WebBall.com - Your Chances 2

Known Your Competition - Part 2

Here's the breakdown of participation at various levels in high school and college. Compare these numbers with the chance-of-success numbers in part 1. The numbers can either discourage you or encourage you. It all comes down to your motivation and intensity.

THE BREAKDOWN	# of Teams	Players Participating	Average/Team
National Federation of High Schools	14,988	455,414	30.39
NCAA Div I	274	8,439	30.80
Division II	224	6,899	30.80
Division III	319	9,825	30.80
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics	320	9,600	30.00
NJCAA Div I	185	5,550	30.00
Division II	114	3,420	30.00
Division III	85	2,550	30.00
COA California Junior College Association	87	2,175	25.00
Totals For 2 & 4 Year Colleges / Universities	1,608	48,408	30.10

IMPORTANT FACTORS
(other than how much competition you face)...

Growth of the Sport: The chart above reflects recent stats. In fact there were only about 17,000 NCAA ball players 20 years ago, now there are over 27,000 in NCAA schools alone. Plus another 20,000 elsewhere. The only sports growing faster in colleges, it seems, are soccer and women's softball.

Players per team: Most H.S. and college squads actually have more players on their rosters than MLB teams. This by the way is not a trend that is changing in the player's favor - as the chart below shows. Even when you make a team, the competition is tough: 8 starting fielders and a rotation of perhaps 4 starting pitchers means 18 on the bench and in the bullpen.

PLAYERS PER TEAM (year to year averages)