Travel teams impacting prep sports

Thought I'd post this article and see what kind of feedback it would actually have...

Travel teams impacting prep sports - jeffersonpost.com

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(THIS IS THE ARTICLE)

Rarely in small towns do you see athletes that do not play for their respective high schools. Usually, athletes play at least one or two sports, sometimes even three sports to compete against other schools, compete with teammates and most of all, just enjoy the high school athletic life.


Now, it seems like athletes and parents are turning their attention towards travel leagues.
I also realize that playing with travel teams might get you more exposure to college coaches and scouts. But after talking to a few former athletes and even a handful of area coaches, it sounds like when it is all said and done, a coach has all of the power and ability in the world to get their star athletes seen.


One player told me that he played some AAU basketball, but the best feedback and recognition he ever got was after his head coach sent video clips and made phone calls to college coaches.


With this being such a touchy subject for players and parents, coaches and players I spoke with did not want to have their names mentioned, and I respectfully honored that request.


I talked to four area coaches, and though they each coached a different sport, the feeling was about the same: Kids should play for their high school and let their outstanding play speak for itself.


All four coaches told me that they took pride in doing everything they could to get collegiate coaches to take a look at one of their players, whether it is on film at first or in person. One coach told me he specifically tried to schedule games for his teams to play in larger areas like Winston-Salem, or in non-conference and holiday tournaments just for that reason.


Another coach said that if he were a college coach, he would not even think about recruiting a player that did not play for their high school because in his eyes, it showed a lack of commitment to the sport when you can play travel league sports in the summer and play for your high school during the fall, winter or spring.


When you dedicate yourself to a sport to the point where you want to play at the next level, you have to make some sacrifices. Abandoning your high school team does not seem like a sacrifice that a player should ever consider making.

First off, let me preface this by saying I have absolutely no problem with kids playing on travel teams and am certainly all for young athletes playing top notch competition and working with great coaches and getting valuable experience.


However, what bothers me, as someone that has followed prep sports for roughly the past 12 years, it is sad to see great athletes not playing for their own high school. Even here in Ashe County, it has become an issue that teammates and coaches have to deal with.


I fully support athletes doing what they feel is best for their future, especially if they feel like they are destined for great things as a potential college athlete. But doesn’t it seem like a bit of a slap in the face to teammates and coaches that have expected these kids to play and suddenly, they don’t show up?
*Nathan Ham can be reached at (336) 846-7164 or on Twitter @NathanHam87

 

I would say it depends on the sport, the high school program and the coach. Our high school softball coach did nothing to help my daughter get into college softball, even though a college coach came to her hs softball game and another wrote to him. He is a math teacher and thinks he knows the game from playing men's slow pitch. The high school could care less about the softball program. Now the football program that would be another story.

 

H-n-r, this is good subject; its a lot more complex then most think, I coach HS as well as travel ball and have been involved with FP for about 14 years now. Being on both sides of the fence there are many problems I see almost daily. First is communication between coaches on both sides, we need to respect each others role in developing the players. There are good and bad coaches on both sides of the fence as well. In talking with most parents and players these days, most believe their HS coach cant help them or that they even know what the are doing. I can assure through experience I have seen just as many bad or non productive travel coaches as I have HS coaches. It gets down to who can develop players,there are a handful of organization in the Carolinas who have the ability to get players the exposure they need, but their are less who can actually teach the kids to play the game. My advice to any parent who is concerned about their daughters progress in this sport is to educate yourself as much as you can there are many resources available, a lot of it is BS, but when you trust your kid to a coach, ask them questions about how they teach certain skills such as pitching or hitting, they should be able to give you an answer and be able to support their answer, I see to many coaches who still say just do it. I do not believe in that nor do I coach that way, anything I tell kid its for a reason and I will be glad to explain in detail why I believe its the right way, however I always listen as well, as I am always learning as well. This game is still evolving and changing, athletes are better then they were even 6 years ago when my daughter played. Bottom line everyone needs to work together for the betterment of the players and the sport and leave their adult egos at the door. Sorry for the rant.