WINTER PARK, Fla. (April 7, 2022) –
Ray Zhang chose his English name in the third grade for "educational purposes," as many Chinese students do. The reasoning behind Ray? He felt it represented his optimistic personality and reminded him to be a "ray of sunshine in everyone's life," said Zhang. This was something he had aimed to do back home and hoped to continue to do at Rollins.
When Zhang was in the third grade, baseball was first established at his primary school. As someone who wasn't initially interested in the sport, his mother encouraged him to try out for the team.
After falling in love with the game, Zhang fixated his mind on playing baseball at the collegiate level, but he was unsure how to do so, especially since, as Zhang says, "Sports recruiting isn't popular in China." With no intentions of creating a backup plan, Zhang began researching the recruiting process and reaching out to schools in the U.S.
Using an email filled with his information, including his academic and athletic abilities, along with his aspirations, Zhang began reaching out. However, he is sure his catchy email subject, "The Kid from Beijing," was what really caught coaches' attention in the first place. He figured that amongst the other thousands of emails they received, the short and to-the-point subject would allow his email stand out from the others, and it did.
It's been seventeen years since Zhang's mother encouraged him to try out for the baseball team. Since then, the pitcher received an invitation to officially join the Tars family and is now well into his first season with Rollins baseball team. Zhang has made three appearances on the mound, including one start, while earning a 2-0 record. He has yet to give up a run, while striking out 10 batters, over six innings. Opponents are hitting just .100 against the sophomore hurler.
Before leaving his hometown, Ray shared his optimism with kids in a similar situation to the one he had once found himself in. He introduced them to the scholarship application process and the NCSA recruiting agency. His goal was to create more opportunities for Chinese student-athletes to pursue their collegiate athletic dreams.
Ray's self-discipline and desire to set a positive example for those around him stem from his own inspiration, coach, Ray Chang. Zhang clarified that Chang had no influence on his choice of English names, but his professionality and overall demeanor encouraged him to be the example Chang was for him.
Zhang is proud to say, "three kids have moved to the U.S." to further their education and athletic careers using his advice, since he initially shared his knowledge.
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