Enrique Reyes is a 21-year-old Sophomore majoring in Business Administration from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and is on a journey of becoming a Major League Baseball (MLB) player despite the obstacles that he has experienced.
Reyes graduated from Mississauga Secondary School where he considered himself a highly dedicated, organized, driven, and motivated student athlete. He comes from a family of career motivated academic professionals (medical doctors, lawyers, and computer scientists). However, Reyes has other plans for himself concerning baseball. “My siblings followed suit, and it is only obvious I want to follow suit with my own goals. It pushes me to be the best that I can be on the field and in the classroom. I am married to the game,” he said.
Recruitment in high school didn’t go as planned for him so he took the post grad route which brought him to the United States. He attended a post grad school in Texas for a year where he was able to improve his game, get bigger and stronger all while still getting his college education.
Unfortunately, Reyes hasn’t had the best experience while being a Canadian playing baseball in the United States.“Throughout my experience in baseball in the U.S. several coaches have held me back from being seen playing baseball to show my skills just because I am Canadian, Dominican and/or African descendant, despite my talent,” Reyes said.
Despite him being held back by coaches, he was able to get recruited to the baseball team at Alcorn State University (ASU) by the former Head Coach Reggie Williams. This pushed Reyes in the right direction of accomplishing his dream.
Reyes’ first year at ASU didn’t go exactly as he planned due to some issues with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The NCAA punished him for playing in a Summer league which cost him that year of eligibility. Reyes didn’t let that stop him though as today he is still pushing on. “Despite what happened to me last year with the NCAA, I continue to practice and play as much as I can to stay focused on my goals,” he said.
With a new school and baseball year in front of him and a new coach which could mean new opportunities, Reyes is focused on accomplishing his dream of becoming a Major League Baseball player and part of that starts now at ASU.
Reyes leaves student athletes that are going or may go through what he did with the message, “Stay focused regardless of how you are being treated.”
