Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - Exposure or Exposed?

Episode Date: April 15, 2022

In this show Shawn French gets perfectly clear on what is broken within youth sports. I go into great detail as to what I truly believe the issues are and I also explain that I AM NOT against Travel Ball or Showcases. What I AM AGAINST is it being a one size fits all. We need to bring our focus back onto developing the athlete NOT exposing them.  Follow Shawn on IG: @theshawnfrench   --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shawn-french/message Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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You had good communication skills. You asked the right questions. You were able to have high level conversations and go second, third level with the interviewer, with the hiring manager, with their regional counterpart, and with the VP. And then you got the job. It's the same thing with sports. That's the way it should be. It should be your resume speaks for itself, gets you in the door, and then you go perform.

And if you're better than the catcher from Louisiana, better than the catcher in California, then guess what? Boom, you're the dude. What's up, guys, how's it going? Welcome to another episode of the podcast in German society. It's me, your host, Sean French. And guess what, guys? Today, it's just me. You've got to listen to just me for the first time and a long time.

And the reason is, it's because I wanted to clarify something. You know, the last episode we did, I had a good. great guy named Lee Tafton and we talked about the destruction of youth sports. And I stand by that message 1 million percent and anybody that is going to try to convince me otherwise is going to get deaf ears. And here's why I say that. What's happening in youth sports right now is absolutely terrifying. And what I mean by that is you have all these travel organizations and don't get me wrong. I'm not against travel organizations. And I will get to that for all you guys that are pissed off at me because I am, I'm just tearing you guys apart. That's not what I'm doing. You need to listen

deeper. But here's what's going on. All these travel organizations, whether it's soccer, basketball for AAU, baseball, volleyball, in a multitude of other sports, what's happening is all these organizations are popping up, right? So all these parents and all these kids are flying out of state, you know, traveling so much to get all this exposure when they're not even the best in their school. And what's happening is when they go and do that, they get exposed. And if you listen to the last episode, you'll hear my guest, Lee, talk about that. They're taking all these kids to these camps and these showcases for exposure. But what's happening is they're getting exposed because they're not ready to be there. And I think it's very detrimental to not just high school players, but also

to young athletes, whether they're eight-year-old girls or eight-year-old boys. It doesn't matter. The bottom line is there's a lot going on here and we need to focus back on the foundation of youth sports, which is development. Going back to when I played and I'm not some fossil and I'm not being self-serving when I say that, but there was coaches that actually gave a shit and developed us. Yes, I did do travel ball.

Absolutely. When I was 13 years old, but we stayed local. We didn't go out of state and we had the best players. We were the best dudes in the area and we went out and our coaches developed us. Guess what we had back then when we were. we had travel ball. We actually practiced. Now again, some travel bowl organizations do practice. I know there's some local ones. My buddy Pete runs a travel organization and he works really,

really hard to develop his kids and his program. And they do good things. And they're not blowing smoke up people's asses. But the thing that really bothers me is when all these teams are formed in these kids are being driven to these new organizations and whatnot. because they're being promised more playing time. They're being promised to get in front of big college recruiters. What do you need to be in front of a college recruiter for when you can't even hit a backside double and repeat it? Why do you need to be exposed to college recruiters when your fielding percentage is 836? Like I don't understand.

Like those are the things to me that really infuriate me. And, you know, there's a such thing called, you know, these travelable organizations. used to be for the elite players. Now anybody can do it. And I'm not saying there's not a place for the non-elite, you know, baseball player, volleyball, player, basketball, or whatever. It's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is when you are going to Georgia to play in a big, perfect game tournament, dude, you better be a dude. Like, you better be a dude. Because here's the other thing, these college recruiters are coming there, the one-stop shop to see these guys. And when they get there, they're watching teams that are terrible because these guys shouldn't be there.

Okay. So let's back up. All right. Last episode I talked about, you know, perfect game and, you know, I shouted some teams out there that are really good organizations. And that wasn't an attack on them. It's just the first thing that came to mind. And maybe it was my mistake for saying that. But here's the thing.

You know, I'm going to own that. And no, I haven't got any blowback on it. But I want to address it before I do get blowback. Perfect game. I love you. Okay. I love you. Scorpions, I love you. All these travel organizations, I love that are doing it the right way.

Not taking on too many kids and informing another team just to get 5,000 per kid or per family, at 18 kids on a team. They see it as an opportunity to make thousands and thousands of more dollars. I don't respect that, right? The scorpions don't do that. The big tribal organizations, I don't feel do that. they focus on getting the best athletes out there to perform and to put on their jersey because at the end of the day, guys, these players are representing the brand of the organization. And I think that should mean something. But a lot of times, you know, there's other teams that are being created that that's not, that's not top of mind.

So again, I'm not against perfect game. I'm not against a travel ball. What I am against is some of the stuff that goes along with it, guys. And, you know, for instance, you heard. heard me reference it last episode. I've had kids come up to me in the past. Hey, coach, I was at a perfect game, you know, showcase this weekend. And I was ranked number 12 in hitting. Well, I know that kid can't hit. The kid can't hit a high school pitcher throwing 75. So like, I'm just trying to, I'm like, like, I understand what perfect game is for.

But some of these kids are getting false grades. Some of these kids are getting false representation of the fact that they're actually a dude. And, and, like, I just don't think that's right, you know. And it's, it's hard because what happens is then these, these parents see this website that their kids rank number 12 at 150 hitters and they go to the high school coach. Well, hey, here's his ranking from, from the last showcase. What the fuck do you know? You're not even playing my kid.

You need to get better at your job. You need to develop, you need to develop my kid. This is on you, coach. No, the reality is it's not on the coach. It's on the coach to develop a player. Don't get me wrong. Like, I'm all about that. I'm a teach.

I love to teach the game. I'm a coach. Like, we'll get down. We'll get in the trenches. We'll work on skills. But it is not the coach's job to fulfill your, whatever the hell's going on in your mind. Just because your son's not playing or your daughter's not playing on their squad

and then going to a showcase and the showcase giving them a good grade is not permission for you to go back to the high school. coach him or her and tell them that they suck at their job. That's not what's going on. Actually, those high school coaches are probably doing it the right way because here's the deal. They see those kids every single day. They see their habits on the field, on the court, wherever. Tennis, it doesn't matter. I don't care what sport. The high school coach sees that, that young man, that young woman every single day. The other thing that they see is they see how those individuals walk around school, who they hang out with, what extracurriculars are they partaking in? Are they part of the

party crowd? Are they acting like asses in the classroom? Are they doing their homework? Do they have bad character? A lot of these summer ball coaches or these travel ball organization coaches don't know these things about this kid. And again, I'm not minimizing what these travel bowl organizations do. I'm not. I'm not minimizing the good people that are involved in those travel ball organizations and I realize this is a little risky me coming out and doing this. But guess what? I have to. I have a responsibility. I have responsibility to tell the truth. Right. And if people don't like it, that's fine. They can come at me. But the bottom line is, if you're coming at me about this, you're not really listening to what I'm saying. You're hearing me say travel bar organizations and

perfect game is the devil. And that's not what I'm saying. I think they're great for the right players. not for everybody, right? Like they're not great for everybody. You know, if you can't play and you're not a dude on the baseball field in your local area, then why are you going to Georgia and striking out three to four times a game? You could do that here. You know, the best thing to do for players that aren't ready for that type of stage is to get in the freaking cage, man.

get with somebody who knows what they're doing. I have a lot of contacts around the United States of America. If you guys have any questions, parents, on who can teach your kid out of hit? Shoot me a DM on Instagram. At Deshaun French, I will help you out find somebody that can truly teach your son, daughter, how to play baseball and be an effective baseball player or softball player, right? Soccer, football, I got people for you too. I know a lot of people around here.

But the bottom line is the best use of time when you're that age is, to be developing your skills. If you do not develop your skills, then what foundation do you have when you go to these exposure camps to so-called showcase your skills? What are we showcasing? Are we showcasing an unfinished product?

Or are we showcasing a polished product that can actually play at the next level? Because parents, if we're not doing these for our children, if we're not doing this for our children, we're setting them up to be disappointed. We're setting them up for an absolute failure at these camps. imagine imagine not, you know, your son or daughter wanting to go play baseball at LSU or play volleyball

at LSU. And you tell him or her, all right, great, hey, whatever you want to do, let they have a camp this summer, let's take you, right? We'll make it our family vacation. So mom and dad sit down and they figure out how they can afford how to get to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a whole week, hotel, room, board, meals, entertainment, whatever it is, the whole experience, right? And they make it work financially.

Maybe they got to take it out of their savings. Maybe they got to take a personal loan. But they say, you know, whatever my son or daughter wants, I'm going to try to provide. But here's a deal. If that son or that daughter is not at the caliber of that university, they're going to go there and they're going to get exposed. And once you're off a list, you're off the list. Like, I'm sorry to tell you, there's very few cases where a baseball player will be crossed off someone's list and they come right back on it. There's coaches all the time that get an athlete to, to, to,

commit. I know one here locally that I'm very close to was committed to a big SEC program and then had like six bad games and they decommitted his ass. Does that me he can't play? No, but did he get back on the list? Absolutely not. He's going somewhere else next year. Someone else is going to be blessed with this kid's talent because you know what? The kids do. But he polished his skills and he worked at it, right? He got better. So my point is with all of that, that past example is when you go to these camps and you are not ready to be in front of those recruiters, those coaches for that specific university, all you're doing is hurting your brand. And the kids don't know any better.

The parents should. You know if your kid can go play at LSU. You know if your kid could go play at Baylor. You know if your kid can go play at the University of Florida. If they can't do it, then why are you going to put them in front of them? Instead, let them know, hey, listen, I think we need to do a lot more work before we put you in front of those people, right? Because you want that athlete to have accountability.

you want them to be intrinsically motivated for one. You want them to believe in themselves, but they have to work at that. See, the confidence in every sport isn't just given. It is earned every single day. Just like when you're an adult like myself and you're a parent, a husband or a wife, confidence is earned every single day by the actions that we take.

And we want to teach the kids at an early age because if we don't teach them that, then when they get older, they think shit should just be handed to them. And that's what's going on right now. And that's what I do not like the state of the current state of youth sports. I think the structure could work done the right way. I really truly think so. I think the top people, the top dudes, the top girls should go to all these showcases.

And I think the ones that that aren't, you know, at that caliber should not be there, should not be there at all. I think that they should be developing. This is really sad. This is, this is scary. Because guess what? When they go to these camps, camps and they get exposed, they go home and they cry. They go home and they feel less than because they weren't one of the best dudes, the best girls at that camp. They were out of place and it's sad. It's really sad.

And all the while the parents, I know you want to teach your kids lessons, right? I get that. But like, why are we putting kids in situations that we know they're going to fail in? Let's give them the tools. Let's give them the tools to get better. and then we place them in these exposure camps so they're not exposed in the incorrect way.

The other thing I'm against with all of this travelable organization is the for-profit, not for-profit, strike that from the record. I am against adults making money using children as pawns. That's what I'm against. I'm against, you know, a travelable organization having five teams again listen before you react please i need you to respond not react there's a difference okay that already has five teams having five teams is okay all right i'm not banging on that what i'm saying is and then you had you know let's say 15 kids that you're going to cut well instead of cutting those 15 kids

what you're going to do it's like you know what you know we should do coach we should make another team this will be like our our f our d team or c team or whatever and we'll put them in a bunch of U-Tri-S-A, you know, tournaments, and like, let's not turn these kids away. You know, let's charge them $3,000,000 times 15 kids. Do the math. Now you have another team. That's what's wrong. Do you feel me?

That's what's wrong with you sports right now. You know, it used to be, like I said earlier in the show, that if you were not a dude, you did not make the team. one of the one of the one of the one of the one of the saddest thing that's ever happened to me I didn't work hard for like three or four months when I was a kid and I got cut from a team and I said to my dad I'm like are you serious he's like are you serious you didn't do the work you took it for granted you coasted you thought you were better than you were use this as a time for you to get better and understand where you're at and you know what I did that okay I did that and I got

better and it became a dude right now I wasn't a major leaguer I got hurt in college, a bunch of injuries, whatever. It is what it is. That happens. But my dad didn't create another team just so I can play. Like coaches didn't create teams so I can play. Like the lesson there was you got cut. Go get fucking better.

Not let's start a team because that's what's happening right now. Right. Your kid gets cut or your kid's not getting playing time. So you and the other dad that's pissed off, right, that are a problem for the coaching staff anyway, You guys start taking kids that can't play baseball, that can't shoot a basketball, that can't kick a freaking soccer ball, right? They can't hit a backhand in tennis or whatever the case may be. And you're forming all these other teams in joining these tournaments. And so your kids could play.

What are you teaching them? Let me answer that question for you. You're teaching them entitlement. You're teaching them that they can go and just create their own thing and get as much playing time as they want. Guys, there's a lesson in this. playing time is reserved. Sorry, I can't even speak, is reserved for those that are performing and that deserve it.

Period. You don't get a job in corporate America because you're entitled to. You get a job in corporate America and corporate America. God dang, there we go again. I won't edit it out. I promise, guys. It's all authenticity here. You get a job in corporate America because you're the best candidate for the job.

your resume stood out you had good communication skills you asked the right questions you're able to have high level conversations and go second third level with the interviewer with the hiring manager with their regional counterpart and with the VP and then you got the job so it's the same thing with sports that's the way it should be it should be your resume speaks for itself it gets you in the door and then you go perform and if you're better than the catcher from louisiana better than the catchers in California, then guess what? Boom, you're the dude. If you're the best, you're the best sinner on the girls basketball team, then you win. You get to play.

I love this subject. I love this subject. This is something that I'm passionate on, clearly. But listen, guys, the whole moral of the story is I just want you to understand that travel ball and all of these organizations, there's a place for them. and I love them. But it's not for everybody. And it's not to make solely a dollar off of a kid. We need to develop these kids.

These kids need more instruction. They go through a whole summer without even having a practice. Just show and go. Right? They throw their glove on the field. Let's play ball. Throw the ball across the diamond at 95. Let's run our 60.

Let's take our BP. You know, it's ego. It's ego driven. there's no development and that's what my problem is and that's what my guess you know the other day Lee Taft that's what his problem is there's no teaching there's no coaching right all the while the high school coaches are getting stepped on and no one's even trusting what they're what they're saying and they know these kids and these these athletes the best and they're sitting there in the trenches making $38,000 a year teaching just so they can coach the game that they love and people are shitting

on them no one's paying attention to them it's it's it's it's it's it's criminal it really is criminal these high school coaches have such amazing value and a lot of these high school coaches played minor league baseball played big d1 baseball they have a pedigree they know what they're talking about so um i think people need to reach out to them more and ask for their opinions and include them in the process because there's been plenty of times where a we're a baseball player because i can talk about baseball because my experience, right? You know, all you guys that listen to me, know, I'm a big baseball guy. So multiple times throughout my coaching career, and it still happens, is that, hey, coach,

I just signed with X, Y, and Z. Like, okay, you're going D1. Great. They never called us, right? So, like, that might not have been a good place for them. Like, our job as coach is not just to develop them, but also be honest with them of where we think they can play. And if they can't play at a certain place that they want to play at, let's give them reasons why. And give solutions. Well, hey, maybe you can go play at this Division I, AA. Or, hey, maybe Jucco is a good route for you. Go get stronger.

Go get faster. Get your grades up. And then boom, right? Develop your skills to a point. And then you go spend two, maybe three years. If you have to register it, you know, go at a D1. I mean, I was a guy that didn't go straight to LSU. I went to a junior college.

Spent two years out of junior college, got hurt. How to come back a third year. Had a blood clot. How to come back a third year so I can get a scholarship somewhere. Then I get a small one to LSU. So, you know, there's that. So the one thing that I will tell you guys is if, you know, you have anything to say, if you have any feedback and you want me to answer any questions or I pissed you off and you want to be on the show,

I'll gladly have you on the show. And we can talk about this. I'm not, I'm not scared or adverse to having somebody on here that has a different opinion than me, as long as we have a high level, you know, conversation, right? It just sees what it is. So I'll put my email in the show notes, but you can, I'll say it on the air. It's a Sean, S-H-A-W-N dot French at the Determined Society.com. Reach out to me.

Hit me up on IG at the Sean French. Shoot me a DM. Say, hey, I'd like to talk to you about your. stance on this. Like, I disagree with you. Or, hey, I agree with you. I'd like to get on your show. And we can talk about which way you want to go with it. I'm all about getting good information out there. I'm also about supporting the opposite opinion of mine. Right. It's my opinion. Right. Now, it's an educated, it's an educated opinion. But it doesn't mean that's not another side to it. I want to hear from those people. I want to have those people on the show. I want someone to challenge me.

And I want to challenge them back. This is about the development of the youth. This isn't about ego. This isn't about me getting on my soapbox. This is about saving youth sports. This is about saving the children from being exposed and helping them develop and then going out and be productive members of society as an adult. That's what this is about. So, guys, listen, that's all for today.

I really appreciate you listen. Again, if you haven't already shared the show with somebody, please do. It's the only way I'm growing right now. I'm not doing any ads to know your ears, which I don't plan to, but maybe in the maybe in the future I will, right? But for right now, please, the only way we're growing is if you guys share the show. So share the shit out of it. Share it with your friend.

You know, share it with somebody that you feel could get some value out of it. Share it with somebody you feel would disagree with me because I want to talk to them. That'd be fun. So all right, guys, until next time, I'm out.