SAME GOAL , DIFFERENT PAT H S BY AUBREY LOSACK AND SYDNEY OCKER USA Baseball provides a multitude of paths that all lead to a every athlete’s ultimate goal: earning a spot on a USA Baseball national team. For athletes like Hunter Haas and Cody Schrier, the journey to success has been long, but worth every second. The two have participated in multiple USA Baseball events throughout their young careers, including the National Team Championships and the National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup. The USA Baseball NTIS is a comprehensive player identification program that launched in 2009. This program utilizes a six-region system (Midwest, South, Southeast, Northwest and Southwest) to provide athletes from all across the United States the opportunity to compete for a spot on a USA Baseball national team. Haas, who has participated in the NTIS Champions Cup multiple times, knows what a great experience it can be. “I first went when I was 12 years old and just playing on the little fields then going over to watch all the bigger kids on the big fields; I looked up to them,” Haas said. “Then that was me when I was 14.” The NTIS process begins by participating in camps and tryouts that are held in their designated region. Every region names 32 athletes from 11U, 12U and 13U age groups and 36 athletes from 14U, 15U and 16U age groups. These athletes are them split into two All-Region teams. The teams participate in the NTIS Champions Cup at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. At the Champions Cup, athletes participate in workouts and a championship-style tournament while they are being evaluated by national team coaches and scouts. From there, USA Baseball invites a minimum of 72 players to
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either national team tryouts or an NTDP for the next calendar year. Haas participated in the NTIS program at both the 12-and-under and 14-and-under age groups, and while he was not selected for a team, his motivation just grew stronger. “I would come back from that just knowing what I had to do to work to get my game to what it needed to be to be one of the top 40 for the NTDP,” Haas said.
