As a follow up to our Top 5 Baseball Web Sites post yesterday, many are probably wondering why we put so much importance on a teams web site. Well, the key to success in just about anything we do in life is based on good, solid communication. On this site we stressed communication between high school coaches, travel coaches, personal instructors and college recruiters. A web site is a form of communication and is becoming more and more important in tracking a players progress.
The winners of our Top 5 have taken communication to the max by educating, engaging and entertaining it's team members, parents, relatives and fans. They are all also providing a service to recruiters by posting profiles of their players, stats, box scores and game summaries. If a travel team or high school is serious about helping its players gain access to recruiters and scouts and opportunities at the next level, then they need to get serious in the way they communicate to their players and the recruiting world.
It's also this type of organized communication that separates the great travel teams from the average ones. The best teams have their rosters set, their schedules for the summer in place and update their web site several times a week to keep their players engaged. Want proof? Look at their web sites. The Seattle Stars have a daily schedule of practices, work-outs, cage hitting and throwing drills every day till February 17th...which coincides with the first day of High School practices. Don't you think that the High School coaches appreciate their top athletes coming into the first day of practice in top condition? You bet they do. And that's the kind of added value a good travel team can provide.
These days, the best way to communicate is via e-mails and web sites. The days of phone trees and voice mails are gone. We prefer the multi-media versatility of a web site more than any other medium. There's so much a team can do and our Top 5 got our vote because they have the vision to use web sites to promote their players, keep their players in touch with practices and work-outs and make their web site the town square or community forum for communicating their programs events, goals and mission. If a team wants to upgrade its service to its players...start by upgrading the web site.
RT Staff
2 comments:
I wholeheartedly agree with your comments. There are two very good select teams in our city (both with D1 signees), but only one maintains a detailed website (www.southtexassliders.com). During the season, college coaches can dowload rosters, get playing schedules, check for changes in schedules due to rain, get an email address and phone number for the director, who is a pro scout, etc. They can also see the names of the players who have committed to colleges each year of the select team's existence, which lends validity to the program's quality. The other team posts only when the next tryout is going to be on its website and updates information every few months. If I were a college coach, I would be very frustrated with the lack of information available on this website.
Thanks for the comment. In our conversations with college recruiters, they agree. It's hard enough to sift through the hundreds of letters, e-mails and contacts they get every year. In our opinion a travel team exists only to help a player get to the next level. Why wouldn't coaches of these teams offer that added value and profile their players online. Now that we have broken down our own fears of web sites...we have found out how really easy it is and are just trying to communicate to everyone out their to do the same. Guys a web site is so simple...updatr your web sites...give your players that pay decent money to play travel ball some added value.
RT Staff
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