Here are 5 reasons you need to play high school baseball. It’s easy to look at the big picture of “Getting to College Baseball” but what are you teaching your son in the process of getting there?
- We vs. Me
College Coaches want to know that you can be a part of a team. They want to know you can be selfless at the plate and hit behind a runner to move a runner vs. going for the hit. They want to know you’re going to be a “Big Brother” to the underclassmen when you’re a senior. And they want to know that you are always going to put the team before yourself because that’s how teams win.
Culture is huge for College Coaches because your team is together A LOT. The “We vs. Me” mentality is learned in playing High School Baseball because day in and day out it is always going to be about the name on the front of the jersey. While travel ball is good for exposure, travel ball is about the name on the back of the jersey. When it comes to college coaches, they DO NOT care about the name on the back of the jersey.
College Coaches want you to be the “Big Brother.” When you play Travel Baseball, you are playing with one age group. When you play High School Baseball (and College Baseball for that matter) you are playing teammates that range in ages from 18-22. Think about who you are at 18 and who you think you will be at 22 (parents answer this for your kids). All Freshman look up to the Seniors. Coaches want players who can mentor the younger players and players learn this aspect of We vs. Me in High School when they have players looking up to them.
- Learning A System
This is the most important for me as a College Recruiter. When I was working for Brad Stromdahl (Now Head Coach at Georgia State) at Georgia Gwinnett, he always said “it takes every player a year to learn our system.” Your travel ball coaches don’t have the same systems (back picks, 2 strike approaches, infield positioning, bunt defenses, relay formats, etc) as the high school coaches do because they are not with you enough to “install” these systems. You’re with your travel ball coaches for tournaments on the weekends and a practice during the week (If you’re lucky), and that is spent hitting, taking ground balls and throwing bullpens.
College Coaches have their programs and systems down to a science. They can do it in their sleep because they have been executing and refining it for so many years. Let me tell you, I have been in some pretty dynamic systems, and if you don’t know how to learn systems, it’s going to be tough for you to play collegiate baseball. You learn a system the second you start playing high school baseball as a freshman. You are learning on the JV team how the Varsity team executes in all situations, so when your number is called on varsity you know exactly what to do. Travel ball (as a whole) is more inconsistent in teaching systems then your high school team.
- Play To Win – Every Pitch Matters
College Coaches hate to see a bus or locker room full of talkative kids after a loss. It’s my biggest pet peeve as a coach. Coaches want to know winning and losing means something to you because it means the world (and their jobs) to them. Travel Ball players play so many games in the Summer & Fall, that in the grand scheme of things, don’t mean anything. Think about it. You get eliminated from tournament X this weekend, you get a chance to win another next weekend. “We lost this game, but that’s ok because I went 4-4 with a HR.” It has not effect on you whatsoever.
Every game matters for the college coach. One of my favorite quotes in baseball came from Brad Weitzel, our hitting and Infield coach at the University of Florida. He said “One pitch can cost you one run, one run can cost you one game, and one game can cost you a National Championship.” Well, one pitch cost us a National Championship in 2011 against South Carolina. That is not the truth in Travel Baseball. The importance of the pitch only matters in the current game. It has no repercussions to next weeks tournament. That is not the case in high school baseball. Your team can miss the playoffs by one game, and it can be a result of a game from the first week of the season or conference play.
High School baseball teaches players to play every game like it is the most important game of the season, and, in doing that, they are playing their heart out because every player wants to end their season with a dogpile and a State Championship. Play to Win not to be recruited because that is what you are going to be doing when you get to college. The most excited part of the High School/College season is Region/Conference play because that is what makes or break your season. There’s something riding on EVERY PITCH! One Pitch can cost you one run…
- Human Growth
At 30, I look back over my life as a player and coach and realize I have gone through three major “Human Growth” stages. First was in high school, second was in college and thirds was the first 4 years after College Graduation. I look back over my time and realize it was the people in my life on a daily basis who have shaped me into who I am today. Players learn from each other with the guidance and leadership of head coaches. My high school teammates and coaches challenged and taught me leadership, mentorship and selflessness, three aspects I try to instill in players today as a coach.
The first growth stage, and most important stage to me, comes in high school. You start high school at 14 or 15 and you can’t even drive, and by the time you graduate you are 18, a legal adult, and are getting ready to leave home and be on your own. That’s a long way to come in 4 years. Who do you want to be shaped by during these 4 years?
I am a firm believer in “you are who you surround yourself with,” and, in high school, those are the guys you go to school with, then after 7th period, you walk down to the baseball field for practice with. Imagine watching the people in your life that have the biggest influence on you walk down to practice while you get in your car to go home because you chose not to play high school ball. This is the first crucial growth period in your life as a player, and you need to be around people who know you inside and out and will be there for you through the good times and bad.
- Finances
While there are financial obligations in high school, I believe these fees are far more reasonable in high school then they are in travel ball. 99% of high schools have a Booster Club or Dugout Club payment to play High School baseball, but that is all that is spent on high school baseball. Once the player fee is paid, not much else is spent during the high school season.
Average High School Baseball Fee: $1,000 – $2,000/year
Average Travel Ball Fee: $8,000-$10,000/year
High School Baseball Fees are all inclusive, meaning once you pay for your son to play, there won’t be another fee asked of you for the season for your player. Travel Ball Fees are not all inclusive and there are some fees your son will HAVE to play that you may not have thought about.
The list of items below are NOT paid for in high School, but are paid for in Travel Baseball. The items below are the reason Travel ball is more expensive then high school baseball.
- Training Facility
- Practice Field Permits
- Uniforms
- Equipment (baseballs, Helmets, Fungo’s, field screens, catching gear)
- Tournament Fees
- Insurance
- Hidden Organization Fees
- Gas & Transportation
- Hotels/Lodging
- Meals
- Entertainment (you will be on the road with families, what are you doing when your not playing games)
- Marketing
- Coaching Stipends
- Sanctioning Fees
Specialty Events