to my good friend Brad Steele at Leader Enterprises seeking help for L.E.A.D.’s messaging and branding. With the support of the creative team at Leader Enterprises, we will be launching our new Pathway to Empowerment for our high school Ambassadors and middle school LEADers soon. It’s a game changer in youth development.

L.E.A.D. Ambassadors Cornelius Reed is a freshman at Paine College with a baseball scholarship

Want to lead with us, click here.

Sometimes you have to just unplug and go to the country

August 7, 2013 by C.J. Stewart

I recently spent two days with my wife and daughters in Pine Mountain, GA with cousin Ruby or better known as “Big Mama”. What a time what a time. It’s still fresh on my mind.
On Sunday, we pulled up in just enough time to play 3 on 3 football with my young male cousins ranging in age of 6 to 14. My 12 year old daughter Mackenzi played also. Mackenna was surprisingly busy playing with the family dog “Rock”. She is usually afraid of dogs but not this one. Maybe it was the country life getting the best of her.

Mackenna with “Rock”

As the street lights came on, we were sure to head home.

I stayed up for a little while to laugh and watch Shark Week but I was super tired. The kids went to bed around 2AM as expected.

On Monday morning, we woke to breakfast. Man you can’t beat breakfast in the country and a cup of coffee.

We played football for about an hour in the back yard. Mackenzi got over her fear of playing football with the boys and scored our only two touchdowns on deep passes. We lost 16 to 21. For the first time, Mackenzi even drank out of a water hose.

After sitting around watching TV and starving to death until Kelli came back with the food, my cousin “Meathead” cooked fat sausages and burgers. He has passion for cooking and could be an up and coming celebrity chef.

Filling full and looking for something fun to do, we went to the Wildlife Safari. This place is crazy. You drive for 3 miles in the safari in your own car feeding lions, giraffes, donkeys, ostrich, llamas and just about anything else that you can think of. We laughed so much. Couldn’t stop thinking about the Jurassic Park movie though.

On Tuesday, we woke up to breakfast again. This place is amazing. No football for me today though. I’m getting too old. Of course they asked to play hundreds of time. I’m praying for child like energy to hang with them.

Kelli, the girls and I went to visit a friend then stopped by Callaway Gardens. We used to go there all the time for family reunions when I was a kid. It was really special to go back as an adult with my ladies. Mackenna was scared to death on the paddle boats on the lake. I remember my first experience on the paddle boats as a kid with my dad like it was yesterday. We also got some good exercise riding through bike trails. We stopped riding bikes for a brief moment and found a shaded area near the lake and prayed as a family lead by Mackenzi.

This trip reconnected me with my family in more ways that I could imagine. Thank you Cousin Ruby for the southern hospitality!

L.E.A.D., Inc. | L.E.A.D. Center For Youth