If you allow yourself to become a slave to the need to win in youth baseball then your entire approach training & competition will be perverted by that desire.

Kids don’t only play the video games they win. They play the games they enjoy and KNOW they are getting better at.

Sports participation #’s were already down before COVID & baseball specifically was trending the same direction. We already lose 60-70% of kids in the transition between 12 & 14. Travel / select ball is getting more and more expensive.

The game is NOT ok at the youth level.

So when I push back against bunting, which

IS NOT A PRIMARY TOOL FOR LONG TERM VIABILITY IN THE GAME

and my mentions are flooded with some variation of “it helps the team win” it tells me that we need to dig deeper still, because we aren’t in agreement on the ideal outputs.

This cutthroat approach to youth sport & specifically youth baseball, if undisturbed, will primarily serve the needs of everyone *other* than the majority of the players.

Pre-pubescent genetic outliers & kids who hit peak height velocity will be fine.

What about everyone else?

We’re talking about youth baseball on 60-70’ bases.

No scholarships will be lost if you simply give a kid the chance to succeed based on their ability to do the PRIMARY things that have the most value long term.

Hit the ball hard
Throw the ball hard

You have nothing to lose.