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Just looking for some guidance from the wealth of knowledge this place contains.  My now 16U son is looking for a good fit for his 17U summer season.  Some background is needed here.  He played Rec ball with his less baseball inclined twin through 13U when his twin pursued football exclusively.  We were late in the game for investigating his 14U team, but accepted an offer with a middling team w/a great coach.  We decided to tryout for a few higher level teams for his 15U season and were offered a spot with what we thought would be a highly competitive (had the name Rawlings Showcase in their title), but turned out to be middling at best with VERY poor coaching. My son's season actually shutdown early due to a lingering shoulder injury (turned out to be a SLAP tear, he's 7 mos post-op now and doing GREAT!).  Due to the shoulder injury and my son's future being up in the air, we could not tryout for any 16U teams.  Fortunately his 14U coach referred us to a friend of his who was starting a new 16U team and we accepted a spot. The coach is an incredible guy and accepted my son knowing he may be very limited, but would have my son coaching 1st base if nothing else.  As I mentioned, my son's recovery has gone VERY well, he has been a DH/EH all season and two weeks ago got some time at first base.  He will likely play OF his last two tournaments of the season which is his love.  We have already been offered a position with next year's team, but in all honesty this team is not playing in the tournaments my son wants to be competing in, so we are looking at options with tryouts coming up very quickly.  My son's stats are:  6'2", 185# with a lot more strength and filling out yet to go.  His stats measured almost 1.5 years ago were:  60 time - 7.4, EV - 84, Position Vel - 79   At this point, my son if finished with pitching and focusing solely on the OF as positon player.  He was a pretty solid pitcher, which I know gave him some solid value for a summer team.

Some of my questions are:   Since we are going blindly into the coming tryouts, how can we have any clue if the team we are looking at even has a need for an outfielder?   I'd like to not waste time or money trying out for a team that isn't looking for an outfielder. Also, how should we communicate to the coaches at the tryout that my son is 7-8 months post op and that his throwing velocity will likely improve quite a bit before next summer. 

My son's goal is to play in college, so finding a 17U team that can help him be seen is important to us.  Thanks in advance for any guidance provided.  Just in case, we are in the Indianapolis area if anyone has teams they would recommend we look into.

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Network, network, network.  Smart to ask questions here... even better to have son ask questions of his baseball playing friends about the clubs in the area.  If any of the tourneys he desires to play in next year are fairly local, go to those and have him introduce himself to coaches.  Over the last few tourneys this year, ask around (with as much reasonable discretion as possible).  Heck, you have a good reason for looking at other options.  You may even want to ask the current coach who goes to those desired events.  If he is sincere in his efforts to help the players, he very well may oblige with helping your son find the best fit.

A few side notes... be aware that true OF's generally don't get much, if any, scholly $ unless they hit A TON.  So, academic $ will likely need to be the focus.  Regarding the arm issue, don't offer up anything until he has an actual tryout.  Then, be careful to include that he is fully cleared and healthy, will just take some time to get arm strength ramped back up.

That said, don't rush back from that type of injury.  And make sure he keeps his mechanics correct.  Many players I see recovering from slap will modify their arm angle to get back on the field sooner and it hurts them in the long run.

Last edited by cabbagedad
RJM posted:

We?

Uh, most 16 year old kids don't make the decision on where/who to play travel for by themselves.....so yes, it's like a "we" decision....not the kid's alone.  

I agree....try the Bulls first, as they are close you to.  Several teams in the Cincy area, which isn't awfully far from you.  I guess winter workouts, etc could be an issue, but as far as next summer, it doesn't really matter who you play for.  17U teams generally don't have in season practices.....you'll show up for the tourneys....play then head home.

3and2Fastball posted:

Indiana Bulls at Grand Park is where I'd start looking.   Talk to the coaches there and see what they say and what they recommend.

I think you answered my question... but to confirm.  It's OK to reach out to the coaches via email if the teams publish emails for those coaches?  Do you think it's appropriate to ask if any of their teams are looking for a solid outfielder?  I guess if I'm a coach, my response would very likely be.  "Well, I have very good outfielders returning, BUT if your son is exceptional, then we can always make room!" 

Of course it's ok.....right now teams are holding tyouts for next year.  Almost any "tryout notice" has contact information, either a phone or an email.  There's no reason you couldn't ask if they are looking for specific positions.  There is a lot of turnover from 16U to 17U....17U is a prime year for getting noticed and teams love to be able to say "hey, we had 10 kids from our 17U team go on to play college".....even if 8 of those kids only played in their organization for one year.  Sad, but travel baseball is big money and organizations feel like the more kids they can claim "got to college" playiing with them, the more $$$ they make.  

Buckeye 2015 posted:
RJM posted:

We?

Uh, most 16 year old kids don't make the decision on where/who to play travel for by themselves.....so yes, it's like a "we" decision....not the kid's alone.  

I agree....try the Bulls first, as they are close you to.  Several teams in the Cincy area, which isn't awfully far from you.  I guess winter workouts, etc could be an issue, but as far as next summer, it doesn't really matter who you play for.  17U teams generally don't have in season practices.....you'll show up for the tourneys....play then head home.

Why isn’t a 16yo capable of deciding where he should play? Then the parent decides if it’s affordable. But he used “we” in every reference to his son. It’s his son’s game. The parent is just the supporting cast.

Last edited by RJM

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