Scout (sports)
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professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
, scouts are experienced talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization. Some scouts are interested primarily in the selection of ''prospects'', younger players who may require further development by the acquiring team but who are judged to be worthy of that effort and expense for the potential future payoff that it could bring, while others concentrate on players who are already polished professionals whose rights may be available soon, either through
free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...
or trading, and who are seen as filling a team's specific need at a certain position. ''Advance scouts'' watch the teams that their teams are going to play in order to help determine
strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...
. Many scouts are former
coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
or retired players, while others have made a career just of being scouts. Skilled scouts who help to determine which players will fit in well with an organization can be the major difference between success and failure for the team with regard to wins and losses, which often relates directly to the organization's financial success or lack thereof as well.


Kinds of scouts

Scouts tend to have to perform one of two tasks, either scouting opposition teams to research the opposition's players and tactics, or scouting individual players to identify their level of skill and to keep track of potential new signings. Contemporary
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
teams usually classify scouts and their differing responsibilities as follows: *Advance scouts follow the MLB clubs that their team is scheduled to play and file reports on trends and tendencies that influence pitching, defensive, offensive and game strategy. *Major League scouts and professional scouts (the most senior of whom are sometimes called "special assignment scouts" or "special assistants to the
general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
") typically track active players under contract to other teams for potential acquisition. They also may support advance scouts or evaluate competing minor league organizations. Per their designation, the former follow players in MLB, while "pro scouts" work minor league and
independent league baseball Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
. *Amateur scouts evaluate
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
and
college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...
players and prepare their MLB teams for the July amateur draft. To ensure that players are seen by multiple evaluators, amateur scouts are usually divided into area scouts, regional cross-checkers and national cross-checkers. *International scouts cover players not from the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
and other
U.S. territories Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...
, or
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. These players are signed as international
free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
s and are not subject to the June draft, although bonus amounts and signing regulations are governed by the collective bargaining agreement between MLB and its
players' union The Association Football Players' and Trainers' Union (AFPTU), commonly known as the Players' Union, in the United Kingdom was the original association that became the Professional Footballers' Association. Their stated aims were freedom of move ...
. In addition to the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, and other
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
n and
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
countries, where MLB teams have had a scouting presence since the mid-20th century, the growth in international baseball has compelled most teams to station scouts in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
and other
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
n countries,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. International scouting also involves cross-checking to enable multiple evaluators to validate the reports of local scouts. According to
Tony Lucadello Anthony Lucadello (July 30, 1912 – May 8, 1989) was a professional baseball scout for the Chicago Cubs (1943–1957) and Philadelphia Phillies (1957–1989). During his career, he signed a total of 52 players who made it to the Major Leagues ...
, considered by some to be the greatest scout ever, the four kinds of scouts start with the letter 'P': * Poor – wastes time looking for games rather than having a planned itinerary * Picker – emphasizes a player's one weakness to the neglect of all strengths and ignores the potential within * Performance – bases his evaluation on what a player does in his presence * Projector – envisions what a player will be able to do in two or three years Lucadello estimated that five percent of scouts were poor, five percent pickers, 85 percent performance scouts and five percent projectors.


Computer-aided scouting

Modern day scouts are becoming more and more reliant on computer programs to aid and assist in the evaluation of talent being scouted. Many professional sport clubs now use computers to organize their collected information and data. Most sports still depend on human management to decide which players their organization will draft or sign.


Notable scouts


Baseball

* Hugh Alexander * Joe Devine * Amanda Hopkins * Edith Houghton * Paul Krichell *
Tony Lucadello Anthony Lucadello (July 30, 1912 – May 8, 1989) was a professional baseball scout for the Chicago Cubs (1943–1957) and Philadelphia Phillies (1957–1989). During his career, he signed a total of 52 players who made it to the Major Leagues ...
*
Bobby Mattick Robert James Mattick (December 5, 1915 – December 16, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, scout, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. After his playing ca ...
* Ray Shore *
Joe Sugden Joseph "Joe" Sugden is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Frazer Hines. He first appeared on-screen during the soap's first episode broadcast 16 October 1972 and remained in the programme unt ...


American football

*
Steve Belichick Stephen Nickolas Belichick (January 7, 1919 – November 19, 2005) was an American football player, coach, and scout. He played college football at Western Reserve University, now known as Case Western Reserve University, from 1938 to 1940 and ...
— late assistant coach and scout for the
United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
, author of ''Football Scouting Methods'' (1962), and father of NFL head coach
Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...
. *
Gil Brandt Gil Brandt (born March 4, 1932) is an American former football executive who was the vice president of player personnel in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1988. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsi ...
– former
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
scout who joined the expansion
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
in 1960 and, as director of player personnel, revolutionized the process of talent identification and evaluation and, with
Tom Landry Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...
and
Tex Schramm Texas Earnest Schramm Jr. (June 2, 1920 – July 15, 2003) was an American football executive who was the original president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys franchise of the National Football League (NFL). Schramm, usually referred to ...
, was a pillar of Dallas' 1960s and 1970s dynasty; member of Pro Football Hall of Fame. *
Dick Haley George Richard Haley, Jr. (born October 2, 1937) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at the Universit ...
— architect of 1970's
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
dynasty *
Bill Nunn William Goldwyn Nunn III (October 20, 1953 – September 24, 2016) was an American actor known for his roles as Radio Raheem in Spike Lee's film '' Do the Right Thing'', Robbie Robertson in the Sam Raimi ''Spider-Man'' film trilogy and as T ...
— legendary scout for
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...


Basketball

* Will Robinson- also scouted for the NFL's
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
. *
Kevin Mackey Kevin Mackey (born August 21, 1946) is a former head coach of men's basketball at Cleveland State University. His CSU Vikings upset the Indiana Hoosiers and the Saint Joseph's Hawks to make the Sweet 16 in the 1986 NCAA Division I men's basketbal ...
,
Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...


Association football (soccer)

* Piet de Visser *
Geoff Twentyman Geoffrey Twentyman (19 January 1930 – 16 February 2004) was an English footballer who is mainly remembered for his links with Liverpool Football Club as both a player and as chief scout. Player Born in Brampton, Cumberland, the left-half pl ...
*
Les Kershaw Les Kershaw is the former chief scout and Academy Director for Manchester United. Kershaw studied at Manchester Metropolitan University before being recruited by United manager Alex Ferguson. He had previously acted as a part-time scout for Ar ...
*
Jack Hixon John Hixon (7 February 1921 – 20 December 2009) was an English football talent scout. A familiar face at football games across the North East for decades, Hixon played a major part in furthering the careers of many footballers from the region. ...
*
Liam Brady William Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former footballer. He found success both in England with Arsenal, where he won an FA Cup in 1979, and in Italy with Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Brady was capped 72 times for the Irelan ...
*
Pierluigi Casiraghi Pierluigi Casiraghi (; born 4 March 1969) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Casiraghi began his playing career in Italy in 1985, with Monza. He later played for Juventus, and Lazio, before end ...
*
Jorge Alvial Jorge Alvial is a Chilean association football, football coach/sports manager and current head of scouting for FC Cincinnati. Previously, he had been an international scout (sports), scout for Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, and for Che ...


Ice hockey

* Håkan Andersson *
Garnet Bailey Garnet Edward "Ace" Bailey (June 13, 1948 – September 11, 2001) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and scout who was a member of Stanley Cup– and Memorial Cup– winning teams. He died at the age of 53 while aboard United Airlines ...
*
Mike Liut Michael Dennis Liut (born January 7, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Liut played for the Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1977 to 1979 and for the St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers, ...
*
Bobby Orr Robert Gordon Orr (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time. Orr used his ice skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the pos ...


Notes


References

* Jordan, David M. ''Occasional Glory: The History of the Philadelphia Phillies.'' McFarland & Company, 2003. * Robbins, Mike, ''Ninety Feet from Fame: Close Calls With Baseball Immortality''. Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2004. * Spivak, Jeffrey. ''Crowning the Kansas City Royals: Remembering the 1985 World Series Champs.'' Sports Publishing LLC, 2005. * Winegardner, Mark. ''Prophet of the Sandlots: Journeys with a Major League Scout''. Prentice Hall Press, 1990.


External links

* Joyce, Gare
"Wall of Dreams."
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scout (Sport) * Sports occupations and roles