ABD ACADEMY: Welcome

BY JIM ALEXANDER - The Press Enterprise

RIVERSIDE — The teenager hears the advice from his father, and … well, you know how most teenagers are. What could HE possibly know about this?

"Gilly" as he was known by his fellow umpires was very popular where he grew to know all of the players in ABD and talked of them often during games.  He developed relationships with several of them as it carried into college where he followed them and was always talking of how they were doing.

Michael did all the assigning of the umpires for the Spring League and tournaments for the ABCL.  He traveled internationally with Mike Spiers who was coordinating teams in the Pan Am Championships.  He was truly a professional umpire an will be missed by all of us.  

On February 20th, the second day of his college baseball career Cory's life dramatically changed.  In the first inning of the second game of the day, he went to steal second base.  Sliding head-first, colliding with the second baseman.  Cory suffered a C-5 fracture of his spinal cord, ultimately leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

Cory Currently spends his time doing outpatient rehab and is taking one dat at a time.  his father Dale has retired from his job to be his son's full-time caregiver allowing him to make sure Cory can get to any and all physical therapies and treatments.

A Scout Game between the New York Yankees Scout Team and Milwaukee Brewers Scout Team will play on Saturday, November 19th at the Urban Youth Academy in Compton California where all proceeds will go to the Hahn family.

Kohler, a junior lefthander at Los Osos High in Rancho Cucamonga, has been overpowering for the Red Sox Scout Team this fall. A week after he struck out 13 batters in five innings in a start, Kohler fanned eight in three innings of work against an overmatched Cardinals Blue team on Saturday. His out pitch was a sharp 71-73 mph curveball that he can throw for strikes or use as a chase pitch.

"My curveball was working good. It's usually my strongest pitch," Kohler said. "Usually I start batters off with that pitch, then go to the fastball, then maybe finish with the curve again. I brought the fastball up a little high, but felt good overall. I tried to elevate it on some, because they were chasing it."

Kohler has an easy delivery and plenty of projection in his 6-foot-2, 170-pound frame. He sat around 85-86 mph on Saturday and topped out at 87, but he figures to add significant velocity as he continues to get used to pitching and keeps maturing physically.

Several other underclassmen on the Red Sox team shined Saturday. Switch-hitting middle infielder Elliott Barzilli, another junior, showed smooth actions, good instincts and a strong arm at shortstop, while also hitting hard line drives to right field and left. He has a chance to be one of the top infield prospects in Southern California for the 2013 draft.

Outfielder Corey Dempster, a USC commit like Kohler, showed good bat speed and a solid approach, hitting a three-run, opposite-field homer to right. The ball carried well to that part of Memorial Field in Upland, and sophomore Luke Dykstra also took advantage, hitting a two-run opposite-field shot earlier in the game. Dykstra, the son of former big league all-star Lenny and the younger brother of 2008 second-round pick Cutter, is strong and athletic, and his swing and approach are making great strides. He credited his work with Cutter with helping his offensive game progress.

"(We) go to the batting cages all the time. He's one of the reasons I got so much better this offseason," Dykstra said. "I've tried to get stronger, and I'm seeing the ball way better in the fall. I was sitting on fastball (on the home run), and I just drove it the other way. I've been trying to do that the whole offseason. I changed my swing up, changed my stance. I feel more comfortable at the plate."   MORE

Nearly every major national amateur baseball organization in America is united as a USA Baseball National Member Organization. As a result, USA Baseball governs more than 12 million amateur players in ballparks and playgrounds across the country.

As the commissioner's office for amateur baseball, USA Baseball is a resource center for its various membership groups, fans and players. USA Baseball is also responsible for promoting and developing the game of baseball on the grassroots level, both nationally and internationally.

The USA Baseball membership program draws on all of the organizations' resources to afford players, coaches, parents and fans the most comprehensive baseball experience to date. The program will allow USA Baseball to further engage players of all ages in an effort to provide them with the resources to maximize their understanding of the game. USA Baseball along with the support of Major League Baseball, its National Member Organizations and sponsors is proud to offer players of all ages the opportunity to be part of Team USA.

The membership initiative will aim to provide a centralized source of baseball information, including material related to NCAA compliance, anti-doping and drug awareness, current medical safety reports, rules interpretation and coaches education. The program will also include National Team identification opportunities, travel information, player training tools, USA Baseball specialty merchandise offers, character development and more that will improve the players' overall baseball experience. The individual registration fee is $25 for all players, coaches, officials and fans. Rules interpretation, little known facts, basic laws of the game and upholding sportsmanship.

Features of the USA Baseball membership program include:

Wood chips flew up on a warm, gusty afternoon in April in Palm Desert as Tanner Rahier chopped a gash in the trunk of a dead tree with an 8-pound axe. He was like a boxer punching a dent in a heavy bag.

Rocky Balboa would applaud the Palm Desert High School incoming senior's upper-body workout. For three years, Rahier has pulled tires and swung axes and sledgehammers in the desert to power a baseball swing that has distinguished him as one of the top players in the country in the Class of 2012.

Every week during the school year, Rahier and several other players came out to a sprawling lot of open desert off of Cook Street as part of a grueling training regimen designed by his burly father, Jim.

As the summer approached, the workouts wound down. Rahier, who lives in Indian Wells, had to rest before traveling across the country to play with the nation's best young talent.

Rahier has forged his own path to stardom. In 2009, he started as a freshman at Palm Desert, but for the past two seasons, he has passed on suiting up for the Aztecs and opted to play in a spring league run by the ABD Academy, a renowned club program based in San Bernardino.

It is unusual for baseball players not to play for their high school teams, but Rahier doesn't regret bucking that tradition. Already verbally committed to play at the University of San Diego, he has the majors in his sights. On the rare occasion when Rahier has played at a pro stadium, he has dreamed of making it big.

“When you step on those fields, and you jog to the fence to warm up and look around and see the whole stadium, you see how many seats are in that place,” he said. “To imagine that place full and playing there and everyone just watching you, it's like the weirdest feeling.”

Rahier will play at two big-league stadiums this month. After competing in this week's 25th Area Code Games, one of the most prestigious high school tournaments in the country, he will participate in the Perfect Game All-American Classic on Sunday, which will feature 46 of the nation's best incoming seniors at Petco Park in San Diego.

SAN BERNARDINO—The Final Four of the ABCL Top 20 Championships are set. At 10 a.m. Sunday morning Mountain West Baseball will play SoCal Elite and the following game will be between the ABD Bulldogs 2012 and Hawaii Warriors Green.  MORE

Here are some top ABD standouts notes from previous days:

• In one of the stronger performances on Wednesday, 2012 lefthander Jayson Balades (Oxnard, Calif, HS) of the ABD Bulldogs 2012 team threw a two-hitter and it took him only 64 pitches. He was steady in the 84-85 range which doesn't light up guns but he can pitch. Balades is a touch-and-feel kind of pitcher and when going well he can really carve a team up. He is committed to Pepperdine and should be an outstanding college pitcher.

• One of Thursday's most outstanding pitching performances was was turned in by 2012 righthander Michael Collins (Damien HS, La Verne, Calif.) of the ABD Boxers. He threw a complete game shutout against the NC Bulldogs and was getting a ton of ground balls throughout the game. He topped out at 86 mph and with a sturdy frame and clean arm action, he should continue to develop into a nice college-level pitcher. He is 6-foot-3, 212 pounds.

• The hitting star for the Boxers was 2012 first baseman Anthony Fernandez (Mission Hills HS, San Marcos, Calif.). Fernandez, with a smooth and strong lefthanded stroke, went 2-for-3 with a double, run scored and two RBIs. The best player in the game was 2012 infielder Joe Munoz (Los Altos, Calif. HS). Munoz was brilliant in the field, showed off a strong arm from a couple of positions and went 1-for-3 with a double and a couple of runs scored. He has the look of a Division I middle infielder.

Hanson fanned a career-high 14 Astros to win his third consecutive start, and McCann homered for the fourth time in his last four games against Houston as the Braves notched their sixth straight victory, 4-1, on Sunday.

"I think the home-plate umpire did a really good job with the strike zone," Hanson said. "I thought he was really consistent, and that always makes it easier."

The 14 strikeouts are the most in a game for a Braves starter since John Smoltz struck out 15 Mets on April 10, 2005.

Hanson struck out at least one Astros hitter in every inning he pitched and struck out the side in the third and seventh frames. He threw 112 pitches in seven innings, allowing three hits and two walks.

"He was borderline pitch count in the sixth inning, and he goes, 'I'm good, I'm good,' said manager Fredi Gonzalez. "And he was good. He finished the seventh inning, and it was probably the best inning he had."

Hanson is 3-0 against the Astros with a 0.97 ERA in five career starts. He hadn't allowed a run in 15 previous innings at Minute Maid Park.

"I love throwing inside [with a roof], and especially here," Hanson said. "I don't know why. Certain places, I don't know if it's the backdrop or what, for whatever reason the plate feels real close to me."  MORE

SAN DIEGO -- Anthony Rizzo proved on Saturday night that a strapping left-handed hitter can reach the usually unattainable right-field bleachers at PETCO Park. The Padres rookie first baseman did just that with his first Major League home run.

"That's true raw power," Padres manager Bud Black said on Sunday before the Padres dropped a 2-0 decision to the Nationals. "There's all kinds of power, but there's no doubt that Anthony has true all-field power."

Rizzo was brought up from Triple-A Tucson on Thursday. In his first four games -- all against the Nationals -- he was 3-for-10 with the homer, a double, triple, five walks and was hit by a pitch. But Rizzo had as much of an impact off the field as he did on it during his first weekend with the Padres.

Here's the back story on the home run: The ball landed 378-feet away just above the 12-foot wall that supports the out-of-town scoreboard and became wedged beneath the railing. An usher handed the soon-to-be-coveted baseball to a fan seated a few rows away -- Nina Magliozzi, from nearby Carlsbad, Calif.

The Padres sent a representative to the area in search of the baseball, inviting Nina and three of her friends to meet with Rizzo outside the Padres clubhouse just after the game. Nina made no demands. She said she wanted nothing for the baseball. In her mind, that first home run ball was his.

"Someone came and got me and asked me what I wanted for the ball," Nina explained as video cameras recorded the meeting. "But we just wanted to meet him. It belonged to him. We weren't going to take it from him."

When Rizzo emerged from the clubhouse he was all smiles. Nina gave him the baseball and the moment could've ended there with a handshake. It didn't. Rizzo went back into the clubhouse and fetched one of his game-used bats. He asked Nina her name and inscribed it on the barrel of the bat along with his signature. One of her friends had a sky-blue cast on his wrist and Rizzo signed that, too.   MORE

• Friday, June 10
  RIZZO MAKES BIG SPLASH AS PADRES BEAT NATS
• Thursday, June 9
  RIZZO'S TIME IS NOW: Prospect to Join Padres
• Monday, June 6
  HAWPE PLAYS RIGHT FIELD AS PADRES PREPARE FOR RIZZO
  

Wong, who just finished his junior season at Hawaii, was regarded as one of the best pure hitters in the Draft. He turns 20 in October and is a left-handed hitter.

In 57 games, Wong batted .378 with a .492 on-base percentage and a .560 slugging percentage. He scored 48 runs, drove in 53 and stole 23 bases in 30 tries. He's considered a polished hitter with a chance to move quickly through the Cardinals' system.

"He's an advanced college hitter who's done well with wood and the new bats, and he plays the game the right way," said Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals' scouting director.

Wong follows Zack Cox (2010) and Brett Wallace (2008) as college infielders drafted high by the Cardinals. 

Kolten Wong has seen the look, and, frankly, he thrives on it.

It's a dismissive glance, one that says, "There's no way that guy can play." But the University of Hawaii second baseman likes the look that invariably comes after he's done his damage with his bat and legs. That one is more like, "I can't believe that guy can play."

"I love it," said Wong, a junior who has the chance to be a first-round pick in the June 6-8 First-Year Player Draft. "I love seeing people, they look at me and think, 'He's really small, but he beat us.' I love that look. 'My kid's 6-foot-3 and he embarrassed him.' That gives me an edge. I have that fire. I know I'm not the biggest guy, but my athleticism and knowledge of the game is as good as anyone's. I know I've been trained well."

Wong stands just 5-foot-9, but he's made more than one non-believer, well, believe. Wong carried a .375 average with 22 steals as his Hawaii team entered the Western Athletic Conference tournament as the top seed this weekend. Those numbers are nothing new, as Wong entered the year with a career .349 average and 30 steals over his first two collegiate seasons. He hits (and draws walks) wherever he goes, including in the elite Cape Cod League. Wong was the named MVP after earning All-Star honors and finishing third in the wood-bat league with a .341 average.

The training Wong refers to comes from his father. Kaha Wong played a little ball in his day, spending two seasons with the Reno Silver Sox, a then-unaffiliated member of the California League. When at a professional game at age 9 or 10, Wong turned to his father and said, 'I want to do this one day.' That, of course, is nothing unusual. It's something that likely happens daily in baseball stadiums everywhere. The difference is the younger Wong meant it and had the support he needed to chase that dream.

"He said, 'If you want to do it, we're going to start working. We'll get to where you're one of the best players out here,'" Wong recalled. "From that day on, I just worked and worked. I had to be good at every aspect of the game because I didn't have the height. The mental side, knowing what to do, being able to handle adversity, that's what got me to where I am today. My dad forced it into my brain.

"The main thing was having the right parents. I had a dad who knew the game in and out. I had a mom who was there always to encourage me. My mom was the one behind him saying, 'You did all right [after a bad game].' I had the right parents driving me and showing me how to grow up and mature in the game."  MORE

You can't help but notice the eyes. They come at you with a delightful squint, the kind of welcoming look that's non-menacing, unless you're on a pitcher's mound. That smile, creased perfectly and charming, appears familiar, too. So is the slight chin dimple.

All that's actually missing are the branded Popeye forearms, those monstrosities that once terrorized National League pitchers and seemed to have a life of their own.

Ryan Garvey laughs at the thought. It's the one thing he's been short-changed on when it comes to dad's genetics. Everything else, it seems, is there — from the No. 6 Ryan wears for Palm Desert (Calif.), to the compact explosive swing, to his intuitive baseball instincts, to the strong possibility Ryan will one day play Major League Baseball just like his dad, former Los Angeles Dodgers great Steve Garvey.

There's no hyper reverie to Ryan's actions on the field. No one would ever confuse Ryan for being Lenny Dykstra's son, for instance. Ryan hits, glides through the outfield, fields and throws in a smooth, controlled rhythmic flow, like his dad (in truth, Ryan runs much better than his father).

Now when crowds of Major League scouts cloister behind backstops of Palm Desert games with their stopwatches, they may talk to Steve, but they're really there to see and gravitate to Ryan. He's emerged as one of the best high school power hitters in the country, in a class with Travis Harrison, slugging a season-best nine homers, one away from tying the Palm Desert single-season school record.

Through 28 games, Ryan was hitting .381, leading the team in doubles (12), home runs (nine), runs (32) and RBIs (41). A centerfielder and occasional first baseman, Ryan has already committed to USC on a baseball scholarship, but may not make it there, projected to go anywhere from the late first round to the third round.

Aside from myriad baseball skills, the 6-foot, 190-pound senior already has a built-in advantage over most players his age – the experience and ability to cope with pressure. It came pre-ordered, with the weighty name on the back of his jersey, "G-A-R-V-E-Y."

He could cower away from it, hunch down and hide.

Instead, Ryan boldly embraces the fact the he's the son of a former Dodger great, playing in Southern California, wearing dad's famous No. 6. When he changed his number from 10 to 6 at the outset of his junior year, his mother Candace had some misgivings. Ryan didn't need that.

So when he went into a mini-slump last season, Candace suggested Ryan change the number. Ryan nixed the thought, saying, "Mom, it's not the number striking out and struggling at the plate, it's me." He kept the number.   MORE

BASEBALL AMERICA Draft Tracker: April 27

Staff Report
April 27, 2011

Martin has surged toward the top of a weak field of SoCal prep talent. A less-than-stellar crop in Southern California is one of the few holes in the 2011 draft class, but Martin's improvement has deepened the group. He started strong with a good performance at the Southern California Invitational Showcase at the MLB Urban Youth Academy, hitting well and running a solid if unspectacular 6.75-second 60. He's had a strong spring as well for Santiago High, hitting his fifth home run April 19 in a 10-6 win against Riverside Poly.

Martin's bat had been in question coming into the season, but a scout who saw him hit the home run said he's made strides offensively to go with average-to-plus tools otherwise.

"The glove is really good," the scout said. "The glove brought guys in to see him in the first place. He makes the tough play look easy. I believe he will stay at shortstop. But now, he's starting to hit, and he's running well. He's a guy that used to hit ninth for his high school team, but he's hit third all year this year and he's been hitting a lot better. It sounds like he's the guy making the biggest push up the lists in Southern California this year."

Edison High's Christian Lopes has been the higher-profile player for several years among SoCal infielders, and a National League crosschecker said Lopes and Martin are an interesting contrast. Just putting Martin in Lopes' class, though, is a big step for Martin, who has committed to Oregon State after originally signing with Cal State Fullerton.

"Brandon Martin is a toolsy shortstop with more upside than Christian Lopes," a National League crosschecker said. "But if I'm a high school coach, I want Lopes at shortstop. It's the classic scout's dilemma."

By David Ely / Special to MLB.com | 4/17/2011 1:30 AM ET

LOS ANGELES -- It's gotten to the point that it doesn't matter who the Cardinals insert into the lineup, whomever steps into the batter's box is going to hit. And he's going to hit for power.  Subbing for Lance Berkman, who was given the night off with left-hander Clayton Kershaw on the mound for the Dodgers, right fielder Allen Craig was the latest Cardinals hitter to wreck havoc. With Albert Pujols at second and Matt Holliday on first, Craig launched a hanging slider over the left-field fence to end Kershaw's night and carry St. Louis to a 9-2 win on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

By Lyle Spencer / MLB.com | 4/16/2011 10:20 PM ET

CHICAGO -- Forming one of the game's youngest batteries, Tyler Chatwood and Hank Conger were an electric combination on Saturday in driving the Angels' winning streak to four games.  Chatwood, a 21-year-old right-hander with premium stuff, and Conger, his 23-year-old receiver, had the poise of seasoned veterans in the course of a 7-2 decision over the White Sox in front of 21,250 at frigid U.S. Cellular Field.

By Mark Bowman / MLB.com | 4/12/2011 11:35 PM ET

ATLANTA -- As they struggled through the first week of the season, the Braves remained confident their offense would eventually show life. Tommy Hanson was just happy to see these bats come to life on a night when he too escaped an early-season funk.  Martin Prado produced two key hits and veteran shortstop Alex Gonzalez dazzled with his glove while providing Hanson with more than enough to support a strong seven-inning effort that helped the Braves claim a 5-0 win over the Marlins at Turner Field Tuesday night. "The bottom line is, as our pitching goes, we're going to go," Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said after contributing a pair of RBIs. "Tonight was as perfect of a nine-inning game as we've played yet."  While it was important for the Braves to see Nate McLouth deliver a clutch third-inning double and receive impressive solo homers from both Jason Heyward and Brian McCann, it was equally encouraging to see Hanson prove dominant after struggling in his first two starts of the season.  "When a pitcher makes his pitches, especially a guy like Tommy, with great stuff like that, it's tough to hit," Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison said. "He pounded the zone and set the tone for them."  MORE

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The weekly accolades continue to pile up for Army junior LHP Logan Lee, who was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week on Monday after pitching the Black Knights to a 3-0 victory over Navy on Saturday.

Lee, who was named the Army Athletic Association Athlete of the Week earlier in the day, tossed six shutout innings against the Midshipmen in the pivotal first game of the teams' four game set last weekend.

His performance helped the Black Knights win the series "star" as the four-game set was split by the two service academies. In the event of a split, the winner of Game One earns the coveted star, which Army has now captured in eight straight years.

Lee (3-5) allowed just three hits in the contest and only two Navy players reached second base throughout his dominant outing. The Laguna Niguel, Calif., product struck out four batters and did not yield a walk during his start.

Lee leads the Patriot League with a 3.13 ERA, while his 38 strikeouts pace the Black Knights' pitching staff. He is the second straight Army pitcher to cop the conference's weekly award following Scott Lucado's selection last week.

Tribe, winners of seven straight, visit Angels

By Cash Kruth / MLB.com | 4/10/2011 8:30 PM ET

UCI overcame an early 2-0 deficit with a 4-run fifth against starter Tyler Pill, who had been perfect through three innings. With one out, Jonathan Hurst singled off Blake Barber's glove at third and went to second on Jordan Leyland's double to left. A wild pitch allowed Hurst to score and Leyland to move to third, from where he scored the tying run on Tommy Reyes' sacrifice fly to center that was dropped by Ivory Thomas for an error. D.J. Crumlich's second double of the game off the chalk in left scored Reyes with the go-ahead run and Pill came out in favor of Floro after walking Sean Madigan. Crumlich was thrown out trying to steal third. Madigan took second on the play and scored on a single to right by Brian Hernandez.

By Richard Dean / Special to MLB.com | 4/9/2011 11:59 PM ET

The Marlins have come from behind in four of their five wins this season. And they made a winner of right-hander Javier Vazquez (1-1), who was solid after a shaky first two innings.

DENVER – New Mexico State catcher/designated hitter Zac Fisher and Louisiana Tech pitcher Caleb Dudley have been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 28-April 3.

Fisher, a sophomore from Fontana, Calif. (A.B. Miller HS), helped the Aggies to a 3-1 record last week against Northern Colorado. Fisher did not play in the series-opening loss to the Bears, but played the next three games, hitting .545 with half of his hits being home runs. Fisher went 6-for-11 at the plate during the three games, tallying nine RBI, three home runs, four runs scored and a pair of walks. The three home runs marked Fisher’s first home runs of the season.

Blaine Clemmens • All Americans Showcase 

With the explosion of club and travel baseball in the last 10 or so years, it is getting harder and harder for players and parents to decide which organization to play for (let's face it, that is what many of the club and travel ball teams are part of, an organization).  Sure they all schedule boatloads of games and tournaments to play in all summer.  They all pretty much tell players and parents they are the best one for exposure to major college programs and professional scouts.  Some of these organizations have strong and long track records that they can use to recruit players.  Others have coaches that perhaps coached at the D1 level or were scouts or professional players.

So what really does separate one club team organization from another?  Nowadays it is just not enough to offer competitive games, good coaching, and relationships with college coaches and pro scouts.  One organization in particular seems to have risen above all others, at least in California.  Amateur Baseball Development (ABD) has a long history of great young players who have moved on to significant college and pro careers, with many of them being drafted very highly in the MLB draft.  In years past the Aflac All-American Classic has been littered with ABD players, as has the highly regarded Area Code Games.

Many organizations might (and do) just rest on it's laurels and attempt to recruit future players based largely on the past success of the organization.  However, ABD is not that type of organization.  Headed by the leadership and vision of Mike Spiers, ABD continues to evolve and adapt and seek ways to be better.

Recently ABD entered into an agreement with EM Speed and Power Training (www.emspeedtraining.com), which has three locations in Southern California.  ABD players who live in Southern California will be part of the EM training program and will be able to get training twice a week.  Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson, an ABD alum, is one player who says he thrived under the training regimen of EM.  He has worked hard in his off-seasons at EM and has exploded onto the MLB scene as a player to not only meet, but if possible, exceed very high expectations.

Most club teams do not provide a training program for their players, with each player being responsible for his own athletic training.  Some players come from families that can afford better training than others while others simply cannot afford professional training.  With ABD, the players and families know they are going to not only receive the best competition, coaching and exposure possible in club/travel baseball, but they will also be receiving the best athletic training as well.  EM trains players with baseball specific explosive strength, quickness and speed training.  The goal is to train players in such a way that off the field training will translate to on the field performance and they seem to be doing a great job of doing that.

ABD has not stopped there in terms of going the extra mile for it's players.  They have also entered into an agreement with Field Level  (www.fieldlevel.com), which will give each player his own "Player Profile" that will include all pertinent information about that player.  The players will have a page within Field Level that will have all the information sought by college coaches from around the country and those coaches will be able to access that information through Field Level.  Field Level is designing software specifically for ABD that will eventually be part of an on-line database program.  Here is the type of information that players will be able to keep updated and will be accessed by college coaches:

• Player information (height, weight, position, throw, bat, etc.)*Scouting Information
• Testing Information (strength, 60-yard running time, arm strength, etc.)
• News links
• Videos
• Photos
• Attach high school transcripts & other academic information

The toughest thing in sports is not to get to the top of the mountain.  The hardest thing is staying on top and those teams or organizations that stand still and do not seek ways to stay on top will eventually be caught and passed by competitors.  The players and parents are bombarded with opportunities to join club teams, before they even get to high school.  Parents are becoming much more informed, and even more importantly, they are becoming more discerning about where to spend their money.   Parents that become part of ABD can feel good about not only the history of the program, but also the present and even more importantly, the future of the program.