NSR Australia checks in with charismatic father to Josh Harvey (Baseball WA), Rick, to chat about Josh’s amazing travel experiences in relation to his sport and how he looks forward to his future in the US. Being the youngest of 3 children, Josh’s passion has been lead by his mother and two older sister’s passion for softball. Being introduced at the young age of 5 to the sport of T-ball, Josh soon grew to develop his passion for baseball and is now gearing up to head to the US in August of 2016.
Rick shares how Josh has extended himself over the recent years to make a push toward developing his baseball skills. Playing in the Colts competition, Josh plays just one grade underneath the premiership team in Western Australia. Josh remains active all year round, playing baseball during the summer months and turns to soccer during the winter. As an athlete training for the high competition in the US, it is important to ensure that one remains active year round.
Josh has taken his baseball internationally, at the age of 16; he travelled to China with his U16s team to compete. Josh and his team mates we’re taken right out of their comfort zone when playing in China. Playing within conditions including; high humidity, poor air quality, smog and rural fields, not to mention the culture shock, Josh was exposed to the extreme conditions of baseball. Travelling to Europe on a school ANZAC tour, Josh has also expanded his travel horizon to a number of countries across the European continent. Being a well travelled athlete, Rick believes that Josh is well equipped to taking on his US college experience in a year’s time “…Josh is open to taking on new experiences and has a natural ability to absorb everything a new culture has to offer…”
Back tracking to how the Harvey family came into contact with NSR Australia, Rick shares that Josh “fell into” the NSR experience. Whilst on a school trip to Europe, Josh’s mother, Linda, received the letter from Baseball West stating that Josh was invited to a trial being held in conjunction with NSR. After attending the trial, Josh was invited to interview with Keri who was ‘exited’ to have him in the programme. Josh is incredibly excited to be heading to the US in the near future.
NSR is amazed at the strong connection and love that the Harvey family have for each other. We wish Josh the best of luck as he prepares for his departure to the US in 2016 and look forward to catching up with the Harvey family in the near future!!