How to Select Kids for Travel Baseball

Over the years, the competition among American youth baseball players has grown exponentially. Promises of Division I scholarships and even courtship from major league baseball franchises has made development of young, promising talent practically a business. Likewise, competition among kids to play on top traveling teams has also grown. Young players know that traveling teams give them the best opportunity to showcase their skills before scouts, while competing against the most talented players in the region. Traveling teams give coaches the opportunity to instruct players with incredible potential. However, it also makes their selection process that much more difficult.

Instructions

1

Host a tryout at a nearby baseball field. Purchase an advertisement in your newspaper to notify area youth baseball players and their parents of the tryout. Include information such as the time, date, and location of the tryout, as well as information about the team. Put up fliers in local businesses, also. Spread the word to as many people as possible to ensure a wide variety of players try out for the team.

2

Have each player sign-in with his contact information and assign him a number to pin on the front of his shirt on the day of the tryout. Instruct each player to write their assigned number a piece of paper. Organize players by position and conduct drills similar to typical in-season exercises. Observe players at each position with separate coaches watching infielders, outfielders, and pitchers and catchers. Monitor the maximum velocity of each pitcher's fastball with a radar gun, which can be purchased at many sporting goods stores. Take notes and grade the skills of each player at their position on a clipboard using either a numerical scale, 1 to 4, or an Alpha-Numeric scale (U - Unsatisfactory, S- Satisfactory, G - Good, E - Excellent).

3

Conduct batting practice to evaluate the hitting ability of each player. Allow each batter 10 swings at pitches thrown by a coach, similar to Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby. Note the power, contact, discretion (or lack thereof) and fundamentals of each batter.

4

Conduct a simulated scrimmage and assign each pitcher an equal number of outs and each hitter an equal number of at-bats. Scrimmaging will help you examine each player's in-game ability, rather than just his raw skills.

5

Review notes on each player after the tryout. Fill out a provisional starting lineup based on your evaluations with the best eight position players and the best pitcher. Round out the rest of your team with other talented pitchers and utility players. Keep in mind that some position players can also pitch and many pitchers can play the field. Trim your roster to at most 13 players and make sure each player sees time on the field. Joining a traveling baseball team can be very expensive and it would be unfair to keep players that would not get to play very much. Contact players that made the team.