Playing for a spot on a USA Baseball National Team involves traveling across the country, competing against the rest of the best athletes in your age group, and putting your best foot forward, all in an effort to represent the stars and stripes on foreign turf.

It’s an exciting, albeit uncomfortable experience for the best amateur baseball players across the nation. However, some of the competitors at USA Baseball’s National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, are used to the rigorous and stressful experience of making and playing for the 15U National Team.

Three of the 44 athletes clamoring for just 20 total spots on the team have already made a national team in the past, one of which represented Team USA on the international stage just last year at the 15U level.

Having prior international experience as USA Baseball alumni never guarantees you a spot when competing for a spot on another team. However, it helps calm your nerves and gives a boost of confidence and comfortability when you’ve been through the entire experience before.

“There’s a lot of value when you experience something when you've done it before,” said 15U National Team Manager Rob Shabanksy. “The chances of maybe having a little bit more success the next time, or just being comfortable enough in that environment is huge.”

Levi Kerr and Anthony Frausto are two of the nation’s best competing in Cary during the five-day 15U National Team Training Camp. Kerr and Frausto were teammates on the gold-medal-winning 12U National Team in Taiwan, while Andrew Jimenez competed with the 15U squad last summer in the Dominican Republic.

Whether it’s envisioning themselves in high-pressure situations or knowing what it takes to make the team, all three have benefitted from their past experiences on national teams.

“Anytime someone goes through something for the very first time, it’s uncomfortable,” Shabansky said. “The experience and value that comfortability brings is a huge help for them. They've been there before and they're able to slow the game down, take a breath, and just play the game and not be worried about the environment around them.”

For Kerr and Frausto, winning gold in Taiwan was a core memory in their young baseball careers and an experience they can carry with them while competing to make their second national team.

“I've had the experience, so I think it's going to be the same if I get to do it again,” Frausto said. “I'll probably already know what's going to come my way and all that, especially competing against other countries.”

These prior experiences make it easier to adjust to the competitive and sometimes strenuous environment that National Team Training Camps provide. Last year, Jimenez went through it all for the first time, and despite never thinking it would happen, he was overjoyed to hear his name called at the end of the week.

“As a younger player, it was a little nerve-wracking,” Jimenez said. “But I always had that fight in me to make a spot. I went into it, not really thinking I had much of a chance, but by the end, I was just trying to do my best, do everything I could every day, help with the coaches, with staff, and it turned out the best for me.”

Now, Jimenez is fighting for a spot on the 15U team for the second straight year. He’s been there, done that, and knows how to compete and carry himself both on the field and off.

“I think specifically pertaining to Training Camp, it’s the fact that they've been here before,” Shabanksy said. “They've competed in this environment, they kind of know the structure of it, they know what to expect every day, they know about the wake-up calls, they know about being on the bus, they know about getting to the field, and they know about all these things — they've been there before.”

Players like Jimenez know that when competing, the most important thing to do is simple — it’s all about being yourself.

“Once you've been a part of it, and you have an idea of what to expect, you're able to just go in and let yourself be you and play your game,” Shabansky said. “To a certain degree, you don’t have to be stressed about, ‘What do I need to do to make this team?’ They know what they need to do to make this team, they just need to go be themselves.”

Another important element to making a national team is displaying good character, especially off the field. It’s a point of emphasis for USA Baseball and Shabansky and his staff, and it’s something Kerr learned when with the 12U squad.

“The coaching staff in Taiwan, they taught me a lot about having good character, being a good person,” Kerr said. “And I just try to apply that to now. To make the team, you have to be a good person, just to make the team, first and foremost. So I always try to apply that, even to every aspect of life.”

After making a national team, players have to undergo an even more challenging set of circumstances. Not just competing, but excelling in a foreign, hostile environment is no easy feat. There’s no way to simulate those environments, either. Once again, it helps when you’ve done it all before.

“You can practice it, you can talk about it all you want, you can do all those things,” Shabansky said. “But until you're actually in that situation, in that environment, you can't replicate that… You’ve got to fit into the culture and be comfortable with the culture and just be comfortable in that environment.”

Luckily, Jimenez was taken under the wing of James Tronstein during the 15U team’s trip to the Dominican Republic. Now, Jimenez hopes he’ll have the opportunity to inspire his teammates in the same way Tronstein did if he makes the team this year.

“Thankfully last year I was able to room with James Tronstein in the Dominican Republic and he taught me a lot, just gave me confidence everyday,” Jimenez said. “He made me feel like I belonged there, and that I needed to be there and it helped me get ready for this year. Now I'm able to do that to other younger kids and just pass it down.”

No matter who makes the final cut, all 20 players on the 15U National Team will be chasing the same feeling that Kerr, Frausto, and Jimenez have already felt. There’s nothing quite like winning on the international stage while wearing the red, white, and blue.

“We went to Taiwan, played in the World Cup,” Kerr said. “We won gold, that was my favorite experience, beating Venezuela in the championship game and standing on the podium, hearing your country's anthem. It was just amazing.”

While those three know the feeling all too well, they’ll still have to show they have what it takes to represent their nation with USA Baseball. But those feelings of pure pride and joy will continue to spur them on throughout the 15U National Team Training Camp and beyond.

“Playing for Team USA was the proudest moment of my life,” Jimenez said. “Putting that jersey on for the first time — you look down and I have those three letters across your chest, it gives you goosebumps. You just can't believe you made it.”