quote:believe it or not many Canadian kids are coming BACK from JUCOs to play in Ontario mostly University ball. It is happening, check it out. Some US ball is not all its hyped up to be - save for your sons experience. Players come back for various reasons – culture shock, playing time..etc
I don't have to check it out, I knew most of them personally. You are right that they come back for various reasons and yes many had a reality check. No longer the big fish. One guy I knew well spent 2 years in JC and played for Brock ! He was throwing 92mph. I was with him and his mother when he got signed at a MLB tryout. A rare thing !He never got any interest in the US ! I knew 2 who came back from Canisius after their freshman year very angry' At one time I knew at least 150 players who played US ball. Some had wonderful experiences, some expected too much and got burned. I have over the years warned people about their expectations. Our experience was as I said magical. We got more than we expected because we tried to keep it real ! We did not spend a fortune and enjoyed the journey even the rough spots !
Personally we owe a lot to our local OBA team and my son played with them as well as Elite until the last year before college !It was a shame that the level of ball was on a decline at midget level for several reasons lack of interest being the big one !
It sounds like you made the right choices for your son's but mine wanted to play D1 in the South. If things went sour he would have come back and finished his degree here ! He is getting married in Myrtle Beach in May on a Plantation ! His roommates were amazing young men, one is an accountant and the other at Law school at U of South Carolina ! The accountant was the top academic in the conference !