Storyline: While I know we can see a young athlete’s stats by pushing a button, scouts still need to see the young man or woman in action.
We know what a coach does. We know what a referee does. We know what players do.
But how much do we know about what happens behind the scenes? Take, for example, how a player goes from the amateur leagues to the professional leagues.
Professional sports organizations hire scouts to evaluate players. Many scouts are former coaches and players who now make their living on scouting. There are advanced scouts. There are assistants to the General Manager and heads of scouting departments. There are amateur scouts who evaluate high school and college athletes. There are international scouts who cover Mexico, Japan, Asia, Australia, and so on.
Tony Lucadello (credit, ESPN and Chicago Tribune/courtesy of Lucadello family)
Tony Lucadello, who was a scout for the Chicago Cubs (1943-1957) and Philadelphia Phillies (1957-1989), was considered one of the greatest scouts of all time. He once said, “The four kinds of scouts start with the letter “P.” The words are Poor, Picker, Performance, and Projector.”
That brings me to the mental game. Scouting reports are a little easier today because athletic performances are recorded and sent to the scouts on a digital file. The stats are up on a computer screen.
But as a former athlete myself I know that we all have ‘off days’ or maybe we didn’t do as well as we had hoped in a certain game. So while I know we can see a young athlete’s stats by pushing a button, scouts still need to see the young man or woman in action.
It’s also important to visit with the athlete and talk about what he or she likes about the game. The most important aspect is whether it’s fun. It’s also important to explore what interests athletes have outside the game, what their family life is like, and how well they feel they perform under pressure–on-and off-the-field.
Scouts need to help guide athletes–and not only in terms of having success in a sports organization. They also need to help players be successful after their playing days are over.
