Quality of Legion Ball?

great post :applause:

post 82 in shelby does a good job with all of the above too

hopefully our young women fastpitch softball can achieve this some day!

 

Downsouth -

I had heard things were lively over in Caldwell County and we (Chapel Hill Post 6) are looking forward to coming over to play next weekend. What other teams will be there?

-jda

 

Hey man... glad you guys are comming over to Caldwell next weekend.

Its scheduled to be, Jacksonville, Douglasville Ga, Stanley Co, Chapel Hill, Kannapolis along with Caldwell to the best of my knowlege. I do not know the exact schedule of games but I do know that game are scheduled at 3, 5 and 8 on Friday and Saturday and 2 and 4 on Sunday.

Good luck in the tournament.

 

Post 70 in Asheville is the biggest game in town when it comes to Summer baseball! We play at a great facility, McCormick Field and the players are treated like pros. We are looking forward to playing at Caldwell tomorrow night. Caldwell, Shelby, Taylorsville, Cherryville are all great teams and fun places to go and watch a game. :xyzthumbs

 

In Henderson County our legion team has been down the last 4 years. But having reworked the board, to get the majority of daddies off of it, and the hiring of a coach without local ties, I think this program will take a leap forward now. He seems to be a very knowledgable and energetic coach the the kids will enjoy playing for. And we all know when you get a group of talented ballplayers together that are having a good time playing, good results will be forthcoming. Saying that, I do believe that kids trying to be recruited should stick to the travel teams. Much more exposure to the college guys in the weekend tournament scenario.

 

I could not disagree more.

First of all, if you are a quality baseball player, college coaches will find you. It makes no difference if you play AAU or USSSA or American Legion.

Secondly, I would much rather play at 7pm on any night in front of 100-200+ people than play in Saturday morning spectacular in front of a few moms and dads. Because quite frankly, baseball is fun when you can hear a roar of the crowd and not "golf claps".

Finally, paying to play baseball is a waste if you can play for free. And if you are good enough to be recruited for a college program, you are good enough to be an asset to any Legion team in NC, and you don't have to pay a dime.

 

Once upon a time, this WAS the method. For the top players who are being recruiting by numerous D1 colleges, it's probably still true.

But colleges need more players than the top few who will standout coming out of high school. To that 2nd tier player who can have a very nice college career and maybe get a little financial assistance in college, you have to play where you will be seen.

It's also not necessarily true that you have to play an arm/leg to play something other than legion. Cost differ greatly with programs and many are free, even for the "showcase" type teams.

The college coaches don't have the time and resources to attend legion games as a PRIMARY venue for scouting. They may come to a game to followup with a prospect they saw through other venue's, but Legion itself isn't attractive to college coaches, and there are two main reasons:
#1. College freshman returning. These guys are un-touchable by the college coach. As far as scouting is concerned, these are wasted positions.
#2. Graduated Seniors. The college bound players have already committed.

This is going to compose most of the players on the field at any one game. If I were a college coach, I wouldn't go to a legion game. It just wouldn't pay.

 

I have to agree with NCBBallFan. It is easier to get exposure playing on a travel team. From the discussions I have had with College and a few pro scouts. Times have changed. The colleges have cut back on their recruiting budgets. If you are one of the top 100 - 200 players in the country, "they" will find you. If you aren't, they may not. The scouts tell me that they attend fewer high school games than in the past, usually when there is a prospect that they already know about. They say they attend very few legion games because they can see more players at a weekend tournament and reduce travel during the week. This allows them to manage their program and expenses in a more efficient manner. I am sure there are some scouts that attend legion games but this is what the ones that I have come in contact with tell me.

 

I have to disagree a little. I have been around legion ball all my life. My father was a coach for 19 years and I have been for the last 5 years. Over the last four years our program has sent 17 guys to play in college and 2 to pro ball. Two of those 17 played showcase baseball. Just this week I have had four college coaches call me and ask if I have any unsigned seniors. Many college coaches are still looking for a player or two. As for the college kids playing, that is certainly the minority in legion ball and for that matter this is really only the second season that legion ball has even had enough college players to talk about. I agree that it is easier for college coaches to go see showcase games because they can see several at one venue. Legion ball is strong and MOST programs teach their kids so many other things outside of baseball like respect for themselves and the game, as well as respect for the legionaires and what they stand for. I know my players have learned some great life lessons over the past 5 years.

 

I guess everything is relative. Here in the mountains we don;t get 100-200 fans to a legion game, maybe around 60. And a coach from one of the major universities in the Triad or Chapel Hill, Raleigh etc isn't gonna drive 9 hrs round trip to see "a" legion game. Our kids that are attending these universities to play were recruited from weekend showcases or tournaments. Some of the local smaller colleges still recruit from HS games, but I don't remember any kids recruited off our legion team.