East Cobb Yankees is East Cobb in name only. They rarely will have pitchers play a position and pitchers will pitch every 5 days or so. Pitchers are required to be a part of the team and will be at every game and every practice. Just showing up for your innings is frowned upon and you won't last with the Yankees if you do that. It is a separate program and there is no love lost between the Yankees and East Cobb the organization. The player has to pay the East Cobb registration fee but that is it, the Yankees are their own organization. The Yankee players are well taken care of with position coaching, practice time, optional practice and when they travel. The team is designed to allow for maximum playing time with the minimum of stress by recruiting players for specific positions and not having too many that play one position so someone doesn't get too much and the flip side - not enough. In order to play for the Yankees, you have to be asked, it's not a team you try out for or sign up for.
With that said to the comment above that Georgia Tech "requires" players to play year round, that is farther from the truth. There is no requirement and there is no preferred team that they want you to or "suggest" that you play with. If you play with the Yankees, that's great but if you choose not to, that's no problem. The benefit of playing with the Yankees is that as an incoming Freshman, you have the opportunity to play with a large group and it gives you a leg up on relationships and team which we all know is important.
The great thing about the Yankees is that once a Yankee, always a Yankee.
As someone that has a kid still in it, the best thing you can do for your child, be honest and ensure they play other sports too. Perfect Game has given new life to this situation we are discussing. Holding a showcase in January when kids should be just getting back into their throwing program is detrimental to the health of a kid. By highlighting how fast someone throws as the end all be all further perpetuates the myth that the kid can play baseball at the next level. A college coach and an MLB scout will tell you that they want your child to play other sports. They are looking for athletes in all positions. Pitching may be the one exception but you will find that being an athlete provides better opportunities for you.
You do realize that the day of blogs and some critiques of the players at the mass tournaments are submitted by college players that may be injured or seniors that aren't going to play at the next level or guys that have an internship with PG especially at the far out high school fields. So when they say some great things about a guy the person submitting the report may not be the best person to provide that critique. Parents take those little nuggets of praise and run with it, posting on Facebook about it and letting those comments help them justify the price of the $300 bat as they leave the park. Yes, there are real scouts with Perfect Game but you won't see those until you get to the Emerson complex or you are playing in some of the final games in Jupiter or Ft Myers. The exception there is if you have a player that has real talent and has been scouted across the board with high school and MLB, you will see the name scouts with Perfect Game filing reports on their games. But understand that Perfect Game will place those teams at the Emerson complex/high visibility fields and not at those far out high schools. The positives of PG is that some guys that may not have got a look can get one.
Parents see their child's interest in sports and the fact that they pitched a no-hitter to a far inferior team as the sole indicator that they are ready for D1. Even those that are ready for D1 may not make it at the next level. It is a coming together of skill, practice, luck and a strong mental fortitude that pushes someone to the next level. It's not a lifestyle for everyone, you don't get to hang with your friends, you may choose not to have a girlfriend or if you do, you choose wisely, spring break - what's that? College baseball is not easy. The schedules these guys have are ridiculous. For a Friday game, they will get to the field 2-3 hours in advance, games are sometimes 3 hours/3 1/2 hours, you do your field responsibilities and then if you are home, you have to work out after the game so a 6+ day at the park not just on Saturday once a week but 3-4 times a week. Then, oh by the way, you have to do homework, meet with a tutor, mandatory study time. Meet an advisor because that's the only time they have. This goes on at least 3 but generally 4 times a week. Baseball is a skill sport, maybe you need/want to put in extra time working on your oppo hitting or you're in a slump.
There are some guys that will never pick up a bat or ball after they leave college till they have kids but can still contribute to a team. You, the coach just hope that you have picked the right dynamics, personalities, and talent that will come together to win and have that fairytale that everyone hopes for.
