High School Coaches ????

Metro ...

I see you ignored Coach Alexander's quote in your response.

Is it because it doesn't fit your reality????

It wasn't 600 marginal players, it was 600 of the best prospects in H.S. baseball. It was the players the scouts wish to see.

and from the report on the event last year:

Of the H.S. players in attendance in Jupiter in 2002, over 350 of them were drafted.... not signed with a college but DRAFTED ...

 

I have not argued this Jupiter showcase is bad. It is fine. I am not ignoring quotes, or didn't mean to. Your argument is flawed though. Going to Jupiter did not get those kids drafte, they would of been drafted regardless. There are not 600 pro scouts in the world. There might be 300 total for the entire big leagues. you are sidetracked here. obviously you folks are supporting these AAU teams. hope you 3000 dollars gets you what you want.

 

At Jupiter last October, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Senior Advisor, Baseball Operations, John Boles, told me...point blank... that his organization had 18, full-time members of their scouting organization present. He went on to tell me that the fewest he knew of representing one club was 6...full-time scouts or above.

After all, there are games being played on 12-15 fields at one time from 8:00 AM until close to midnight for 5-6 days. ...and approximately 90% of the top 17-18-year-old players in America are present.

If you haven't witnessed it, you should.

 

Metro .... not all scouts are there for MLB.

This is the big fall event that occurs 1 week prior to the fall signing period, when the colleges can come to the event and make their pitches also. The major schools get to see all of the guys they are chasing on one stage. Florida, Mississippi State, LSU, Auburn, UNC, USC, Clemson .... all will have assistants there.

About the $3000 you keep harping on .....

I guess we have been one of those AAU teams you hate for the past 3-4 years.... And none of the kids paid a penny on our team. We provided the uniforms, paid the entry fees, rented the practice space .... the kids and their parents paid for hotels when we traveled and that's it ....

Prepster, as usual, is correct in this matter. But after all ... he is the master ......

 

if parents paid to just travel.....great. as long as coaches aren't making profit $$$$, go to the planet Jupiter for all I care. I am not bashing this event for the 100th time. I just disagree with adults trying to profit off of AAU and kids fears.

 

metro and papabear you are right on target. there is nothing like high school and american legion. aau, usssa, showcase baseball is nothing but a way to get your money and play for your daddy or daddy's best friend, while they hand pick there team and keep a good ball player that they are jealous of from playing and one that does not have the money to put out.

 

AAU at the younger ages in NC (and USSSA etc) is poorly managed. Most of the teams are thrown together and a lot of it does seem for "status" .... that part I will agree with. There are a lot more AAU/USSSA teams in the 10-14 year range in this state than there is talent to support and many of them aren't well coached. A lot of AAU teams get thrown together because the youth programs in the areas play at such a low level, there isn't any good competition unless you take this route.

That said, once you get to HS age, AAU isn't what we are talking about with the showcase teams. AAU in NC dies (for the most part) at the age of 15. USSSA keeps on going, but it isn't a big thing. Contrast this with S.C. .... In S.C., school starts in a lot of the state the first week of August. You can't have a viable state-wide competition in Legion ball when everyone is going back to school just as you are reaching regionals. AAU remains stronger there for longer, as does Babe Ruth and other forms of ball.

The deal is this:

Rule #1: Play on the best team you can.
Rule #2: Play the best competiton you can.

There are no guarantees you will be seen if you just play HS and Legion. Getting recruited is a matter of being seen. If you have the chance to play in the state games, do it. If you can get to a showcase, then go. The more exposure you get, the better.

Finally: Regardless of what you want to think, Legion ball has a few "hot spots" of competition left, but it has diminished greatly over the past few years. I don't know if it will recover. It need restructuring, and the people running it don't want to make the needed changes.

 

I've noticed the decline in Legion ball over the past few years, and I hate that this is occurring. If there are some moves that the Legion organizations could make to turn it back around, I think they should be addressing those issues.

 

metro, i have no vested interest in this matter, but i would rather pay a little more to play (so that the coach is paid a little) and learn the game the right way than play for free on someone's fathers team. sounds to me like you may be a little upset someone is making a little extra spending money that you wish you were making.

 

You frequently see people bash making a profit. The business I work for makes a profit and I'm glad they do. It keeps my paycheck coming regularly.

There are many training facilities in the region that provide services to kids. This could be hitting only, hitting and pitching education or running a team in addition to their regular training.

To concentrate on pitching only for a minute:
1. Most parents are not competent to be pitching instructors
2. If left up to the child to learn on their own, they may never reach their potential.
3. Most High School coaches are busy shuffling a 18-20 man roster and their teaching time is limited.
4. Most legion coaches are in the same boat as H.S. coaches. When you throw in the game schedule and limited practices once games begin, they don't have time to teach.
5. These facilities provide a good service that is of value to most youngsters. I don't mind if they make a profit ... in fact I hope they do so they will stay in business.
6. When facilities like these do form teams, you are extending the individual instruction into a team concept which benefits the player. When you add in "entry fees", travel expenses etc., running one of these teams is expensive. That's why "daddy ball" is so pervasive .... cost.
7. The ability to teach isn't the same as the ability to coach. Some facilities do this better than others.

The goal of these teams is the same: Attract the best players. The make their reputation based on their success. The programs that are successful year after year will continue to attract the best talent. The scouts come to see the best talent.

If your son played last H.S. season for Charlotte Christian, the odds are that he was seen be lots of scouts. They came to see Daniel Bard, because of his reputation. If you were an opponent of Charlotte Christian, scouts got to see your players as well. But the scout attendence at the H.S. level is low. It doesn't make sense to go watch a team unless you know at least one prospect is going to be in the game. It's an expensive waste of time. The colleges don't have time to "scout" during the spring H.S. season. They are too busy running their own team. Once the college season ends, they have a limited amount of time to put together their "short list" and start contacting/seeing players. When you can get a concentration of players in one location, such as a classic showcase event (Impact Baseball/East Coast Pro) or a showcase tournament (East Cobb/Jupiter Florida), it makes economic sense and time management sense to attend those events instead of catching a legion game in West Hicksville.

Legion has also hurt themselves with the decision to ban participation in showcase events by players once the playoffs start. Add in the return of college freshman and you now have a situation where the high school player who is playing on a legion team is getting very limited exposure. Back in the 50's, legion was just a narrow cut below Single A ball. Now it is a far cry from that and fading more each year.

The events that are replacing both AAU, USSSA and Legion as attracting the best H.S. players nation-wide are the un-affiliated showcase tournaments. These tournaments are usually organized by the major scouting services in an attempt to get the best players around the nation in a single venue. Team One, USA Baseball, Blue-Gray, Perfect Game ... these rating services provide detailed player reports on all attendees at their events, which saves time and effort for the colleges. They don't rely on the reports exclusively, but they do use them as a guideline of where to go "use their own eyes".

Legion can regain it's place by doing something it hasn't been very good at in the past. Co-operation with others. It's not the only horse on the track any more .... and it's not the fastest horse on the track either.