Players have just finished out their 2008 seasons and have begun the annual migration that is prevalent amongst Select baseball- where are we playing next year.

It has become commonplace for players to trade out coaches and teams as often as they change their socks. Players oftentimes are seen trying out for numerous teams before making their decision on where their skills will be showcased the following year.

“You are lucky to retain a core of six or seven players these days. If you have that many returners, you did something truly special.” Stated a coach from the 15U Blaze.

Interesting enough, even a championship season does not always keep players and parents interested enough to stick around. There have been some highly successful teams this year falling victim to a mass migration of players onto other teams. Additionally, tryouts did not produce.

Take the 13U Bombers that have experienced a high level of success in previous years or the 13U Federal Way Titans or the 11U Federal Way Bandits.

All teams experienced winning seasons, but due to issues that no one has any idea of, players did not come back or teams just fell apart.

This has become an issue of pandemic proportions and more and more teams are being formed each year in the Pacific Northwest.

“It is a great thing to watch baseball grow at the rate it is going in this area, but there is also something to be said about diluting the system. Opportunity is great, but there are some downsides to it all.” Stated a Puget Sound Shockers coach.

One factor may be the mass migration that Little League is experiencing. However, much points to coaching. Many teams that possess experienced coaching that effectively has developed players and championship teams continues to retain players and see high amounts of players showing up at tryouts.

Some such organizations are the Auburn Lions, Tridents, and Puget Sound Shockers. All three are led by coaches whose foremost priority is development.

BLE has seen a resurgence of players coming back to its facility for the sole purpose of training.

“Many players are stating they attended our tryouts to get back onto a BLE trained team. They wanted the training BLE provided and that is why they are trying out.” Stated one Puget Sound Shockers coach.

This “resurgence” has fueled an explosion of talent onto BLE Training Teams and has brought back a lot of players whom seeked out other training solutions in previous years.

“I think this is a testament to what we provide, how professional our training staff is, and our pricing.” Stated Dave Konkel of BLE.