My child is a talented athlete, now what?

Spring is here and it is time for another season of our national pastime to begin. As the professional baseball players get geared up to play and get in shape, so do high school and college students.

If you have a child who is a gifted baseball player, it can be both a blessing and a curse. Your child will likely be the recipient of a lot of attention from the school, local reporters, and possibly even college or professional scouts. This can be a major source of distraction for anyone, let alone someone who has not even completed high school. Also, it is not uncommon for both the children and parents to obsess over unrealistic success and income.

For some parents of gifted athletes, there may also be a curse of inattention. There are only a limited number of college and professional scouts, and they cannot be everywhere at once. So for some, the question then becomes what can you do to ensure that your child gets noticed to make him or her eligible for a scholarship or minor league contract.

New Jersey is fortunate in that it has many resources to provide future athletes to help train both body and mind. There are numerous baseball academies from Jack Cust’s sparkling new facility in Flemington to Joe Barth’s Hit Doctor Clinic in Cherry Hill to Garett Teel’s Academy. Additionally, there are also many semi-retired coaches and baseball players who teach and coach local children. The baseball community is generally a close community, and the good word of an unbiased and fair coach can carry a lot of weight with scouts and college recruiters.

If you have not been to a baseball clinic or seen a personal coach, you will be amazed by the technology that is being used to help these young athletes. Gone are the days when a little metal arm throws out an oversized golf ball. Nowadays, the children receive batting practice from video screens that simulate a pitcher’s motion. In addition, a player’s movements are taped, played back and analyzed to help improve his or her performance. Some facilities have specially equipped study rooms and gymnasiums.

Many of the area coaches work together to schedule major events that showcase the children’s talent, including the very popular NJ Super 17 Baseball Program. During these events, some of the best local players gather to show their skills before numerous college and professional scouts.

For those that may not be at the highest level, but still dream of getting a scholarship to college because of their baseball skills, these clinics and coaches can help film recruiting tapes. Now, coaches who never would have been able to make the trip to see your child play can easily evaluate the ability of many athletes online.

Players who are serious about competing professionally (and often collegially) must now face psychological exams as well as physical and educational tests. As the great Yogi Berra once said, “Baseball is 90% mental, and the other half is physical.” Well, the good coaches will also teach your children discipline and how to deal with the mental and emotional stresses that they will inevitably face.

Baseball and softball coaches are not only for athletes who dream of becoming professionals. Many players simply want to perform better for their own self esteem. Indeed, some coaches prefer to teach players (especially young players), who simply want to play for the love of the game.

The experts may vary in how they train future baseball and softball players, but they all agree that the child’s hard work, dedication and love of the game is imperative if he or she truly wants to move on to the next level – whether that is college or professional.

Next article: My child is being scouted, now what?

Special thanks to Jack Cust, Sr., Keith Dilgard, Joe Barth, and George (Curvy) Ramos for providing valuable time and resources in the preparation of this article.

CBA Supercedes Individual Player Contracts

Recently, there has been a lot of press about how MLB has voided Barry Bonds' latest contract with the San Francisco Giants. The question is why was this done? To understand, we need to start by looking at the history behind collective bargaining agreements.

The reason why similarly situated individuals come together (a bargaining unit) to form a union is because there is strength in numbers. Management can't tell one person that if he doesn't agree to a salary of peanuts, he can just hire someone else who will work for peanuts. If Management does do that, the group of workers can threaten to strike.

Typically, the union leaders work with management to create a collective bargaining agreement that neither side likes, but that both the employees and Management can live with. The CBA will have provisions for salaries, terms of employment and the time frame for which the CBA covers. Once these terms are agreed to by Management, it cannot hire anyone to work for them on terms inconsistent with such agreement. To do so would be a violation of National Labor Relations Act.

Collective bargaining agreements in the sports world are different from collective bargaining agreements in almost every other industry because when it comes to discussing salary, the CBA in sports leagues only sets a floor that Management can't go below and allows each player to negotiate his top salary.

However, like all CBAs, once terms of employment are established in the CBA, an employee (player) and management may not override those terms of employment with a side agreement. Many of the terms of employment for MLB are established through the Uniform Player's Contract. Specifically, Article III – Uniform Player's Contract states:

During the term of this Agreement, no other form of Uniform Player’s Contract will be utilized. Should the provisions of any Contract between any individual Player and any of the Clubs be inconsistent with the terms of this Agreement, the provisions of this Agreement shall govern. Subject to the limitations set forth in Article IV below, nothing herein contained shall limit the right of any Club and Player to enter into Special Covenants in the space provided in a manner not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement.

Now, despite all the hoopla surrounding Barry Bonds' steriod and drug problems, the contract was reportedly voided by MLB because it violated the CBA's provision with regard to promotional activies. That CBA provision states:

Baseball Promotion
3.(b) In addition to his services in connection with the actual playing of baseball, the Player agrees to cooperate with the Club and participate in any and all reasonable promotional activities of the Club and Major League Baseball, which, in the opinion of the Club, will promote the welfare of the Club or professional baseball, and to observe and comply with all reasonable requirements of the Club respecting conduct and service of its team and its players, at all times whether on or off the field.

While I am unaware of the exact language that the Giants put in the contract that was in violation of the CBA, it must have required an unreasonable amount public relations service time. Again, I have no proof, but it could only have been done for one of two reasons: 1) to try and make up for his tarnished image; or 2) to take advantage of Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's home run record.

Barry's contract also had provisions that would give the Giants the ability to terminate the contract in the event that Barry's legal troubles caught up with him. According to reports by the Associated Press, Barry's contract reads:

Player acknowledges and agrees that an indictment for any criminal act... is proper grounds for termination of this contract.

Player also acknowledges and agrees that he will not grieve, appeal or otherwise challenge any club action to terminate this contract as a result of player's indictment for any criminal acts [specified] ... nor will he cause or authorize any third party, such as the Major League Baseball Players Association, to grieve, appeal or otherwise challenge any club action to terminate this contract as a result of players' indictment for any [specified] criminal acts.

No official decision has been made with respect to these provisions, but this language also likely violates both the grievance procedure and the termination procedures established in the CBA. In particular, the language that states neither Bonds nor the MLB Players Association will appeal any club action to terminate the contract has little chance of surviving.

Technically, this contract is governed by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement which, as far as I know, has not been reduced to writing. Accordingly, my analysis has been base upon my reading of the CBA from 2002-2006. It is likely that the same provisions will be included in the new CBA.

Baseball's New Collective Bargaining Agreement

I've been waiting for a while now to receive a copy of Baseball's new CBA. However, I am not sure it has been reduced to writing yet. I received an email from my old Sports Law Professor, Gary Roberts (formerly of Tulane, now Indiana School of Law), that he has not received a written copy yet either and he thinks it will be a little while longer before the fine details are formalized.

Accordingly, I will take what I can from MLB's website as well as other trustworthy sources to start some of my analysis shortly.

However, if anyone has any information on the new CBA, I would appreciate it if you could drop me a line.

Thank you.

Starting off

It may be a little bit before I start posting to this site.

Once I get going, I am hoping to write extensively about the laws that that baseball athletes must be aware of. In particular, how the athlete is affected by NCAA rules and regulations, the minor league draft, any contracts the player may sign (minor league, major league or independent league), and of course the new Major League Baseball collective bargaining agreement.

Comments and feedback are welcomed.