High school baseball

[Anonymous]

And I can't remember if it was earlier in this chain or a different baseball one where someone pointed out you have to get there, work hard, and then some transfer or homeschooler comes in junior year and you lose your spot, etc. I'm missing my podunk only-high-school-in-the-county school (from which the Nats have drafted two players!!!).

As a mom of a former SJC baseball player
Thats one of the benefits of SJC's program is that the players they have coming in to the school are the ones they will develop. You wont have to worry about a transfer coming in to take your spot. HS is becoming like College Transfer portal with kids moving all over the place.
Bishop Oconnell had 6 transfer players who will play varsity this year. Thats 6 kids who will take the spots of other players who went through the program.
DeMatha takes transfers all the time
GZ has had a few transfers, their D1 catcher last year was a transfer

It all about what you want and what your family wants to invest in. But the high school transfer portal could impact your DS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people are frustrated with how the SJC coach runs the team. Word is that he will finally leave in two years when his youngest kid (daughter) graduates from SJC.

He basically only plays the starters and/or his favorites, even if they are beating an opponent by 15 runs.

What's nuts is that he had a junior lefty pitcher committed to play at Tennessee...and he only gave that kid like 5 innings all season because he loved his 2025 star pitchers (three in particular who are also D1...but TN is usually a top 5 college team).

SJC lost a number of rising juniors who will likely be starters at their new schools because of how he runs the team.

The SJC coach very explicitly lays out his rules to incoming players and parents. They know that playing time is not guaranteed, and that if they want to be on the team, the players must take part in the coach’s camps. There is no gray area, and the players know exactly where they stand. A lot of parents simply cannot handle the fact that their kid simply isn’t the next Paul Skenes.

We know parents who sent their kid elsewhere for this school year because he wasn’t playing much, but the real reason is that the parents kept sending their kid to these camps where he was encouraged to put excessive wear on his arm. He kept getting hurt and the coach wouldn’t play him, so he’s with a much lesser high school program this year.

This past season Gibbs made clear that he does not see it as his job to try to develop all of his players. He is only in it for his own self-interest. That’s why he overplayed a top pitcher who now has to get TJ surgery during his freshman year of college while other very capable pitchers got almost no innings. Every HS varsity coach will say that playing time is not guaranteed, but most HS coaches will try to maximize development of all of the players to make the best squad overall and to give all of his players the best opportunity to earn playing time and college opportunities. Gibbs simply does not do that. He could easily have won the same number of games while at the same time opened up playing opportunities for far more players. In my mind that shows how weak of a coach he actually is.

Son was a former player for SJC. Everything you have said is aimed at making SJC look bad when you have no idea about the details of these situations. SJC develops and focuses on the health of every single player. From the 1st on the depth chart to the last man on the freshman team. My son was somewhere in the middle but was given the same opportunities to grow as a player. I would also say that the summer program allows Gibbs to evaluate players all year long, giving them more opportunities to earn playing time. It’s sad that rumors and misinformation can be spewed by anyone on a message board.

I'm glad your child had a good experience. Many do not. Both things can be true. Obviously many great players thrive and succeed there. However, knowing multiple players in the program over the years, your perception that the coaching staff focuses on the health and development of every single player is not shared by all. I don't think someone should definitively mark SJC off their list, but they should certainly ask around to see if it is the right fit for their child. It is not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I can't remember if it was earlier in this chain or a different baseball one where someone pointed out you have to get there, work hard, and then some transfer or homeschooler comes in junior year and you lose your spot, etc. I'm missing my podunk only-high-school-in-the-county school (from which the Nats have drafted two players!!!).

As a mom of a former SJC baseball player
Thats one of the benefits of SJC's program is that the players they have coming in to the school are the ones they will develop. You wont have to worry about a transfer coming in to take your spot. HS is becoming like College Transfer portal with kids moving all over the place.
Bishop Oconnell had 6 transfer players who will play varsity this year. Thats 6 kids who will take the spots of other players who went through the program.
DeMatha takes transfers all the time
GZ has had a few transfers, their D1 catcher last year was a transfer

It all about what you want and what your family wants to invest in. But the high school transfer portal could impact your DS

Yep, transfers happen from private to public too. (Whitman)

[Anonymous]

Some of the reasons that SJC baseball doesn’t work for families are exactly why it works for others. Our family is much better served by having an all in 1 baseball experience at SJC than we are trying to get our kid from school to another private training facility and then to another travel team practice.
There’s also quite a few coaches and trainers beyond Gibbs who the kid see quite often.

It’s not for everyone, but if it works for your son and your family it can be really great.