I've heard that certain select coaches have "connections"(may be a bad word)to college coaches and I wondered if any college coaches have connections to the next level. My son was told to play for one of three select coaches because they know people in college. Just wondered if college coaches know people at the next level.

NRPMom,

Sure, the select coaches are sometimes former players on teams of current college coaches.

Sometimes pro scouts are former players on teams of current college coaches.

The baseball world is very small and they are all "connected".

Pro scouts are well connected to juco and four year program coaches, too.

quote:

My son was told to play for one of three select coaches because they know people in college

I wouldn't let that be the ONLY reason to play for a certain coach.

Well said, FO
the select coaches have "connections" with the next level, be it college or pro.

When you play for a select team you want the following , at least in my estimation;

01-- great competition
02-- a solid coaching staff that can refine your game
03-- relationships with college coaches and pro scouts
04-- a coaching staff ready to go out their way for you at any time

TR has summed it up very well. I would, however, put his fourth point higher. A good summer/select team coach that is willing to go out of his way on behalf of his players can help them immensely. Some won't do much, but others will make phone calls, send emails, contact scouts and college coaches as an advocate for their players.

In no way do I want to make it sound as if TR's first three points are less important, but the fourth can be huge for some players who are very good, but not elite level kids.

I like TR's list of "needs", but, not every select team coach fills those requirements, and sometimes "what you see is what you get". The important thing is that a player selfishly takes it upon themselves to improve their game, and do what is necessary to get noticed at the next level, whether it is with the coach or not. I'm sure TR, PG and others have seen numerous players that have the tools but not the coaching needed to get to the next level. Of that group those who make it do it on their own will, those that don't, maybe there's a lack the desire in the first place. Baseball is a team sport, but, where members of that team go later on is an individual issue. This site has a group of select coaches that will take a player there, but, for every one of them, there are at least 4 others that do not follow up. The whole process starts in the heart of the player, they for the most part determine their destiny and hopefully they have a coach that works at moving them on.

In our case, when my son played select ball the State of WI had 2 select teams. Ryan played with the WI Blazers (now the Midwest Blazers) and he was fortunate to have Blazer25 as a coach. I think that even Andy would agree that because we lived 80 miles apart there was little that could be done on their part to improve his game, the WI Blazer part of the process was to promote his game, and they did an outstanding job. Other areas of the country where the talent is concentrated may be lucky enough to have coaches that specifically coach, that was not our case, no fault of the coach, but it was a logistical issue. Take a look at the Jupiter rosters, for the most part they are not neighborhood teams, and refining players skills is not a priority.

NRPMom original question was

quote:

My son was told to play for one of three select coaches because they know people in college. Just wondered if college coaches know people at the next level.

Many on this site know a lot more that me, but my impression is that if you have the tools, and are playing college ball, they will find you regardless of the coaching connections. Sure, there are those "diamond in the rough" players that are found through coaching contacts, but I feel that is more of an exception than the rule.

First and foremost my list is not any specific order of importance.

Actually if you play for us the 4th item on my list is perhaps most important to the player because our kids are from various areas and we only get to see each other on weekends.Our coaches do a lot of teaching and refining on the weekends we are together but it is certainly not the same as having them with us three or four times a week for practice.

The bottom line is that it all has to work together and this should be key in selecting a so-called "select travel team"

Thanks for all the great input! This is our first son to go through this process so I rely on the input of others to help me help him. He is on a great select team, was asked to play and does start, with coaches who seem to have the "connections" everyone talks about so I wondered about the next level. Certain colleges seem to have a higher draft percent and I didn't know if that was because of their great recruitment, coaches who are great teachers of the game, coaches who are good at seeing a diamond in the rough, a combination of this and more or if scouts look to certain schools to produce quality players, trusting those coaches opinions. The more I read, the more I learn and hopefully I can give my son some insight.

I agree 100% with TRhit......... Simply put and never more the truth.

TRhit, you have a pm.