In Europe

shookha: good luck with that. It will be very difficult because you cannot get the level of competition in your age group that you need to compete. That said, are there any teams you can join at the 18 year old level? For example, if baseball were still in the Olympics, would Belgium field a team? If so, how do they build that team (from a group of teams in various conferences?)? You need to get to THAT level of play as a 15/16. In Italy, you could probably find such a team and, if good enough, get a crack. In Belgium, I just don't know. Ask the kids at your HS (assuming you are at an American School), children of NATO parents, and DoD kids (Germany has to have some pretty good baseball with all the Army bases there). You have to play, play, play, against the very best competition you can find. It will be a challenge. But you have to get games against great competition.

shookha, I recommend that you send a private message (PM) to krakatoa and ask for tips. His son attended high school overseas and is now playing college ball here in the United States.

They do have a National team that will play in the European championships. But I won't be eligible to play on that team for at least another year since i am a foreigner, and even then I still might not be eligible. I play against guys aged from 15-32. Some teams will pay american college pitchers to come play so I have seen some good baseball. But for most teams they are about as good as a good high school team is in the states. Some guys here have played in college and one guy was signed by the mets last year so it can be done it will just be harder.

If, somehow, you are getting to play against college and quality HS competition, then you are fine. You will just have to work harder to recruit the colleges than most.

Where are you getting that sort of competition in Belgium--a military base?

Can you hook up with a travel team in the summer near a relative's home and stay with the relative? Maybe you have a grandmother in Northern Virginia--hook up with the Mid-Atlantic Mets and play 8 mid-Atlantic tournaments from June through July, then go back to Belgium in August.

I homeschool. The team i play with is a city club. We have a military coach so i still learn alot. Not EVERY team is college level. Each team has about 1-2 former college players who graduated last year. For instance there is one team who has the player of the year for the IVY league in 2008 playing with them. So not every team is college level but they are at least at a good high school level

I have been thinking about going back to the states during the summer and playing cause I can stay with my brother. But I wasn't able to do that this year.

shooka--sounds like a great learning experience and some pretty darned good baseball. You should get a heck of a lot out of it. Do well as a homeschooler, do well on SATs and ACT, keep playing as much baseball as possible, and with your overseas living experience and all the other stuff you will find a great college. Good luck!

shookha,

Send me a PM,

I lived in Brussels for two years.

My son, now a college coach/recruiter, coached at the International School of Brussels (ISB) and was player-manager of the Brussels Kangaroos, who play in Belgiam's top Adult league. I know at least six Belgian national team players and coached several of them during off-season workouts.

btw: Here's a snapshot of a recent doubleheader between the league's only two french-speaking clubs.
Note: Namur's shortstop, former Johns Hopkins 3B Tom Emr, was Centennial Conference Player of the Year in 2009.

It is a good learning experience. I usually only play about 1-2 innings a game. I probably wasn't clear about the talent level but what i meant was that one or two players on a team can play at the college level. Everyone else (usually) plays HS level.

A friend of mine was sent to Austria by the Blue Jays to develop talent in Europe. The team he coaches plays games in Belgium and all over Europe.
I have seen some of the players he sent over here and quite frankly they are well below our elite players. i have seen 5-6 players and they all got little playing time.

The talent isn't as good as it is in america but like i said there are 1-2 college players per team usually. On my team we have a guy from Cuba who won the Carribean Championship. People from all over come over here to and play but their talent is usually between college and the minor leagues

Do you play teams from all over Europe?
I have 2 other friends who finished college . One just got back from Italy where he was paid yo play and the other is in Austria now. Another played in Austria 2 summers ago. They found it interesting because they traveled all over Europe.

I don't travel around yet. Baseball in Belgium is more of a social thing. They have a national team that plays other teams but since this is my first year here I don't qualify for that team. After next year there is a chance i can qualify.

"Casual" is a fair description of much of Belgian baseball. However the top teams, always Flemish (dutch-speaking) and from Antwerp, would fare well in upper D3 college competition.

The Flemish teams have strong pitching, and almost always feature a couple of players who've played in the US. For example, Leon Boyd, who played at Armstrong Atlantic State, was a dominant Belgian league pitcher before making strong showings in the 2008 Olympics and Baseball World Cup. There are also quite a few Dominicans and Dutch Antilles players.

The best Flemish teams ALWAYS get the bunt down, play strong defense and execute the fundamantals, etc etc.

What they can't do is hit, especially hit for power. This is probably because they only play 2x games each week and and there is no such thing as a #3 starter. This means regular position players see 85% collegiate level pitchers. (The Brussels Kanagroos current #1 starter played collegiately at DI Illinois State.)

So, Shooka, if you can display hitting skills at a .375%+ plus level, in this wooden bat league, you'll definitely have the skills to play in US college baseball.

Finally, actual Belgian games are seldom "casual". During the linked-game I posted above (between intense rivals) at least three minor fights (scuffles) broke out.

I'll foward a couple of personal suggestions to you by PM.