quote:Originally posted by AL MA 08:
There are many things that matter concerning where you go to college regardless of whether you play baseball or not. Distance matters to some, and like you, it does not for others. I live in the southeast and there are plenty of good baseball programs close to home. If you live in the great white north and want to play baseball in a warmer climate you are going to travel farther away.
IMO it is more of a commitment to go 800 miles or 2000 miles away to school; namely time and money. My son travels 100 miles and is overjoyed to be there. I really enjoy having a 100 mile trip to see my son; there is also much less risk to my son traveling home in 1.5 hours. I agree that you have to meet "his" needs and most important decisions involve trade offs and weighted factors against the pros and cons you put together. Distance is a factor in this decision; in your case it got no weight.
You bring up some really good points and one (distance) that should be considered in the recruiting process.
Besides the obvious, it can be very expensive to send your player farther from home. If you cannot afford to travel to see him, he has to understand that before decisions are made.
Like CD, we sent ours about 750 miles from home. We went up every fall, and about 3 times during season, depending on whether he played in Miami or in Tallahassee or Atlanta which was closer than South Carolina. It worked for him because many of the players were far from home and parents didn't
come often, the parents that attended every game made sure that all players got cheered for when the parents were missing.
With large attendances, he got a lot of fan support as well. My son had a great college experience, great coaching staff, but probably would admit he wished the school was closer. It is very important that your son have a great support system, that doesn't include you being there for games.
I understand that this is about our sons playing, but we too as families want to be able to share in our players experiences, it becomes part of our lives as well. Things have become a bit easier these days, with TV coverage and webTV, it makes it a bit easier to adjust to the distance.
I would call the coach and have a discussion regarding how many players he is expecting, we got the same invitation to one school and there were about 75-100 in attendance. Junior days can be a good thing, but it doesn't affect being seriously recruited later on if you attend or not.
What you might want to consider is a unofficial in the spring, when you can watch the team.
Welcome and best of luck.