Coach Darren Gurney is an international baseball coach and founder of Rising Star Baseball Camp, a training camp/clinic located in Rob Crews’ home town of New Rochelle, NY. Since 1998, Rising Star Baseball has been helping to increase quality and diversity in the sport. Coach to over twenty MLB draft picks and other professional players, Darren Gurney has no shortage of insights on the game. Hear the story behind his journey as a coach. He shares how he worked with players abroad in countries like Japan, Italy and the Dominican Republic, widening his lense in game and life along the way. Also, as a collegiate coach who’s worked with players of all ages, he shares his take on implementing tech. Find out why he says it can be risky and get Rob’s tips on doing it seamlessly.

“I think people fall for the glitz and the glamor of the technology. What does an exit velocity matter if I don't know my launch angle? And what does my launch angle matter if i don't pair it with my exit velocity?” -Darren Gurney [43:28]

Key Takeaways: How Darren Gurney built his career as a baseball coach. How diversity is helping him develop winning teams. What he learned from other cultures during his time coaching overseas. His thoughts on implementing technology appropriately in the game.

Episode Timeline:

[00:01] Intro [00:30] CGPlus [01:23] Meet Coach Darren Gurney [02:38] Growing up in New Rochelle [04:40] Becoming a baseball coach [06:34] Diversity in New Rochelle [08:09] New Rochelle High school sports [10:43] Founding Rising Stars Training Camp [16:43] The socio-economic weight of playing baseball [18:49] Creating a diverse culture between players and families [19:24] Becoming a high school coach [22:38] Coaching internationally [25:45] Cultural differences and takeaways from teams abroad [35:44] Lehman College baseball [38:36] Thoughts on the evolution of tech in baseball [46:47] Implementing technology [50:38] Technology tips for coaches [52:36] How tech is changing the game [55:34] What's for baseball and Coach Darren Gurney post COVID-19 [1:00:40] Thoughts on how the game and recruiting will be affected [1:06:41] Contacting Darren Gurney and outro

“My vetting approach for technology is under high scrutiny. I never adopt something that I'm not 100% positive is going to help my players... is this technology going to fit into what I'm doing? and if I can figure out how to make it fit, am I humble enough to go and ask for help from somebody who may be able to help me to get this right.” -Rob Crews [49:14]

“Socio-economically, baseball is way too expensive. Sometimes we take that for granted. You gotta buy a kid a new pair of cleats every 6 months, gloves, bats... Football and basketball are all scholarship sports. So economically, at the end of it, especially at the collegiate level, it's more economically reasonable than it is to play baseball.” - Rob Crews[16:43]

Resources Mentioned: Rising Star Camp, You Gotta Have Wa, Lehman College Baseball

Connect:

Find | Rob Crews At Complete.game On Instagram: @completegame On Twitter: @completegame On Facebook: @completegame

Find | Darren Gurney risingstarcamp.com 

On Instagram: @coachgurney 

On Twitter: @coachgurney

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Credit: IggyBeats, DT Productions, and Ali the Greatest for background music.