2013 Recruiting Video-Recruiting Advice

quote:

Originally posted by co2013:
He has sent out a few e-mails with no response at this time.

Don't hold your breath. We never had a response to a cold email.

co2013,

Welcome to HSBBWeb. I hope this is one of the many posts you will share with us here, as it has proven to be a wellspring of information to many.

I would definitely encourage you to browse this forum, and search the site. Countless threads and posts have been dedicated to how to get your son recruited, etc.

There have been other recent recruiting video threads: I would encourage you to read those to get a good perspective on recruiting videos in general.

One thing that I noticed: He is not wearing baseball pants. While most college coaches wouldn't be too concerned about their players wearing shorts/t-shirts for an indoor workout, you are not yet on their team. Not saying a helmet is req. for batting video, but take this as a job interview: dress for the company. In this case, that "company" is college baseball. Your son should look and dress like a baseball player in this video--it could be the first contact a coach has with him, I would bet he's trying to make a good first impression.

The video hitting angles are good. I'm not an expert, so I'm not sure what to tell you on the fielding video perspectives. Hopefully someone else can help you.

I would also add that you've stated your son hasn't gotten an email response from the initial emails he has sent out. As Sultan said, it's not uncommon for the player to not receive a response. I can't tell you how many emails I sent to coaches and I didn't get a response.

Everyone who dreams of playing in college has a goal to play D1 baseball. That may or may not be feasible. The best persons to judge your son's abilities would be scouts, his coaches, etc. Since his coaches have said he may be talented enough to play at that level, I would talk to them to see what their networks may look like. Maybe they can put a call in to a few schools. Sometimes, D1 isn't the best fit for the player. There are many fine D2, D3, and NAIA programs out there that would compete with (and BEAT) D1 baseball programs.

Don't get too hung up on Division-I. I would be more concerned on finding the best FIT for your son. While 4 years at a D1 school might be great, make sure to look at how this education can set him up for a life after baseball. It will happen to all of us eventually! Please do not take this as a discouragement of reaching his D1 dreams. I am simply stating that there are other excellent options out there of which you may not have thought.

Best of luck!

mstcks,

Thanks for you input.

My son has sent several e-mails to coaches that will be at the Top 96 Showcase in Medford,MA 8/2;
he had a few quick replies.

I'll have him search out the coaches at the showcase.

Ideally he would like to play college baseball. No sense going somewhere where you'll sit the bench and or you don't fit into their plans.

I've gone over the life after baseball with him, but at 17 years old its hard to comprehend. I also don't want to discourage him.

Thanks

You're welcome. I agree that the life after baseball aspect is something everyone is a little reluctant to face, even us who only have a few seasons of college baseball left. Ideally, I want to play after college, but that's not completely up to me.

Back to your son: TPX Top 96 is a good program. I attended a camp when I was in HS. I received good interest from some of the coaches that attended in my region. It is a telling sign to receive some info back from the coaches. Congrats on being proactive. I'm not sure what information he is emailing to these coaches, but either the "recruiting tips" or "recruiting timeline" pages on the left hand side has a template for a document you can put together and attach to emails. Obviously, don't just copy and paste the template, but it's an excellent and proven place to start.

As you've stated, it's all about fit. You can't get better if you're not competing hard. Ideally, he would find a place where he could have a great opportunity to compete for a starting spot. Starting roles shouldn't be guaranteed. Others here will echo that if guaranteed starting roles are offered, kindly decline and walk away.

Anyways, if you should have any general questions, feel free to PM me. If you don't know how to do that, click my username, view my profile, then start a private message. While I'm not in your region, I'd be happy to answer any recruiting questions, or direct you to another source who could help you out!