Team vs Individual

quote:

Do the players on non-contending teams have to work harder to get recognition for the next level.

That's what summer teams are for.

I know....yet every pitcher wants to be POY....Can you be POY and NOT be leading the team to the district championship....

Recruited = Passion + Skill + Exposure + Persistence + Luck.

In addition to 2Bmom's comment about summer travel teams, there are other ways to get exposure such as Showcases & Select college camps. IMO showcases tend to be more national and regional in scope and select camps tend to be more regional and local. Research the college roster and you will get a feel for where their recruits are from (national or regional or local). Also, you can send a note to the college coach, and ask him what showcases or camps they recruit from.

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I know....yet every pitcher wants to be POY....Can you be POY and NOT be leading the team to the district championship....

That is a totally different question than about recruiting. You are now talking about distict & regional & state awards which are going to go to the team with the best results. The district coaches vote on this stuff. From what I can tell it is like Little League. The team with the best results gets the most votes for its players. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, but just the way it is. FWIW...I wouldn't get too wrapped up in this stuff because it really has nothing to do with college recruiting if that is your end goal.

Thanks for the comments.....

I don't know how it works in Virginia but in New Jersey the coaches nominate their own players for post season awards. If you perform well, your coach nominates you and then all the coaches in the conference/area vote for the nominated players.

So, IMO, you can be recognized with post season awards regardless of how well the team does. Although I wouldn't worry about those types of things, just worry about performing well everyday and things should work out accordingly.

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So, IMO, you can be recognized with post season awards regardless of how well the team does. Although I wouldn't worry about those types of things, just worry about performing well everyday and things should work out accordingly.

Of course every player would like that kind of local recognition, but like Fenway and fillsfan point out, it really doesn't mean that much, except maybe to mom's scrapbook. It's true that all but one of the players that have been chosen locally for POY in the last couple of years have gone on to play college ball (Florida, Ole Miss, Cleveland Indians via Chipola CC), but it had nothing to do with whether or not their names were in the paper. Their futures were set long before the coaches voted.

Even players on contending teams have to get noticed. State final four teams will have scouts and recruiters at the games. Many people are interested in best players on the best teams. For those not there or on some of the non competetive teams it is very hard to get noticed. Small schools 3A and under have a harder time getting noticed.
It really comes down to very good players on select teams playing great summer ball in showcases and big tournaments. If not, they have to individually recruit themselves and tryout in front of individual college coaches to get noticed..

In Arizona we have 7 divisions total and I go to a 3A school. Throughout my experience of trying to get the opportunity to play college baseball almost anyone willing to put the work in and who is willing to go away from home can play college baseball. Granted I am only going to an NAIA school next year, but college baseball is college baseball.

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only going to an NAIA school

Only? Dude! You're going to play at the next level! Congratulations!

I agree with 2B Mom. You should be proud of yourself for making it to the next level. You obviously have worked hard in order to play college ball.

Individual is all that matters. What's it going to do for you if your team wins. Its all about you getting farther

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Originally posted by sammylover:
Individual is all that matters. What's it going to do for you if your team wins. Its all about you getting farther

I think we all know there's a LOT more truth to this than most want to admit, so we all keep humming the politically correct tune.

quote:

sammylover
Member
Posted April 10, 2011 09:54 PM Hide Post
Individual is all that matters. What's it going to do for you if your team wins. Its all about you getting farther
 

Even if it doesnt help you personally when the team wins, it helps the team win when you do well personally.

Sammylover - if the ONLY thing you or your son want out of baseball is your own success purely within baseball you MIGHT be correct. If your goals are any broader than that you are sadly mistaken...

I think sammylover may be a jokester. In another thread about what to do or not do at showcases, sammylover stated: make sure to always be cocky.

These posts cannot be serious. Or at least I sure hope not!

And I took the bait.....

Besides creating more potential exposure by playing more playoff games, how does team success affect any individual player making it to the next level? I don't think it does. If I am correct then the answer to the op's question "Do the players on non-contending teams have to work harder to get recognization for the next level?" is no.

Once again as has been posted many other times in other threads - if you are only playing high school ball (and / or some sort of summer rec league) then you will NEVER get noticed unless it is pure luck. College coaches are working during the high school season and with a plethora of high level summer stuff plus their camps they will not go trolling the local rec league to find talent.

If you want exposure pick a few schools you want to attend and then go to their camps and find out what showcases they attend. Talk to them and let them know you're interested then they can see if you can play or not. But most importantly try to be realistically with your talent and contact schools you can play. You can figure this out by going to showcases / camps and see how good the players are around you. If you can compete with them then you can aim high - if not then aim lower and / or find someone who knows baseball to give you an honest evaluation.

The purpose of high school ball is learning how to interact with others and compete for a common goal. Regardless if Sammy is a troll or not there is elements of individualism in all sports but at the end of the day baseball is a team sport. You have to be on a team that competes for something or you're wasting a wonderful opportunity of being in sports. Use the summer for individual aspects of your game but use high school to compete for something bigger than yourself. Put it all on the line with your buddies for something.

You want to see competition - watch how teams during downtime create games to compete. Individual goals can help you but at some point you have to be a team mate to somebody.

Baseball is a team sport that is dependent on individuals doing their part. You can't have a good team without good individuals.

Some individuals do much more than other individuals. They work hard to improve their skills and be as good a player as they can be. The team then benefits from all the hard work the individual has put in. A team full of these individuals makes for a strong team. However, all players don't share the same work ethic, dedication and desire. The goal whether it be individual or team, is the same, be the best individual player you can be.

quote:

Use the summer for individual aspects of your game but use high school to compete for something bigger than yourself. Put it all on the line with your buddies for something.

coach 2709,

I doubt that you meant it the way I read it. The team game exists in the summer too. And good team players sometimes use spring, summer and fall for individual aspects.

I agree with most everything you've said, but I look at summer ball as being the same as any other baseball. The top summer teams are made up of good individuals that want their team to win. Those top summer teams not only have outstanding players, they want to win. You can't be an outstanding individual player and not care about winning.

It just sounded like these teams are made up of kids who won't put everything all on the line. These are teams that include team mates and friends. They have the same outlook on individual goals whether they are playing in high school or summer team. It's just in the summer and fall they're a better situation for being seen and evaluated.

I think everyone needs to see how hard some of these summer teams compete. No it's not the same as high school baseball. Nothing better than representing your high school. But the will to win doesn't change in the summer. A good team mate in the spring will be a good team mate all the time.

All that said, another way to look at it is that baseball is very much an individual sport. In fact, all sports are. Each player is responsible for their part of the team being successful.

PG I agree that there are teams in the summer that are "team first" and I agree that players want to compete. Basically what you said is what I meant. When I first read what Sammy put it kind of ticked me off and I was trying to respond to that. I guess I didn't do a good job.