Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Knezevich.
Stephen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Baseball has been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. Since I was 5-years old, there was never a time when I wasn’t playing baseball. From youth leagues to high school to college… the goal has always been the same: improve every day while preparing for the next level. I worked hard and during my senior year, I began to attract attention from college scouts, all while having a YouTube channel. After finishing my senior year with 1st Team All League, All Area, and Team MVP honors, I went on to earn a scholarship to play at Arkansas Tech. After redshirting my first year at ATU and documenting it all, I decided to transfer to LA Valley College, a local junior college. I ended up having a decent season where I hit .302/.416/.460 for my freshman year. I have one more season left in junior college, so this upcoming year I have to lay it all out on the line to impress college scouts and maybe even pro scouts.
I started my YouTube channel during my senior year of high school. I used to watch a lot of fitness videos on YouTube and became inspired to make a channel of my own. I thought about how these people on YouTube were inspiring others to make positive changes in their lives, and how they were making careers off of that. After seeing countless examples of this across the platform, I thought “Why can’t I do that?” I then begged my parents for a laptop to edit on and asked to use my Dad’s old video camera to film. From there, I made fitness and high school game day videos, and then I later brought the vlog along with me to college where my coaches loved it. They thought it was a positive source of entertainment and helped bring the team together. The encouragement from my coaches combined with my work ethic led to the success of my YouTube channel, which has now amassed 35k+ subscribers and is growing day by day.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
One of the main struggles throughout my baseball and YouTube journey has been time management. Pretty much being a full-time job, college baseball takes up most of your day and doesn’t leave time for much else. A typical day keeps you busy from 8am-8pm, with classes all day, team lifts, practice, and time for individual skill work. After a long day of practice and a filling meal, I would be ready to fall asleep. But instead of sleep, back in my dorm room in Arkansas, I decided go all out on my editing for YouTube.
I knew if I didn’t put in the hours now, I would never attain my goals and dreams. So on most days after practice I’d be editing from 9pm-3am, getting very low amounts of sleep. During days off on the weekend I’d try and catch up on my sleep when I could. Looking back on it, this probably wasn’t very healthy, but it got me where I am today. It’s still hard to find time to edit videos, but I always try and push my boundaries and find a way to please the fans waiting for new videos.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m known as a college baseball player who has a successful YouTube channel. I’m not just only one of the few college athletes to make videos online, but I’m also a videographer and a proficient editor. This makes the quality of my videos better and helps me stand out from the rest. I post vlogs about my life, game-day videos, fitness tips, recruiting advice, and I show people what it’s like to be a college baseball player. I try and show the world the unseen side of college baseball here at LA Valley College. I think people seem to like my content because there’s not that many other college baseball players on YouTube. It’s pretty tough going to school, playing college baseball, and having a YouTube channel at the same time, but I try and make it work. This puts me in a good spot because not only am I good at making videos, I’m one of the only people in the baseball genre on YouTube. I’ve been doing this since high school, so I think it’s cool to watch my journey and how I came up through the ranks and levels throughout my baseball career.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I’m very fortunate and lucky because my parents have been by my side since Day 1. They built the foundation of the man I am now. My Mom and Dad have always been there for me during the good and the bad times. My Dad was my first ever baseball coach and was even my high school baseball coach. Ever since I was little, he would throw to me in the batting cage in my backyard and help me with my swing. I wouldn’t be where I am known in my baseball career or in life if it wasn’t for the help of my Dad. My Mom has always supported me since I was little. She helped me in whatever I needed and helped me develop my character. She helped me become a caring, genuine, hardworking, and loving person. I’ll never take for granted the sacrifices she’s made in her life for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/Skn3z14
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sknez14/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sknez14?lang=en
Image Credit:
Tristan Wisman, Steve Knez
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