Episode Transcript
Welcome back to another edition of Unleashed Athletics. I'm your host, Brian Bonn. Episode number 12, we're here and we are going to dive into the topic of club sports versus high school sports. And it's a topic that, man, are people passionate about it. They really think one way or another. They really have a nostalgic feeling around one and
At the end of the day, this is a really good conversation to have just so that the cards are on the table. I have to tell you I come from both worlds. I have both high school and club experience. And I really don't have a lot to say negatively, but there are some things that you should know. And those things, hopefully by the end of today, are in your bank of knowledge as you continue through and navigating through
what your high school and club experience is going to look like as your kid turns 14 through that 18 year old age. So let's jump into it. First off, let's start with the club sports because man has it taken over the world. If you are a high school coach and you are still fighting, you're still fighting to say, we don't even need club sports. I can do it on my own. You're going to get left in the dust.
And I don't want you to get left in the dust because you are a critical element to this entire thing. So, club sports, here's what it can provide. Really, at the end of the day, it's more exposure. More than anything else, they are going to take you to the very best tournaments. You are going to play more games than you've ever played before. And you will see competition like you cannot see.
in your local state high school team. Now that's not to say that a high school team can't form a club and go and do those things. It's more so to say that the experiences are very different.
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When we say club sports, we're really talking more exposure, more games and more money.
And the money can pay off if what you're hoping for is to go and play at the next level. If I knew that I was going to be a D3, D2, or D1 athlete, I'm going to put my hand into club sports and allow them to give me the exposure that I need. They will choose tournaments where not only are college scouts there watching,
But then you're probably going through some sort of pre-tournament testing format. Where you're going to get tested, they're going to see your numbers and they're going to hand those out to the scouts that are there watching. Please be informed, 99% of the time, unless you're the very top tier, there are not pro scouts watching you. I love when I go out to tournaments and people are like, I think that guy's with the Royals and I'm like, he's not.
He's not with the Royals. He's not. Now there are some former high school coaches that help scout and they'll go out and take a look and give some feedback. That's a possibility, but just know where your money is going. That's all I'll say to that. When those club teams are taking you out to those tournaments, you have to be on. It's not a you had a tough weekend.
You have to be playing your very, very best. And when you do, you will be noticed. That doesn't mean you're gonna get a college scholarship. That means you're gonna get noticed. They might ask some questions of your coach about you. They might not even talk to you in the process, but you're there to gain exposure. And because of the number of tournaments that clubs offer, they do a better job in that area. They play a lot.
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you get better at just seeing the game over and over and over again. My one critique for clubs is that they usually don't practice enough to go with those the number of games that you're playing. They're not taking your skill and honing it into a level so that you are prepared to play at the next level. They're usually putting like-minded players around you.
You guys are all playing at the same level, but you're not necessarily growing unless you're growing in in-game opportunities The the flip side to that is some people the more they play the better they get And that's okay That's okay if that's the way you do it, but there will be a tap out There will be a glass ceiling, um, and you won't be able to bust through that ceiling without getting your practices in That's always been my critique of
Man, you gotta let them rest after a long weekend. You need to practice. How much do you practice or what do your practices look like? So that they're ready to go again. If you think Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday is a regular schedule for them. Well, Monday needs to be a rest day. Tuesday, you get your body back up. Wednesday, you're breaking after the rest and then the practice day. And then Thursday, you're playing again. So there isn't a lot of time to get it done, but.
I don't know if that means you take time off, you don't play in every tournament, but the value that I would desire is very much inside of getting practices after playing against some of those best teams. That way you're learning, you're growing, you're improving, and then you're taking it to the field to see if you maximize the time that you had while you were practicing. And I understand I'm different than some people. Some people are like, I just want my kid to play and play and play and play and...
I'm opposite to that. I think you play when you're ready. So you gotta go do the work first. You have to prove that you're supposed to be out on that field and doing the things that you get to do. And then you go play the game and it's a results driven action. Playing the game is results driven. You get to look at the game and say, man, I could have done so many things differently there. And then you go back to practice and you get it done again. And...
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and then you play again and you re-evaluate where you're at. And it's a constant drive. The practices drive your play. And when you play well, you tally it up to the way you were practicing, right? But if you're not practicing and you don't play well, there's no measuring stick then. It's just, well, hopefully I get it next weekend and that's a little bit of what club has done, which was a total turnoff for me. But again, I still think it comes with a ton of value.
the amount of money you're playing, excuse me, the amount of money that you're paying to be able to play at the high level tournaments that you're playing at. That is worth it. But you better be that caliber player. If you are a middle of the road player playing against the very best, you're wasting your time. Like, yeah, maybe you can do it once or twice a year, but you need to be on the level of everybody else you're playing against. And so just be careful of that. Don't.
Don't spend money just because everybody else is spending money. Spend money because you know that's what your kid needs and that's where your kid desires to go and then see what happens from there. I want to tap on the, uh, the pre-tournament testing day that they do. I absolutely love these. Um, I know in Colorado, they do a really good job of it. I know in Florida and Texas and everywhere else like that, they do a really good job of it, but
If you are going to go play in a tournament, you best get evaluated. If you are telling people you're throwing 85 miles an hour and you go to a test and you're throwing 81 miles an hour, people are going to have question marks. And you have to change your statement. It can't be a nearby number. It has to be what you actually throw. Otherwise, people are going to lose trust in you. They're going to come out with their radar guns. You say you throw 92 miles an hour. You end up throwing.
88 miles an hour and they're gonna roll their eyes of this is another kid that's telling another story of how hard they think They throw versus what the radar gun actually says and by the way, it's not a tap out It's not the one time ever that you hit it it's a consistent top score throughout your bullpen throughout your On on the mound appearance, whatever that might be
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We want to see what you top out at when you're on the mound throwing strikes. Period. Not that one time at that one clinic in that one testing zone, but we want to see consistent numbers and what that looks like. And it will be a telltale really quickly. The first inning, you're throwing 88 miles an hour. By the third inning, you're throwing 85 miles an hour. By the fifth inning, you're throwing 82 miles an hour. We can find out how strong you are. Very, very quickly.
But I love those tournaments. That pregame tells the story. You can hand it off to somebody. They're looking at you. They get to see it with their own eyes and then decide, is this the type of player that wants to come to a school like mine? Now to transition over to the high school experience, you have to understand they take this information. These college coaches wanna know what type of player you actually are.
So who are they going to call? I can tell you 90% of my top athletes, we got phone calls from the colleges saying, I wanna hear from you coach about what type of player he was and what type of student athlete he was as a whole. And that means that the high school experience is critical. You need to be in relationship with your high school coach.
so that they are giving raving reviews on the type of athlete that you are, the type of person that you are, your home life, which means they need to know you. If you are showing up to your high school practices with the attitude of, well, this doesn't really matter because I go back to club ball in two months, it's gonna bite you. It's going to bite you. And you need to be ready for that. You need to be ready that the college coaches are most likely not going to call.
your club coach. They are probably going to call your high school coach and say, give me a character background check on them. Want to know how is he with his family? How is he out on the field? Does he ever yell at officials? Does he throw his glove? Does he throw his bat? What type of temperament does he have during practice? Is he first one in last one to leave? What kind of athlete are we dealing here with coach? And I called you because I trust high school coaches. I've heard that a hundred times from, from college coaches.
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And I appreciate that every time because it means that high school and club coaches need to coexist. We need to stop the fight of club is more important than high school or high school is more important to club. And we need to say without both of them, this experience would not be what it is for this student athlete. That needs to be the attitude. And I fear.
that on both sides of the equation, high school coaches are saying, you're not getting the best coach and you can get over at clubs, stay with me over at high school. And then club coaches are doing the exact opposite, which is, I don't care if you go play high school, but you better be ready to come back and play for me when it's time to go. Because you know you're gonna play 80 more games than what you're gonna get at your high school team. And they're not lying. The real...
The crux of the issue is this. High school will die if club decides to take over.
And high school coaches, you better hear that clearly. You better hear clearly that your job goes first. No one, no one cares that there's a high school program. I had to pause there to make sure that I really believe that. But at the end of the day, it is not what it once was in the eighties and nineties and prior to that, of course, wearing the
emblem on your shirt of your high school and representing your high school is not what it once was. Now it's still important to some, but at the end of the day what we are really talking about is an individual experience for a kid to live out the dream that they have in their head. And high school doesn't quite do that.
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Now high school is a great avenue if you're a good baseball player looking for a four-year experience and you're going to be all done at the end of the four years. Great place to go. Four levels of programming. You can work your way up. You can get your opportunities. You might make the varsity team. Man that's a great place to land. And P.S. parents aren't spending a lot of money to be a part of that program. But on the flip side to that.
If you want anything more than that, the combined experience is critical. Which means that high school coaches, you're probably treating your top end players a little bit differently than the rest. And I don't mean to say that they're, uh, they're getting away with things. That's not what I mean to say. What I mean to say is the care that they need.
to be given in order to stay strong for both the high school and club experience may look a little bit different. And let me give you an example. A lot of high school programs lack in the weight room. They do a basic weight series that doesn't really help a baseball program. Excuse me, a high school baseball player get better.
in the game of baseball. They are building athletes, which is good. There's no argument there. But what baseball players are expecting is because I'm in the weight room, I'm going to throw harder. Because I'm in the weight room, I'm going to hit the ball further. Because I'm in the weight room, a single turns into a double. And those metrics are very specific to movements that you need. And
High school coaches, I can't tell you this enough. You need to push on your strength coaches to put a program together that will allow baseball players to thrive. If you're still doing hang cleans, if you're doing a lot of overhead movements, you are going to fail those athletes really, really quickly.
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So you need to be in the weight room with those players watching them to make sure you're not 1. Burning them out, but 2. Hurting them slowly. And that's probably what I'm more worried about. You cannot treat player A who doesn't play on a club team the exact same way as you treat player B who is a part of a club team.
One person has 60 games under their belt before they even step onto your field. And the other one is just trying to get the arm loosened back up again, because they haven't picked up a ball in months. Those are different athletes and you have to care for them differently. And actually saying that makes me even think further of you have a great responsibility as a high school coach. Because if you're not taking care of them in between seasons, cause don't forget.
High school players go from summer baseball to fall ball. They might get a short rest period in the winter time. And then they're with you from the winter till the spring. And once spring is over, they go right back to summer ball.
That downtime away from club is absolutely critical to make sure that they're resting appropriately, that their body is rejuvenating, and then from there that you're strengthening them again so that you get them at their very best during the springtime. That's on you. That's your responsibility. That's why you get the phone call from the college coach saying, give me a character background check. What type of athlete is he?
it's in the downtime that we're going to get a lot of that good work in and you're going to get to know your athletes a little bit better. I hope you guys hear this clearly that
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They need to coexist.
High school and club need to coexist. You should be meeting with the clubs that your players play for and you should get to know them well. And when you do that, there will be a huge payoff because of it.
take the time to do the work. Club coaches, that same thing is true of you. Go watch your club players play on their high school teams and see if they're the same athlete during that time and get to know that coach so that you know what they're doing in the three months that you don't have those athletes. But don't be fooled. There is money to be made on both sides of these things and it doesn't make it right.
You are here to try to impact kids lives. You are here to make them fall even further in love with the game that they love. Yes, there is money being passed between hands, but that is not the reason why you should be doing it. You should be doing it because that kid matters.
that player matters, that team matters, that program matters, and you care so much that you're going to go above and beyond to give them the opportunity that they deserve. That's it. That's the episode. Figure out a way to combine your efforts, to give the very best that you can possibly give both on the high school side and the club side.
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I am so thankful for both sets of grips here. The club team, man, you have opened an opportunity that we never knew existed and you have blown it up.
There are so many opportunities across this country and you take those kids everywhere and I want to say thank you for that And high school coaches you provide an avenue for them to get better at the game They love and have a closer knit group that go to their high school together and hopefully keeping pride on the chest Whatever team they play for that they are prideful for that program um And finally, hey parents make sure
you're making the decisions that matter the most for your kid. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you need to do it too. Okay?
That's it. Episode number 12. Club versus high school. Let's not do versus let's combine them. Club with high school. It's been another episode of Unleashed Athletics with Brian Bonn. So excited to continue the conversations. We'll see you next week.
