Billy Hayes, Founder of Showtime Baseball and New Balance Future Stars Series Northwest Regional Director, shares his vision to develop complete players both on the field and in the classroom during a recent interview with veteran sports writer Mike Ashmore.
From the moment Showtime Baseball was started back in 2000, Billy Hayes’ vision was to develop the complete player, both on the field and in the classroom.
17 years later, and neither of those ideals have ever wavered.
Showtime initially started with one team, and now has 23 between their two divisions; their North Division is based in Puyallup, while the South Division is out of their original site of Vancouver, Washington. The program competes nationally every year, and has done so quite successfully.
Hayes, who will have two 2018 teams and a 2020 team at the New Balance Future Stars Series and Program 15 events down in Houston, has had countless players earn college scholarships out of Showtime, and saw Clint Coulter get drafted in the first round by the Milwaukee Brewers just five years ago.
This year, Isaiah Smith could follow suit. Considered one of the top prep prospects on the west coast, the Washington State University commit was listed among Baseball America’s Top 100 High School Prospects this year.
With Hayes and Showtime’s ability to cultivate that kind of talent and commitment to the classroom, his philosophies matched those of Program 15. Working together with NBFSS/P15 CEO Jeremy Booth and his All-Star staff made too much sense to not make it happen.
“I think the system he’s put together, the package with the combines and getting the word out on our players as far as the reports on each player, I think that’s valuable to the player and it’s valuable to our program,” Hayes said.
Booth is just as happy that Showtime is on board.