Podcast: Matt Feld on coaching high school vs. travel

Tewksbury High coach Matt Feld discussed his experience coaching high school baseball. (Tewksbury Athletics)

Former co-host Matt Feld made his return to The Base Path Podcast to discuss his experience coaching high school baseball this spring at Tewksbury Memorial.

Feld led Tewksbury to its first winning season since 2008 and its first state tournament win since 2011.

“I knew that Tewksbury is a town with a lot of great athletic tradition,” Feld said. “There’s a lot of athletic pride for a school that is much smaller than its Merrimack Valley counterparts. We’re the only Division 3 school in the conference. It was as enjoyable as it could have possibly been.

“Coaching high school baseball is just so different from coaching club baseball or any sort of travel baseball in terms of the path and the outline. You’ve got a lot of kids that consider hockey or football as their first sports. There are wrestlers and golfers. You’ve got to find a way to utilize those kids to the best of their abilities and coach them up.”

WATCH THE PODCAST WITH MATT FELD

Feld returned to coaching travel baseball this summer, leading the Nor’Easter Runbirds 16U team.

“I have a unique perspective being both a travel coach and a high school coach,” Feld said. “A lot of coaches are doing one or the other, and they think the other person’s in the wrong. There’s too much animosity back and forth. It’s this weird competition. If a kid gets hurt, it’s the other coach’s fault. If a kid commits to a college, it becomes about who can take credit. I still don’t think we’re near a point where that’s good enough.”

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Listen to the podcast with Matt Feld.