SluggerDad posted:It's the starkness of the transition that I'm thinking about and what you can do as a parent to help prepare the kid for that stark transition so that when they get to college athletics, it doesn't come as the least bit of surprise and they are fully ready to deal.
I guess for us it was a gradual process. We worked on having our son take care of as much of the process as we could (with some guidance of course). For them to be successful, they have to own it. And even then there was a shock to him when we finally dropped him off at college and left for home (250 mile drive).
In the months leading up to his college freshman year, we helped as much as we could - arranging the off campus housing (coach had paired him with another player who was more or less local to the JuCo), making one major run to move the big stuff (bed, furniture, etc) to the apartment in advance, worked with the roommates parents to get utilities taken care of, one final run to the local Walmart to get necessities and to stock him up on food. We, more or less, tried to soften the shock of leaving home for the first time as much as possible, but there is only so much we could do. Ultimately when we drove away, it was still up to him to get over the shock and deal with the reality that he had to make it happen - academically and athletically.
As far as preparing them to prove themselves to one man (the coach), our approach or guidance to our son was you have to prove yourself every day. Every team he tried out for after LL (travel, JV, Varsity, Legion and college) he had to prove himself on the field and not take anything for granted - don't assume anything. No matter how well prepared, nothing can really prepare them completely for college athletics - it is a dog eat dog world.
For our son, I think it was more of shock to show up to the first practice and see 53 players on the field. All but two had been recruited. It was up to him to perform well enough in practice to a) make the squad and b) crack the starting line up (he did both).
One additional comment - no matter how well you prepare them, there will be something that will come as a surprise that no one thought of. On that, I have no doubt.
I'm not sure if I answered your question, but those are my thoughts.
Now if you really want to shock a kid, let him join the military. No matter how well prepared, it will be a challenge. I know from personal experience.