Junior Olympics

Does this mean you're happy with the process now? Since they picked several of your local boys?

Nope.

The dates should be such that all kids from all states can compete without missing school.

The problem is, there are no such dates. Pick any day of the year, and you will find that SOMEBODY is in school at that time. (Except the Cubans. They put baseball ahead of school. But then, it wouldn't surprise me if some of their guys were a bit too old for school anyway.)

Unless you think we could get folks to show up for a tryout on Christmas day or something.

Also, I don't know that USA Baseball has the power to tell the other nations when or where the games will be played. Other nations have a way of detesting the U.S. for thinking we should be able to dictate terms like that. Once the tournament dates are set, a lot of options are foreclosed.

Hey, if it were up to me, I'd suggest they play an international summer tournament in a more northern clime. Heading towards the equator in August puts us in the company of "Mad Dogs and Englishmen". But if you want to compete at all, you have to live with the decisions of the organizing entity.

But, make up your mind. Either you are proud of your local guys for making the first cut (implying that you think this is an important accomplishment), or you think the process is bogus and tainted so that their making it doesn't really signify anything. You should understand that the two positions cannot be reconciled.

Being proud of the local kids who made the cut is not a contradiction at all.

If the tournament were a week later it would allow the other kids in the nation to compete.

I would be more proud of the kids who make it if they have had to compete with a broader cross section of the talent in the nation. Are there only three thousand quality ball players in the nation? Are there only one hundred and forty four quality teams in the nation?

It isn't about USA Baseball or any other national team, it is about giving an equal opportunity to all age eligible kids across the nation to compete for the honor to represent the nation with the best team that we have.

The JO's were actually held a week later this year than last, as it was.

VA schools don't start until after Labor Day, and we were out a full week before the tournament began. Most of the scheduling problems the YNT has come at the other end, that is, they have players who have to go to school at the start of August and they need to be done sooner, not later. Like I said, you can't get it done for everyone without some kids missing school.

As to whether there are more than 144 quality teams in the U.S., that's a tough one. Sure there are more than that at various times, but on the other hand, a lot of the teams who head to JO's are squads put together specifically for this one tourney. Other teams of course are together year round, though at this age level, all of those teams live in a perpetual state of free agency -- players jump from team to team at will and without notice. Some kids play for more than one team and have their pick of which one to go to JO's with.

I would say that any stud player who wanted to be considered had ample opportunity to latch on with a team and play and get himself evaluated.

The one thing I would grant you is that there are some guys who are stud players who happen to have an off week. Hitters can run hot and cold and if you have one cold week at the wrong time, you can be out of the running. But given the talent of the guys who do make it, I don't think this weakens the team much, it may just short change an individual player here and there. Same thing if a kid gets sick or injured; it's just dumb luck sometimes for that one kid, but the overall quality of the team is not terribly affected.

True, you could probably devise a more grandiose scouting system to try to make sure that no stone was left unturned. But everyone has to live with a budget and with the other cards they are dealt. The fact is, there's not much known going in about kids as young as 15/16. At that age they're just starting to separate themselves. But if you're going to play you have to have some kind of system to cull out players.

Bottom line, you can criticize all you want, but unless you are prepared to devise a system that lives within the constraints that USA Baseball has to live with, it's no better than barber chair B.S.

Barber chair BS is what has brought about more social change than you give it credit for.

Looking at the representative states at the various selection processes either implies that most states have little to no baseball talent or are not considered worthy of reasonable consideration.

What does an organization whose only function is to assemble five of the most talented baseball teams in the nation have to do the rest of the year?

They have very few employees. They rely heavily on part-time volunteers. Many of the coaches are employed elsewhere during the school year, e.g., as high school coaches.

To say nothing of the commitments of the PLAYERS the rest of the year.

One suggestion would be that they rely on the member organizations to supply them with opinions of the better ball players in each organization.

The Jr. National trials give the impression that the mentioned organizations have contributed their best players.

The younger players can be scouted by other member organizations such as AAU and PONY as well as Little League.

There are many existing resources that are not being utilized.

Also PG is venturing into the younger set as well as holding various tournaments year round for each age group and graduation year.

I don't think PG goes lower than 15. Last year, several 15u teams, ours included, went to both the JO's and the WWBA 15u tourney. Unfortunately, this week they were held at the same time.

Little League, Pony, Babe Ruth, etc. are organizations that sponsor local chapters. The parent organizations do not gather intel on players and I would bet they would not agree to do so. And obviously the local chapters are not capable of comparing their players to players all over the country. Even if they could, they tend to be run by parents, so you can throw objectivity out the window.

I think organizations SPONSOR teams at the Junior National Team trials, but I don't think they select the players from strictly within their own ranks. However, you do have a pretty substantial volume of intel available on 17u and 18u players, from Baseball America, PG, Baseball Factory, Team One, Area Code, etc. I guarantee you lots of guys (esp. guys like Jeremy Jeffress who don't bother to hit the travel circuit until they are older) get missed, but again, unless you want to create something parallel to the MLB scouting bureau to look at younger players, what are you gonna do?

Sometimes all you can do is your best effort with the limited resources you have. And the only other alternative is not to do it at all. I prefer the first choice. I wish perfection were possible, but it isn't, it never is.

I would add, finally, that any intel you got on 14's would be worthless by the time that group turned 16. Things change too rapidly during those years.

All of these organizations have 15 and 16 year old divisions.

The intel can be fresh and the players as advertised I would hope.

I have been informed that this organization has a secondary function. They are supposed to be promoting baseball throughout this country.

It would seem that they again are doing a poor job at that since the majority of baseball people at the grass roots level are unaware of their existence.

It becomes apparent that they have become a detriment in their current incarnation. They have done more harm than good. They have done far more in their time to promote foreign baseball players than home grown players. By losing to small third world nations, it minimizes the youth of this nation.

This thread was intended to congratulate the local boys who were selected to participate. It should not have turned into a forum for suggestions to improve the performance of the governing organization. It should not have turned into a thread for apologists of this organization either.