Matthew Cherry

Wisconsin high school baseball has a coaching problem that I don’t think we’re talking about enough. We’re asking schools to find qualified coaches willing to spend hundreds of hours developing young athletes for stipends that often range from $3,000–$5,000 per season. These coaches are expected to build programs, develop players, communicate with parents, coordinate with youth organizations, and create positive experiences for kids. And finding people willing and qualified to do all of that is becoming increasingly difficult. Yet we continue to place restrictions on when those same coaches can work with their own players. Think about that for a second. A qualified baseball instructor can work with kids throughout the year. A travel baseball coach can work with kids throughout the year. But when that same person becomes a high school coach, suddenly there are additional restrictions on when they can help develop the very players they’re responsible for coaching. How does that make the high school coaching position more attractive? How does that encourage someone who makes a living teaching baseball to take a high school coaching job? And how does it help retain passionate, qualified coaches who want to build something beyond a three-month season? I’m not advocating for mandatory offseason workouts, year-round practices, or turning high school baseball into a 12-month obligation for kids. Quite the opposite. I’m advocating for allowing qualified coaches to work with willing players who WANT additional instruction, without forcing those coaches to navigate unnecessary restrictions. Participation should always be voluntary. Kids should be encouraged to play other sports, and nobody should feel their playing time depends on offseason attendance. But we should also recognize that restrictions intended to protect athletes can create unintended consequences for the people we’re trying to attract to coaching. In April, WIAA member schools voted 359–10 to remove certain offseason coaching-contact barriers for newly hired coaches. That’s a pretty overwhelming acknowledgment that these rules can complicate hiring. So why not take the next step? If we want better high school baseball programs in Wisconsin, we need to make coaching those programs more attractive. We probably aren’t going to dramatically increase coaching stipends anytime soon. But we can remove unnecessary barriers that discourage knowledgeable, passionate baseball people from getting involved. And we can give coaches who genuinely love developing players more reasons to stay. Eliminating offseason coaching restrictions isn’t about making kids play more baseball. It’s about making it easier for great baseball people to coach high school baseball. I think that’s a conversation worth having.