Across the nation, athletes are taking the summer to practice their sports at home or in organized team activities. For Camden Fairview's Martavius Thomas, who is practicing not one but two sports, it's a chance to further develop his already impressive skills.
It's no secret that Thomas is one of the most physically gifted and accomplished athletes for the Camden Fairview Cardinals' baseball and football teams. Since he has been playing both sports, he has carefully but successfully juggled his time between practices, both by himself and with his teammates. It is not easy having two juggle two sports, but the best athletes find a way mentally and physically to succeed in both sports.
This summer has been challenging for the star Cardinal, as he has participated in several baseball camps and a tournament while also working to get the Cardinals' football team prepared for the 2022 high school football season. The end of last week to the middle of this week's plans in Thomas' schedule show he is grinding through days he planned himself to get better.
From June 2-6, Thomas was participating in the PRB Showdown Tournament at LakePoint in Emerson, Georgia with the 3N2 Sticks Baseball 17U Brewster team. Thomas practiced last Thursday with the team as they prepared for the tournament on Friday. They played one game each day all the way up through championship round, where they lost to the USA Prime National team, 2-1.
After the conclusion of Monday night's game, Thomas quickly got on a plane to come back to East Camden. Thomas arrived back in Camden Tuesday morning around 4 a.m. He needed to be at Camden Fairview High School by 7:30 a.m. that same day, as the Cardinals' football team was set to travel to War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock for a football camp.
Thomas recovered physically on Wednesday in preparation for another football camp, this time at Camden Fairview High School, with teams from Dumas and Hamburg. Thomas said head coach Nick Vaughn evenly split reps with the first-team and second-team offenses, but Thomas came out with fire for the camp.
Thomas said he felt energized and mentally driven despite the physical fatigue he was feeling. He said he hasn't experienced any mental collapse from having to juggle multiple football camps and practices and the baseball tournament in such a short period. His drive and determination to get better on the field has made him into a gifted and inspired athlete.
People are taking notice of Thomas's dedication to athletics. He said he recently received a test message from a scout with the Philadelphia Phillies about possibly talking about his future plans. He has received praise from professional scouts in the past due to his performances in tournaments and camps.
"They were letting me know they were interested in earlier rounds of next year's draft and they're going to keep their eyes on me and they wanted to see me workout for them in Kansas City in a couple of weeks," Thomas said.
He said other teams have also expressed interest in possibly working with him since the conclusion of his junior season with Camden Fairview.
Thomas committed to the University of Arkansas to play collegiate baseball for the Razorbacks on Jan. 29, 2021, shortly before his sophomore season on the Camden Fairview baseball team.
If Thomas continues to develop himself on-and-off the baseball field, he could find himself drafted into the MLB early in his career. In the 2021 MLB Draft, there were 612 players drafted, including 115 high schoolers, 19 of whom were drafted in the first round.
Thomas said he isn't too concerned with his future right now, though; instead, he's focused on enjoying the camps, tournaments and practices this summer before his senior year at Camden Fairview. He said he is seeing the rewards of his hard work by talking with scouts about the possibility of fulfilling his dream to get into the Major Leagues. He said he isn't rushing anything; he is just taking it one day at a time.
"It's pretty cool; it's crazy to me -- like I am saying 'that's me?' That's the biggest thing, really," Thomas said. "Especially coming from Camden, it's unbelievable to me -- like I'm dreaming. It's definitely a dream come true and it's definitely something I work for."
It is only the beginning of June, but Thomas is dedicating himself to getting better and staying busy. He knows the hard work is going to pay off.