SHOALHAVEN Mariner Kai Meuronen has been rewarded for his strong play in the diamond by being offered an opportunity to play his trade in the United States.
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The 19-year-old will later this year attend Grays Harbor College, Aberdeen to complete a two year Associate in Arts degree.
“I basically I went through a student athlete recruiting website called NCSA (Next College Student Athlete) which is pretty similar to Facebook in the sense,” Meuronen said.
“I had my own athletic profile will all my basic information and stats that college coaches can look at and contact me and vice versa with me being able to view schools and talk to the coaches.
“After a few emails and phone calls exchanged I decided that Grays Harbor College was the right place for me to go and study overseas.
“The admissions process itself is pretty boring but basically I still had to apply like any other student and once I was accepted they would send me some paper work that I would need to take to sydney to get my student visa.
“Long story short, I’ll be paying my way over there while hopefully receiving a foundation or donor scholarship to help supplement some of the money.”
Meuronen, who has played for the Mariners for four seasons, has always dreamt about taking his baseball career as far as he can.
“As far as personal achievements go this is definitely the biggest thing I have been able to achieve,” he said.
“Honestly, I didn’t really consider playing in the US until halfway through year 11 in 2014 but since then its been full steam ahead.
“This may be cliche but it does go to show the things you can do if you really want it.
“Although the enormity of it hasn’t quiet hit me yet, it is nice that my last 13 years in baseball have culminated to something special.”
The pitcher hopes that after the two years at Grays Harbor College, which is a junior college, that he can be accepted in a University somewhere.
“To be honest I’m really not sure what to expect when I go over to the US,” he said.
“I’ve had a few friends play college baseball over in the US but I guess everyone’s experience will be different.
“I know the coaching staff over there are amazing and I trust them 100 per cent that they can help me extend this dream as far as it can go.
“Long term, I don’t really have an end game as such. I’m quiet happy to keep riding the wave and see where it takes me.
“In the shortish term, the goal is to transfer into a senior University after my two years at Grays Harbor and hopefully keep playing college baseball while completing my degree – which I hope to be a Bachelors degree in Sports Management.”