Any advise for MN player looking for FL college?

I think you will find SPORTS MEDICINE as a major is more popular and available than you think

Do you homework--sit down and look at the schools your SON has an interest in where ever it may be--dont worry where your new house is located--it is his life

What is with the "we thought we would try " ??????????

Holly,

Don't worry about a post like the above that makes negative judgements about your question. (Sorry, TRHit, that's just my opinion of the post.)

Sounds like a reasonable request for help and information, based on priorities that your son and your family share, so I hope another poster will have some info for you. (My 04 son also preferred to be away from home, but within driving distance of his family when he starts college next year -- he made his own decision with some help and support from mom and dad.) Good luck to you in helping your son!

holly...I would do some searches for colleges within the radius that you mentioned...

and if this is agreeable with your son's goals...I would ask him to make a list of colleges and look at the degrees they offer...

I know that although my daughter in law was entering the field of occupational therapy...that she moved from CA to TX to further her studies for smaller classes and high graduation rates...

Also, he might want to call the department affiliated with the sports medicine area and glean some insight into their programs, etc...

And of course, check out the baseball at the same time...

good luck...Pam

Try the up and coming Florida Golf Coast College (not certain of the precise name)...now a D2 school in Ft. Myers and headed for D1 soon.

Beautiful campus and new diamond. Heard lots of good things.

MNMOM

No offense taken

You can read things however you want--your option as it is for everyone else.

Like I have said many times before-- I am not going to tell anyone what they want to hear but, rather, what they NEED to hear--if you don't like it and want to jump on my case so be it.

Holly,
You might want to PM baseonballs50, she lives in Florida.
Also, have you posted in the Florida forum?
One thing I find interesting about your story, is that you're building a home there...Is it possible for you to establish residency prior to his graduating? That might make a BIG difference to some schools.

TR,
Most everyone I know appreciates your wisdom and advice and knows that your heart is really in the right place. But lately you have been VERY abrasive....jeez my skin gets chaffed just reading your posts.

While your reminders that the decision really should rest with the player/child are good, please keep in mind that it isn't all that unusual for a parent's desire to BE THE SAME AS their son's.
It doesn't mean we're making the decision FOR them, just that WE want the same thing.
Yes, it can happen

Mr amd Mrs

Sorry you or any others feel that way--just telling it like it is-- people ask for opinions and advice-- I give it from where I see it, as for heart it is fine and located properly-- I am not here to debate--just offer my thoughts-- you or anyone else need not like them or agree but that does not make me "very abrasive" as you term it--it makes me honest in expressing what I feel about things based on my experience

Or would you all rather I tell everyone what they want to hear not WHAT they need to hear

SORRY--that ain't me !!!! I am not here to win a popularity contest--I am here to offer advice-- nobody, especially me, says I am right all the time or that you have to adhere to my advice-- experience counts for something in my world

TR,

Since you addressed part of your post to me, I thought I should reply. I have spoken to you once on the phone and I can tell your heart is in the right place. If you read my post above, you may see that I didn't "jump on your case" ... I just offered words of encouragement to Holly, who is from MN. Your post to her ending with "What is with the "we thought we would try " ?????????? " sounded pretty judgemental, and I wanted to offer her my opinion and encouragement for what I thought was a reasonable question.

holly:

I do not know anything about your son but I am a little familiar with both Tampa and Florida Gulf Coast, having seen both play. I think FGC is going D2 by the way, not D1.

Anyway, in my opinion, your son has to be D1 material to play at any of those schools. They are extremely talented, and competitive, IMHO, and can probably beat quite a few D1's. From what I heard many of the FGC players had D1 options, and many talented players from the fall workout did not make the cut.

As I said I do not know anything about your son, but playing for a Florida school is pretty tough because of all the talent in their backyard. Both teams were very, very impressive when I saw them.

Good luck.

MNMOM

When "WE" gets into it it usually means the college selection is for the parents not the player and that is not a good thing in my estimation.

TRHit

Who are you to decide what everyone "needs" to hear anyway? Are you like some italian baseball god or something? Please, forgive all of us mortals!!

I think that your baseball analysis is usually spot on, but how about sticking to baseball.
It seems that you think you are HSWeb's version of Dr. Laura and that all parents "need" to hear "TR the almighty".

"You are interferring with your sons life!" "How dare you tell him to stay out of the street! He is three you know!!" "Whenever I hear foolish parents telling their sons to stay out of the street, "I" know that it is more about the parent then the child becasue I am "TR the all knowing" and I just tell what needs telling!!"

Is there a deeper issue here? perhaps with your own parental relationships? because it is always the same rhetoric... and sometimes you really stretch to get your "silly message" out. I wonder how any of these kids survived with such overbearing parents! Thank you TR!! Geez!

I think that all holly "needs" to hear is what she asked for... information about schools in FL. JMO.

Good grief!

R.

Holly,
Is your son a RHP or LHP? (curious because of velocity)
Would he be willing to consider a JC so you can take time to research schools a while longer, give him a chance to develop more and give those 4 year schools a chance to see him?

One thing I've noticed about some of these out of state schools, is even though I've heard they may have a certain need, they often won't be willing to take the time to look into a player if he's out of state and they aren't already familiar with him.

TR,
WE still think you're awesome, although WEsometimes still think you're
P-r-i-c-k-l-y.

Actually, when "we" gets into it, it usually means Mom or Dad is doing some research on schools, their academics, and their baseball programs and then the player and his parents are talking about it...and there's that pesky "we" again. If there weren't a "we" involved, this board would be filled with player posts.

My, so much can be read into a pronoun. Whatever could you do with an entire prepositional phrase, TR?

Holly, it's difficult to say if the fit would be here in Florida without knowing more. Mr&MrsB is right --- the velocity is a little low now if he's a RHP. Has he competed nationally on a summer team? That would give you an idea of how he'd stack up.

While you're researching schools, take a look at their rosters to see who might be light on younger pitching. I would suggest working to get him on a team (contacting PG for a start) to come down to the Wood Bat tournament in Jupiter in the Fall, contacting the schools he's interested in to let them know he can be seen there.

Should you be able to plan a trip down here after classes resume, JuCo's can have him throw fo them as a tryout on their campuses. I appreciate he knows the direction he wants his academics to take, but he can get the usual Fr-Soph classes handled at a JuCo, and have the opportunity to pitch more than he might at a 4 year. As suggested, this will also establish him in Florida as a player.

Any recruiters or scouts who have seen him in MN might also be able to offer intros to appropriate schools. My son playes in the Panhandle Conference here, and there are a number of Northern players in that conference who have been placed there by scouts.

Best of luck!

Has your son considered going the JUCO route. He could look into Southern JUCO programs.

He could play a year or two MUCH closer to the Florida schools he might be interested in, and they may actually get a chance to see him and evaluate him (or possibly kKNOW the coach he plays for).

Also, he could decide if he WANTS to move all the way to Florida.

TR have you even considered that folks just type WE simply because it takes fewer key strokes than MY SON???

holly,
I think that you have gotten some good advise to start. First thing that you should do is call the Florida Department of Education and ask questions about residency requirements. Most states, I think, require one year of residency to be able to receive in state tuition.
M & M and VIDad are correct, because of the homegrown talent here in the state (for many sports not just baseball), the public universities do not have to look out of state. Because of the Bright Futures Program, they are able to get more bang for their buck, especially in D1 baseball where there are only 11.7 (is that it) scholarships to fill. You can give a player a 25% scholarship because they might be getting 75-100% from the state for their tuition. One other thing, because of the rising costs for out of state schools, many of the parents here will not send their kids out of state unless they recieve a big scholaship elsewhere. Most of my son's friends willbe attending schools here in Florida, baseball or not, just too expensive to go away. Florida will award the acceptance to in state students first. And as far as the JUCOs they also recruit top talent in FL, especially those that want to enter the draft again sooner than three years, draft and follows, need to improve grades but darn good players, etc.
Because my son has chosen to go play out of state, I am not that familiar with curriculums at the schools here in Florida for which your son may be interested in. You would need to do considerable homework. Also, your son should take the SAT and maybe start working on raising that velocity because there are LOTS of kids here who throw in the 90's.
You might want to look into Nova Southeastern University, excellent program and good baseball. It is a private school, tuition about 40K a year. I know that they have many students from out of state. There are many other private schools in Florida, but tuition would be at a premium. Whatever you do, start doing your homework NOW.
Good luck and let me know if you need anything else.

Hey guys,
TR is okay, I'll take him any day over some other websters with really BIG egos and attitudes.
M & M,
What about that beer?

Bob50,
Yeah.............what ABOUT that beer.
Where the heck is Chill??

Hi Holly,

Just want to commend you on taking an interest in helping your son make a major life impacting decision. This country would be a lot better off if more parents took an interest in helping shape their kid's future.

TR was very open when he wrote “nobody, especially me, says I am right all the time”.

I believe this is one of those times.

Regards to all

Florida is an excellent place to go to school and play ball. I know many who did not compete any higher than Legion ball and still made rosters and gotten scholarships from D1 &D2 schools. I am including a link to a site that has most of the top and 2nd tier Florida Colleges along with links to their websites. One of my Favorites is Jax university but that is a personal opinion. Hope this site and links I'm giving you help you and your son in evaluating his position and making a suitable choice. There are many D1 D2 NAIA and JUCO listings. Good luck and best wishes!!

http://sponwd.home.mindspring.com/bbindex.htm