Dan Duquette Sports Academy Tournament

This weekend I attended the Dan Duquette Memorial Day tournament in Hinsdale, MA with the 14U New Hampshire Hammerheads. The tournament was fantastic in my opinion and I would recommend it to anyone.

The kids had a great time, the setting was excellent, the staff was professional and organized, and the weather couldn't have been better. I recently posted a full review of my experience on high school baseball web's Northeast Forum. I included all the positives and negatives plus some tips if you plan on making your way out there.

High School Baseball

I did not go to high school in New Hampshire, I am a transplant from Maine. I have however had the opportunity since joining the GSBA to watch a lot of baseball around the Granite State. This summer more than the rest I have taken to the towns and schools watching the games and spreading the word about the Fall Showcase League. I still don't know the rivalries or even where some of the schools are located on the map. I try to chime in on the conversations between the other GSBA staff members as they talk passionately about the state of the game in our state but I admit I have a hard time keeping up.

This week I have already gone to several games. Merrimack vs. Manchester West, Nashua South vs. Londonderry, and Trinity vs. Londonderry. Friday I will attend St. Thomas vs. Portsmouth. I have probably been to near 10 games already this summer and this is what I have noticed:

Schools from towns with great youth programs have better players. I notice that a school like Londonderry or Salem ,that put many teams into our fall and summer wood bat leagues, just seem loaded with talent from head to toe. As opposed to schools from the Manchester area seem to have less success. It was recently pointed out on hsbaseballweb.com that all three schools from Manchester have less total wins(9) than either Trinity or Londonderry have alone.

I had a chance to talk to a coach from Boston College this week at one of the games I attended. He was asking me who were the top players in New Hampshire and what games he could go check out. We talked for a while about several schools and players and he finally asked me about a specific team. I had to tell him that the coach for that program does not let his players know about the GSBA Showcase League. Not because he doesn't know about it, but because in his own words he "handles the recruiting" for his players. The BC coach seem stunned as he said "Even if that's the case... he doesn't want them playing more baseball?" Apparently not.

There are a lot of excellent programs out there and plenty of opportunity to play. But I have to tell you working for a non profit baseball organization like the GSBA. Where the focus is 100% on getting more kids out playing ball is great. This year the GSBA will field fall and summer leagues in addition to the fall showcase league. You can enter an entire roster into a wood bat league for very little cost, see http://www.granitestatebaseball.org/ for more information. These wood bat leagues are supplementary. You can enter your entire AAU team, or you can enter your Legion team in to the summer supplementary league and extend your season. The best baseball weather in New Hampshire is in the fall and the GSBA is an affordable well run organization. Obviously my job as Director of the Fall Showcase League is to get the word out about this opportunity. But it is great to know the mission statement behind the GSBA as a whole. I would recommend to every coach out there to get your summer team signed up for the fall wood bat league.

If your school or town is not participating in a fall program with the GSBA you should find out why. I would recommend to every parent and player to ask your coach why they are not signed up already. You will see the benefit of the extended season next spring on the high school or even college field.

-Shawn

First blog -2009 Showcase

After a successful 2008 Fall Showcase League we are in full preparation for the 2009 season.

Try out dates have been set for 8/16, 8/17, 8/22, and 8/23 sites are yet to be set. But that information will be announced shortly. Please note that pre-registration costs have recently been lowered thanks to our sponsors.

The 2009 season will be expanding from a 7 week program in 2008 to a 9 week program in 2009. We hope to be able to do this without raising the costs of the league. With all costs on the rise we have gone to the New Hampshire community as a registered New Hampshire non-profit organization and asked for help in keeping the costs down while continuing to improve on the product we provide. We will be adding an additional host school to the schedule this fall and making the post season tournament part of the schedule.

Last year the New Hampshire Fall Classic was a big success despite the fact that we did not plan on it from the get go. This year including the four team playoff at the end of the year on the schedule should make it even more competitive and exciting.

Please make sure to visit the site http://www.nhbaseball.org frequently for updates on the upcoming season and feel free to contact me directly with any questions!

-Shawn