While some 18-year-olds might mull over a cell phone contract this summer, North Vancouver baseball star Will McAffer has to decide in a couple of weeks whether or not to sign a Major League Baseball deal with the Cincinnati Reds.
South Dakota State has also come calling for McAffer. Still, he might choose a junior college or a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school such as the University of British Columbia.
"Yeah, it's definitely a lot of tough choices, even with school . . . a pro contract - it's some big choices and I'm pretty young to have to make them," says a candid McAffer, who just last week graduated from Sentinel secondary.
Three weeks ago the right-handed hurler for the North Shore Twins and national junior team was hanging at his buddy's place on a Wednesday - draft day - trying to play it cool.
"I was excited, I was really hoping I would get drafted," recalls McAffer. "I wasn't sure it was going to happen because I saw the rounds ticking by - you know, the 20th, 24th, 30th - and I was like, 'Oh, maybe not this year,' but lo and behold then a couple minutes later I got a call - and it was pretty crazy."
Soon after, McAffer, who was taken in the 32nd round and 955th overall, fielded exuberant calls of congratulations from everyone - his mom, uncle, stepdad - everyone.
"They were all watching, they knew before I did," says McAffer, who celebrated the big news over a nice dinner with his parents. His stepdad even went out and bought him a Reds hat, which McAffer says he really appreciated.
McAffer credits his supportive parents who drove him to countless baseball practices and games and paid all the fees, "which, honestly, I wouldn't be where I am without any of that," he says.
Growing up in Upper Lonsdale, McAffer caught the baseball bug when he was six or seven years old playing in Delbrook Park with his buddies. He soon signed up for Highlands Little League, "and just loved it from then on."
"Generally I played pitcher or I played shortstop, and it wasn't until about Grade 8 or 9 when I really started focusing a little more on pitching," explains McAffer of how he made his way to the mound.
That's when McAffer seriously started chasing his and most other little leaguers' dream of playing in the big leagues.
"So I knew if I was going to make it to the next level I was probably going to have to take that step," says McAffer of deciding to specialize in pitching.
After Grade 9 McAffer, who was enrolled at Carson Graham secondary, shifted over to Sentinel to join the school's baseball academy in its inaugural year. He praises the program's balanced approach towards sports and studies for competitive athletes, and the school district's efforts to attract the highest calibre of coaches.
"They definitely have some top-notch coaches - Brooks McNiven, Ken Mackenzie, Shawn Bowman - they are all just top-notch guys that really helped bring (the program) up and make it what it is now. It's a really, really good program," says McAffer.
Around the same time he signed up at Sentinel, McAffer joined the North Shore Twins and started training with pitching coach McNiven, who lends his professional baseball experience both to the school and the British Columbia Premier Baseball League.
McNiven talked about McAffer's trajectory as a Twins player and his potential to take that talent all the way to the big leagues.
"Will's a bit of a late bloomer," says McNiven, who at first would watch him pitch the way one would expect of a young player: "kind of up and down and a little bit inconsistent."
Then this past winter McAffer made significant strides off the field, putting in 24 hours a week in the gym building up the arm and back muscles on his six-foot-two frame and achieving the desired results.
"He added a lot of velocity to his fastball," says McNiven. "Last year he was probably topping out at like 89 miles an hour. And this year he's been clocked up as high as 93."
The stars also aligned for McAffer over the winter when one of the Toronto Blue Jays strength coaches started working with McAffer and the Sentinel baseball academy players to help elevate their game. A stronger McAffer soon caught the attention of junior national team scouts and was invited to spring training in Florida.
"The first trip I was actually pretty nervous going out there and playing against professional guys," recalls McAffer. "I kind of felt like I was going to throw up before I went in. But I went in and I threw pretty well.. . and now it's just kind of like pitching in any other game - just really exciting but not too nervous."
McAffer's still vying for a spot on the 20-player Canadian team that will compete at the elite U18 baseball world cup in Nishinomiya, Japan, this September, where competition runs high.
"It's an unreal experience from what I've heard," says McAffer. "Playing in front of huge crowds and just the competitiveness is something that you can't really learn. You just have to experience it and I think that it would be really great."
Whether or not McAffer makes the trip to Japan hinges on that big decision in Cincinnati that's looming.
Deep down, McAffer knows what it will take for him to sign.
"It would have to be pretty life-changing, a lot of money, because I think college is really a great opportunity," says McAffer, who is looking at studying statistics with a minor in computer science.
McNiven, who was once in McAffer's shoes, or cleats in this case, can offer some important perspective.
"I think it's really tough. . . these are big life decisions for some of these boys. And at (18) years old, to make those (decisions) - it's kind of a little unfair at times," says McNiven.
When he was 18 years old McNiven was drafted in the 46th round by the Blue Jays - but he turned down that offer, opting instead to develop more as a player through UBC's baseball program.
Having that time to mature hugely paid off for McNiven in 2003 when he was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round.
While McNiven says it was pretty cool to have that recognition and to achieve a childhood dream - to be drafted by the pros - major league baseball is a giant leap forward and young players can prematurely get caught up in the excitement, he adds.
"Everyone thinks that playing professional baseball is the glitz and glamour and all associated with it, but it's not," explains McNiven. "As a high school kid, are you really ready to go out and live on your own and play against 22-to 23-year-old men who have been playing for three or four years already? And you're playing in a business and I think that's what people don't understand - they can let you go whenever they want."
For now McAffer is trying to focus on the Twins' red-hot season and their quest to finish at the top of BCPBL standings - it would be a first-ever feat for the North Shore boys.
"Our team has a lot of talent. The guys all work hard," says McAffer.
With one month left in the season, the Twins will head to Nanaimo on the weekend to take on the Pirates in a doubleheader.
"They are going to be really tough games; Nanaimo is a good team," says McNiven. "It's going to be a battle for sure."
The team will then travel to Parksville on Sunday to play the Royals who may be at the bottom of the standings, but they always find a way to beat the Twins.
"So, it's one of those teams that you can't take lightly," says McNiven.
Despite having a good record this season, the Twins have been plagued with an "injury bug" that has currently taken out their power RBI guys in the middle of the order.
"But, you know, we have been good on the mound, and we've pitched well - and pitching and defence usually wins the games so we are going to have to rely on that for the time being until those other guys are able to make their way back," says McNiven.
Sunday will also be a big game for McAffer for a different reason: a crosschecker from Cincinnati is coming out to Parksville to watch McAffer ahead of their contract talks.
McNiven said he wouldn't be surprised if the other Twins players don't clue in that a rep from the pro team is paying them a visit because McAffer hasn't really mentioned it.
"The thing with Will is that he is just an outstanding young man; he's just such a great kid, and he's very humble," says McNiven. "You could talk to him and you would never know that he was drafted."
