From Ask the Baseball Pro:
Jernard wrote:
Hey, I’m center fielder in 11th grade school and want to get scouted to play division 1 baseball. I know I have the talent and potential. It’s just my coach really doesn’t promote me and really doesn’t put me out there. So my question to you is how do I go about getting scouted? Do I contact coaches my self or is that too eager so please give me your input.

From the Baseball Pro:
If there is a school that you want to play at, you should write their coach and tell them that you are interested. Another thing that you could possibly do is to see if that school has a summer baseball camp. If you were to attend that camp and show them how good you are and that you were interested in their school then they would probably be interested in you.
Your baseball pro, Steve Holm

From Ask the Baseball Pro:
Ben wrote:
I am working on getting some statistics on how many kids playing little league actually make it to high school, college, and professional teams. I was just wondering if you had any of this information. Thanks and any information would be of a great help.

From Host Mom:
For this type of information, I suggest you contact Little League itself at http://www.littleleague.org/ to see if they have the statistics. There is also Pony League at http://www.pony.org which is active in our area. You may be able to find some information doing a Google search and searching for statistics. The numbers do get smaller as the player moves up the chain. We had 300 Little League players, ages 5-15, but there are under 20 players on the high school baseball team.
Host mom, Jean

From Ask the Baseball Pro:
Stacey wrote:
My son plays 10 year old competitive baseball. During any tournament, he can be found at any position except 1st base. Is being a utility player ok at this age or should he ask his coach to put him in a particular position and leave him there? His team is really good and he is just very versatile and can play any position well. Thanks for any advice you can give me.
From the Baseball Pro:
It is very good for you son to play all the positions he can. I was a short stop all the way through college. In fact I was a Division I baseball All-American in 2000 as a short stop. Yet when I signed my first pro contract the first thing I did was put on catcher’s gear. So no matter what position you play today you might not be playing that position tomorrow.
Your baseball pro, Steve Holm

From Ask the Baseball Pro:
tj wrote:
Hi, I just have a few questions about how you made it to where you are. I am a 17 yr old male from Manitoba and I live for baseball. I think I have the potential to play a high caliber ball, but it is so hard trying to make it here in Manitoba because no Pro scouts come out so I was wondering how I could get my name out there and hopefully my dreams come true. If you have anyquestions about me or anything please email me back.
Thank you for your time and take care.

From the Baseball Pro
As for getting your name out there, the best way would be to play in tournaments and summer ball. I am assuming you do not have much spring baseball due to the fact you live in Canada. If the draft does not workout you should pursue your dreams via college. Many big league players went to some sort of college whether it be junior college or a major university.

As long as you are still playing you are getting better and as long as that is happening you have a chance!

Your baseball pro, Steve Holm

From Ask the Baseball Pro:
I am a young hopefull of becoming a professional softball player. I currently play catcher for the southern ontario team as well as a few house league teams on the side. My southern ontario team is going to a tournament in march where there will be university scouts. Our team is not very good and will be playing against university level teams. Is there any way i can make myself stand out from the other players and give myself more of a chance to get scouted?

From the Pro:
The most important thing to remember when trying to impress people is to control the things that you can control. For example you can not control if your team is not good but you can control how hard you play. Coaches are looking for someone who will always give it their best and play hard. So remember to run everything out and hustle. Things like that are what really impress coaches. When it comes to ability you either have it or you don’t. But it is your heart that really counts and any coach that is worth playing for looks for players who play hard and love to play. So that is my suggestion, don’t try to impress them with
homeruns just impress them with how hard you play. But more importantly don’t forget to have fun!!
Your baseball pro, Steve Holm