Accepting son's decision

Congratulations to you and your son. Sounds like you have a smart kid there. I wish him the best of luck.

Congrats to Speed, I'm sure you are very proud of him! Good luck in the fall!!

GED10DaD

Congrats Dad! Sounds like he is well on his way in the game of life. Very mature young man. As far as what to do with your time, I am sure your wife will be able to fill up the schedule with the honey do's!

The baseball will end for most of them, sooner than later.I think your son is making a decision that fits him.It is a very individual decision, and not one that is easily made.if you took 5 families with the same scenario,I bet each kid might of decided differently.

SpeedsDad,

Congrats for raising a young man who knows what he wants. I wish him well at tryouts or whatever direction his interests take him. Best of luck.

quote:

Originally posted by SpeedsDad:
I'm trying to figure out what to do with no baseball for the first time since his 20 year old brother was 5!!!!!!!!!

Learn to be an umpire. No joke. You'll find it has a different set of positives that you may never have experienced.

Speed:

Congratulations on raising a very, very wise son.

quote:

Originally posted by SpeedsDad:
Well this weekend we visited this last school for the 4th time and he told me "Dad this is where I want to go, this place fits me." I asked "What if you can't play here?" and he said "I'll go all out in the Fall and if I don't make it that's okay. This is where I want to go." After thinking about it he was absolutely right. The school has the 2 majors he is interested in, it's the right distance from home, it's affordable, the right size, he knows some upper classmen from our town and a former Little league teammate is probably going also. In our interaction with the students we met there it was clear he fit there.
So as his Dad I am extremely proud that he made this difficult adult decision but now I'm trying to figure out what to do with no baseball for the first time since his 20 year old brother was 5!!!!!!!!!

I think sometimes they have more perspective on reality than we do.
Your son has a year or more to work his butt off to knock their socks off, don't give up on him or baseball, yet.
Congratulations.

You might have lost a baseball player but you definitely gained a man.

My son was injured the entire recruiting season. He got accepted and decided to attend the school he thought would be the best academic fit. He figured he could try to walk on. If it didn't work out he could transfer.

He made the first cut along with three other players. He then worked out with their top prospects. The coach told him he didn't have a roster spot this year, but is interested in rostering him next year.

My son was considered a mid major prospect. This is a Big Ten program. After the walk on attempt we figured he could easily transfer to a mid major. This week my son told me he loves the school, the atmosphere and it's the right place to be academically. It's one of the best in the country for his major and job placement reputation. He decided if he isn't rostered next year he'll stay and get in four years of club ball. He's also going to play in a 20U or semi pro-am league next summer to compete and stay ready.

My son said it was a tough decision but he has to think of what is best post college. It would not be very bright of me to say, "You're willing to risk three more years of baseball over the rest of your life?"

As much as we're into sports in our house, my son has played baseball a long time and my daughter played college softball, academics always was emphasized more. My kids joke our bumper sticker would read, "My kids better make the honor roll." Academics won out. I can't fault my son's decision.

Note: My son has commented midwesterners are really nice people.

Speedsdad and RJM...I will be rooting for both your kids! I feel that they will be happy with or without baseball. Congratulations on their very mature decisions.

I agree 110% on the Midwesterners comment.

Very happy for your son, OP.

I knew that my current school was the one before I even met the baseball coach. Luckily, baseball turned out great too. BUT - I would be so happy here without it.

Speedsdad,
I am going to take a slightly different view.
Respecting the decision of your son....that is the best!
I respect your son's willingness to see things and make great decisions as he sees them for himself....now while he is a HS senior.
I literally read the love and respect you have for your son. It comes right off the HSBBW.
With that said, I also believe you can respect your son's decision and support his being willing to prove he can play.
Sometimes, being part of a college baseball team is invaluable. There is nothing like it in HS or Milb or any place.
Being willing to sacrifice, while also achieving beyond what can be seen from HS...far beyond..it is worth your son and you trying to support his "dreaming" he can have his school and baseball at that school.
Good luck.
College baseball can be worth all the sacrifice...not always, but it can happen and make our son's so much better to achieve everything which comes after.

Gang Thanks for the kind words, they are appreciated. Speed apparently isn't ready to give up on sports even if it won't be baseball. He told me he plans to improve on weaknesses the college Coach pointed out (mainly physical strength) and has a back up plan that was news to me. His HS's track Coach has asked him to run since his Freshman year but he always declined. This year he is going to run indoor track to see if, with Coaching, he can translate his 6.8 60 into a competitive D3 college 55 meters. He checked and saw his college recruits sprinters who run a 6.9 55 meter and the record is 6.62. He told me if he can't play baseball that 6.62 is his next goal. He hasn't run track since 6th grade and I don't have a clue how he will compare to real sprinters but what the heck he wants to give it a shot. Baseball has been his main interest for most of his life and I am glad to see, that if the journey is ending soon, he hopes to fill the hole with something as worthwhile.

Thanks again, and I can't express how valuable the website has been to me the past 2 years. I have told every baseball parent I know that joining here is a must. I just wish I found it 15 years ago when I started Coaching. Thanks again

Dad,

Interesting plan. I can not tell you how much difference a good strength and conditioning program makes. My son has been working out since he arrived on campus in August and the changes in his body are amazing. Granted a collge freshmen is one year older, but if your son hits it hard the next year he WILL surprise the college coach. The good news is that sprinting workouts are very similar to baseball workouts with the exception that sprinters do a little more overhead work for shoulders, which if done properly should not hurt him from a baseball standpoint. If he hits it hard and has anywhere near a 6.6 time the coach will pay attention to this. Best of luck to speed!

While my son is not as old as yours, he recently made a decision to hang up his baseball cleats and focus in on swimming. He feels that swimming will offer more rewards for him in the future.

So, it is bittersweet, but good for your son in making this decision.

Good luck to him in his academic career!

SD:

I very much enjoyed talking with you over the past year. IMO your son has made a very adult decision and you should be very proud of him! I'm sure he will become a success at whatever he chooses to do.

Also, it is always good to have a plan B... Keep in touch and let us all know how he makes out.

Thanks Mike

Let me know when Jon decides. Good Luck in the search and wish him luck for the coming Basketball season.

its is amazing how mature our young men can be when the time comes--ihave been thru the recruiting process with two sons and a stepson and each made their dedecisions in their own manner it is great to see them make a decision and then succeed--- congrats

As soon as you realize it's their decision and it's their life, life without baseball isn't that difficult. Sure, we all would love to see our kids play and go pro but if a kid is hanging on to the game to please others, then he's in it for all the wrong reasons. Life as a collegiate ballplayer isn't for everyone.

Look at it as baseball being a part of who they are and who they're becoming. The experiences whether good or bad will be lessons learned as they go on with their lives.


There are many HS ball players who end their careers in HS that could've played at the next level if that was what they wanted to do, but instead, moved on with their life to do something else.

Speed

Your boy is gonna be just fine. If baseball works, great. If not, I love the track idea. With those numbers he can be a "real" sprinter for sure. Just like college baseball college track has different levels as well.

Track is different from a team perspective than baseball but as a former college track guy I can tell you the bonds I forged were life lasting. I will never forget one indoor season a teamate was going for the Mile record. The entire team(guys and girls) knew this was the night he going to try and set it based on his preparation for months. He was on pace(slightly ahead) for 7 of the 8 laps. The entire team was chanting his nickname in unison each lap as he circled the track. The place was rocking inside. He did not get the record falling just short but set his own PR.But that was one of many great memories for me which was simply supporting a teamates goals and efforts.

My point is that the experiences in Track like baseball can be awesome. Good Luck, perhaps he will be a multi sport college athlete and Congrats on finding the right school!!

Speed, honestly, I wish my son was mature enough to think about what college was best in the long run rather then only from a baseball perspective. Mine might play 4 more years of ball but will he be happy while he's doing it and graduate with a degree that allows him good job prospects? Much harder to say for sure. What a mature, smart young man you have raised.

SpeedsDad,

Just to encourage your son let me tell you my son Tyler's story. Tyler is my younger son who was always a little bit in the shadow of his older brother as a baseball player but by the end of his high school career was the most valuable offensive player in the district and had some college offers. He was a great jumper on his HS track team and a good runner, especially for being seventeen when he graduated. But track was really something he did to keep in shape for baseball which he played year around. I, of course was all into the baseball and while enjoying his track participation, always steered him toward baseball.

Well senior year at Christmas, he approaches me (maybe a little afraid to tell me) with the idea that he wants to maybe walk on at a DII in South Texas that has a great track program and had shown interest in him for baseball. So at that point he played his senior year of baseball for the love of the game only and had a great final season. I kept silently hoping against hope but woke up to the fact that I had to let him follow his dreams. He actually had some injuries in track but he contacted the track coach and and while the coach was nice, he seemed a little like,"Oh, here's another guy who thinks he's a track star" at our meeting with him.

The coach still invited him to walk on and gave him a training packet for the summer and I mean he worked out fanatically running and lifting weights with his college baseball playing brother. He shows up for the six week track boot camp which weeds out the track team roster and after the first three weeks the coach called him out in front of the other fifty guys on the team and gave him a track team shirt, saying he was the hardest worker on the team and had made the team. Not only that he was going to begin training for the Decathalon since he did a lot of things well but maybe wasn't as fast as some of the football/track guys.

All this just points to your son, not having to be the very fastest guy to do well in college track but just be a great athlete who works hard. Still, a funny thing happened this week when the three returning Decathalon guys were practicing the Javelin and and made their throws with experienced form. Tyler walked up and threw his flatfoooted and his throw went thirty or so feet beyond theirs! Guess the old outfield and pitching arm still had some use!

One last thing. At one time my son was a catcher and had the big bag with all the equipment. After he switched to outfielder/pitcher, I thought we were rid of the big bag, finally. Now he has a pair of sprinting shoes, long distance shoes, jumping shoes for the high jump, jumping shoes for the long jump, and shoes to throw the javelin. He now needs a big bag for all his track shoes!

Anyway, your son can try the same thing if that's truly his dream and he wants to try another sport besides baseball. Good luck to your young man!

quote:

I wish my son was mature enough to think about what college was best in the long run

Colleges will argue with this, but there really isn't much difference in schools. It's far more about what the student puts into it than the school itself.

Well said Husker
I have thought that myself.