Mid August and we are in the midst of Summer Ball Tryouts all over the country. Players and parents jockeying for the best spots. Teams weeding through dozens and dozens of players trying to find the right mix of players to be competitive. What I wanted to talk about is loyalty. Looking at this both ways. Teams or clubs being loyal to their players and then players and families that are loyal to their clubs.
All players have to continue to grow in the game to stay in the game. This should not be a surprise to anyone. Be the easy choice for a coach let him see you perform and know that you are a dude. Most club teams will stay loyal to the players that progress as they get older. New players come and go but the foundation of teams that build early and the best of the best keep getting better. Makes sense right? When a player plateaus and/or doesn't get better either by not working or simply has become the best that that player will ever be, would be the normal time when a club team or coaching staff has to determine their level of loyalty to that player. While the cost to play summer ball is not cheap. If you honestly see this player losing playing time to new and better players, your loyalty has to lie with the team. There is no justice in keeping this player. It is not fair to the player and his family, not fair to the team and its other players and simply, it's just not right. The better option is to move this player to a team, hopefully inside the same club, that he can compete on and possibly get better. Lord knows no one gets better without playing. Now here in lies the rub. The player has been on the "A" team for two or three years and now is getting beat out for his spot. Making the change to the "B" team (which is the best option for the player) is not seen as a favor. Most people would take offense to this and simply quit and tell everyone that they were done wrong by the organization that they were so loyal. This is the toughest part about running Club sports and staying at the top of the food chain.
The other kind of loyalty that I wanted to discuss goes the other way. You start on the "B" team with a club, young and dumb but a really good player. Your abilities improve as you grow. Your baseball IQ improves immensely. Your coaches at high school and summer ball team are excited about your future beyond high school. Your summer club team gets you in front of all the right coaches in all the best events. Your team is really good and is going to get better. You have played for this club for 3-4 years and you are a bluechip player. Your college offers start coming in. Once the word on the street is this kid is a dude. Every travel ball team in the country reaches out and offers you a spot. You have two choices. Dance with the girl that took you to the prom or accept an offer from another team. I have heard all the excuses in the world. Excuses are like trashcans they all stink. I have seen this happen year after year. Most players stay loyal to the team that exposed them to the right college coaches and helped them get the offer they were praying for and some players skip out on the program that did all the ground work. Some people would say that I am being selfish and that I shouldn't care about that. Maybe they are right but I can tell you that it doesn't feel very good when you are building up a player and team and then this keystone player decides to bolt. Just a tough pill to swallow.
Just wanted to share my thoughts on this - pretty deep for the average baseball person but a lot of you will know exactly what I am talking about. In summery - if you are an average player playing at the top level you are on borrowed time. If you are a show stopper stay where you are. Keep growing your talent with the club that got you what you wanted. Just my two cents.
Coach Bale
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