Some follow-up questions for the group. My 2016 attended HF last week and had some limited success. He will continue to follow-up with the coaches who saw him and who he met but my question is on Fall baseball. He has an opportunity to play on a team this Fall that has a strong record of getting players in front of scouts and a large network of coaches (based on the feedback I'm getting from the families who played on the team this summer). I'll be speaking with the coach today.
The costs are starting to mount up here, summer season, travel, camps, HF and now Fall ball and "advisory services". Is it even worth it? It seems like he should just apply to his D3 schools at this point and then show up to the college fall season and try out. Isn't that what he'd be doing anyway if he's "recruited" by a D3 school?
If you search I started a thread a month or so back about making sure your kid is in the right program. I will see if I can find it and post a link. In general the right program can make a huge difference but you need to make sure they are providing what they are saying they provide. Many many programs will claim to get kids into school but in reality they don't do much.
As far as costs. It doesn't have to be expensive. My kids current program puts about 30 kids or so a year into college or the draft. These are kids who are currently in the program, not kids who once played for the program. The fees are pretty low when you consider that. I don't say they are cheap but compared to what I hear others are paying I am getting a pretty good deal.
Also, what do you mean by advisory services? Are you paying someone to help get your kid recruited? If so what is he providing that you can't do on your own? What is his track record?
As far as just showing up at a D3. Don't underestimate D3 schools. There are some very good D3 schools out there. Some of them can be competitive with D1 schools. In general the odds of "just showing" to a tryout and making the team can be very small at some schools. Also, don't forget this is not HS. Teams do not have to hold tryouts. Or if they are forced (by state or school rules) then it doesn't mean they are looking for kids. Heck the HC may never even show up to a tryout. I ran track in college. We held an "open tryout" the "first" day of practice. Reality was no one from the actual team was at the tryout. The only coach that showed up was a grad assistant and he had no interest in those trying out. During the tryout the recruited and scholarship athletes were collecting their gear from the equipment room, putting stuff in their lockers and at a team meeting. The school had a rule that forced every program to hold an open tryout. The technically held it.