VA Cardinals

From your past posts I'm guessing you live in the North East.

 

The Va Cardinals fill their roster with only instate guys.

 

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

Rich, thank you very much for the reply. I wonder why they do that...

"The East Coast Cardinals" just doesn't have the same ring to it.  lol

 

Seriously, if you check their website the Virginia Cardinals are 501(c) organiztion and the mission was to have an all Virginia team to serve the talent in VA.  It has changed somewhat since keewartson was on the team in that there is now more than 1 team, and I believe there was at least one player rostered that was not from VA.  Not sure of the details of that...maybe he was targeting VA schools?  But, that was an exception and not the rule.

I've visited their website quite a few times and never saw that but I'm sure you're right since the team that went to PG WWBA World was all Virginia players.

They've done ok with just Virginia guys. If it ain't broke...

To add on...the two guys who run the Cardinals live in Richmond, there's tons of talent in the state, and I don't know any specifics but whatever agreement is in place with their benefactor(s) may include a commitment to VA kids as part of the financial agreement.

I do have a feeling they will start allowing people from the region to tryout as you pointed out they are doing OK with just virginia guys.

The Virginia Cardinals are a first class national level program.

 

This year their underclass team was one of the very best in the country.

 

Also, at least two of the top people in their organization are members of the HSBBW family.

 

I would say they are much more than reputable.

Thanks for all the kind words - it's humbling and we greatly appreciate it.

 

To set the record straight - we don't necessarily discriminate against players from outside the area - it's just that the talent in the 804 is top notch and they tend to win out in our tryout situations.  Over the years we have had players from Spotsy, Amherst County, Culpepper, NoVa, and the Tidewater area to complement the players from the 804.

 

We just seem to have locked down a solid portion of the best players from the Metro Richmond area and that has been a very solid base to pull from.  The fact that about 90% of our kids are also products of our RBA South program doesn't hurt either. Getting to actually develop the players over time instead of just trying to recruit them tends to pay off in the long-run.

 

We are open to evaluating and rostering players from beyond our area and even beyond the state - but they have to be better than what's in our backyard first.  Our 100% game attendance policy doesn't make it easy for those from far flung places though - so it shows you how committed our kid from Mass is - who hasn't missed a game in 2 years other than when he was injured briefly last fall.  He is even flying in for some off-season workouts in Jan and Feb to boot. 

 

I strongly recommend any kid to contact us who wants to be a part of a TEAM that plays as a TEAM while also competing at the highest level in front of the best programs on the east coast.  Don't just assume it wouldn't work out - If you are a fit (ability and personality wise) we make it happen.

 

One thing I can promise (actually it's the ONLY thing I have ever promised a kid) is that you won't get missed.  If you are good enough and you are tough enough and have a team attitude - the best programs in the country will see you and will know your name.

 

Rich and I started this program in early 2010, ramping up to play our first games that June.  The success has been wonderful and beyond what I had even hoped for.  The "seal of approval" of the recent PG ranking and Jerry's note above is all anyone in our type of endeavor could ever ask for and more. 

 

We originally restricted ourselves to serving only Virginia residents.  We no longer have that restriction, but to be honest, we tend to fill up on high level guys just from those we can follow closely and get to know well, without having to reach out to far-flung areas and take risks on people we haven't really had a chance to vett.  As anyone who's been associated with us can tell you, when it comes to code of conduct, we don't just talk the talk.  Everyone walks the walk.  (I guess I could add, "or else.")  The fact that we only run one team per age level (15u-16u-17u) means we aren't trying to find 100 guys in each class, either.

 

We have our first non-VA guy this year and we may have more in the future, but I would imagine they will be the exception and not the rule.  Personally I enjoy having the guys close enough to home that I can follow them, be at their spring games, be available to them as needed, etc.  I know there are programs that recruit nationally, and I have nothing against them offering that option to players who want it, but I don't think that will ever be us.

"The East Coast Cardinals" just doesn't have the same ring to it.  lol"

 

I guess "Virginia Cardinals" just means we're from Virginia and will always mean that.  But it doesn't necessarily restrict us.  I'm mindful that at Ft. Myers, we played the Richmond Braves in the championship game, and they had not one player from Richmond on their roster! 

 

The origin of the name is actually simpler than you might suspect.  Some years ago, some friends and I had a team by that name just because you could buy uniforms "off the rack" cheap, with the bird-on-bat logo, and the colors for tees etc. would be red, white and blue -- things the kids could pick up at WalMart.  No one else we knew was using the name, that helped.  The fact that the Cardinal is the official state bird makes it fit even better.  When Rich and I got started, I asked if we could use that name and he liked it, too.  Easy as that.

 

Our new custom logo looks great our our new custom uniforms, though!

Just my 2 cents worth to the discussion... but personally see the value and uniqueness (special aspect) in a group of young men who get to know each other in ways off the baseball field... Most are just becoming young men; and will get to share things with their teammates, that are more life experiences. Other sports, camaraderie, school, networking with families, etc. that are not possible with a national or regional all star team.

A lot of the Cardinals players become close friends in many ways, that likely will go into and beyond college. Being able to pick up the phone and see where the "guys" might be going in the offseason is a special part of what the Cardinals have to offer. It's about growing up together; and being there for each other.

 

There certainly is format that allows for the best 15 players on the east coast to play together, should they want... but having 20 or 30% of premier regional players come into a Cardinals style team and endeavor - would not be the optimum for all involved. And actually as stated above, the talent level of the 15 to 18 in each Cardinals age group is hard to beat... no matter where from.

The playing field is truly level -  when everyone is all in, on everything.

 

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for that.  I would say that while several of our players appear on PG's ranking list, we don't throw a lot of 95 mph guys at you, and I don't think we hit many HR's either.  The Ft. Myers effort was a true team effort in every sense of the term, and we were like proud papas with our boys out there.  A lot of times with the teams whose rosters are full of top 100 guys, you don't see the finer points in games because they aren't together much.  That's no knock on them, it's just a reality of playing in that kind of a program.  There is definitely a need for that kind of program, too, so again, not meaning any slight to anyone.  It's just fun to play 8 games and see, e.g., only two opposing runners reach on errors -- and both get wiped out on double plays.  Not to mention that one of those errors was an imaginary catcher's interference call.  You just don't see that at the high school level.

Thanks for the info and as pitchout 31 said Merry Christmas!