4 Chapter 3 High-School Challenges

Chapter 3 High-School Challenges Derek wanted to go to Kalamazoo Central. It was, after all, right in his backyard. His best friends were going there, too. Central was big. One thousand students attended the three-story brick building.

德里克想去卡拉马祖中央中学。 毕竟，就在他的后院。 他最好的朋友也要去那里。 中环很大。一千名学生参加了这座三层砖砌建筑。

Charles and Dot wanted Derek to go to a Catholic high school. They knew Derek wanted to play high-school basketball, as well as baseball. The Catholic school was smaller. Derek had a better chance of making both teams there. Derek was not going to give in easily. He made a deal with his mother. That summer he was going to try out for a really good summer basketball team called the Kalamazoo Blues. If he made the team, his mom agreed he could go to Central. During tryouts for the Blues, Derek won every running drill. When other boys said they were too tired to keep practicing, Derek said he was ready for more. He made the team. The summer passed with Derek playing basketball—and baseball, too, of course. Then, just before Derek started Central, his parents sat him down for a talk.

查尔斯和多特希望德里克去一所天主教高中。 他们知道德里克想在高中打篮球，也想打棒球。 天主教学校规模较小。 德里克有更好的机会同时进入两支球队。 德里克不会轻易屈服的。 他和他母亲做了一笔交易。 那年夏天，他要参加一支非常优秀的夏季篮球队，名叫卡拉马祖蓝军。 如果他进了球队，他妈妈同意他去中环。 在蓝军的选拔赛中，德里克赢得了每一次跑步训练。 当其他男孩说他们太累而无法继续练习时，德里克说他已经准备好继续练习了。 他入选了球队。整个夏天德里克都在打篮球，当然也打棒球。 然后，就在德里克进入中环之前，他的父母让他坐下来谈谈。

His parents explained what they expected of Derek for high school. They had a contract for him to sign. They talked about grades, about girls, and about sports. They came up with a set of rules. Some were simple, like "Eat your lunch!" Others were harder: No baseball if he failed a class. No baseball if he smoked, drank, or did drugs. His dad felt this was especially important. Charles was a substance-abuse counselor. He helped people who had problems with drugs and alcohol. He'd seen firsthand what could happen to teenagers. It all made sense to Derek. He was scared to do that stuff anyway. He knew it was bad

他的父母向他解释了他们对德里克高中的期望。 他们有一份合同要他签。 他们谈论成绩，谈论女孩，谈论运动。 他们制定了一套规则。 有些很简单，比如“吃午饭!”另一些则更难:如果他挂科了，就不能打棒球。 如果他抽烟、喝酒或吸毒，就不能打棒球。 他的父亲觉得这一点特别重要。 查尔斯是一名药物滥用顾问。 他帮助那些有毒品和酒精问题的人。 他亲眼目睹了青少年身上可能发生的事情。 这对德里克来说都很有意义。 反正他也不敢这么做。 他知道这很糟糕

for his body—and bad for his game. Besides, he wanted to make his parents proud. Sharlee had a different view. "Derek was a wimp," she joked later. Derek signed the contract. He was ready for high school. He made the Central basketball team and played all winter. Then, one cold February day, baseball tryouts were called. Derek headed to the gym with the other freshmen. The junior varsity coach was in charge.

对他的身体有害，对他的比赛有害。 此外，他想让他的父母感到骄傲。 Sharlee有不同的看法。 “德里克是个懦夫，”她后来开玩笑说。 德里克签了合同。 他已经准备好上高中了。 他加入了中央篮球队，打了整个冬天。 然后，二月里一个寒冷的日子，棒球选拔赛开始了。 德里克和其他新生一起去了健身房。 少年队的教练负责。

"JV" teams are younger, with less experience than varsity. Varsity teams have the best players. The coach hit some balls to the freshmen. Derek caught one, then fired it to first base. The throw was so strong, the coach called in the varsity coach. The varsity coach liked what he saw. But Derek didn't make varsity, at least not right away. For most of the season, he stayed on JV. Then the senior shortstop agreed to step aside. He knew Derek was the better player. "As long as you keep batting me third," the senior told the coach, "that's fine." Derek moved up. He was on high-school varsity, at only fourteen!

“合资”团队更年轻，经验比校队少。 大学代表队有最好的球员。 教练给新生们打了几个球。 德里克接了一个，然后把球打到了一垒。 投得太猛了，教练叫来了校队教练。 校队教练很喜欢他所看到的。 但德里克没有进入校队，至少没有马上进入。 在整个赛季的大部分时间里，他都打JV。 然后资深游击手同意让位。 他知道德里克是更好的球员。 “只要你继续让我打三垒，”高年级学生对教练说，“没关系。” 德里克向上移动了。他是高中的校队队员，才14岁!

That summer he joined a high-level baseball team called the Maroons. The team played about seventy-five games, with little time to practice. In snowy Michigan, athletes could only play outdoors a few months of the year. Derek wanted to make every minute of summer count. So he came early to games. He stayed late. As long as someone would pitch or hit to him, he'd stay to practice.

那年夏天，他加入了一支高水平的棒球队，名叫“栗色人”。 这支球队打了大约75场比赛，几乎没有时间练习。 在多雪的密歇根州，运动员一年中只有几个月可以在户外比赛。 德里克想让夏天的每一分钟都有意义。 所以他很早就参加了比赛。 他待到很晚。只要有人向他投球或击球，他就会留下来练习。