Team Illinois

What is Team Illinois and who sponsors it?

quote:

Originally posted by BeenthereIL:
What is Team Illinois and who sponsors it?

It's a Harvey Foster Tournament with various Midwest States...

Link

Thanks to both of you.

then I guess no one from illinois made the area code team because they go out to california august 3 thru the 10

Adam Davis the all-state catcher from Driscoll Catholic made the area code team.

i'm hearing the ac team is made up of kids from minnesota and iowa. the joe loftus kid is the most talented

who made it??? area code? team illinois????

Lucas Hileman from Anna-Jonesboro made the area code team from down south.

How did this team do?

Were their many MLB or college scouts attending weekend Team games?

baseballmom,

how did your son do this weekend on Team Illinois?

Team Illinois finished 3-3 on the weekend, lost two games in the bottom of the seventh, as always a great opportunity to coach some of the area's better players.

The whole team illinois seemed a little on the political side. JMO None of the teams looked very strong.

I mean exactly what I said, should not need any expplaination if you are around youth sports very much, but again that is just my opinion and I only watched about 5 games.

Was Matt Mirabel ...the catcher from Mount Carmel on Team Illinois ?

lineshot, any politics on the hurricanes? or with you?

Fungo, I can't speak for the Hurricanes but as far as me no I don't deal in politics, how about you fungo?

Here is the 2007 Illinois roster from Harvey Foster's website. My understanding is that the majority of the team is picked based upon how the players did at the Stevenson and Plainfield showcases.

I was familiar with the Team Illinois in 2005 ( it had players from many different conferences )and I really don't feel that there was anything political about the selection process. It seems to cover lots of players from many conferences and areas.


TEAM ILLINOIS 2007

1. ALEX BECKMAN OF BATAVIA
2. TONY BUCCIFERRO P MINOOKA
3. MIKE DERBY P/1B BARTLETT
4. SEAN FLANAGAN P DOWNERS GROVE N
5. MIKE FRIGO 3B/OF LOCKPORT
6. MATT GOLL INF STEVENSON
7. DANIEL JIMENEZ P/OF ST. CHARLES NORTH
8. JOHN LORENZ P/3B LINCOLN WAY EAST
9. DIEGO MARTINEZ P/OF ST. RITA
10. NICK MARTINI OF PRAIRIE RIDGE
11. MATT MIRABEL C MT. CARMEL
12. BEN PALMER P WESTMINISTER CHRIST
13. JIM PIPOLO C/1B SANDBURG
14. JIMMY RISI P/OF HIGHLAND PARK
15. BRYAN ROBERTS C/P BENET ACADEMY
16. GEOFFREY ROWAN P/OF NEUQUA VALLEY
17. ZACH STETSON OF HERSCHER
18. TREVOR STEVENS INF GLENBROOK SOUTH
19. KYLE STROUP P/1B GRANT
20. T.J. SWANK P/1B PRAIRIE RIDGE

Some of the poster's on this hsbaseball web are unbeliveable. Harvey Foster is wonderful for the baseball player's in this area and to insinuate that he is selecting player's based on political reasons rather that ability is just plain wrong. You may not agree with the player's selected - but to suggest favoritism plays a role is shallow and uninformed.

ballfan, I agree that harvey does a nice job with most of his work and does much for baseball in Illinois. However that being said and then reading your comments about how they were selected maybe I missed something but I think at least 3 or so were not at either of those showcases. Again jmo but did you watch the games what did you think of the competition? Maybe you can elaborate on the selection process.

Lineshot, this was not a youth sports event, exactly what do you mean by political?

Sulltiger24, Matt did play, I was very impressed with his toughness.

I got the chance to watch Mirabel play all summer. Has an absolute canon from behind the plate. Has to be one of the top 08 catchers in the midwest . Can hit with power also.

Sulltiger, defensly he toughened up as the weekend wore on, Our catchers worked hard in the heat, Matt saw the ball better later in the tourney. From the 1st base coaches box he was really coming out of his shoes, I talked to him a couple of times and in pregame BP about some things, he cut it down considerably and stayed behind the ball better on sunday.

the word is defensively

I guess it depends on what your sons goals are or were? Steveson provides a chance for coaches to evaluate your son on a more personal level, because he is around coaches who are familiar with him. I am not familiar with The Cincinnati Showcase, however although the stevenson is regional it sure does attract on the national level. Maam, respectfully every selection process is political, I was just wondering in which way lineshot was referring to.

baseballmom8, I was not reference your son or anyone else in particular, I have no idea who your son might be. I was referencing the person who mention they were picked from the other 2 showcases as it doesn't seem to be the case. I am not nor will I ever pick on a particular player. At the same time once again my opninion is the weekend tournament was not very impressive, if some people don't like that opninion, sorry.

playball, sorry I guess I still consider high school a youth event. What did you think of the other teams?

Lineshot and Mom, selection originally was to be the top 16-18 players who were selected from the Kaiser Game, The Kaiser game was conceived to pit the top 30-32 players from the two area showcases. In the past 3 years team Illinois has selected players from all areas of the state. Lineshot I think you needed to look closer, there was some pretty impressive things going on this weekend, don't sell the players efforts short.

Politics doesn't always mean that someone was up to no good. It may mean that those who picked the team have connections with some coaches that may lead to a kid getting an opportunity. Just the luck of the draw of having a coach who will go to bat for you.

On the other hand, a kid may have a coach who rarely helps his kids even if the showcase was held on his own field. Politics? I'd say so, but more than anything it has to do with the people a player is around, such as their HS Coach....for better or for worse.

Fastball, I'm kind of with you,minus the jab. For the 2008 season we have made profound changes (evaluating talent and our style of play) in our program, this will change the way we select athletes in our program. Trust me there will be plenty of politicking, from players, coaches and parents alike. I already had a meeting with parents who were concerned about the opportunities afforded to their son. There is always politics, however I am a little concerned about the position of the HS coach, it seems that travel game is pushing the importance of the HS coach out and yet it is his fault that the player doesn't participate on the team. Where was his travel coach fighting for him?

Playball2, The Travel Coach is definitely in the mix, for better or for worse. A kid trying to please both his HS Coach and his Travel Coach may end up pleasing neither. Part of the allure of playig big-time Travel Ball is the "exposure" and the "promotion" the Organization does for the player.

Often a kid will make his reputation playing HS Ball and then Travel Teams will swoop in and "discover" him and take credit for th eplayer being aprt of their program. On the other hand there are players who play in a bad program and perhaps have a coach who could give a rat's rear end about the kids who are saved by the chance to play on a Travel Team.

In the end, hopefully politics help the kid, but remember for every kid who is helped by the political process, there is another who is pushed out.

And Playball2, in the long run a Coach reaps what they sow......there may be a kid or two that doesn't appreciate a teacher or a coach being very supportive and nurturing, but by and large they are appreciated. On the other hand there are teachers and coaches don't care and they do deserve the blame.

quote:

In the end, hopefully politics help the kid, but remember for every kid who is helped by the political process, there is another who is pushed out.

I agree, this is a unavoidable biproduct of the selection process, so my question is why doesn't it apply to the player that was not invited even though his High School was the host site?

Good one Playball.

No doubt about it, but again it was just an example of one coach who doesn't do much for his kids as opposed to those who do. And that is what falls under the category of "Politics."

Again as I stated above, being political doesn't always mean there is evil at work. Just some do more for kids than others.

playball, as far as politics I guess I have to ask you this one. Do you think "politics" ever entered into one of your high school players not making the area codes last year? Also how many players from your stevenson team were invited to the kaiser game or even knew about that game? As far as taking kids from around the state, after looking at the roster I guess the kids from central and southern illinois didn't hear much about it.

quote:

Originally posted by FastballDad:
Playball2, The Travel Coach is definitely in the mix, for better or for worse. A kid trying to please both his HS Coach and his Travel Coach may end up pleasing neither. Part of the allure of playing big-time Travel Ball is the "exposure" and the "promotion" the Organization does for the player.

Often a kid will make his reputation playing HS Ball and then Travel Teams will swoop in and "discover" him and take credit for the player being part of their program. On the other hand there are players who play in a bad program and perhaps have a coach who could give a rat's rear end about the kids who are saved by the chance to play on a Travel Team.

In the end, hopefully politics help the kid, but remember for every kid who is helped by the political process, there is another who is pushed out.

And Playball2, in the long run a Coach reaps what they sow......there may be a kid or two that doesn't appreciate a teacher or a coach being very supportive and nurturing, but by and large they are appreciated. On the other hand there are teachers and coaches don't care and they do deserve the blame.

FastballDad:

This is one of the best posts regarding coaches and travel and high school ball. Obviously, you get it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

To my knowledge, these teams were not just chosen from the Stevenson and Plainfield Showcases. That was one of the places they looked, but, for example, Jim Hall also took nominations for the team during the ICA all-state meeting in Peoria on May 27. At that meeting, I nominated Galesburg's Kyle Hunter and Illinois Valley Central's Josh Parr as the two best representatives from Central Illinois.

Lineshot, to my knowledge 9 players were on the team from the stevenson showcase. As far as the Area Code Team that selection process was left to the White Sox, so I have no answer for you there, however if you look at my previous post you will see that I mentioned early the role that politics plays in the selection process. I am aware of it and do not deny that it exits, I am more to the liking of FastballDad, I don't see it as a negative. Lastly, There were athletes invited from central and southern Illinois, those athletes declined for what ever reason. However one thing I am confident of is that the offers were extended. So I again I ask you what do you mean by politics? This time answer the question, remember I am not in doubt that it exists, what type of politicking are you referring to?

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A kid trying to please both his HS Coach and his Travel Coach may end up pleasing neither. Part of the allure of playing big-time Travel Ball is the "exposure" and the "promotion" the Organization does for the player.

FastballDad and Play baseball, I am not sure why a player has to attempt to please either, If he is good enough to play "BIG TIME TRAVEL BALL" then that is what he should play, however if he is getting the "EXPOSURE" and the "PROMOTION" that the travel ball organization offers, why would he need selection to TEAM ILLINOIS? I believe I have the answer but am interested in hearing your inputs?

Playball2,

I would hope that a kid doesn't have to consiously try to please either coach. My comment was probably more aimed at the commitment they make to either coach. In some situations, this is a no-brainer because the HS Caoch is disconnected from the summer part of the season. In others, there is conflict between Travel and The HS or Local Team. Believe it or not there are HS Coaches who hold the kid's HS future over their head to leverage them into playing for them.

As far as Team Illinois goes, it is just one of many venues for a kid to be seen and like you say if he is good enough and has had exposure and promotion by his Travel Team it may be asked why he would need that particular honor. Of course that is presuming the travel team did in fact get all the exposure and really promoted him like they say they can. My son played on an exposure team or two and there was no one watching the majority of the games they played except the parents. Not as much exposure as promised.

At some point you have to hope a kid is playing for some other reason than to promote himself. There is something to be said for the kid who may choose to stay with his local HS Summer Team or Legion Team just to play with his teammates or for his town.

It is unfortunate for some kids who may be as good or better than some of those who are selected if the reason why was because any of his coaches wouldn't even say a good word for him.

quote:

At some point you have to hope a kid is playing for some other reason than to promote himself. There is something to be said for the kid who may choose to stay with his local HS Summer Team or Legion Team just to play with his teammates or for his town.

It is unfortunate for some kids who may be as good or better than some of those who are selected if the reason why was because any of his coaches wouldn't even say a good word for him.

FastballDad,

I agree with those who say "you get it"! You could say that we are in the "exposure" business. I feel something good everytime I hear a player say he'd like to but he can't... because he is committed to his high school team or Legion Team or his Travel Team or even a team in a different sport.

There's a lot of more important things than exposure. Actually if you think about it... It's actually kind of selfish to have exposure as your number one goal. While it (exposure) is important, just playing the game and keeping your commitments are more important in the long run. Besides both are possible if you search around a little.