Talent dictates success in high school sports, but economics is playing a growing role in determining wins and losses on the prep baseball and softball diamonds. The cost of equipment in those two sports has risen to the point that several local programs struggle simply because their athletes can’t afford to play.
The tools a player holds in their hands can play just as big a role in on-field success as the athletic skill set they were born with. That stark contrast was immediately evident when East Hamilton recently played Brainerd in baseball. While each East Hamilton player arrived carrying a travel bag, which held their own bats, gloves and equipment, Brainerd’s players showed up with four total bats, two that were bought by the school more than two years ago and two others that were purchased by players.
“There is a definite disadvantage for programs like ours,” Brainerd coach Thomas Humphrey said. “It’s not a talent thing, it’s a cost thing. That’s the difference.
“It is frustrating because we had about six kids who had to quit playing just because they couldn’t afford new cleats or to buy a glove. When we started practice we didn’t have enough gloves for everybody, because not all of our players have their own gloves, but we got lucky and somebody donated a few gloves for us to use. We raise money as best we can to supply things the players need, but it doesn’t come close to making things even.”
Part of the money Brainerd’s baseball program brought in helped buy new uniforms for the first time in nine years. The team often meets at Sir Gooney’s batting cages for hitting practice or uses the softball team’s pitching machines.
“The cost is definitely the reason a lot of inner city kids don’t play baseball,” said Brainerd junior KeLun Eubanks, who pitches and plays centerfield. “This is just my second year to play baseball and its tough because my mom is a single parent and I’ve got three other siblings at home.
“Its like any other sport, dedication and hard work helps you win more, but you do notice other teams have more up-to-date stuff than us and it makes a difference.”
East Hamilton’s program is in only its second year of varsity competition but coach Steve Garland said the majority of his players have had their own equipment since they arrived. That includes five of the program’s six catchers who had purchased their own gear.
“I bought a set of catcher’s gear last year, and it turned out we hardly used it,” Garland said. “I haven’t bought a bat for a program I’ve coached at in more than 10 years. The game just sort of changed and now you don’t even have to ask players to buy their own equipment, they just show up already having it.
“It’s like a good carpenter showing up without his own hammer. I haven’t even had to buy many batting helmets because a lot of our kids have their own, so all I do is give them our logo decal to put on the helmet so they match the ones I did buy.”
Garland, who played at East Ridge and later Carson Newman, said he noticed the shift in players buying their own equipment around the mid-1990s, just as his coaching career began.
“I never bought a bat when I played because we all used what the team furnished,” Garland said. “But its completely opposite now. Economics play a big role in this game now and that’s a bitter pill to swallow for someone like me who loves baseball. I don’t want it to be a rich kid’s sport, like golf or tennis, but its gotten to the point with the expense of bats, gloves, cleats and private instructors that that’s what the game has become.
“And that’s not even figuring in the kids who play summer travel baseball, which can run well over four digits to play. By comparison, basketball is relatively inexpensive since you just need a ball and a hoop, so there’s a lot of kids who are great athletes and would be good baseball players but they simply can’t afford the sport anymore.”
The socio-economic dividing line clearly separates haves from the have-nots. The programs whose players don’t have the financial means to keep up with the latest equipment struggle to compete on an annual basis.
Chattanooga’s inner-city programs such as Brainerd, Howard and Tyner have all won district or region championships in basketball and football within the last five years. But those athletes have not known the same success in baseball and softball, sports in which none of those three schools have won a league title in more than 15 years.
“Baseball is kind of an afterthought here because of the expense,” Howard coach Chris Smith said. “When I started here we didn’t even have catcher’s equipment. It’s a struggle for sure.”
The price tag for success carries over into softball where many of the area’s top programs operate without having to supply much equipment to players. GPS, which has won the last four Division II-AA state championships, supplies uniforms and travel bags but not much else to its players.
“I couldn’t tell you the last time we had to buy a bat or catcher’s gear,” Bruisers coach Susan Crownover said. “We don’t even buy many helmets because the girls don’t like sharing those, so they just buy their own. When you think that bats cost between $300-$400 each and they only last maybe one season, it becomes a pretty expensive sport.
“All but one of our 16 girls has their own bat, and several of them have two. I’ve even known some who will go buy new ones during the season if they’re in a hitting slump. On the other side, we’ve played teams that you can tell they’re hamstrung with older equipment. It makes a ton of difference because with a quality bat, the ball just comes off a lot faster. Not to mention the psychological advantage of feeling like you’re going to succeed because you’ve got the best.”
Crownover’s son Matthew is also one of the area’s top prep baseball players, having already committed to sign with Clemson as a junior at Ringgold. She added that the equipment in his travel bag likely topped $2,000.
“If you look in Matthew’s bag, he’s got three bats, a first baseman’s mitt, a pitcher’s glove and an outfielder’s glove and then all the batting gloves, UnderArmour and Oakley sunglasses,” Crownover said. “I guess some people would say we could have saved all that money and paid for college.”
Although Lookout Valley is one of the county’s smallest schools by enrollment, its baseball program has long been a source of pride for the community. Yellow Jackets coach David Dinger said the program spends between $25,000-$30,000 each year on equipment, uniforms and field upkeep. The program buys new catcher’s gear every season, which can run between $300-$400, and supplies each player with practice pants, hats, uniforms, winter workout shirts and sliding shorts as well as a travel bag and two sets of uniforms.
“Ted Williams used to say it’s the Indians not the arrows that make the difference,” Dinger said. “I know we won a championship in 1980 with a Tennessee Thumper bat that had about 15 dents in it and every kid on the team used it.
“But times change and the game is a lot different now. You want the best for your players and we want them to look nice and feel good about the program. But its gotten to the point that we don’t need to buy a lot of other equipment because if you’re good at this sport and care about it, honestly, you already have your own equipment.”