Sorry, I have to disagree here with some of these posts. Not only do I believe that coaches should tell their players about thism but they should encourage their players to try out.

IMO, coaches should be advocates for their players and encourage them to pursue baseball beyond high school....sure all players are not D-1 material and a great many not even be considering college, but I played ball with many for whom the game of baseball opened the door to them to play at the next level (albeit very small schools.) The coach was on them about their GPA, keeping their heads in the books, and staying focused in school....and we were not talking about geniuses here, just kids who may have been the first generation in their family to attend, afford or even just have access to college.

We have a great many coaches who "personalize" their programs in this state and expect total commitment and loyalty to them (and their program.) That has to be a two-way street. I know too many coaches who would not make a phone call on the behalf of their player(s) when it would have meant an opportunity for higher education....why is that?

Today, there are a number of other coaches who leave such a bitter memory with their players, those players never again want to take up the game.

The good news is there are some very fine people in our coaching ranks in this state...say what you want about their baseball 101 knowledge, but if they are willing to go the extra mile for their players (as many are), they are the ones to who I would recommend others who are looking for a successful program.

To me, it is not about accumulating state championships and racking up wins if your coach creates so much carnage along the way that his own players no longer want to play after high school. It is one thing to be demanding of your players and have expectations that included hard work, but quite another to be cruel and turn kids off to a sport they love.

I am not going to slander any specific coaches, but my guess here is that if we all wrote down a short list of the names of coaches who have done this to their players, we would find similar names on that list. Sad.

This post was edited on 6/9 12:36 PM by BBteacheslife