old_school posted:compare posted:My son's summer ball experience sucked. Son is a rising senior. Was offered a spot on a Cape team early last Fall through his college coach. Sons teammate, also a pitcher, was offered a spot on the same team late Spring, this kid is pretty good was drafted out of high school and played in the Cape last year for a full season. College coach is experienced and has sent several kids to the Cape in the past but not on this team. Both players head up early and watched a ton of other players show up. By the third game the team was at least 8 pitchers over the maximum amount allowed. After the third game both were told they were being released along with several others without ever touching a baseball. A complete waste of time and money but most importantly opportunity. Also pretty disrespectful to the host families. Pretty important time in these players lives. No, these players were not told they were place holders neither would have shown up for that.
The bolded should surprise nobody, the truth is what college baseball coaches expect and demand from the players would often get them fired in the real world...and many times sued as well.
It is the culture of the game from the top down and it won't change anytime in the near future. I do love when I read tweets from coaches about how they love the kids...all 35 to 45 of them they have on the roster!! They don't care about the kids, they care about having enough kids so they can do whatever they want and still be covered. All while expecting them to pay tuition and raise money...it is actually ridiculous when you really think about it.
In fairness they are least pretty open about it.
^^^^ This, this and this again. Nothing is more true. It's difficult listen to the broadcasters talk about how much a coach cares for his players and how these players happily sit and wait for any opportunity. How a coach is a great communicator. How "aw shucks", down home the guys appear during their interviews. It's a complete fantasy that is created to hook into the emotion of fans who have watched "Rudy" one too many times.
The reality is that College baseball is professional baseball. Every person is being paid EXCEPT the players, and every person receiving a paycheck is as self serving as anyone who works to provide food and benefits for their family and will act and make decisions accordingly. Remember this as you go through the recruiting process and continue through your son's career.