Youth Baseball in 2020

Youth Baseball Participation in the USA up 21% Since 2014

Happy New Years to each of you. I hope 2020 is off to a fast start!

I know, I know, where have I been?

I’m still reminded weekly that I haven’t published a new article or email recently, and I can’t think of a better way to start 2020! As I’ve said before, it’s encouraging to hear that at least a few of you actually open the emails!

Baseball Participation in the United States is Up

According to a February 2019 article in the Wall Street Journal, 15.9 million people played baseball in the United States in 2018. That’s up from 15.6 million the year before, and up from 13.2 million in 2014.

There are many reasons why this has happened, but I’d like to see that number continue to rise. Given what I see every weekend at youth league tournaments, we have a lot of work to do to keep this number going in the right direction.

And that’s why I keep coming back to my writing. Please take 15 seconds to subscribe (it’s free) and/or forward this to anyone else you know that might be interested in reading throughout the year.

What Now?

Previously, my goal was to publish twice a week, and while that level of engagement was good, I need to be more realistic with my time.

The thing is, making change isn’t really about goals. It’s about developing habits - tiny changes that deliver results. How many goals or New Year’s Resolutions have you made that never came to fruition?

Me too…so instead of focusing on the goal, I’m going to focus on the habit. Starting today, January 1, 2020, I’m going to write at least 500 words every day. And you’ll get your one email per week! 💥

As a side note, I highly recommend Atomic Habits by James Clear. It has nothing to do with baseball specifically, but is one of the best books on how to focus on the small habits that will make you 1% better every day.

Now, back to baseball and Elbow Up…

Email Length

The feedback I’ve received has been good, but shorter length would make each email/post a little easier to get through. Everyone is busy, so I’d like to deliver value without taking up too much of your time.

This will also allow me to cover more topics. Every once in a while I’ll go deeper, and of course I welcome any feedback on this.

Podcast

I recorded a couple of podcast episodes a few month back with a friend of mine who has way more baseball experience than me.

He’s a former college baseball player, coach, and athletic director, and now serves as an athletic director and high school principal. He’s a good teacher of the game, has experience as a recruiter, and shares the same passion for helping young athletes!

I’m also currently working on booking some additional podcast guests. This will be BIG if I can get it going.

Here’s the thing though, you have to be subscribed to this newsletter to get notified about the podcasts. They’ll be published right here - so be sure and sign up now before you forget! (it’s free!)

Please Spread the Word

Thank you to each of you who jumped in early to read and share the articles with a friend or to your social media channels. We’ve had over 20,000 people read the articles so far, and almost 1,000 subscribers.

Please help spread the word by forwarding this email to anyone you think might be interested. Send to your son’s coach and other parents on the team. The more we all learn, the better experience our youth players will have!

I can’t thank you enough for your help with this!

And until next time, GET YOUR ELBOW UP!

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