By CHRISTOPHER ADAMS
The Emporia Gazette
The nearly 100-year-old baseball institution of American Legion is hurting. It’s a 20th century organization struggling against the conventions of 2022.
It appears the 21st century is challenging the mid-century values of Legion ball with the existential indifference of Generation Z and a brave new America.
The Washington Post reported in 2017 that America Legion lost 25% of its teams nationwide over a 10-season span, adding that the figure was close to 80% in some states.
According to the Bangor Daily News, Oklahoma has two Legion teams, Georgia seven, Texas eight and Arizona nine.
The beleaguered youth program is having trouble in Kansas too.
“This is the first year, that I know of there has not been Emporia Legion,” said Lebo-Waverly head baseball coach Jason Konrade via email. “It's an unusual summer for baseball in the Emporia area with no legion. That’s big news in itself.”
RELATED: Bizarre ending for Hays Eagles at Legion state tournament.
There are a few reasons for Legion’s dwindling popularity in the Jayhawk state.
Foremost seems to be the decade-long emergence of showcase tournaments that promote the player, not the team. They’re basically expensive opportunities to display individual skill sets to college coaches.
“I think these showcase baseball tournaments also kind of putting a hurt on…Topeka and Kansas City Schools used to have tons of Legion programs,” said Ryan Redeker, who coached an Emporia independent team this summer. “Topeka has one or two Legion programs now (one, according to the Legion website, which appears to only have information through the 2021 season), and I don't think there's a single one in Kansas City at all.”
He rests the blame on these tournaments, saying summer baseball has been trending in this direction.
“Everybody's going to these showcase baseball things where you go play in front of college coaches on the weekend,” Redeker said. “All the elite players have gone to that, so your Legion has gone down to your smaller type schools.”
But even the best players from smaller schools or rural communities are defecting to elite showcase teams.
Tanner Willhoft, who coaches the Hays America Baseball Club 18U team, said the reality of the situation is that Legion ball isn’t a viable option.
“We had nobody really close to us at the AAA level of American Legion that we could really play…So it was one of those things where it's like, we don't have the competition to play, why are we doing it?”
Willhoft grew up playing Legion ball but agrees that showcase tournaments have become the preference and de facto system of summer baseball.
“In the summer, (Legion baseball) gives you great structure…where you have something to play for at the end of the year,” Willhoft said. “Whereas now, everybody's playing a different tournament every weekend. So you win one tournament. It's like, ‘Oh, nice you won a tournament,’ but not every team in the state is trying to get to it anymore.”
Kansas American Legion chairman Joe Durham said the organization is experiencing a slow time right now but is on the mend.
“We’re down this year there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “Covid hit us hard. We were just starting to get our feet back under us, and then we had some problems, and now we’re working our way through them.”
Durham cited scholarships as one of the reasons kids and parents are still drawn to American Legion.
“(Showcase tournaments) try to get coaches to come and give scholarships,” he said. “Well, we’re going to offer a scholarship.”
American Legion provides scholarships to qualifying high school seniors in the amount of $500 and potentially $2,500.
Durham also said parents have tired of the steep costs of showcase baseball, where the money is pocketed by coaches.
The Florida Times-Union reported that one of the reasons youth baseball is on the decline is the showcase cost. The publication stated, “Many families simply do not have the financial ability to pay for their sons to be on a traveling showcase team. One organization in Florida costs $3,800 for just one summer. Others are between $2,200 and $2,500.”
Emporia High School baseball coach Anthony Markowitz said the cost-benefit aspect of American Legion doesn’t favor the teams or players either.
“I think the only thing I would have to say is…the cost that teams had to pay for registration and insurance was more than what we got in return,” he said in a text message. “Kansas American Legion Baseball really never started until the middle of July when they organized Zone Tournaments. So we’re paying about $2,000 and only guaranteed a spot in a double elimination tournament.”
He said neighboring states’ programs do a better job administratively and structurally.
Republished with permission