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

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Send us a text 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 differen...

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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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Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to Episode Theme

01:43 - High School vs Travel Ball Development

04:57 - Accountability and Reality Checks

08:54 - Proposed Solutions for Better Baseball

10:44 - Final Thoughts and Show Closing

Transcript

WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

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I'm your host, coach Ken Carpenter, and in this episode you'll discover why I think high school baseball is more important than travel baseball for today's athlete.

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Baseball Coaches Unplugged is for baseball coaches, players and parents.

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Every week you'll hear from some of the best coaches from across the country.

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Today I'll discuss why high school baseball is important, the differences between high school and travel, and the challenges that high school coaches face every season.

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Next, on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

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Welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged with Coach Ken Carpenter.

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Presented by Athlete One.

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Baseball Coaches Unplugged is a podcast for baseball coaches, with 27 years of high school baseball coaching under his belt, here to bring you the inside scoop on all things baseball, from game-winning strategies and pitching secrets to hitting drills and defensive drills.

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We're covering it all.

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Whether you're a high school coach, college coach or just a baseball enthusiast, we'll dive into the tactics and techniques that make the difference on and off the field.

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Discover how to build a winning mentality.

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Inspire your players and get them truly bought into your game philosophy Plus.

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Get the latest insights on recruiting, coaching, leadership and crafting a team culture that champions productivity and success.

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Let me ask you something that too many people overlook in today's baseball world.

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Who's really developing today's baseball player?

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High school coaches or travel ball coaches?

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Let's break it down.

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Travel ball has exploded over the past decade.

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It's shiny, it's marketed, it's filled with gear, bags, hotel stays and exposure.

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Yes, there are a few travel coaches out there who do it the right way.

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Let's be honest a lot of travel ball is business, and in business the kid isn't a player, he's a client.

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And when you treat a kid like a client coaching decisions about development or accountability they're about payment, pressure and promises.

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Now contrast that with high school baseball.

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High school baseball coaches don't have clients, they have student athletes.

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They don't sell results.

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You teach them to earn them.

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High school coaches are teachers, mentors, groundskeepers, team psychologists and role models.

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High school coaches are with kids six days a week.

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They don't show up for just the tournament, they show up for the test, the failure, the lesson and the growth.

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They teach how to compete, not just how to perform.

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But here's the truth College coaches still call high school coaches first.

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Not the guy from last weekend's showcase.

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Why?

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Because he sees it all how a player handles adversity, how they respond to a bad call, how they treat their teammates when they're not in the lineup.

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They check on their grades, the type of student they are and how they treat their teachers.

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Why?

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Let me give you an example my last episode.

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I had coach Will Gordon on from Rockhurst High School and he said his seniors carry the equipment, not the freshmen.

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Why?

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Because leadership isn't about privilege, it's about service.

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That's the kind of lesson you don't get at a weekend showcase.

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You get it from a coach who knows your name, your character and your effort.

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High school teams play the three to four games a week and practice when games aren't being played.

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Travel teams show up on Thursday or Friday, get a few ground balls in the outfield before the game and maybe some swings if a cage is available.

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High school games don't have a time limit.

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I've seen travel games, because of weather and different issues, have as low as an hour and a half time limit because they're trying to get the tournament games in and that comes from a tournament director somewhere.

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Meanwhile, travel ball they're selling dreams.

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Play for us and you'll be the next Bryce Harper.

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But like Joe Madden, former MLB manager, said, this system of over-specialization is burning kids out and filling their heads with false promises.

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Is burning kids out and filling their heads with false promises.

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I will give travel teams the benefit when it comes to the potential of college coaches, seeing them play.

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College doesn't play in the summer.

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Coaches have more time to go out and look at players.

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Now that's even being challenged because a college coach can get proven college talent where there's currently 5,000 players waiting in the transfer portal.

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Let's talk about accountability.

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High school coaches have to answer to athletic directors, school districts, parents, teachers, eligibility rules, gpa requirements.

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It goes on on and on.

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The player is being dependable travel coaches.

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They answer to no one.

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How many times have you heard of a pitcher throwing a complete game and then two days later having to throw 40 to 50 pitches more because maybe they're trying to win the, the tournament championship, or they're in a consolation bracket or they're out of pitching?

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Let's talk about development in travel ball.

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A 15 new player might dominate against kids his age.

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Then he comes to high school and he faces a senior throwing 90 with a plan and suddenly it's a reality check.

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The player maybe isn't playing as good as he played the summer before.

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That's when parents call why isn't my son playing?

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And instead of dealing with adversity, the finger gets pointed at the high school coach.

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Also, in many cases the travel coach is dad and he's had his kid playing shortstop and leading off this last summer.

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But high school baseball isn't about making kids feel good.

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It's about making them better.

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They are taught how to compete, lead, serve, be resilient, be coachable and to be better human beings better brothers, fathers, mentors to other people in the community.

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They represent something bigger.

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Let's be honest Travel is about the individual and if they can get a chance to offer to play in college and that's what the parents want, and if they can get a chance to offer to play in college and that's what the parents want.

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It's easy to get on here and complain and blame coaches and organizations and things like that.

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I've coached high school baseball for 27 years and travel baseball for eight years.

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It's not going to be fixed anytime soon, but here are some possible solutions to make it better for everyone involved 1.

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Have coaches be required to get certifications, just like high school coaches.

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2.

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Create a governing body similar to Little League Baseball.

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3.

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Set up divisions by talent level.

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Four require tournaments and tournament directors to have a system to track pitch counts and make it easier on parents who have to travel to these tournaments.

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Do not require them to stay at a specific hotel because of kickbacks.

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Five promote sportsmanship If a player, coach or parent acts inappropriately, fights and all the things you see that goes across Twitter and Instagram every weekend.

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If that stuff happens, there needs to be injections and people need to be held accountable.

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I'm sure there are many more things that could be done to make the travel baseball and the high school baseball experience better for everybody, but I would also get the people who run these fields usually it's the high school or college coaches who are taking care of their field to give those travel teams and tournament directors an opportunity to have games be played, get them involved and get their input.

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So to every coach listening don't let the noise drown out your impact.

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High school baseball is still the soul of the sport.

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Somehow, travel and high school coaches need to find a way to work together.

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Some do these travel programs that do this and the high school teams that work with them, and they come to a common understanding of what's best for the players.

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I commend you for that.

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When these players turn 18 years old, very few will get to go on and play at the college level.

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Most will just go off to college or get a job, and ultimately, we've got to hope that the players gain something from their experience both with travel and high school baseball, and that I hope is they learn the lessons that baseball teaches you.

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The game is supposed to be fun and hopefully, when these players go on to become fathers, they will teach their son the game and teach it the right way and teach him to love the game.

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That's a wrap for today's show.

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Be sure to tune in every Wednesday for a new episode with some of the best high school, college and professional coaches from around the country.

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Today's show has been powered by the Netting Professionals, improving Programs one facility at a time.

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Contact them today at 844-620-2707 or visit them online at wwwnettingproscom.

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As always, I'm your host, coach Ken Carpenter.

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Thanks for listening to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

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Thank you.