Scouting A Scout

There are many things about USA Baseball that make it unlike any other. The experiences that USA Baseball gives the athletes, coaches and fans, the success of players and the sense of national pride are just a three in a long list of many. Add the USA Baseball task force to that long list.

Task force members are a crucial part of the framework of USA Baseball. These members work all hours of the day during events to find the best individuals to represent USA Baseball. They select athletes for national teams, the National Training Development Programs and the National Talent Identification Series.

Shabansky, who has been on the task force for over 10 years, said that one of the best parts about being part of the group has been seeing so many special players come through the USA Baseball program. That, and getting to see the whole group every year to go through the process over and over again.

So, what does this all mean for the National Team Championships? Task force members use both the National Team Championships in Arizona and Florida to scout for the USA Baseball 15U National Team and 14U, 16 and 17U National Team Development Programs.

“We’re selecting from two to three thousand players from around the country to go internationally and to play against foreign countries and try to win a gold medal,” USA Baseball task force member Robert Shabansky said. “That is something that no one else has and no one else can do.

“There’s always the tangible things that we’re going to look for, but we’re trying to separate if you have those tangibles and can you actually play baseball,” Shabansky said. “What we will end up looking for as a group are the guys that are going to represent the country the right way.”

Throughout the events, task force members will spend their days analyzing players and talking to coaches and will stay up through all hours of the night to make sure that they are finding the right athletes to represent USA Baseball. Shabansky describes those athletes as the players that hustle on and off the field, don’t show negative emotions if they make a mistake, guys that are willing to bounce back, run hard on every ball that they hit, are a good teammate and a good sportsman. All in all, a great baseball player and a great person as well.

“They’re all going to fail at some point,” Shabansky said. “I think we get more from watching a kid fail than we do from watching them have success. But with that failure comes resiliency and sometimes it also shows that they’re a great teammate as well.”

Be on the lookout for our task force members at both the National Team Championships in Arizona and Florida this year and maybe you can be part of more with USA Baseball. ♦