Why High School Baseball Matters More Than Travel Ball for Overall Player Development

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Baseball's developmental landscape has undergone a massive shift in recent years. The glittering allure of travel baseball—with its showcases, fancy uniforms, and promises of exposure—has many believing it's the superior path to player development. But is it really?

Drawing from 27 years of high school coaching experience and 8 seasons in travel baseball, Coach Ken Carpenter delivers a thought-provoking analysis of what's truly best for young athletes. The fundamental difference? High school coaches develop student-athletes while travel programs often treat players as clients. This critical distinction changes everything about how players learn the game, handle adversity, and grow as individuals.

High school baseball offers something travel ball simply cannot: comprehensive development six days a week under coaches who see it all—the triumphs, failures, character under pressure, and classroom performance. These coaches teach players to compete rather than simply perform, to serve rather than expect privilege, and to represent something larger than themselves. Meanwhile, travel baseball's weekend tournament structure, often lacking accountability measures or developmental focus, frequently prioritizes exposure and winning over player growth.

College coaches still call high school coaches first when evaluating prospects—not for skills assessment, but to understand a player's character, work ethic, and response to adversity. As former MLB manager Joe Madden noted, today's system of over-specialization is burning kids out and filling their heads with false promises. The solution isn't eliminating travel baseball, but creating better collaboration between both worlds with proper oversight, certification requirements, and a shared commitment to what matters most: developing not just better baseball players, but better human beings.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello and welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
I'm your host, coach KenCarpenter, and in this episode
you'll discover why I think highschool baseball is more
important than travel baseballfor today's athlete.
Baseball Coaches Unplugged isfor baseball coaches, players
and parents.
Every week you'll hear fromsome of the best coaches from

(00:23):
across the country.
Today I'll discuss why highschool baseball is important,
the differences between highschool and travel, and the
challenges that high schoolcoaches face every season.
Next, on Baseball CoachesUnplugged.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged with Coach Ken
Carpenter.
Presented by Athlete One.
Baseball Coaches Unplugged is apodcast for baseball coaches,
with 27 years of high schoolbaseball coaching under his belt
, here to bring you the insidescoop on all things baseball,
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(01:02):
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(01:24):
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Let me ask you something thattoo many people overlook in

(02:54):
today's baseball world.
Who's really developing today'sbaseball player?
High school coaches or travelball coaches?
Let's break it down.
Travel ball has exploded overthe past decade.
It's shiny, it's marketed, it'sfilled with gear, bags, hotel
stays and exposure.
Yes, there are a few travelcoaches out there who do it the

(03:18):
right way.
Let's be honest a lot of travelball is business, and in
business the kid isn't a player,he's a client.
And when you treat a kid like aclient coaching decisions about
development or accountabilitythey're about payment, pressure
and promises.
Now contrast that with highschool baseball.

(03:41):
High school baseball coachesdon't have clients, they have
student athletes.
They don't sell results.
You teach them to earn them.
High school coaches areteachers, mentors,
groundskeepers, teampsychologists and role models.
High school coaches are withkids six days a week.

(04:05):
They don't show up for just thetournament, they show up for
the test, the failure, thelesson and the growth.
They teach how to compete, notjust how to perform.
But here's the truth Collegecoaches still call high school
coaches first.
Not the guy from last weekend'sshowcase.

(04:26):
Why?
Because he sees it all how aplayer handles adversity, how
they respond to a bad call, howthey treat their teammates when
they're not in the lineup.
They check on their grades, thetype of student they are and
how they treat their teachers.
Why?
Let me give you an example mylast episode.

(04:48):
I had coach Will Gordon on fromRockhurst High School and he
said his seniors carry theequipment, not the freshmen.
Why?
Because leadership isn't aboutprivilege, it's about service.
That's the kind of lesson youdon't get at a weekend showcase.
You get it from a coach whoknows your name, your character

(05:12):
and your effort.
High school teams play the threeto four games a week and
practice when games aren't beingplayed.
Travel teams show up onThursday or Friday, get a few
ground balls in the outfieldbefore the game and maybe some
swings if a cage is available.
High school games don't have atime limit.

(05:33):
I've seen travel games, becauseof weather and different issues
, have as low as an hour and ahalf time limit because they're
trying to get the tournamentgames in and that comes from a
tournament director somewhere.
Meanwhile, travel ball they'reselling dreams.
Play for us and you'll be thenext Bryce Harper.

(05:56):
But like Joe Madden, former MLBmanager, said, this system of
over-specialization is burningkids out and filling their heads
with false promises.
Is burning kids out and fillingtheir heads with false promises
.
I will give travel teams thebenefit when it comes to the

(06:17):
potential of college coaches,seeing them play.
College doesn't play in thesummer.
Coaches have more time to goout and look at players.
Now that's even beingchallenged because a college
coach can get proven collegetalent where there's currently
5,000 players waiting in thetransfer portal.

(06:38):
Let's talk about accountability.
High school coaches have toanswer to athletic directors,
school districts, parents,teachers, eligibility rules, gpa
requirements.
It goes on on and on.
The player is being dependabletravel coaches.
They answer to no one.
How many times have you heardof a pitcher throwing a complete

(07:01):
game and then two days laterhaving to throw 40 to 50 pitches
more because maybe they'retrying to win the, the
tournament championship, orthey're in a consolation bracket
or they're out of pitching?
Let's talk about development intravel ball.
A 15 new player might dominateagainst kids his age.

(07:23):
Then he comes to high schooland he faces a senior throwing
90 with a plan and suddenly it'sa reality check.
The player maybe isn't playingas good as he played the summer
before.
That's when parents call whyisn't my son playing?
And instead of dealing withadversity, the finger gets
pointed at the high school coach.

(07:44):
Also, in many cases the travelcoach is dad and he's had his
kid playing shortstop andleading off this last summer.
But high school baseball isn'tabout making kids feel good.
It's about making them better.
They are taught how to compete,lead, serve, be resilient, be

(08:05):
coachable and to be better humanbeings better brothers, fathers
, mentors to other people in thecommunity.
They represent something bigger.
Let's be honest Travel is aboutthe individual and if they can

(08:26):
get a chance to offer to play incollege and that's what the
parents want, and if they canget a chance to offer to play in
college and that's what theparents want.
It's easy to get on here andcomplain and blame coaches and
organizations and things likethat.
I've coached high schoolbaseball for 27 years and travel
baseball for eight years.
It's not going to be fixedanytime soon, but here are some

(08:53):
possible solutions to make itbetter for everyone involved 1.
Have coaches be required to getcertifications, just like high
school coaches.
2.
Create a governing body similarto Little League Baseball.
3.

(09:16):
Set up divisions by talentlevel.
Four require tournaments andtournament directors to have a
system to track pitch counts andmake it easier on parents who
have to travel to thesetournaments.
Do not require them to stay ata specific hotel because of
kickbacks.
Five promote sportsmanship If aplayer, coach or parent acts

(09:36):
inappropriately, fights and allthe things you see that goes
across Twitter and Instagramevery weekend.
If that stuff happens, thereneeds to be injections and
people need to be heldaccountable.
I'm sure there are many morethings that could be done to
make the travel baseball and thehigh school baseball experience

(09:58):
better for everybody, but Iwould also get the people who
run these fields usually it'sthe high school or college
coaches who are taking care oftheir field to give those travel
teams and tournament directorsan opportunity to have games be
played, get them involved andget their input.
So to every coach listeningdon't let the noise drown out

(10:24):
your impact.
High school baseball is stillthe soul of the sport.
Somehow, travel and high schoolcoaches need to find a way to
work together.
Some do these travel programsthat do this and the high school
teams that work with them, andthey come to a common
understanding of what's best forthe players.

(10:44):
I commend you for that.
When these players turn 18years old, very few will get to
go on and play at the collegelevel.
Most will just go off tocollege or get a job, and
ultimately, we've got to hopethat the players gain something
from their experience both withtravel and high school baseball,

(11:06):
and that I hope is they learnthe lessons that baseball
teaches you.
The game is supposed to be funand hopefully, when these
players go on to become fathers,they will teach their son the
game and teach it the right wayand teach him to love the game.
That's a wrap for today's show.

(11:26):
Be sure to tune in everyWednesday for a new episode with
some of the best high school,college and professional coaches
from around the country.
Today's show has been poweredby the Netting Professionals,
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(11:48):
As always, I'm your host, coachKen Carpenter.
Thanks for listening toBaseball Coaches Unplugged.
Thank you.