PEORIA, Ariz. - Throughout every minute of every game at the National Team Championships Arizona this month, a group of some of the best coaches and talent evaluators in the country sit high above the action on the field, taking in each pitch with intense focus.

This collective is known as the USA Baseball Task Force, and their goal throughout the event is to evaluate players and identify a select few to be considered for the organization's various different development programs and national teams. For those participating in the 16U tournament taking place this week, the main prize on the line is a potential invite to the 16U/17U National Team Development Program (NTDP) taking place at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina next month, an event that Task Force member Steve Dintaman describes as a potential launching pad for a young player's career.

"They get to go up against the best of the best players in a one-week setting to see where they stack up and see what they need to work on or where they fit in compared to the people in their age group, and they also get an opportunity to work with some of the finest high school, college and pro coaches and scouts in the country that make up those staffs," Dintaman said when asked about how the NTDP could benefit the players that eventually do earn an invitation. "Personally, I worked for a 16U/17U development team a few years ago, and we had an incredible staff to work with that I was able to learn a lot from as a coach. Our players were able to dig in and learn a lot from those guys as well. It's a tremendous honor, and it's a good chance to play against the best of the best."

For the members of the Task Force, the day starts out at the crack of dawn, with the group dividing up and going up into the towers at each of the facilites in use around the greater Phoenix area right at the first pitch of the first game. From there, they set up shop for pretty much the entire day, taking in up to four games at a time until all the sessions have concluded.

As you might expect, finding real standouts amid this constant action can be a tall task at times. For longtime Task Force members like Tom Succow, however, identifying players throughout the event has become more of an exact science over the years.

"It becomes a bit simpler as time goes on through the week, but it certainly can be a bit overwhelming for a new Task Force member," Succow said. "Fortunately, I've been able to work this event for a number of years, and you kind of get into a rhythm and have a certain technique. All of the scouts that are working this week have their own methods of keeping track of players."

Under this setup, many players might only get one chance to really make a lasting impression. In order to counteract this, Dintaman and many of the other Task Force members have certain attributes and traits in mind that they try to look for from anyone on the field at a given time.

"When you're at an event like this and there's so much talent and so many good players out there, you're always looking for separators, you're looking for something that someone does differently from everybody else," Dintaman said. "For me, it really comes down to being good at the things they have control over. It's really easy to scout when a guy is 4-4 and having a great day, but even when he's 0-4, you have to look for those intangibles, the way he plays the game, the way he is with his teammates, how he interacts with his coaches. When we go out and watch them play, we're looking for the tools first and foremost, but also the little things that make them baseball players that could be good for the USA program."

Once all the games have concluded for the day, the members of the Task Force then convene at Peoria Stadium, where they gather to discuss everything they saw throughout the morning and afternoon. In these meetings, the members share their judgements on the players that managed to stand out from the pack, and the ones that are deemed to have the potential to succeed at the NTDP are put on a list for further consideration as the week moves on.

It is here where things really start to crystallize and the task at hand becomes much more challenging. Tough decisions have to be made -- especially as the week goes on and the sample size becomes bigger -- and some impressive players that may have been right on the verge of an invite are left on the chopping block as a result. This is a necessary step in the process, though, as it helps to keep the standard of excellency within the organization very high.

"It's very difficult to go into those meetings at night when you're talking about some of the really good players that we have at these events, and of course, there are many really good players that don't get to be talked about because they just didn't stand out that week for whatever reason," Dintaman said. "When we're in that room, every person has a voice. Everyone says their opinion on what they saw in those games, and we're just trying to compare them. Our job is to evaluate these players and present them to the next level, and those guys will make the decision on who makes the team and who doesn't. In this game, the ultimate prize would be to be able to represent your country, which very few get to do, so we're looking for the right guys that can help USA Baseball compete and win gold medals."

One of the main things that makes the Task Force so effective in what they do is the diversity of backgrounds that all of the members come to the event with. Some members like Succow have been in the USA Baseball ranks for upwards of 20 years while others are brand new to the tournament, and this dichotomy goes a long way in bringing a wide variety of opinions about the same group of players to the table when deliberating.

"We see the energy that the younger guys bring when we're paired up out there scouting," Succow said. "I think it's a good mixture of old and young. It coincides with our meetings, where everybody is sharing input about what they see and everybody enjoys it. I think we're energized by the young guys, and the young guys are energized by some of us that have been around for a while."

The level of responsibility that comes with their roles is something that is not lost on those fortunate enough to be on the Task Force, and for all of them, the opportunity to find the future of USA Baseball and potentially foster the next generation of future stars is something that they hold in very high regard.

"It's something that I take a lot of pride in, and I know the other guys do as well," Dintaman said. "We're always out there just trying to find the best players possible."