I've debated sharing this story. But, in the end, I thought it could be helpful to some and worth sharing.
January 2019.
My son is a HS freshman. He's been playing with the same travel team since 2017 and was committed to play with them in the summer of 2019. This would be his 3rd year with them.
But, he's looking for some catching specific offseason training and his travel organization is offering nothing.
We find another travel organization offering offseason training for catchers and it's open to the public. So, even though it's 90 minutes away, we sign up and trek down there every weekend (and back) during the winter.
The guy running the training falls in love with my son's catching and hitting skills and he wants him to play for him in the summer. We politely decline because he already committed to his current team.
August 2019.
The coach of the other team stayed on my son all spring and summer and my son decides that he wants to play for him in the fall of 2019. Son's current team seems to be falling apart and the timing is good to make the change for the fall and see what happens.
The team is stacked and it's a fun time. But, as is the case with a loaded team, some are unhappy with playing time and usage. One pitcher in particular, who became very close with my son, decides to leave the team and join another organization. (Note: The pitcher is one of the most talented that I have ever seen and just signed his NLI to play for a P5.)
October 2019.
The pitcher has been talking up my son to the guy who runs his new travel organization. Best he's ever thrown to and lobbies hard for him to get my son. The coach and my son connect and my son agrees to guest play for him in a PG tournament late in October.
That goes well and my son wants to play for that team. Problem is they are based out of another state, two hours away. The head of the organization says he doesn't care - just show up for the tournaments and don't worry about practices and training because he knows my son already trains close to home.
I have no problem with it because we are always traveling for tournaments anyway - so that's no different and my son wants to do it.
We do make an effort to train with the new team some during January and February just because it's important to know your teammates. It was a lot of time driving but I didn't mind because it was the winter and we had the time.
March 2020.
The pandemic hits.
Summer 2020.
Things start opening up and baseball returns to the field. There is a ton of baseball planned for June, July and August. And, the person running the travel organization is working very hard to get his players exposure and connected with college coaches.
It's during this time that my son and his eventual college coach connect and start talking.
My son was talking to quite a few college coaches at this time. Many of the connections first facailated by the head of his travel organization. This led to him getting a few offers to consider but it was that one college coach in particular where the connection made was incredibly strong. And that's the offer that my son accepted with his verbal commitment in October 2020.
November 2021.
My son signs his NLI.
That's a lot of stuff in a 3 year period. And, I'm convinced that it's all connected - attending that catchers camp, joining that team and meeting the pitcher, and switching teams with that pitcher to get aligned with an organization that had the connections to get the attention of coaches.
Would my son have ended up in college baseball without that all happening? Maybe? But I doubt he would have ended up at the school where he will be attending. And, so far, it's the ideal situation for him.
The whole thing started with going to that offseason catcher’s training 85 miles away that winter of his freshman year in high school. Without that, he doesn't switch teams, meet the pitcher, and then follow him to the other new team.
The story just proves that you never know what's going to lead to what in your recruiting journey. Something that seems like nothing might just be the springboard to something big happening. It all matters.