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Reply to "Single mom of a freshman catcher looking for some helpful tips"

IMO, the following are the priorities:

1. Academics (you didn't mention).  Immediately (if you haven't done so already) focus on his HS academic path. Injuries, girl friends, life - each can derail baseball; but nothing derails good grades earned in the most rigorous academic environment. Academics are the only sure fire way to maximize his potential college options. Most likely, he's too far away from college to begin marshaling coherent thoughts about preparation and an involved parent shoulders the enormous load of understanding the process. But, comb through the threads for a while and you will recognize that the combo of baseball skills and grades/scores is the holy grail.

2. Baseball. Individual skills trump any team he's on; coaches recruit players, not teams. So, if finances aren't unlimited, devote those dollars to building individual skills (hitting, conditioning, defense). Find reputable skills coaches to develop and maximize his strengths (if not a pitcher, then absolutely hitting skills). Learn the paths (look up some past threads) that some families took to get to college; some did extensive travel ball on the national level, others on the state level, still others did almost no travel ball - so one size doesn't fit all. When selecting a team make sure he's happy with the selection AND he plays the maximum and doesn't sit. 

3. Exposure. This is a sort of subset to Baseball. In short, exposure means putting the right skill sets in front of the right coaches. This represents that junction between what he brings in baseball skills and the college he can get into in light of grades and scores. For example, some organizations focus on D3 and high academic colleges, others on more powerful conferences. There is a ton of overlap between these organizations and you can begin to focus on the school profiles most appropriate to him by preparation and focus on the types of events (showcase, tournament, etc.) which fits your budget and collage goals.

College camps can be very productive - or a waste of money. For example, if there is a local college with a reasonably priced camp, getting his "feet wet" by experiencing a camp populated with older kids could be a decent use of money. On the other hand sending him cross country to a camp may not be worth the cost. The recruiting road map - especially at the beginning requires preparation and a plan - but a family cannot be rigid on exactly which college it wants; the recruiting path is full of twists and turns and flexibility allows you to be open to unexpected options.

At this stage (pre-driving) it's a parent/son partnership. His "job" is to work hard, hard, hard on school and baseball. Your job is to understand the college process and the path he needs to be on to get there and the amount you're willing and able to pay for baseball and college (and the financial aspects to make it more affordable). There will be times he's "lazy" and will need to be motivated; there will be times you're tired of his "attitude."

Here you will get input from those who are going through the HS process, parents whose kids are in college, parents whose kids are in proball, and parents who are done. Whatever we did worked for us; I'm convinced that if another family did exactly what we had done, their son would wind up in a different place. So, welcome, become a wise consumer of our information and collective "wisdom" and experience. Take what we give you and tailor that input to your individual needs. Learn, research and prepare.

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