As a co-founder of the Gamers baseball program, I get offended when I hear people say, or post comments saying, that youth baseball programs are “all about the money”.

I understand the premise.  Baseball was once a low cost sport.  It no longer is.  When you start adding more games, more exposure events, more coaching, more practice and more travel to the equation, it becomes an expensive sport.  So, a sport that used to cost $800 per year to play now costs $2000-$3000.

But, that is NOT “all about the money”  It is about what you GET for the money.

I am pretty qualified to understand the budgets and economics of youth baseball.  We started the Gamers program with this challenge => how much baseball development could we squeeze into $2000-$3000 per year per player.  That was the going cost in other programs that we benchmarked and other sports like hockey and soccer.

We have managed to squeeze a lot of baseball into the budget.  It includes:

– A maxed out schedule of games/tournaments
– An intensive winter training program
– Lots of indoor facility practice time during peak hours
– Lots of outdoor practice time
– Professional coaching — the best in the area
– Top tier instructors, that work directly with the players during winter AND summer
– Series of seminars, clinics, instructional materials, etc…

Our program makes no money.  We are a non-profit.  We have no shareholders that collect profits.  I am the Managing Director, and take ZERO compensation for administering the program or coaching.  All of the money is spent on playing or practicing baseball.  We collect money from parents, and then directly spend it on all the things above.


I have a basic principle … no one in a youth baseball team program should make a dime from a kid unless they are directly interacting with him.

So, with the Gamers it’s about what you GET for the money! 

Unfortunately, the above is not true for many other programs.

There are some folks in the baseball community that are A LOT more focused on making money than developing players.  I am not talking about the people who actually coach, teach, instruct or work with directly kids.  I am talking about the people who skim money off the top without directly adding value to individual players.

They are behind the scenes, treating baseball like a monopoly game or fantasy baseball and creating a dark cloud over youth baseball.  They would rather recruit players than develop players and sell snake oil to parents by telling them what they want to hear.

Unfortunately, in too many of these cases, it IS about the money.

Here are some warning signs to look for to determine whether or not money from a baseball program is being skimmed into someone’s pocket instead of being spent on baseball:

• Does every person getting paid have active involvement with every player and/or team in the program?  If not, what are they doing instead?

• No straight answer on how much the program actually costs or what is included, with lots of fine print about fundraising.
• With us, everything is at http://stlgamers.squarespace.com/storage/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions.pdf

• Fewer tournaments/games, with schedules that come out late and constantly shift.
• 11-14u, we play 12-13 tournaments in April-July.  Schedule is done by Feb.
• For HS, we play EVERY weekend from Memorial Day to August (8-10).  Schedule is done by December.
• At high school ages, we practice/play 1-2 weeks longer each summer than other programs.

• Team rosters that are large and regularly shift around.
• Our roster sizes are capped at age of players, 15u teams have 15 players, 16u teams have 16 players, etc… and rosters rarely change during the season

• Non-peak times for indoor training
• Gamers teams train at peak times on Saturdays and on weeknights during the busy indoor training season.  And, we practice at the top baseball facility in the region.

• Baseball training requirements that are “in addition to” the program fees — like extra winter hitting or pitching programs that you are required to do, but costs an additional $800.  
• All required baseball training in the Gamers is included in the program fees. You can do other stuff, like private lessons, etc.. but it is optional

• Low quality, inconsistent or “outsourced” instruction.
• Gamers baseball instruction for every kid (11-18u) is provided by Matt Whiteside, Scott Cooper, Dave Pregon, Nick Beckmann, Justin Rosen and Kevin Wheeler.  Every kid.  Nothing is outsourced to temporary instructors.

• Making money on uniform sales
• We get a small rebate from J Mac’s that is plowed directly back as a credit for uniform purchases the following year.  No money from jersey or uniform sales is skimmed off the top.  No special patches or emblems.

• Skimping on coaching expenses by using fewer paid coaches  (1 per team instead of 2) and more Dad coaches at HS ages
• We have 2 professional, paid coaches at each HS age team.  This costs A LOT.  But our players deserve it.  We have no unpaid dad coaches at HS levels. 
• About 1/2 of our younger teams are also professionally coached

• Playing in high school age tournaments that are run by affiliated companies or where the program  gets a kickback or commission.
• We run 2-3 Gamers tournaments per year.  Cost is $675 for 5 games, ALL games on the D1 college fields. We make no money running these tournaments.
• Other HS age tournaments cost $850-$1500 per event.  The difference is profit to the tournament operator.  Most independent tournament operators do a great job and work hard to earn every penny of this.
• If program teams only play in affiliated tournaments, this is a red flag.

• Making money on player/parent travel expenses.  This is done by not allowing players and parents to share rooms and/or  increasing nightly rates at low-end hotels to cover a booking commission that it provided back to the program, i.e. you pay $95 for a $85 hotel room, with $10 going back to the baseball program as a commission.
• Note: Gamers program does not do either.  We stay at name brand hotels as required by our tournament operators, do not mark-up rates.  We do not make a dime from travel expenses.

Each year, the Gamers host 3-4 invitational tournaments for 17u teams at locations like Mizzou, Arkansas State, Memphis University, SLU and Lindenwood.  These are elite tournaments, usually just 6 teams with every game played at the college field and attended by a significant number of college coaches.

Note — this is a updated post from last year.  Topic is still important.

This posting is primarily directed to 15u and 16u Gamers.

Probably not a big surprise that the development of baseball “team programs” in the Midwest region has moved a little slower than in the Southeast and Texas.  But, things are now moving fast and furious in the region — due to three factors:

• No one — parents, players, coaches — wants to be “left out” when the music stops 
• Reality => Relax … there will always be good teams for good players to play on and for good coaches to coach.  Focus on finding the right fit.

• Instructors/coaches think it is an opportunity to make money without working
• Reality => Sorry, that might sound good but it is called stealing and it is not sustainable.

• It looks easy to start.  Just recruit a couple of big, fast kids per age group and you have “a program”.
• Reality => Easy to start, very hard to sustain over 2-3 years.

For the past 2 years, I have shown this graphic to our high school age baseball players:

At the time, I had no idea that this concept would be the target of a global movement.

I tried to convey that “to be exceptional, you need TO DO exceptional things”. Sure, talent helps. But, in my experience, the most exceptional people are not the most talented. There are always more talented people around. What makes people exceptional is that they combine strong talent with hard work, enthusiasm, commitment, and a strong mental make-up. That combination makes people exceptional — in any chosen field.

Most of these elements that lead to “exceptionalism” are CHOICES that individuals have the FREEDOM, CONTROL and RESPONSIBILITY to make. Being exceptional is a CHOICE. To me, that is an inspiring, positive and very American outlook on life.

And, it is a fundamental personal belief of mine. A core principle. It is the very foundation of the Gamers program. If we can use baseball as a platform to teach this to 180 Gamers per year, we will be very happy with the result.

That is what I believe.

Now, I read the paper and watch the news and see most of the media and pop culture promoting a different movement, which is apparently based on a different set of beliefs, where being exceptional is “unfair”, “greedy” and “selfish” (at least, those are the messages I hear).

Teenage boys are bombarded with this perspective on the internet, Facebook and Twitter. And, who knows what they are learning in school. Everywhere they turn in in pop culture, young men are told that being exceptional is bad.

So, what is a teenage student-athlete with high goals supposed to do?

The baseball analogy is this …. it is unfair to throw exceptionally hard, because too many hitters cannot hit the ball. It is greedy to hit .600, because too many players hit .200. It is selfish to be a positive leader and compete like a champion, because too many players find that difficult.

The tall need to get shorter, the strong need to get weaker and the fast need to get slower. It is “cool” to be average and to hold contempt for the exceptional.

Face it, there are a lot more average people than exceptional people. So, the odds are in their favor… This perspective makes no sense to me and it is scary.

I cannot imagine how confusing it is to today’s teenagers. I hope they are not listening and/or are mature enough to understand the mixed message. But, that is probably a naive hope. They have to be very confused and looking for direction.

Along those lines, it want to state my goals as clearly as possible. I want to help young men learn to be exceptional — whether it is in baseball, academics or professionally. This is a core part of the Gamers baseball program. We are proud of it, even if it is a counter-cultural and radical concept.

In the Gamers program, it is OK to be ambitious, to have goals, to work hard and try to become the best you can be. No apologies required.

Below is an article about developing players from the Baseball Excellence Newsletter. It is in complete alignment with the Gamers philosophy.

THE HEALTHY PITCHER Anyone who has participated in baseball, whether as a player, coach or parent understands the enjoyment and inherent merits of this great game. It is the very difficulties and skills required to play at a proficient level that give baseball much of its appeal and enduring qualities. Succeeding at something that is difficult is very rewarding. Baseball is also a developmental game. It takes years to master many of its skills and players must come to understand that fact. Even at the professional level learning must come in stages. Baseball also requires a controlled mental state with an understanding of the failures that will come with a long season. Baseball Excellence believes that development should take precedence over winning. Appreciating the beauty and symmetry that comes from playing baseball is rewarding even if your team sometimes loses a game. The importance lies in the game itself and players should eventually come to learn that simple fact. Parents and coaches should teach respect for the game. Playing baseball and competing against other teams should be an enjoyable experience. The ‘win at all costs’ philosophy is a non-productive approach. This “results-oriented” mindset will usually stunt the growth of young baseball players. It is also responsible for many youngsters prematurely leaving the game. We have talked about this subject so much on our web site that in the interest of brevity we came up with an acronym for this philosophy. We call these coaches EROC- End Results Oriented Coach (or Coaching). This is a philosophy that embraces only Winning and does not take into consideration teaching the necessary skills that allows players to advance. This serves the ego of the coach but does not serve the development of the player. EROC may appear to have the advantage in many youth leagues but as players advance this philosophy fades away, unfortunately along with many players. We believe that development will lead to winning and is the best long-term approach. Coaches who know the game can make every pitch a learning experience and happily offer knowledge to their players. Why name this article The Healthy Pitcher? Pitching is a large part of baseball and out of all baseball injuries the pitcher statistically loses the most playing time. We believe that the concerned coach and parent want to become informed about the causes and prevention on arm injuries. However the rise in reported injuries reveals we may not be paying attention to the data. The medical evidence certainly supports a wise and cautioned approach to the development of pitchers. Is the all-too alluring specter of “Just Win Baby” overshadowing common sense? It is when winning supercedes development that young pitchers are put at risk. There is a phenomenon in youth baseball that we call the ‘Dilemma of the Ace.’ Because of growth spurts or genetics many young pitchers throw very hard. It is because they throw hard they are in such demand. And because they can dominate another team, coaches have a tendency to overuse them. The extreme forces used when pitching a baseball and the overuse by the coaches put these pitchers at tremendous risk of injury. There is a startling statistic that over 60% of youth pitchers do not go on to pitch at even the high school level or beyond. The primary reasons are injury from overuse, and poor throwing and pitching mechanics. Hopefully many coaches who frequent our site will take this to heart and use this off-season to educate themselves to the details of pitching.

I once worked closely with a famous CEO, Chuck Knight from Emerson Electric (he retired about 10 years ago). Although Chuck was responsible for a huge global company, he had a unique and extreme ability (borderline obsession) to focus on “little things”. If there was a slight flaw in your logic, or numbers on a spreadsheet did not add up, he would latch onto it and use it to challenge your thought process and your core belief is what you were recommending.

He had no tolerance for illogical thought, and even less for lack of passion.

To Chuck, little things mattered because they indicated the quality of your thought process and your level of passion.

During one presentation at Emerson, I casually “rounded off” operating profit margins from 16.1% to 16%. A rookie mistake. Chuck called me on it, saying “we sell our grandchildren for a .1% around here son”. Still not sure if he was joking …

So, I learned that little things matter. Little things add up to big things. The long-term is just a series of short-terms. Your success right now dictates your long-term success (unless you plan on winning the lottery).

With that mindset, it is hard to be lazy and let things “slide by”. Pursuing excellence requires a focus and dedication to little things that matter.

Let’s apply this to teenage baseball players. You have all heard coaches say “do the little things right” – from baseball coaches, basketball coaches, football coaches. It is a great compliment for a baseball player if a coach says that “he does the little things right”. Success in baseball comes to people who do the little things right, whether that is blocking a ball in the dirt, throwing strike 1, hitting the cutoff man or taking the extra base.

All those little things add up to success. That is what pursuing excellence is all about. Paying attention, and excelling in all things – big and small.

Here are some more baseball examples of little things what will determine your success: the 3 check points of the wall drill on EVERY swing, proper head position on EVERY throw, perfect footwork on EVERY groundball, 4 seam grip on EVERY throw, etc…

In the Gamers program, we spend a lot of time working on these “little things”. Our program practices are scripted out to the minute. We are trying to teach you to pay attention to little things, to be aware of them, and to care about them.

What about little things like wearing your uniform and hat right, tucking in your shirt, having a nice clean haircut, and looking and carrying yourself like a baseball player? Little things like that say A LOT about you as a player, your team and your program. That’s why we care about them. Little things matter.

It’s true in school too – do you frequently miss easy questions on tests? You knew the answer, you understand the concept – but you just make a stupid little mistake and missed a question. If you received B+ or C+ on your report card, I can almost guarantee you that, if you had done more of the little things right, you could have raised your grade to an A or a B. A couple of missed questions on a test or a late or forgotten homework assignment
are the difference between a B+ and A.

Little things matter – they make the difference. But, to recognize and take action on the little things, we need to be aware of them. We need to be aware of and observe the little things. And, we need to care about them.

Little things separate winners from losers – in baseball and in life.

A couple of days ago, I overheard two dads casually say that the only reason that the Gamers do the USA Baseball process is for “recruiting”, as if it was just a known fact. This is another one of those assertions that have zero basis in reality.

In the three years of running the Midwest Region for USA Baseball, over 1000 players have come through the sub-regional and regional process. 500 players have played in the St. Louis regional events, with 75% of them from outside of the St. Louis areas.

Of these players, there are at most 5 players that joined our program after the USA event (i.e. players that were not Gamers before the event, that become Gamers after the event). Note — we do our tryouts BEFORE the USA regional event. That is 5 out of 500, 1%.

We have more players than this LEAVE the Gamers program because they were upset at not being selected in the USA event.

I know that other local programs like to talk about this, and use it as a reason to prevent their players from competing in the USA events. Of course, this just limits their players from the USA Baseball National Team process, and results in the opportunities being given to kids from Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc..

But, this talk is far from the truth. And, it is more upsetting when parents just take these statements at face value, without questioning the basis.
So, why does the Gamers program help USA Baseball run the Midwest Region? Three reasons:

Update – we stopped running the USA Baseball Midwest NTIS in 2016 because the quality of the event degraded substantially in 2015/16 and the event became more about revenues to USA Baseball than the actual baseball experience of the players.

For some reason, this time of year in youth baseball and with the start of school & college, the proverb “A man is know by the company he keeps” pops into my head.