Dominick & YoungGunDad:
Thank you for your replies. No, Dominick, we have not had an opportunity to meet any coaches on our campus visits. I understand your suggestion for a face-to-face with coaches but we are along way from the schools - travel is a real problem living in MT. I have encouraged my son to call the coaches but he is a bit shy and is more comfortable with e-mails at this point - I'll keep trying to encourage him.
YGD - Around Febrary I spend hours on the 'net researching showcases and filling out a calendar. I then compared this to the Legion schedule to look for opportunities. There were a few but they would have entailed alot of difficult travel. We discussed the possibilities and decided to just stick with sending videos and making contacts with coaches.
While I’ve tried to push my son when necessary, I’m also a believer in letting him have time to just be a kid. I want him to enjoy his Legion season – which is very important to him and involves plenty of time commitment – and also have time to do things with his non-baseball friends.
There is a chance we could make the Northwest Top Prospect Games in Bellevue August 22-23 but that will follow the first week of football practice and to dash off for a weekend of baseball and get back to football practice on However, Monday would be exhausting.
Perhaps not attending a showcase will cost us some opportunities. But in the end I feel my son will likely pick a school for his own reasons and if he has to prove himself to the coach as a relatively unknown commodity I think he has the work ethic, confidence and talent to succeed.
However, if there is anything else anyone would suggest to help making him less of an unknown commodity, I'm all ears.