The journey remains a ton fun all along the way.
No.1 one thing to remember: Teenagers think about time completely differently than adults. I know that’s obvious, but this very fact can lead to undue stress. Adults can project out to next Christmas, next summer, even the basic road map for the following two to five years. Teenagers believe next weekend is the distant future.
No.2: This journey, any journey, is brand new to your son. Some parents have direct, personal experience with baseball success. All parents have made some similar passage in their lives – a series of little accomplishments lead to a greater success, opening doors to further opportunities.
My main point: Don’t track the process as a single list of steps that needs to be checked off and monitored. Each milestone is an atomic event for your player. For example, it’s likely the Freshman try-out process will be stressful to your son. Even if your player is a shoe for the team, this cut has consequences and spending two weeks with a few kids that won’t make it can be it’s own stress driver. This is not the time to bring up projected pitching match ups against the rival high school or the 15U Team USA tryouts in N.C. in July so your player will be more comfortable when trying to make the 17U Team USA 2 years later.
There will be no straight lines. There will be 0-fers stretches. There will be failures due to unpreparedness and others from over trying. There will also be moments of true brilliance; plays you never thought you player would actually ever make. All the while you’ll be hearing about “John” on Varsity, or at another school, or in another town who just committed to big-time school. It’s perfectly fine to ask around and find out what made John’s journey, John’s journey. But raise your kid; you’re not raising ‘John’. John won’t be coming to thanksgiving for the next 40 years.