Let’s see if this sounds familiar: “Come play for the Sky High Sparking Stallions tournament team and get seen by college coaches! We are very competitive, and you will get noticed!”
What actually happens: Player signs up, plays the 6-8 tournaments and ends up calling coaches on his own to try to find a college.
What’s wrong with this scenario? From my experience coaching college summer ball, the majority of the kids we take on are Juco/D3 players who did not get any offers out of high school, and are trying to find a way to move up divisions at their college. Most of these players have TALENT, but still need their skills refined and polished. So what happened with these guys over the last 3-5 years of travel ball?
Every single player deserves 100% attention and dedication from their program. After all, that is what you are paying them for. Programs should be designed to get players into good schools that will cover their academic and baseball needs.
This has all been something that I’ve been thinking about for a while. Which is why as we are heading into our third season of focusing on collegiate players, I’ve decided it’s time to expand to the 17-18 age group. With our college guys, the focus is always on them, their individual goals and what they need to work on to achieve those goals. Wins and losses are always second.
Last season, two of our players went from Juco to D1. Two other players went from a school with little to no playing time to colleges where they received scholarships and earned starting positions. Many other players went back to their school and earned more playing time!
There are no magic beans, or guarantees. For all the players who made progress, there are players who stayed the same and didn’t improve. It all comes down to each player and how motivated they are. I do know that no other coach cares more about every player improving than I do. That, combined with players that are OBSESSED with reaching their goals, means results.
The goal here is that rather than just getting D3, NAIA or Juco players and helping them move up after one year of college and one year of eligibility, to get players earlier and set them up to succeed immediately when they get to a school. That means getting them to a college where they will get playing time and have the ability to make an impact.
For our 17-18U team in 2018, this will be the structure.
We will be playing a very unique, one of a kind schedule. No driving four hours for an 8AM game with no one watching. Every game and every tournament will have a purpose. Players stats and times will be documented.
- Three showcase tournaments. These are important for the player’s times (pop time, 60 time, velo, exit speed, etc.) to be verified and online for college coaches to see.
- Exhibition games VS college summer teams and independent league teams for top level competition.
Every player will have a recruiting video made, and every at bat will be put on social media immediately with the player’s personal hash tag so that it will be easy for college coaches to find. The coaches will be able to compare times from the recruiting video with the showcase tournaments online records.
Coaches don’t stop working until the players are in college. Simple as that. We work on your game. We sell your strengths while addressing the weaknesses. We don’t stop until every player has got into the school that best suits them.
We are not an exposure team. We are not trying to put you in position to be “seen”. We are going to make sure everyone knows you. There is no “if I get seen”, there is no “I just didn’t get any looks”…your videos and information WILL be seen by every coach and recruiter.
That is what every player deserves.
Interested in playing for us for 2018? Get more info here, and fill out our recruiting form.