Today’s Culture…

In today’s culture, the dynamics of high school sports and select teams are complex. The honesty of working together is ambiguous. This uncertainty raises the question of who suffers when collaboration fails. The question is, what is today’s sports culture and are players losing or winning within it!!

It’s been 19 years since I last put on my uniform in the Texas State Playoffs with my El Paso Bel Air High School teammates in Midland, Tx facing Lubbock Monterey who eventually lost in the Semifinals to State Champion Humble Kingwood. I remember it like it was yesterday, play by play, results, who we faced and the feelings at the time. A definite memory of competing with my buddies for something greater than ourselves.

Long gone are the days that kids play with their childhood friends from their neighborhood, something all parents go to extreme lengths of providing and fostering for us as young boys. We wish our youth of today could assemble so simply to represent their community, families and eventually their local high school. Some may say that select baseball has killed the “Pride” one felt when they represented something larger than themselves. In today’s select games, players get flown in from different states, on someone else’s dime (possibly your own) to participate in a weekend tournament for nothing more than “exposure” and a trophy they can post on social media. Is it wrong? If so, who’s at fault?

The decision to skip high school sports and focus on select sports has become more of a threat today than ever.

The Role of High School Teams…

As a former high school and collegiate athlete I look back on my days swinging a bat as a youth player. I knew what high school I wanted to go to and what coach I wanted to play for  before I could even have control over what bat I swung. Did it have much to do with the coach, absolutely. My absolute trust stemmed from the coaches that I saw work day in and day out with the high school athletes on my neighborhood field. 

Today, parents aren’t placing a stress on early introduction to public school coaches and high school coaches aren’t visiting their local youth fields as they should. What is lost here is the opportunity for young athletes to introduce themselves, talk to the older players and or build those relationships that could win them a spot on the team in their immediate future. 

Coaches should be capitalizing on every opportunity they have to press flesh with the youth that will one day walk the halls of their schools. But, this opinion begs the question, if a high school coach is managing 90+ players, their grades, and their health, and you as a local youth league coach or parent are not sending them information on how they might observe your players, why should they be expected to know the pulse of the youth leagues and who the rising stars may be? I’ve seen high school coaches devote special time to middle school feeder athletes that they have been able to watch during live game play situations.

I myself have fostered those feeders and pushed players on to college ball. After coaching High school baseball for what seems like a century, as a head and in assistant roles, I can comment on every facet of what goes into assembling a team for the season.

But now we must address the coach that feels it is below them to show up at weekend local games, or those that take the word of specialty camps to award roster spots. If school system coaches are unwilling to invest in their feeder programs they diminish any possible player development and collaboration with a potential select team that a player and their parents may be contemplating investing in. But this isn’t all in the hands of our coaches, UIL regulations limit the time coaches are allowed to work with their athletes.

While some school system coaches may choose not to make an effort to work with the select teams that likely spend many more hours with their players, can we really blame them? So why don’t they make an effort to work with the select teams that spend many more hours with their players? Sure ego may play into this, but so does commitment to player development of the rest of their squad, coaching of additional sports, being accountable to their academic role, and the duty to their own family to be present.
Additionally, high school coaches don’t always have the resources that some select teams have, such as time, technology, and the ability to better develop the player towards their potential beyond high school sports.

If used as a resource high school players could reap the benefits of collaboration between their campus coaches that have had to make a team out of seemingly nothing, and lead it to the playoffs and the select coach that has seen dozens of techniques and could use that conglomeration of intelligence to form a strategy for your player as unique as their DNA.

The Role of Select Teams…

Let’s dissect what makes select teams successful.

Q1: Is it their ability to develop players? 

A1: No, because most teams don’t. Those lucky enough to find a team that wins and focuses on developing their players on and off the field are fortunate.

Select teams pride themselves in their ability to provide college and professional exposure for the youth players whose parents are willing to pay for 8 tournaments a summer to get the exposure to the “next level”. But what is the “next level”? This is the question that you as the paying parent should be asking. Is exposure getting them an invite to an individual showcase where there might be “x” amount of scouts that are really looking for “15+ yo ” players for the invitational camps their offering, for a fee, and your son is 8 yo?

Q2: Who is your ally in all of this? The answer is simple…who has the least to gain? We will address this later in our article.

A2: The next answer is that it may lead to the prevention of overuse injuries if the athlete is not participating in school lead team games. Or in other words, people have come to the conclusion that players and parents in high school sports are not highly competitive and that playing for their high school does nothing for their career but increases the possibility for injury. Knowing that my experiences are worth their salt, I want to offer this. I have been a part of public school programs where sports medicine was too expensive for the budget, and I have also been a part of programs where the sports medicine program was top notch.

In the end, if you’re fortunate enough to be in a state that employs Athletic Trainers on campus, they can be your child’s greatest advocate. I’ve seen ATs employ mandatory maintenance programs in athletes because of summer ball injuries with repetitive dislocation and have seen those kids through a season scott-free, I have also seen an AT talk the “juice” back into a catcher after he’s been beat up and I have seen that same young man last 4 more innings to secure a win.

Never underestimate the power your school’s sports medicine staff. As a parent, introduce yourself, check in regularly, and do not dismiss what an asset those individuals may be to your young man. We will not delve into the debate of overuse and burnout in sports with developmental leagues, that is for another day. 

The last point is: False advertisement.

A3: Don’t believe everything you are told while teams or coaches are trying to recruit your kid. Many programs will over promise and under deliver, it’s normal but some don’t make the attempt to keep those player development promises and worry solely on winning no matter the cost.

The Role of The Parent and Player…

We could go down so many avenues when we are talking about the roles of the parents and players. The bottom line is that your kid’s development is not a social experiment to determine your social status. 99 percent of high school coaches really don’t care what select team little Timmy played for or how much you spent on lessons. To a high school coach, production on the field during their season is the most important thing, while the select team might tell you the same, as long as you are willing to pay the price they are willing to make you feel welcomed. Parents need to find a team where their kid can develop, fail, learn, grow, win, lose, but most importantly be themselves, have fun, and fall in love with the game. Same goes for you Timmy, find the right fit, find the place where you can excel!!

Potential Solutions or Best Practices for Improving Collaboration Between High School and Select Teams…

After extensive research and personal experience, I could not find any examples in which collaboration between high school and select teams existed. However, there are some potential solutions or best practices for improving collaboration between high school and select teams:

–Organized joint training sessions– Both show interest in the development of their staff and players.

–Attending games– Both show desire to witness on field performance and use it to evaluate player programming/player plans.

–Regular communication– Can ensure that player work loads are being managed properly and that health is a priority.

To conclude, the dynamics of high school sports and select teams in today’s culture are complex, raising questions about who suffers when collaboration fails. The shift from local representation to select baseball has raised concerns about the impact on players’ pride and community connections. High school coaches’ lack of engagement with youth players and select team collaboration has further complicated the issue. Select teams prioritize winning and exposure, leading to the belief that high school sports offer little career benefit. Parents and players are urged to prioritize personal development and the love of the game. Potential solutions include joint training, game attendance, and regular communication between high school and select teams.