3.

I am very excited to have Coach Marcelino with us on the podcast today. Brad shares about his background and baseball career.  He knew that the game gave him so much as a player that he wanted to give back and that led to his coaching career.  He has a very well rounded perspective and view from his experience as a player, recruiting coordinator, and from his time working with youth.  He shares so many great insights about getting exposure and maintaining a balance. He has so much great advice for players and parents. He shares his process for recruiting and choosing the right players. 

Brad Marcelino started his coaching career at local La Costa Canyon High School for three years and helped the program become nationally ranked for three years. He helped five LCC players move on to professional baseball. Marcelino became an associate scout for the Baltimore Orioles evaluating local talent in San Diego. He played his collegiate baseball at Occidental College and California Lutheran University. After Cal Lu he played professionally and also attended Cleveland Indians Spring Training in 2004. He most recently competed in the 2012 World Baseball Classic which took place in Regensburg, Germany. Marcelino is the founder of the North County Mavericks high school/college prep baseball program which consists of 4th - 8th graders and is based out of North County San Diego. Brad Marcelino served as the Toreros' hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. He was USD’s hitting coach, outfield, base, and 3B coach for eight years.

In this episode, Coach Marcelino shares his process for recruiting and choosing the right players for his team.  He shares so many great insights about getting exposure and maintaining a balance. He has so much great advice for both players and parents. 

• [00:53] Brad lived in central California but was actually born in London. His dad played baseball also.  
• [01:15] He had a very neat baseball career where he had exposure to many neat places, cultures, ways to teach, coaches, teammates, and languages.  
• [01:41] Brad’s career was always about being an underdog, but that really lit a fire with him.  
• [02:05] He started his first coaching job at La Costa Canyon High School then he went to the University of San Diego for eight years. 
• [02:37] Now Brad works with 25 different MLB guys during the season and the off-season. 
• [03:09] He played multiple sports growing up.  You shouldn’t specialize too early. 
• [05:55] There is a time and a place to put the gas pedal on, but a high percentage needs to pump the breaks.  
• [08:24] He has several questions he asked the kids to see what is the best fit for them.  
• [09:49] He is not saying to not go get exposure, but you also have to learn to play the game and have a balance with it. 
• [10:05] It is important to spend time researching and visiting schools to see if you like it, instead of just going to showcases each weekend.  
• [12:08] When recruiting he wanted a kid that could compete.    
• [14:31]  Your recruiting, class, and players are your pulse. 
• [15:37] The landscape is difficult and it is especially difficult with the restraints on the programs.  
• [16:51] Trust is a huge thing with parents and kids.  Trust and be patient in your player’s development. 
• [17:38] Surrounding yourself with people that can give your sound advice is super important.    
• [20:07] It is important to not compare yourself to other players. 
• [20:45] One of the first things he does is ask the coaches what type of character work ethic, and family member a player is before recruiting them.  He wants to hear what he can’t see in a game. 
• [21:46] At the end of the day, I want a guy that is going to have high character, high values, and high morals regardless of the situation that he is presented with.
• [22:11]  Character and work ethic have a huge impact and will take a kid much farther.   
• [24:35] If you’re not a good teammate or person it is eventually going to catch up with you. 
• [26:51] If you want to be better, then hang out with people that are better than you. 
• [29:09] They have guidelines and rules and they want you to flourish through this system and player development platform. 
• [31:53] We don’t just recruit players at the college level.  We recruit families as well.  You have to be able to recruit the whole package. 
• [34:01] Bad habits and behaviors now lead to more problems later.  
• [35:13] It is important to stay right where you are, work, and grow instead of looking at the things all around you.  
• [38:08] If they focus on getting a little better each day that is more manageable for the kids.  
• [40:00] We need to get kids to buy into the fact that they are special and doing great things, but now it is time to grind and work hard to improve.  
• [43:11] For youth it is important to not get so caught up in how it is supposed to look at the end of the road.  
• [43:53] The first thing for youth and even high school age players is to watch the game and pay attention to what the good players are doing.  
• [44:15] If your kid goes 0-4 don’t blow them up in the car instead celebrate.  The more pressure we put on the kids the more they don’t like hitting.    
• [45:03] As a family be as positive as you can and find that balance.  
• [47:31] For youth kids, hit the ball hard. Knowing who you are as an individual hitter is important. 
• [49:43] We already know hitting is the most difficult thing. 
• [51:57] The kids need to become athletic and learn their bodies and that will translate into other things.  
• [53:49] It is important to know your kids and how they think as individuals and then you can begin to challenge them.  
• [58:19] There is a fight required to play this game and you have to be able to make adjusts. 
• [60:16] We all struggle with things.  Share the struggle so we can talk about it and work on it.  
• [62:15] As parents, take a deep breath and enjoy it versus pushing it. Allow your player to go through failure and figure it out.    
• [63:17] Brad’s advice for kids is that it’s never wrong to have goals and dreams. Be relentless when fighting for those goals, but you don’t have to get it right away. You need to continue to get 1% better and create good habits each day. 

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