3 Sundevils

[elhector1]

Though many HS coaches might not have the time, I know that Griff out of LCM hustles to get scholarships for as many players as he can, regardless of the participation in select ball or not.  I think the problem many have with the select ball crowd is not the kid, or the talent of the kid, or the coaches of select ball, it's really with those few parents who feel their participation in select ball gives their kids a free pass to a varsity spot, regardless of talent.  These parents are few and far between, but a single exposure to them gives you a bad taste for all select ball, even though the majority aren't like that...

[rounder17]

[quote name="iwonsee" post="752365" timestamp="1264909273"]
It seems funny to me that the guys that say NOTHING against the SD's are the ones that just keep talking them down. As a father and coach of a select and league ball player I can tell you that select ball gives players more of a chance get noticed. Example 1 lets start with the younger kids, lets say a 12 year old plays league ball only and can flat out pitch or hit but his allstar team is not that great. Well only the people from his area will know him. Take that same kid and put him on a good team at Ford park or Baseball USA or say Field of dreams every other weekend well kids parents and coaches from all over see him and remember him.  Now move up to a HS kid lets say a small school a Evedale or High Island if  he only plays for his school and the team is average to bad I promise he never gets noticed, Take that same kid put on the Sun Devils, GTB, Gladiators or heaven for bid Banditos Black team That kid now gets seen at tournaments by ex college players and coaches as well as scouts that have learned that these teams produce great ballplayers. My son is on 12 and plays select and league and will probably never be good enough to play for a team like the SD's but if he  were we would gladly accept the coaching and exposer they offer. Select is here to stay people and Yes I for one believe it helps get kids to the next level. I know there are kids out there that make it to the next level without select but they are way out numbered by the ones that play both.
[/quote]


Im not saying select ball is bad.  You are obviously not getting my point.  My point boils down to this...  IF LITTLE JOHNNY PLAYS FOR THE SUNDEVILS AND RECEIVES A SCHOLARSHIP, HE EARNED THAT SCHOLARSHIP. THE SUNDEVILS, OR ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION DID NOT GET HIM THAT SCHOLARSHIP.  I am so tired of hearing this organization, or that organization got my son a scholarship. Your sons talent got him that scholarship.  Your sons talent also landed him on the sundevils.  Give some credit to the kids every now and then for being talented baseball players.

[The Patriot]

[quote name="rounder17" post="752558" timestamp="1264978896"]
[quote author=iwonsee link=topic=62249.msg752365#msg752365 date=1264909273]
It seems funny to me that the guys that say NOTHING against the SD's are the ones that just keep talking them down. As a father and coach of a select and league ball player I can tell you that select ball gives players more of a chance get noticed. Example 1 lets start with the younger kids, lets say a 12 year old plays league ball only and can flat out pitch or hit but his allstar team is not that great. Well only the people from his area will know him. Take that same kid and put him on a good team at Ford park or Baseball USA or say Field of dreams every other weekend well kids parents and coaches from all over see him and remember him.  Now move up to a HS kid lets say a small school a Evedale or High Island if  he only plays for his school and the team is average to bad I promise he never gets noticed, Take that same kid put on the Sun Devils, GTB, Gladiators or heaven for bid Banditos Black team That kid now gets seen at tournaments by ex college players and coaches as well as scouts that have learned that these teams produce great ballplayers. My son is on 12 and plays select and league and will probably never be good enough to play for a team like the SD's but if he  were we would gladly accept the coaching and exposer they offer. Select is here to stay people and Yes I for one believe it helps get kids to the next level. I know there are kids out there that make it to the next level without select but they are way out numbered by the ones that play both.
[/quote]


Im not saying select ball is bad.  You are obviously not getting my point.  My point boils down to this...  IF LITTLE JOHNNY PLAYS FOR THE SUNDEVILS AND RECEIVES A SCHOLARSHIP, HE EARNED THAT SCHOLARSHIP. THE SUNDEVILS, OR ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION DID NOT GET HIM THAT SCHOLARSHIP.  I am so tired of hearing this organization, or that organization got my son a scholarship. Your sons talent got him that scholarship.  Your sons talent also landed him on the sundevils.  Give some credit to the kids every now and then for being talented baseball players.
[/quote]I know how hard my son worked and we were on various select teams, playing on these teams gives you more exposure. Most teams like the Sundevils scout players that already have talent and that helps them make a name for themselves and bring out the college and pro scouts to look at their players. But most of these kids got the talent from putting in the time and dads and moms support, not from the select team.

[MIF04]

I tried…really tried…not to respond to this; however, people just do not understand how or why the Sun Devils work.  These posts start with [i]“I really like the Sun Devils BUT…”[/i]

1. What we do.

First and foremost, we are a teaching organization.  We train and teach year ‘round.  Any player in our organization has 24/7 access to our training facility and our coaches.  They are full-time coaches with only 1 job:  the Sun Devils.  They are quality people and quality instructors.  I think they are absolutely the best; otherwise, they wouldn’t work for the Sun Devils. 

During our playing seasons, we travel.  Our mission is to provide the greatest exposure for each of our players.  We do play on a national stage (although we have been asked, and have agreed, to host a top level tournament this summer in Texas).  We strive to have our players seen by as many college coaches (and MLB scouts) as possible.  Like courting, it only takes 1 to fall in love with you to make a match.  We do that.  In fact, we work very hard at that. 

The work we do is beyond training and coaching.  We spend an inordinate amount of time calling, and answering calls, from recruiters, scouts, etc.  With all due respect to HS coaches, they do not (in large part) do that.  I have had one local HS coach say (flat out), “That is not my job”.  It is our job and (I think) we do it well.  I do give a ‘tip of the hat’ to Griff.  He is, unfortunately, the exception and not the rule. 

One last point:  we have been criticized for not doing things locally.  This is, admittedly, true.  First, I do not think it is the wisest use of our time to play a local tournament with very little exposure for our players.  If Lamar (for example) hasn’t seen a local player by then, they never will.  Second, most of our players (including the majority of our local players) have aspirations to “spread their own wings” and play somewhere other than home.”  That is not our decision; rather, that is the players’ decision.  We honor that.  Third, we have had multiple D1 coaches come to us to watch 1 or more of our players.  We have even had a D1 school come to our facility to practice.  We have had MLB scouts in our facility watching and have hosted a scouting combine for the MLB Scouting Bureau.  Again, we hosting a top level tournament this summer in Texas and, last summer (and at the request of several coaches and scouts), did play at Angelina.

I think that most, if not all, of our players are happy with their experience with the Sun Devils.  That, along with our record, is probably the best endorsement we could have.  But, on to the naysayers…

2. It’s free – so we get the best talent

As one poster to this thread said, [i]“They usually get the best talent around, because everything is FREE.”  [/i] I think the fact that we have made our program affordable is something to be commended; however, some imply that somehow it is not.  Whether it is free, cheap or costs a fortune, what we do is hard work.  The hours at times are long.  But, at the end of the day, the reward is great:  there is nothing that makes us as happy as this phone call, “Hey Coach, I just committed to __________.”  Like the commercial says, “Priceless”.

And, we do not always ‘get our man’.  Over the years, there have been some players who have chosen to play elsewhere.  I don’t know if that is our misfortune, or the player’s misfortune.  It is probably somewhere in the middle.  I do know that there have been players that have chosen to play elsewhere…and we could have done them better than what they got.  That may not always be the case but (I believe) we are very good at what we do.

3. If you’re good, they’ll find you

That sounds good but, quite frankly, (and in today’s world) that is not true.  It is an urban legend.  Do I believe some kids would get ‘found’ anyway?  Sure.  A kid that is 6’4, 220#, throwing in the mid-90s is hard to miss.  They have a term for that kid:  “first rounder”.  But, even that kid (if he really wants to maximize his potential) still plays on the summer circuit.  The scouts (in particular) want to see how he performs on a larger stage and against better competition.

Although I could fill up this thread with examples, I will use the two closest to my heart.  Tim Ferguson was recruited by Ole Miss in East Cobb, Georgia.  They never saw one single HS game he played.  They never once called his HS coach.  The same was true with Johnny Dishon.  LSU saw and recruited him at a tournament in Baton Rouge and at a tournament in East Cobb.  He made his decision to commit in San Diego, California when he was offered during a Perfect Game event.  LSU never came to a HS game he played. 

Last spring, we found a pitcher for a 3A school in central Texas.  No one had heard about him except a good friend of one of our coaches.  He went and watched him. He was raw, untrained but had great potential with his arm speed.  We worked with him and took him with us during the summer.  By the end of the summer, he was sitting at 91-93 MPH.  He was offered, and accepted, a D1 scholarship to a Big 12 school and is now ranked in the top 150 for 2010 draft prospects.  The point here:  [u]he is good, and no one had found him.[/u]

4. Why not 100% local kids?

In a perfect world, we would use nothing but local players.  Certain things prohibit that:  First (as mentioned earlier), we do not get every local player we want.  Sometimes, players get hurt. Third, the available local talent pool determines our ‘out of state’ recruiting.  I cannot control that – some years are simply better than others.  In any event, close calls always go to the local player but we do not limit ourselves to a geographical region. 

While some harp on the ‘out of town’ players, our roster is nearly 75% local.  If you count all of the Louisiana players as ‘local’, then the number goes up to nearly 90%.

Our tournaments are week-long events.  We may play anywhere from 7-10 games over that span.  The weekend tournaments usually consist of 5- 6 games.  If nothing else, you need a lot of pitching to make it through those games.  Since we do not overthrow our pitchers, we need a lot of ‘em.  If there are not enough quality arms in SE Texas, we look elsewhere.  Second, the more top notch talent we put on the field then the more recruiters and scouts we draw.  A college may be drawn to the California kid who is throwing 94 for us but also falls in love with our local OF…and a match is made.

One must also realize that we do not always go out and recruit ‘out of state’ players.  Most of the players (outside of our Tex-La base) come to us through some other source.  Sometimes, an organization like Perfect Game will call us and ask us to pick up a player.  We have even had college coaches ask us to pick up a player for the summer.  Sometimes, the player will call us and, yes, sometimes we might recruit.  Of all the players on our current roster who is outside of our Tex-La base, only one is a true recruit.

Since at least one poster has a ‘man crush’ on Mike Rutledge and Houston Kyle Chapman, let me say that Mike does a first rate job and rarely (but not ‘never’) uses out of state talent.  It is a ‘class’ organization.  On the other hand, Mike’s ‘local’ talent pool is quite a bit larger than here in SE Texas (more than 10 times larger according to the latest census figures).  I would expect him to have the luxury of recruiting only ‘local’ players.

Let me repeat:  we would much rather be ‘local-only’; however, and for the reasons already written, that is not practical given our goals and objectives.  And, we did not expand our base of players to enter the national stage:  we have always played there.  We simply needed to supplement our roster to be as competitive as we wanted to be.  All of the kids (including the local ones) deserve that opportunity.  As far as one of the poster’s comment that [i]“ I do commend Chip on what he has done for OUR local boys BUT could care less about the out of the area players”[/i], I disagree.  We DO care about all of our players.  That is why we are who we are.

5. The results?

The class of 2010 will be our 5th graduating class.  To date, we have had 69 players (if I have counted right) go on to the proverbial “next level”.  Of those, 53 players went to Division 1 schools.  We have had 16 players drafted and, quite honestly, the 2010 draft will probably be the ‘best one yet’ for our players. 

I am fiercely proud of these results.  Do I think we deserve all of the credit?  Not in your wildest dreams.  On the other hand, I do believe we have made a lot of things happen for a lot of young men that otherwise would not have occurred.  As far as the comment that, “if not for them what would these boys do, probably be sackers at Market Basket or door greeters at Wal-Mart”, I have two comments:  One, there is nothing wrong with either of those jobs and, two, our players have the qualities and character to succeed in nearly any endeavor they choose.  To imply otherwise is insulting.

We also do not take credit for any young man’s talent.  That is God-given.  How that talent is developed is another story.  A lot of people get credit for that:  parents, coaches and the player himself.  I do think we (the Sun Devils) play a role in this.  Come to our facility and watch our coaches.  See the time and effort that goes into developing these young men.  Ask our players if they think we help.

Instead, we get this:  [i]“What gets my goat is that I hear "if it were not for the sundevils bla bla bla" or "thanks to the sundevils".  [/i] I truly do not know why an expression of thanks or recognition would get your goat – really, I don’t.  I think everyone knows that I do not make one red cent from the Sun Devils (in fact, it is quite the opposite).  All we get (and all we really want) is a thank you.  While that may get your goat, it makes my day.  Maybe that is why the Sun Devils are different – and better. 

[adminbaberuth]

If a young man has any inkling of playing baseball in Southeast Texas count your blessings. You can't find instruction of the game anywhere in the country better than right here, that includes the Sun Devils, Select programs and your high school coaches.

Nice post Chip.

[ftbbbl101]

Great post MIF.

It is so frustrating to read all the bashing of an organization that does so much for the young men who play Baseball for the Sun Devils. 

Thanks for all you.

[BaseBow]

I don't post much on here... but I do read all of the mess people post ..it is funny most of the time... But I will tell everyone this my son was decent three years ago.. when he was given the opertunity to play for chip and the rest of the orginazation ( sundevils) they  made my son better than decent.. not taking any thing away from his high school coaches because we are pretty lucky in Nederland with those guys..But the exposure the sundevils have given my son is priceless.. And I would like to thank Chip and the sundevils for everything they have done for my son..... It has been one hell of a ride watching the entire team play all over the country....And I am looking foward to going back to Georgia and watching the team...Now lets get ready for some high school baseball :P[[color=black]color=maroon[/color]][color=black][/color][/color]...Thanks again sundevils ......L.Sonnier

[EAGLE07]

Excellent post from someone who knows how it works and does a great job at it.
Keep up the hard work, Chip.

[The Voice]

Chip,
I remember the answer you gave me when I asked you what you get out of this. You said," one day one of these young men will look at a camera and say hi Chip. or I bump into one of these guys in an airport many years later on his way on a business trip and he says thank you for allowing me to play at such a competitive level that it helped mold me into the professional that i am today." We appreciate what your organazation has done for our son.

[welovebaseball]

I guess what says the most about the Sun Devils to me is how anxious the parents of the kids on the team are to thank Chip and the coaches.  Who better than the players' parents to judge whether the Sun Devils program helped their sons reach their goals? 

Our son was on a team that went very deep in the HS playoffs last year playing a number of playoff series in Houston.  He also played the summer with the Sun Devils.  He played in front of more scouts in a single game in Georgia than he played in front of during the entire HS season.  That can't be anything but good.  No one with something to sell would choose to advertise at a block party rather than running a national TV ad if they had a choice.

Those of us with a kid on the Sun Devils are grateful for what the program does for them.  One generous guy has given them first class training and a national ad campaign.  It should be easy to understand why we are loyal to the team and those that run it.  They give our kids a better shot at their goals and there is nothing more important to us than that.

If the Sun Devils want to help some kids from outside of our area, who are we to complain?  First of all, it's not our money.  Second, the kids in our area are not the only ones that deserve to reach their dreams.  Wouldn't it seem wrong for us to criticize a philanthropist who sent half his money to feed kids in Africa because he could have spent it all on American charities?

In the end, I guess I just don't understand how anyone could criticize a guy for dropping a huge amount of money every year trying to help a bunch of kids.  Even if you are wrong-headed enough to believe that the Sun Devils program doesn't help the kids at all, how can you criticize the effort? 

I don't know if our kid will get a chance to play D1 ball, but that's his goal.  We believe the Sun Devils give him the best opportunity to do that.  It is possible he could make it without the Sun Devils, but they sure do increase his odds.  If he makes it, I will tell anyone who will listen that I am grateful to the Sun Devils...twice if I get the chance.  Our son better do the same because we raised him to recognize and appreciate generosity - even if others don't. 

[Guest GCMPats]

[quote name="welovebaseball" post="753459" timestamp="1265078964"]
I guess what says the most about the Sun Devils to me is how anxious the parents of the kids on the team are to thank Chip and the coaches.   Who better than the players' parents to judge whether the Sun Devils program helped their sons reach their goals? 

Our son was on a team that went very deep in the HS playoffs last year playing a number of playoff series in Houston.  He also played the summer with the Sun Devils.  He played in front of more scouts in a single game in Georgia than he played in front of during the entire HS season.  That can't be anything but good.  No one with something to sell would choose to advertise at a block party rather than running a national TV ad if they had a choice.

Those of us with a kid on the Sun Devils are grateful for what the program does for them.  One generous guy has given them first class training and a national ad campaign.  It should be easy to understand why we are loyal to the team and those that run it.  They give our kids a better shot at their goals and there is nothing more important to us than that.

If the Sun Devils want to help some kids from outside of our area, who are we to complain?  First of all, it's not our money.  Second, the kids in our area are not the only ones that deserve to reach their dreams.  Wouldn't it seem wrong for us to criticize a philanthropist who sent half his money to feed kids in Africa because he could have spent it all on American charities?

In the end, I guess I just don't understand how anyone could criticize a guy for dropping a huge amount of money every year trying to help a bunch of kids.  Even if you are wrong-headed enough to believe that the Sun Devils program doesn't help the kids at all, how can you criticize the effort? 

I don't know if our kid will get a chance to play D1 ball, but that's his goal.  We believe the Sun Devils give him the best opportunity to do that.  It is possible he could make it without the Sun Devils, but they sure do increase his odds.  If he makes it, I will tell anyone who will listen that I am grateful to the Sun Devils...twice if I get the chance.  Our son better do the same because we raised him to recognize and appreciate generosity - even if others don't. 


[/quote]

[b]AMEN![/b]

[WASHED UP!]

I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THE TIME TO PERSONALLY THANK CHIP FOR THE OPPURTUNITTY TO BE A PART OF SUCH A CLASS ORGANIZATION. I WORKED FOR CHIP FOR A LONG TIME AND FIRMLY BELIEVE IN THE PROGRAMS INTENT. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OUR WHOLE INTENT WAS TO PROVIDE A STEPPING STONE OF SORTS TO THE NEXT LEVEL. OF COURSE FOR ME IT WAS AN WAY TO MAKE A LIVING, BUT THE CHANCE TO WORK WITH ALL THE YOUNG MEN WAS PAYMENT ENOUGH. I AM NO LONGER A PART OF THE ORGANIZATION BUT I MAKE IT A POINT TO CHECK IN ON THE GUYS AND SEE HOW EVERYTHING IS GOING. I AM SO PROUD TO SEE THE SUCCESS THAT HAS CONTINUED OVER THE PAST YEAR AND I WISH ALL OF THEM FUTURE SUCCESS. WHAT THE SUN DEVILS ARE DOING IS SOMETHING THAT IS UN-MATCHED BY ANY ORGANIZATION THAT I KNOW OF AND ANYONE WHO CAN'T FIGURE THAT OUT SHOULD REALLY LET IT GO.....
DAVID HUGGINS