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Like many on this board — I just finished dropping off my son for his first year of college and college baseball. It was surreal to see him head up the stairs after we said our goodbyes.  As we had dinner, I couldn’t have been happier to hear about how he and his freshman teammates were clicking and becoming friends.  He beamed as he talked about how they had all gone down to the field this morning and threw/played catch for an hour and what the plan was for fall ball.

 As sad as I am to head home without him — I couldn’t be more excited from him… Very grateful to everyone on this board for the advice that has been given and experiences that have been shared.  

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Midwest Mom posted:

Really exciting.  Would love to hear from parents like yourself - or for that matter players - about what happens once they get to college - the new challenges they face and how the players address them.  Maybe that's a new forum topic?

The admins always pin a new college topic to the top of general each season. 

I will send an alert so you all can discuss happenings.

MAM posted:

TPM — Right now he’s on a pink cloud and I hope he enjoys every second, because it will end at some point.  I honestly think the struggles will teach him more than the successes.  

I think parents worry more than they should but I am guilty of that myself.  

I love college baseball, you all will too!

You know the reality show Survivor - where the host Jeff Probst says - "you've done all you can do in this game, now it's up to the jury"...  well that can strangely apply to the first year experience...  Remember those "long conversations" you had the last few years  that usually were very one sided... You'll miss those as now you'll get very short text messages... Try calling and you'll get I'm busy, can I call you back! Don't be offended - it's better than the alternative, I hate it here, please come get me...  Early morning lifts, breakfast, class, lunch at 1230, nap, practice at 4, dinner at 7, studying/homework/social activities until late at night...   My son's coach once said to us, they don't realize they're just on a 4 year vacation. I'm sure those like me also on the backside of the college experience will agree - it goes very quickly (time *and* money). If you think now that it felt like yesterday that he entered first 1st grade - well compress that by 1/3 and you definitely don't get the feedback of the first 4 years of school.

I remember dropping off a few for the freshman year....  wife was sad, i was happy....  got one going back to Boston in a week.  I said to him last night, only 5 days until you go back..... and he said, I can't hardly wait...  GF is up there already....  part of the deal.... first kid, first semester, always the worst.... by the 5th kid I'll be dropping them off in the fire lane and telling them to hurry the heck up...

bacdorslider posted:

I remember dropping off a few for the freshman year....  wife was sad, i was happy....  got one going back to Boston in a week.  I said to him last night, only 5 days until you go back..... and he said, I can't hardly wait...  GF is up there already....  part of the deal.... first kid, first semester, always the worst.... by the 5th kid I'll be dropping them off in the fire lane and telling them to hurry the heck up...

Hahaha...  I was a 5th kid.  That parent attitude started way before I was dropped off at college.  More like as soon as I landed in the crib  

bacdorslider posted:

I remember dropping off a few for the freshman year....  wife was sad, i was happy....  got one going back to Boston in a week.  I said to him last night, only 5 days until you go back..... and he said, I can't hardly wait...  GF is up there already....  part of the deal.... first kid, first semester, always the worst.... by the 5th kid I'll be dropping them off in the fire lane and telling them to hurry the heck up...

"...first kid, first semester, always the worst...":  Heading into that black hole this weekend.  Slider, your words: so comforting! 

  Two more boys to go!  I can imagine what you mean!

Last edited by smokeminside

From an old grizzled vet: (1) Take lots of photos; (2) Go to as many games as humanly possible; (3) After games, only talk about baseball if he wants to talk baseball; (4) On academics, don't hesitate to ask questions...and evasive answers are not a good sign; (5) Stay clear of the whiny coach-criticizing parents (yup, they exist in college ball too);(6)  Just be there for your son-he will have huge ups and huge downs-and the next 4 years will blow past you faster than a MLB fastball.  We're now several years since our youngest finished his college career and I have occasionally heard both sons talk about how nuts their parents were to travel so much, sometimes only to watch a game and then a brief hug and a "bye" as they got on the charter to head back to school...but they felt the love.  

so we are 2 weeks in to the freshman fall...we went from the this is awesome - to holy sh!t how am going to do all this work to - I am smarter then many of these kids to - I can't write that many papers in one semester- to I need to adjust my study habits - to I need to get in better shape - to I am working on a plan for how this is all going to happen....the boy has grown up more in the last 2 weeks then he did in the last 2 years.

I am sure there will be more bumps in the road but he has come a long long way very quickly. Unfortunately he also has a long way to go!

Had my first “real” conversation with my son last night — it as so nice to talk baseball.  Ten days into the fall ball and I could hear in his voice how happy he is.  Said his first two bullpens went great and will throw at least one inning this Thursday in the team’s first fall intersquad scrimmage.  Fingers crossed.   Academics aren’t going to be easy that’s for sure as he is quickly learning just how many papers and how much writing he is going to be doing these next four years.  

After we hung up — got a text from him saying that he has never been more happy than he is and that he found a perfect fit.  

Hokie — Thanks for the tips and suggestions.  I can already see how fast this all will go by.  Thank goodness I am a consultant now, so that I can figure out ways to travel to Iowa catch a weekend series as often as I can.   

Hope everyone else’s 2017s are settling into their first year successfully.

 

old_school posted:

so we are 2 weeks in to the freshman fall...we went from the this is awesome - to holy sh!t how am going to do all this work to - I am smarter then many of these kids to - I can't write that many papers in one semester- to I need to adjust my study habits - to I need to get in better shape - to I am working on a plan for how this is all going to happen....the boy has grown up more in the last 2 weeks then he did in the last 2 years.

I am sure there will be more bumps in the road but he has come a long long way very quickly. Unfortunately he also has a long way to go!

My son had the same issues his freshman year.  He had good grades in HS, but it came real easily for him.  I cant count on one hand how often he ever had to bring books home or really do any kind of studying for a test.  Things changed real quick in college....a lot more work, more time consuming, oh...and this thing called baseball that took up a lot of time lol.  He didn't have a great freshman year grade wise, but figured things out and is doing great now.  Your son will get used to it....

Best of luck to all the incoming freshmen baseball players in this thread.  For many parents this is a leap of faith as it was for all three of my kids with or without baseball.  Let's face it, they are calling the shots in what they do with their time and you hope they learned something over the last 18 years!  My wife and I had concerns with our oldest son taking on college baseball and a difficult major.  We thought he was not very organized and just got by on smarts in high school.   As it turned out his high school had prepared him very well and actually gave him a leg up in an extremely competitive academic environment.  He felt incredibly average among his incoming freshmen peers, where as before he was an academic star in high school.  Baseball was the same situation....he was incredibly average among his baseball incoming class and teammates.  What we found out is that he has a tremendous work ethic (gets that from his mother) that we had never seen before, because he wasn't challenged as he would be in college.  College brought out the best in him and really challenged him over those 4 years.

Good luck to all! 

Last edited by fenwaysouth

Man, the original post left a pit in my stomach.  My 2019 is my first of 2 kids; the sister is 8 years younger.

What a moment, for both of you.  Much different than my parents, we said our goodbyes in a Costco's parking lot, 5min from our home and 4 hours from the campus......

Please continue to share the updates and best of luck to your boy in health, preparation, game time and chasing the.......grades.

Not to spoil this, but can you table a question for May - August of next year?  I'm very interested in how current players navigate into year 2, related to the incoming key recruits, or rumblings of transfers in and out of the program. 

I sure do remember how exciting those first days are. I also remember how the reality of what it takes slowly settles in during that first semester. And watching the young man as he faces that reality, and makes the decision that he is going to do it. 

There may be some kids that instantly thrived while meeting the demands of college baseball and academics. My son was not one of them. But watching your son get forged into a man in this cauldron is something to behold. 

 

Quick update as my son’s first fall ball is now over and he had his coach's meeting.  Something clicked for my son and he had an amazing fall.  He only gave up one hit and one walk over 18 innings of intrasquad scrimmages.  Coach told him he will be one of the four starters this spring based on his performance. Pretty happy for him considering the coach brought in 9 pitchers this year.  Academic wise...school is HARD… I don’t think he is getting a lot of sleep.  

 

HaHa, Somebaseball Dad, I texted my son last Saturday to call me so we could catch up. He texted back with a touchdown Video from the most upper deck of "Death Valley",  "Sorry, can't @ Clemson football Game".  He & his roommates drove 7.5 hours to watch Florida State vs Clemson!  A trip I would have loved to take.  It is not always about baseball @ college.

Last edited by Journey On
MAM posted:

Quick update as my son’s first fall ball is now over and he had his coach's meeting.  Something clicked for my son and he had an amazing fall.  He only gave up one hit and one walk over 18 innings of intrasquad scrimmages.  Coach told him he will be one of the four starters this spring based on his performance. Pretty happy for him considering the coach brought in 9 pitchers this year.  Academic wise...school is HARD… I don’t think he is getting a lot of sleep.  

 

Kinda the same here. Kid came home for Thanksgiving so we've been able to talk without the distractions of collage life. He said the coaches have told him he's going to pitch (doing really well in the cage also so not worried about PO at this time). They are going to use him a lot and he needs to be ready when the season opens. He's excited but also a little worried because he was recruited for his bat and he's concerned all the work on the mound will take away from cage time.

He's slept about 18 of the 24 hours he's been home.

Last edited by SomeBaseballDad

I feel like coaches need to spend a little more time talking about sleep. My daughter isn't an athlete, but is a junior. She developed a serious coffee habit to get maintain all she does (including her 3.8 GPA), and she basically sleeps most of the time when she's home. Don't see how that will compute when my 2018 heads off to school next year.

Saw son yesterday for the first time in a month or so, other than a few minutes last weekend when he ran in to grab some clothes...said hey, then ran out.   He was wearing a t-shirt that looked like it was 3 sizes too small.  He has put on some serious muscle the past 2 months.  He told me they are working with the football strength guy and it's been tough, but he is more than happy with the results.  He was 183 at the start of fall, 197 on Tuesday morning...and at one point tipped the scale at 202.  Probably the first time since he's been born that I don't think I could take him in a wrestling match lol.    He's getting back to throwing in a couple weeks.  Will be interested to see what the weight does to his throwing...and his bat once spring comes around.

Last edited by Buckeye 2015

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