As we all know, the future of our game is...well...say questionable. I use the word questionable because it is not dying. I have heard so many use the word “dying” over the last few years, but baseball still has the second-highest number of kids participating behind only basketball (which has more girls participating). However, youth participation in all team sports has decreased, and it seems that every level of baseball (including the big leagues) is scrambling to make changes. The landscape has been, and still is, changing very rapidly.
We all know the issues. We all talk about them often. The concerns range from the education and retention of coaches, umpires, players and their families, false advertising from some, pace of the game and finding new ways to make it fun. But what can we do?
These items are certainly not an exhaustive list, but enough to communicate that changes need to be considered from the bottom up. The actions that need to be taken, however, must come from the top-down, because these leaders are the most knowledgeable in our sport and are keenly aware of what can/should be done. Experience and input are also needed from the “boots on the ground,” those who are involved with youth baseball and deal with its challenges firsthand. We have all heard the phrase, “it takes a village,” and this reformation is going to take all people at all levels of our game to accomplish.
Enter the Youth Baseball Summit. Rob Hahne, ABCA Youth Baseball Division Chair and Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Travel Baseball League, is spearheading this movement to bring together some of the most passionate, insightful, and dedicated baseball people to begin taking the steps necessary to address the challenges we are facing. ABCA Travel Baseball Division Chair Taylor McCollough was very instrumental in making this Summit a reality. ABCA staff members Jon Litchfield (Deputy Executive Director) and Ryan Brownlee (Assistant Executive Director) were also in attendance, along with ABCA Board member Kent Shelley.
The second conference was held in Kansas City in November 2023. The attendees ranged from ABCA and MLB executives to scouts, tournament organizers, facility directors, trainers, college and high school coaches, Kansas City baseball leaders and more. Every major youth baseball organization was invited, and all were welcome to attend. My hope is that more will be able to attend in the future. All in all, there were approximately 20 attendees from around the country.
The meetings were kicked off enthusiastically by discussing the structure of the Summit and why we were all there. Hahne wanted us to concentrate on how we could grow and promote the game without demonizing others. There was an importance placed upon finding achievable goals and action items so that we could become part of the solution.
Some of the topics included “house” and “travel” ball issues, parents, coaches, umpires, affordability, diversity, and making the game more fun, particularly at the younger age levels. There were several positive presentations and talks given by members of the delegation, including the following:
- Deven Morgan, Driveline Baseball Director of Youth Baseball
- J.J. Picollo, General Manager, Kansas City Royals
- Shon Plack, Manager of Sport Development, Kansas City Royals
- Mark Gjormand, MVP International/Madison High School (VA)
- Lonnie Goldberg, Vice President of Player Personnel, Kansas City Royals
- Jeff Diskin, Senior Director, Professional & Community Development, Kansas City Royals
- David Klein – Legends Baseball/Speedball
- Dan Keller – MOJO Sports
The idea behind this collaboration of minds is to simply grow and promote the game of baseball as a whole. Did we focus on complaining about what is happening? Not at all. Everyone in the room was intent on finding solutions and acting upon them. No one was complaining. I felt positivity and hope in the room as the focus remained on creating opportunities to be better. Discussion was had on creating a travel baseball alliance where “guardrails” could be created to keep travel baseball on the right path. State Ambassadors are another possibility that was discussed. If we could create a network of ABCA members that recruit people in their state to become new members, coaches, leagues, and organizations will be better educated from being exposed to the numerous advantages that the ABCA provides. We need to use the influence of the best coaches in the business to spread the word. If every current member brought in just one new member, the movement would have its beginning.
One particular presentation that stood out for me was Jeff Diskin, who hammered home the importance of having a consolidation of efforts between Major League Baseball and this committee. The thought is to disseminate the message to each major league city through the community outreach program of all MLB teams. His passion for this movement was displayed when he announced with great excitement that some MLB organizations he contacted after the first meeting were immediately on board and willing to help. He offered to contact the remaining clubs and felt confident that they would all follow suit. The support from the MLB will be incredibly powerful once this is achieved.
I have had numerous conversations with college coaches along with current and former professional players about what they think is missing from players that are making their way up the ladder. The list is long and varied, but the conclusions from these conversations generally lean towards the opinion that the rudimentary parts of the game are not being taught at the younger levels. There is too much emphasis on playing too many games and winning. The determination is that there is not enough attention to practice, sandlot play, and simply having fun. Coaches and parents need to have information presented to them so that they can become more realistic regarding outcomes of their young players’ careers.
We all understand that there are many issues that need to be addressed. We need to solve them head-on, one at a time. This is a group of positive-thinking pioneers who are needed to initiate change. Through their continued commitment and dedication to the youth of our beloved game of baseball, I see the future as being very bright.
Overall, the participants felt that there was a need to eventually create an umbrella body for all of youth and travel baseball that would set guidelines, standardized rules, educational resources, and “best practices.” This is a monumental task, but if we don’t at least try to implement changes, then youth and travel baseball will continue to be the wild, wild west. The ABCA continues to grow, and is now up to more than 16,000 members from 41 different countries, and remains the likely organization to lead this movement. I loved the line from Paul Gallo, who works at the Los Angeles Dodgers Training Academy and as a Program Manager for EL1 Sports: “An avalanche starts with a snowball.” We need to take baby steps but if we keep at it, one step at a time, then we should be able to turn this ship around. As the saying goes, we want to get “one percent better every day.” If we do this, just imagine what the landscape of the game will look like in the years to come!