I am a head coach of a team and we snuck into the playoffs for the first time in a while this season. This is my first time to take a team to the playoffs. I've recently been contacted by the head coach for the team that will be playing our district champions (who we beat once this year) about a scouting report. They are in the same district with the team we would play if we win our first round game and he has offered an exchange.

What is protocol here? Is this a normal thing? I worry about risking bad blood with a team in our district which will probably remain through redistricting. I feel like it could possibly harm my players as it pertains to post season awards and such.

I'd tell him to go **** himself in the kindest terms possible.

Ha ha! That was my initial reaction, but I started thinking that maybe this is just how it works.

former HS head coach here. A lot depends on the trust and rapport you have with him. There were several times this happened to me and I never had a problem giving info in the situations if I knew the favor would be returned in the same manner. If it was a coach I didn't trust or respect and I didn't tell him anything.

As far as hurting your players, the coach your exchanging info with should be respectable enough to keep his mouth shut, as should you about scouting reports. In the end the goal is to win. Should be mutual and exclusive between all parties.

I don't have a frame of reference for baseball but in HS football it's been a long-standing standard practice that coaches exchange game tape for scouting purposes.

10andBOUNCE said:

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When I coached HS Baseball, if we wanted a scouting report for an upcoming big game or playoff series, we (the coaches) would go sit and watch the teams we were interested in and come up with our own scouting report. This is a pretty elementary approach and will be pretty limited as far as what you can take away and use.

Obviously it sounds like reports are exchanged in some places, but to me it makes zero sense. Part of the fun of the game is trying to gain any advantage you can on your opponent, scouting included.

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while I agree some still do this, and enjoy doing this but the problem nowadays is many baseball programs are limited in staff, and most teams/games are playing the same nights. Makes it almost impossible to go watch other teams.

TarponChaser said:

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I don't have a frame of reference for baseball but in HS football it's been a long-standing standard practice that coaches exchange game tape for scouting purposes.

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There is a difference between exchanging game tape and providing a scouting report IMHO.

Wish I would've seen this sooner. I'm an assistant at a private school and we had this exact same situation. We politely declined. The coach in our district runs a respectable program and will be representing our district at the all-state meeting. I'd say it's definitely case by case. If a coach in my district is a clown I'd have no problem swapping info.

But you'd also feel dumb if you wound up swapping info then the team you swapped with wins and winds up beating you down the road.