My 2021 is going to HeadFirst in Florida, and we're a little disappointed at the number of coaches attending and how few of them are head coaches. In retrospect, I wish we had signed him up for one of the earlier ones in New York. With flights, rental car, hotel and the showcase price, this trip is not going to be cheap, and I'm not sure we're getting full bang for our buck.
3and2Fastball posted:My 2021 has the grades & the smarts but he has no interest in the HA route. And I have to let him drive the bus. I would love for him to be a HA kid but more than likely once he's done with playing Baseball he wants to be a coach, and doesn't want the vigorous academic challenges that are the HA reality. His older brother did the HA thing (without playing sports) and the time & effort it took to get A's at a HA were very intense.
Anyways, great thread...
My 2020 had borderline grades/test scores to go HA. He was a good candidate for baseball getting him into a school he may have been right on the cusp of. He doesn't want to coast in school, but he didn't want to be in a situation where he's in over his head academically and have both school and baseball suffer.
22and25 posted:For those of us new to this process, would you mind posting your son's academic and baseball measurables? As the father of a 2022 RHP I am curious as to what the HA D3 schools are recruiting in terms of grades, test scores and velocity.
I've posted this a few different times in a few different ways...but HA schools vary greatly. The best thing to do is find a group of schools that you are interested in and look at their scores. My son is a 2019 and will be playing in the SCIAC. His grades/scores were good enough for the Ivy's but not good enough for some of the HA D3's (looking at you Hopkins!).
Just to give you a rough idea he had a 4.2 GPA, 1300 SAT, and several AP classes. Topped out at 89mph (he's a SS), ran a 7.0 60, and 90mph exit velo. The top 2 pitchers on his team both throw a consistent 90mph and the 3rd guy is not much behind.
My 2020 LHP will be visiting several HA D3s this fall. He has offers at a couple of them. At the other schools the coaches have expressed strong interest but we think there may be more specific conversations at or following the camps [at least that’s my guess, based on what I’ve read from others on this site]. Importantly the visits will help him get a better sense of the campus vibe and how he gels with the teams.
He doesn’t have a strong favorite yet, although two or three of them are out front. We’ll use the visits to help him sort that out, and presumably will apply early decision — assuming he’s gotten clear indication or support from the coach.
The next few weeks will busy but I’m looking forward to the ride.
Chico - good luck to Jr and keep us updated. I’ll do the same.
LuckyCat posted:My 2021 is going to HeadFirst in Florida, and we're a little disappointed at the number of coaches attending and how few of them are head coaches. In retrospect, I wish we had signed him up for one of the earlier ones in New York. With flights, rental car, hotel and the showcase price, this trip is not going to be cheap, and I'm not sure we're getting full bang for our buck.
Can you get a credit for the 2020 summer session? HC are working with a new recruiting class/team, which is why they don’t attend in September. Also, not sure where your son’s measurables are, but if he’s not on the cusp of getting an offer, next summer may be better. If you’re targeting D3, then next summer is best for a 2021
CTbballDad posted:LuckyCat posted:My 2021 is going to HeadFirst in Florida, and we're a little disappointed at the number of coaches attending and how few of them are head coaches. In retrospect, I wish we had signed him up for one of the earlier ones in New York. With flights, rental car, hotel and the showcase price, this trip is not going to be cheap, and I'm not sure we're getting full bang for our buck.
Can you get a credit for the 2020 summer session? HC are working with a new recruiting class/team, which is why they don’t attend in September. Also, not sure where your son’s measurables are, but if he’s not on the cusp of getting an offer, next summer may be better. If you’re targeting D3, then next summer is best for a 2021
Hmmm. I'll look into this. Unfortunately we purchased non-refundable plane tickets a month ago. I'm not sure if we can change them. If not, he's heading to St. Pete this month, and we'll just have to hope the assistant coaches can get him on their follow lists. He will have several opportunities this summer with his travel team to get in front of many of these head coaches.
In hindsight, we've made a few timing mistakes this summer/fall. I'll put one of them here for the benefit of any 2022s planning out their coming year. His very strong travel season ended the third weekend in July. We should have rode that momentum and sent him to the HeadFirst showcase in New York right after that. We were concerned that it would be more expensive to travel and stay up there, so we decided on the one in Florida instead. But, now he's had 6 weeks with minimal baseball (mostly weight training, some long toss, and regular hitting instruction). He went to a college camp this weekend, and while he did okay, he finished up pretty sore and says he can tell he's not in peak shape. His 60 time over the summer was 6.6, but this weekend it was a 6.8. Also, school starts early in Georgia and is in full swing now. He's going to have to find time to keep up with his studies (all AP/honors classes) while on this trip to HeadFirst. So, all in all, a mid-September showcase was less than ideal.
Always helpful to get additional perspective for my 2022. We've been focused on getting bigger, stronger, faster, better and plan to begin camping next summer. We were debating whether or not to do a HF showcase as a rising junior (for familiarity, to get on some radar screens, etc) and if we do that, I like the idea of going during or right after his summer season. Thanks for sharing.
CTbballDad posted:LuckyCat posted:My 2021 is going to HeadFirst in Florida, and we're a little disappointed at the number of coaches attending and how few of them are head coaches. In retrospect, I wish we had signed him up for one of the earlier ones in New York. With flights, rental car, hotel and the showcase price, this trip is not going to be cheap, and I'm not sure we're getting full bang for our buck.
Can you get a credit for the 2020 summer session? HC are working with a new recruiting class/team, which is why they don’t attend in September. Also, not sure where your son’s measurables are, but if he’s not on the cusp of getting an offer, next summer may be better. If you’re targeting D3, then next summer is best for a 2021
Sounds like he's ready to showcase now, with that 60 time. Keep in mind that Headfirst makes video of each player, and gives it to all attending colleges. So, even if the head coach isn't there, he should be able to access the video afterward. We found that my son got interest from schools (i.e. phone calls/emails from head coaches) even if the AC was the one at the showcase (that was Long Island). Make contact ahead of time with the schools of interest, and then afterward also; I feel that someone at Headfirst told us to make a note of your registration number (?) so that afterward you can be very precise in telling coaches which video to watch.
BBMomAZ posted:Chico Escuela posted:NESCAC schools are among the slowest responders for my son, too... Williams apparently is just always slow, based on what I read here. I don't know about the others. Getting to places like Middlebury, Colby, Hamilton for camps is not easy--hard to justify just because a coach said during the summer that he's interested. On the other hand, most places seem to want to see my son at a fall camp before they make a decision. Maybe that means he's a marginal candidate--although even so, if a camp is his last chance to get over the hump, then I guess he should go? (Which still leaves the question which camps to choose?)
"Name recognition" is an issue for my son, too. And like most HS kids, my son knows about 1) schools he sees on TV for sports, 2) (most of) the Ivies and 3) not many other institutions. In case it helps: I attended a school that no one in my HS and many folks in my small southern town had never heard of. I literally had people tell me things like "too bad you didn't get into [State U.]" (State U. is a great school; but my alma mater is in the top 10 of most college rankings.) I didn't want to borrow for college and this school offered me a scholarship, so I enrolled feeling pretty sorry for myself. When I got into the wider world, I learned that my college actually has very high global name recognition. (Who'd have thunk it? 17- and 18-year-old kids know less about the world than the middle-aged folks who actually hire college graduates...) If a kid has the chance to go to an Ivy (and the cost is similar), that's a great choice. But there are quite a few other great choices out there also. (I went to an Ivy for grad school. Great education, but not perfect; nothing is.)
If there are a bunch of these coaches attending HA fall show cases (such as HeadFirst), is that an opportunity to get in front of them again without trekking to every campus? Here is a link to the list of coaches attending the South East camp in St. Petersburg, FL in September: https://www.headfirsthonorroll...l-southeast-session/. Could open some more doors as well...
FYI - For 2020s who are still looking to get in front of HA coaches this fall, here is another camp/showcase option in October: https://showballbaseball.com/c...c-world-series-camp/. All head coaches attending.