From gymnastics to Israeli baseball: Chase Engelhard’s journey to U23 European championship

Chase Engelhard a -year-old from Sandy Springs landed in Prague Czech Republic on Aug to represent Israel in the U European Baseball Championship It will be the second baseman s first time in the country his first Shabbat with the Israeli national unit and his first time staying in an historic Jewish hotel with a mikvah ritual bath He ll be doing it all as a new citizen of Israel It s been a long road from his childhood gymnastics class to varsity football at Riverwood High School to becoming an Israeli citizen in February but Engelhard had the drive patience and flexibility of a professional athlete As a child Engelhard was competitive in soccer lacrosse football baseball and basketball I played every sport growing up I was even put in gymnastics as a kid which is obviously not common for a lot of boys but my dad saw an athletic future in me Engelhard reported His father is Hadley Engelhard sports agent for the National Football League Players Association NFLPA He saw the natural talent in his son At years old Engelhard made the final trials for the U USA Baseball company Although he didn t make the final cut to represent the US in the Baseball World Cup he realized something key That s when the spark really hit I inevitably loved baseball but that s when I really realized how much expected I had he declared The youngest of three Engelhard has stood out in his family as an athlete Neither of his brothers played baseball at a highly competitive level I was apparently beating them up on every sport by the time I was about seven years old Engelhard laughed At Riverwood High School Engelhard started as a freshman on the varsity football and baseball teams but he decided to hang up the football cleats the next school year to focus on baseball The rules of engagement are different now but Engelhard recalls meeting college baseball coaches his freshman year of high school Engelhard considered several schools including Georgia Tech the alma mater of ball players Mark Teixeira Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Veritek Engelhard landed at Tulane University in New Orleans in fall After practicing and playing in scrimmages during fall semester he started as second baseman in the second battle of the spring season He became an All-American that year I got an opportunity to start and I made the the greater part of it I had two doubles and a homer and they never took me out of the lineup for the rest of the season he recalled In fall Engelhard transferred to Florida International University to be close to his grandfather who was unable to excursion to watch him play His grandfather Jerry Engelhard is synonymous in south Florida with youth sports On his rd birthday in February Engelhard flew to Israel met up with three other Jewish American professional baseball players and became a dual citizen It was his third trip to the country It had taken months and months and months to find the required documents like his grandparents birth certificates a family tree and proof that his parents and grandparents are Jewish and that they d had bar mitzvahs But playing for Organization Israel was an opportunity he couldn t pass up Considering the circumstances of Israel and the Jewish neighborhood and what s going on at present it was a no brainer to make Aliyah and take the opportunity to represent Israel he disclosed I couldn t be more proud to be Jewish When I was in Israel I felt at home instantly when I got there There s a sense of pride and togetherness and camaraderie that the Israeli and Jewish region has going on he explained Now Engelhard is under contract with the Boise Hawks an independent baseball band in the Pioneer League where he plans to finish the season upon his return from Europe I m trying to make it all the way to the top Engelhard commented The international baseball ranking system has eight teams in the U tournament Israel Great Britain Netherlands Czech Republic Austria Germany Italy France and Israel After Europe Engelhard will finish the season in Boise He sees the senior national crew in his future with the hope of qualifying for the Olympics Remember World Champion All Star Joc Pederson the pearl necklace-wearing Braves sportsman who helped win the title in A right fielder Pederson also played for the Israel national baseball company in and Engelhard whose nickname has been Fiver since childhood declared he s looking forward to building his relationship with his new teammates on the field I love baseball and I love Israel he disclosed The post From gymnastics to Israeli baseball Chase Engelhard s journey to U European championship appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta