Wes Brooks has spent over a decade with USA Baseball in several different roles including the 12U National Team Training Camp, Futures Invitational Task Force, and the National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup. Even with all of the experience, this summer will mark a new chapter for Brooks.
Brooks will serve as an assistant coach with the 12U National Team for the first time in his career. Before traveling abroad, Brooks and the rest of the coaching staff will need to finalize a roster at Training Camp. Brooks enjoys the selection process and notes that the decision to finalize the roster will not be an easy one.
“Day one, everybody brings a lot of energy, and you don't have to ask them to hustle. Day two, you start to see the energy die down a little and day three is usually a day where we see separation,” Brooks said. “We challenged them this morning to bring the juice on day three, and I thought the kids answered the call very well. I was impressed with their effort and their attitudes and their hustle today.”
“I think that was the biggest separator, more than years past that I've worked Training Camp, was that pitchers threw more strikes today. I know yesterday was a low scoring game but today was a bit high scoring. Both teams had big innings early and each team answered the call and fired back. There were a lot of good things going on so there will be a lot of tough decisions made. It's fun when it's a tough decision, because we know that shows how much talent was on the field.”
Brooks is ready for the challenge that comes with selecting the roster and is confident that the coaching staff will find the right set of guys to compete for the gold medal in Honduras.
“We could pick any one of these 36 to move on to the next level, because everybody's talented. But we have to make sure that we’re picking the right guys that we will be able to take over to Honduras and compete for a gold medal.”
For some, jumping into a new task can be daunting but Brooks is eager for the opportunity to make his debut on a national team staff and represent his country on the big stage.
“This year, being asked to be on staff for the 12U National Team is something that I've never done before. And I'll be honest, when you get the opportunity to put that uniform on and you look in the mirror, I can imagine it's going to be a little bit of an emotional time for me. I'm going to need some time by myself. There's no greater honor in this world, in the game of baseball, than being able to wear the red, white and blue.”
Brooks acknowledges that the game of baseball is bigger than just the sport itself as he strives to leave baseball a better sport than how he found it.
“I’m excited for just the game of baseball itself. Whether you're an umpire, a fan, or a grounds crew, any way that you can do something to help the game grow, that would be something I’m looking forward to in my debut. To be able to walk out on the field with a beautiful white uniform, a cut grass field is amazing. Being able to give back to the game and continue to help it grow in the right direction is my purpose.”
