High School Rule Changes for 2008

burned out the motor on the yacht.. ha ha, trying to pull my big butt around.

 

But you can coach your kids in the summer... Look at the high school league in the Raleigh area....

Football teams can practice in full gear till the 1st three days of official practice

Basketball and volleyball teams compete as teams at team camps, and the state games...

 

But you can coach your kids in the summer... Look at the high school league in the Raleigh area....

Football teams can practice in full gear till the 1st three days of official practice

Basketball and volleyball teams compete as teams at team camps, and the state games...

 

I like this. Promotes teamwork among HS teammates. This may touch a nerve with some but it appears a great deal of summer ball is all about "me". Not sure that is what we should be teaching.

Just an opinion. No harm intended.

 

The concept of showcase baseball can lend itself to that opinion. But I was affiliated with the On Deck program for 3 years and I never witnessed that attitude. But their philosophy may be different than others. They did not focus on winning (of course, that was a result). They focused on the development of the player's skill. Their program is year long and they track the progress of the player from the beginning of the year (January) to the end (November). The players understand that there will be games that they will have limited innings (especially the pitchers). But the Showcasing experience is one built on the fact that scouts are only going to watch a couple of innings and then move on. Each scout is there to watch their recruit. They watch a couple of innings and move on to their next recruit. When a coach is informed that a particular college wants to watch a particular player, the coach makes every effort to ensure that player gets to play (or pitch) that game. Now, that is On Deck

South Charlotte Panthers is another program that does the same thing. Don Hutchins does his best to recruit a certain type of player (coachable). Those players generally stay with the program from their sophomore year to the time they sign their NLI.

Andy Partin with Impact learned his lesson at the beginning of his program. He will not recruit a player that is not of high calibre character or a team player.

It is very important that the player and his parents understand from the beginning that their son may not play every game or every inning. When they understand the fairness of it and can accept that concept, then you usually won't have many problems.

One of the reasons I promote the SC Panthers so much is because Don Hutchins does not charge. This allows Don to run his program without interference from parents about innings played vs money spent. He can concentrate on what is important...getting the players seen and still try to win their ballgames.

I know that Freddie Suggs with the Copperheads does the same thing.

Although I have not met the guys with the "Heat", there are some people that I respect that rave about the quality of that program.

All of these programs have an oustanding reputation that was not built on the backs of selfish players.

But I have found selfish players to be found everywhere...Showcase, American Legion, HS baseball and the Rec leagues. It's not inherent to a particular level or brand of baseball