Sports America, Inc: We Do Everything But Play the Game

Issue #101
by Wayne Ellis, Sports America

What Every High School Baseball Player Needs to Become an AFLAC All American

The day before the rosters were announced for this year’s AFLAC High School All American Baseball Classic, I caught up with Jerry Ford, the President and National Director for Perfect Game (PG).

Jerry’s been involved with baseball his entire life, having been a Major League scout and coach at the collegiate level. He founded PG some 15 years ago.

If you’re not aware of PG, you should be... especially if you want to have anything to do with baseball at the high school, collegiate or professional levels.

PG is the “World’s Largest Scouting Report Service.” And over the past five years, it has become the most trusted source for identifying the country’s best professional baseball prospects at the prep and collegiate levels. (For a run down of PG’s remarkable track record, Click Here).

Among its other high profile roles in the baseball world, PG selects the players for the AFLAC Classic. Which is why we wanted to talk to Jerry – to see what his group considers to be the critical skills or traits needed to become an AFLAC All American...

The Single Quality Shared by the World’s Greatest Athletes

For Jerry, there is a single factor that’s been shared by every player selected for the AFLAC game.

And really, it’s the same quality that has been shared by every athlete who’s ever gone on to greatness: They have to love the game.

If that sounds too simplistic, consider what that love means…

It’s often the first time children have the opportunity to belong to a group, outside of their best friends, who are all striving toward a single goal;
It’s the reason that primary school aged athletes spend hours on end at their schools, long after the school day has ended;
It’s the reason why men and women of all ages dedicate themselves to something that can often leave them exhausted, heart-broken, or just plain hurting.

And that’s what Jerry and his group look for when they’re selecting the line-ups for the games.

Also, when they’re compiling their scouting reports on who will continue to excel in baseball.

But When Does That Love Begin?

As parents, many of us hope that our children grow to love sports as much as we did. So it’s very important to understand how to foster that love… and when to start to foster it.

How do we know when our kids are ready to begin playing a sport? Will they get turned off forever, if we start them too young? Or will they be at a disadvantage, if we don’t start them early enough?

Jerry didn’t have a one pat answer for every kid, as you might have guessed. He said, "it’s going to be different for each kid, and as a parent you’ll have to determine what your child needs."

For some, it’ll just be play time, a time to get out, run around with friends and not take the whole thing too seriously. And that’s fine.

But there will also be other kids who will appreciate the competitive aspect of the game, who will want to do their best. And that’s fine too…

What’s important, according to Jerry, is that they have fun playing however they want to play.

And that’s really the key for the first couple of years. Gradually, the kids who grow to love the game more and more and will continue to play. With the help of good coaching and encouragement, their skills will improve.

Jerry also shared some very specific thoughts about when children, boys in particular, should be encouraged to seek out better competition, and when to begin to try to broaden their reach, to attract the attention of higher level coaches.

But that’s the topic for part two of our conversation with Jerry Ford of PG. [SA]

Post Game Stats RECAP

Full rosters for the AFLAC High School All-American Baseball Classic will be announced on June 19th, 2007. To see the names of the two San Diego players already named to the team, as well as a copy of the full story on this year’s game, click here: www.aflacallamerican.com

For the past five years, PG has pitched a gem in terms of projecting baseball talent into Major League Baseball.

Beginning in 2002, each year PG set a new record for the number of players drafted by Major League Baseball. In 2002, it landed 364 players in the draft – the most by a single organization… by far. In 2003, that number grew to 409. In 2004, the record grew to 533. And in 2005, it jumped to 823.

Most recently, PG shattered it's own record when an astounding 952 PG participants were selected in the 2006 MLB draft. This accounts for over 63% of the entire draft! Over the five year span PG has seen 3,081 players drafted.

In that same five year period, 140 first round picks who had attended PG events. That includes an amazing 38 this year who were selected in the first round and supplemental 1st. Add to the above totals over 100 Latin and other Free Agent signings that have come out of PG events. It has been estimated that by year 2008, over half of all the players on Major League rosters will have attended PG events.

Note: One of every four AFLAC All Americans have been selected in the first round of the draft.

For more information on PG, click here.

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