Why can't you do both? Why is helping kids that have the ability and the desire to play at the next level not part of the overall job? To say that if you work hard for your kids to get to the next level that you are somehow missing the point of what HS athletics is all about is off base. You teach the game to the players. Through the teaching of the game you teach life lessons that last them a lifetime. You have players that love the game and just want to play at the HS level with no desire of continueing past HS. Thats fine its not for everyone. You have players that do not have the desire to play past high school and or the talent. Thats fine its just a fact. Then you have players that have a burning desire to continue their careers to the next level. And they have the talent to do so. These kids deserve a coach that will do whatever he can to see that their dreams come true. It is my experience that the coaches that work hard for their players have players that work hard for the program. Coaches that work hard for their players work hard on their field. Work hard to make sure that the guys academics are in order. (All of them). They take great pride in the job that they do. They take pride in preparing kids for college baseball by working hard on fundementals and the finer aspects of the game. I have not met a coach in HS that was an outstanding baseball coach and was a clown as far as working for his kids. Quite the contrary the coaches that work hard for their kids to move on to the next level are the the coaches that take pride in the job that they do period. Maybe some of you have had an experience where you felt the coach was only interested in the more talented kids and wether or not they got in college to play. And you felt slighted by the fact that yours did not. I dont know. But again how is it a negative when a coach works hard to help his kids move on to the next level? This is ridiculous to me quite honestly. Is there anyone else here that sees this as ridiculous or not. If not ok. I guess I need to leave this one alone and just keep shaking my head.