My two-cents

And this is constructive how????

Why is it that people who choose not to play showcase, travel, etc. have such a problem with people who do? I don't question what your family does for fun on the weekends or how you choose to spend your discretionary income. I am truly sick of those sitting in judgement of others based on their child's extra-curricular activities.
It is why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors (do you see a theme here?)...Not all of them are for everybody. You get to pick which ones you like. If you have a want or need to play showcase, AAU, USSSA, LL, HS, whatever-then great! If you don't, what is it to you if someone else does?

Some kids play it because it is FUN!! If they make it to the next level-GREAT! If they don't, then they had a heck of a good time anyway.
Trust me, I could write a check for 4 years of college for what we have spent on baseball. But I could not replace the memories, experiences, friendships or character building my son has received for that money. Scholarship or no, my money has been well spent.

 

Thanks BRM for your input.... well spoken!! BTW, Those guys were awesome, weren't they???

 

Great Post

BRM you continue to say what others have been saying for sometime now. You just seem to be able to say it alot better. Some kids just love playing the game. They love playing with and against players with the same goals and aspirations. Im getting ready to go on the last trip with my youngest son , to Jupiter. I think back to all the road trips over the years. All the way back to 10 years old. The time I have gotten to spend with him I will cherish the rest of my life. I will always remember hustling back to the Motel to catch the rest of the college football games on ESPN and grabbing some chicken wings to eat while we watched the games. The long rides where we had all that time just to talk. I will never forget "If we dont give up any runs tomorrow do we still have a chance to win it"? I could go on and on. Its been a hell of a ride. After this trip to Jupiter I will probaly never get a chance to go on a trip with him to play baseball. It will be me and my wife traveling to see him play and then hoping to see him after the games maybe. You can not put a price on it , not me. It is truely priceless the times I have gotten to share with my son's playing baseball. My son committed to UNC several weeks ago. The first thing he wanted to do was go play some more. Its never been about getting a scholley to him or me. Its just been about playing the game and having fun doing it. The scholley part was done when no one was watching , in the off season working his butt off. The HS baseball has been very very special. Having a chance to leave a legacy behind for others to chase. To have a chance to give back to a program that has given so much to him. Coach Evans will remember that bat boy the turned into that catcher. Everyone does what they feel is best for them. I respect that right. But regardless of how anyone feels or what anyone thinks I will have these memories to carry with me forever. I hope to continue to make alot more with the younger boys coming up in our program. And watch all those other kids continue to play in college.

 

I don't know Coach May. It gets tiring after awhile to keep responding to shots being fired. It's the same arguments you hear year after year, Yet what most of the people who weren't around 6-7 years ago don't know is this.

In general, colleges in NC did not recruit NC players. They were thought of as not talented enough to play for them. They recruited the hotbeds like Maryland, Florida and anywhere outside of this state.

I had a long conversation with the UNCC recruiter during this time and he said, "Braves, there is not enough talent in this state for us to recruit. We can go to Maryland and find all that we need"

People can whine and complain about Andy Partin, but he singlehandedly did more to draw attention to players in NC than anyone else before and after him. He and Mike Shildt were determined to find, develop and promote players in our state to all of the colleges. I'm not taking anything away from anybody elses accomplishments, but look at the facts. Charlotte Mecklenbug County with all of the schools located here had 3 players signed for D1 schools in 2001...3 players!!!

Mike Shildt started On Deck with the mission to identify, develop and promote the most talented players he could find in Meck Co. By 2003, every single player that was on his On Deck team received a D1 scholarship.

Same holds true with Andy Partin at Impact. Every player that participated with Andy's (at the time called Impact Baseball) team received a D1 scholly.

People started throwing darts at them. Saying, well these players were already developed. All they did was promote them....Duh!...that was the purpose. Char Meck area went from 3 players in 2001 to one team alone having 8 players signed in 2005.

The work that guys like Partin, Shildt, Hill's, McNeeley, Robinson and others did to contact the college coaches and to promote their players can never be underappreciated. But of everybody that has contributed to the success of our players to play at the next level, nobody has been more successful or has done more for the players in NC than Andy Partin. Through his website, tournaments,contacts and his countless of hours driving across our state to watch A HS game and to report the successes of the players in the games that he watched has been incredible. The credibility that he has developed with so many college recruiters has put him in a position to say, "Coach...you must sign this kid"...and they are signed.

What all of these guys have done to promote the players in NC has been unreal. I wish all of you were around during the lean times because maybe you wouldn't take so many potshots at what these guys are doing.

But I'll leave you one example to think about. Prior to Impact and On Deck, how many NC players were on the roster at UNC? 2

In 2007, the #2 in the nation, UNC, had all 9 starters (depending on the pitcher) from NC HS's. That's just the starters. There are many examples across this state of colleges being flooded with NC players. Do you think that it just happened? That all of these colleges just decided to " Hmm...we haven't done this before, why don't we start signing NC players. They may not be any good, but what the heck, it's only my job I could lose"

There is a reason that NC teams have done so well when they participate in the National Tournaments. It's because we have great talent...and the colleges nationwide are recognizing it.

Is the quantity of talent better now than 6-7 years ago?I don't believe so. I think there is much better training and the players are more committed to baseball, but the talent level is not much different than past years.

The difference now is our players across the state are being promoted and showcased to these colleges that had no interest in years past. The relationships that have been built, the more opportunites that the players have been offered and the successes that these teams have had in major tournaments are the major reasons that our state has been so successful in placing record number of players to college each year.

Yeah, we can go back to the old days, before Showcase baseball. We can go back to the days before Impact Website and TBR. We can go back to the days when you don't know or never heard of a player across town, much less across state. Those days when someone would tell me about this great catcher in Stem, NC and my first reaction would be, "Stem, NC?"...uh, uh..there is no town in NC called Stem. Now, not only can I find out about this young man that I have heard so much about....I can talk to his Dad, also. I can ask his Dad all kinds of questions that I wondered about. Shoot, I know he has been through every conceivable recruiting situation that one can think of...but I get to ask him for advice...and for free!

I get to ask a HS coach about the problems he is facing. I get to ask a college recruiter what he looks for in a prospect. Heck, I can ask him any question I desire without fear that he will think I'm stupid (well, not in my case).

I can be in Wilmington, NC and ask a kid in Hudson, NC what it is like to be drafted #10 in the country.

We can do so many things that we couldn't do 6-7 years ago. Some people may prefer to go back to the way we were, but I think most do not. People don't like the term Showcase Baseball because it implies "elitism". Yep, it does. It's for anybody that has the skills academically and athletically to play at the next level....you can call it the "cream of the crop" or "elite" or any other name, but it is for the best HS players in our state. Do all of the best players play showcase?...nope...but if they want to, there is always an opportunity for them to try that option.

and for the new members on this forum, I want you to know that I am a HUGE American Legion fan. It's not all about "showcasing". For whatever reason, it is the one topic that many seem to want to discuss during this time of year.

But it really is amazing to see how this board has evolved over the years, especially towards showcase baseball.

 

Big Red Machine does point out something I have tried to get across. Showcase means different things to different people at different times in their lives.

My son wants to be the best player he can in HS. So far the two biggest things my son gets out of showcase is preparing himself to be a better HS player and he has gained confidence. We have Colt and Palamino up here (which is a school team and where showcase causes a conflict) and you don't face kids throwing it 85 in Colt or JV for that matter. Showcase offers the opportunity to face better competition and improve your game (some offer some instruction, some don't). His confidence has grown. He heard the parents and kids talk about how everyone is head and shoulders above others. There are some in his age group that are very talented but for the most part he realized the kids in his age group are the same kids he has been competing against/with for years. My son is not really focused on "being seen" right now. He's an '010 age kid. He's just trying to get better. What's wrong with that?

Baseball is very competitive at our school. You have to work very hard just to get on the field. Showcase helps with that. It's not all about getting a scholarship. Some of us started saving for college years ago. My son wants to play something after HS while getting a good education. That is the priority. Might be football, might be baseball. He's not sure right now. If he doesn't, so be it. He'll go get an education. I feel pretty sure it will care him farther than his sports abilities.

Now something different than what is Coach 27's situation. Because our school does play school teams in the summer and fall (Colt and Palamino), showcase has caused some conflicts and we are experiencing the exact issues/problems that JTBaseball raises.

 

Great Post Braves

That says it all.

 

Braves, I swear I didn't have nothing to do with this thread,,,,,,, not this time.

I haven't met some of you coaches who post on here, but I've read enough of your posts to understand that (as a dad) I would have loved for my sons to play for some of you (i.e. Coach27, CoachEvans, just to name a couple).

As for these other comments, I back up what Braves just said (even if he did have to get someone else to type all that for him). Because 6-7 years ago, NC colleges didn't seem like they wanted to "TOUCH" NC high school players. The perception was that NC high school players were a notch below kids from certain other states. When showcase came on to the scene, I was one of the original "sumbitches" who questioned it, but Braves will also defend me (I hope) when I say I was smart enough to see very quickly within the first year or so that showcase had a very valuable service to certain players. There is definitely a time and place for showcase, to each his own.

As for the question about kids not having as much interest in their HS teams, I would say thats probably true but only in certain situations. In these cases,,, I would only ask "is that because obviously (lets be honest) not all HS coaches do it with the same passion and dedication as the coaches I mentioned above?" In my county alone, we have one particular HS coach who everyone pretty much agrees is head and shoulders the best HS baseball coach in the county, I have known people (more than one) to sell their house and move into this certain school district simply so that their son could legally play for this one specific coach. Then there are a couple other good coaches but you never hear anything about offseason work, then we have a couple others who WILL ADMIT they are only part-time baseball coaches because they coach other sports. If your son truly loves baseball and he has a lukewarm coach, is there really anything wrong with him seeming to be more excited about his summer/fall team?

One last thing, before TBR and Impact, Braves is also correct in saying that you didn't hear as much about kids in other counties,,,,,,, heck Braves was driving from Charlotte to Kannapolis once for a ballgame and we had to give him directions...

Thats just my 2 cents...

 

Braves, I agree with everything in your above post except one thing. I think teh talent in North carolina is better than it was 6-7 yeras ago. I base that opinion on the changes I have seen at the REC and younger levels of baseball. AAU/USSSA has exploded in the last 7-8 years. More kids playing better competition baseball. More instruction centers opening and more kids attending. Just around here look at the emergence of the Greensboro Batting Center (which grew in large part due to teh success of their AAU teams, Scott Bankhead has seen big growth at the North Carolina Baseball Academy. Carolina Acceleration and Velocity franchises for training, 7th Inning Stretch instruction, The hitting Zone, Bases Loaded in Salisbury. And many more I have not mentioned. Heck Ricky Proehl is opening a massive training center with sveral fields and he was a football player.

Showcase has become an effective avenue to use your words, PROMOTE and SHOWCASE players. But not necessarily train them. I feel there are more kids training more and playing a higher level of baseball than in the past 6-7 years. I see it 1st hand in the youth leagues. Otherwise, I'm on board with your post.

 

OnePutt, good to hear from you pal, and you may be right. But what I think Braves is saying is that 6-7 years ago, the local colleges simply viewed NC boys differently. Showcase, specifically Impact and others, have a lot to do with giving NC boys the opportunity to prove themselves that they can play.

Case in point, in 2002, we had a good looking HS pitcher who literally begged a local university to play there, yet he wasn't offered anything by them. Just to show you how much they missed it, he ended up at Garner-Webb, was freshman All-American, and is currently pitching in the Minnesota Twins organization. The local big schools just didn't know him.

 

Good Points

These training facilities are very good and Im sure they help kids out alot. But one thing that I must add is that when younger kids see older kids working and then achieving they learn from them. They also learn that they too can do more because others have done more. And they learn from the older guys that there is no substitute for hard work.

I use Matt Harrison an example at our school all the time. I took him to a Showcase Team tryout the summer after his freshman year. He did not make the team. They said he did not throw hard enough and was just not good enough to make their team. They were right he was not as good as the guys they had. But Matt worked. All summer everyday he was at the field running doing core work , long tossing , etc etc. He was relentless. He was determined to be a player. The first fall workout his Soph year we had two guys present. Matt and our catcher. Matt topped out his Freshman year at 78mph LH 6-3 175. He took the loss his freshman year in the state playoffs and was shelled leaving the game in the second inning not recording an out. His soph year he topped out at 85 now 6-3 195. He continued to work his butt off even when he was the only guy to show up. His Jr year he was 87-89 up to 200 lbs now 6-4 and a beast. But he only continued to work even harder. Now other players were seeing the benefit of his hard work. More guys started showing up in the off season to work out with him like Chris Luck (drafted this year by Tampa Bay). His Sr year he was 91-94 and was drafted in the third round by Atlanta. There is no way he would have ever achieved what he did if he had not worked like he did. Just ask him he will tell you. Others saw this and it showed them the way. There is no subsitute for hard work. Not a showcase team or a training facility nothing. You must be driven to be the best (period) the best. There are many more examples of guys like Matt. It sure is fun to see a kid grind it out and never give up. And understand that nothing of any value is ever given to you. Its what you earn that has lasting value.