Are collegiate summer leagues important???

OK--speaking off the top of my head--and as a parent who's son has not yet had the oppotunity of summer wood bat ball...
...here are some uneducated observations, rumor, and innuendo.

With the proverbial plethura of summer leagues...
...I think discussion of summer placement opportunities are important questions to ask coaches at ALL levels, when choosing a school. Certainly, some of your upper echelon schools will be sending players to the Cape, and the other high-level leagues, but there seems to be an influx of leagues which many of the D-III schools will send players.

I would also think that, if a coach really wanted his players to develop, that a coach would want his players swinging wood against players of equal or higher caliber.

I would also question the coach's motives...
...is the coach discouraging summer play b/c he has lost players to transferring, perhaps a result of the exposure his players have gotten in summer ball. That certainly would be something to investigate. Maybe he is trying to "hide" his players...

I'm not even sure what those coaches want to do would be legal with the NCAA. I know there are practice restrictions, etc. I don't see how they could get around that and still be in compliance.

My son went away last summer as a freshman and will be in the NECBL this summer. I don't think he'd be interested in attending a program like you mention, especially having had the opportunity to play summer league last year. There's alot more benefit than just baseball when they go away.

With the new rules in regard to graduation rates tied to scholarships I can see how summer ball may have less importance to some college programs in the future because scholarships and other penalties hang in the balance. Coaches are soon going to be losing their jobs not only for not winning but for kids not graduating

Baseball is the only sport where the kids can't get caught up on classes in the summer due to summer ball. Very difficult for kids to carry 15-18 hours in season and make good grades with all the classes they miss......not impossible but challenging.

Football and basketball don't have summer leagues so if kids fail during the fall or spring or take a lighter load they can make it up in the summer. Baseball kids don't have that option if they play summer ball.

The next ten years should be interesting in regard to the growth or reduction of these summer leagues and how college coaches will respond to these new rules.


I am glad my oldest is almost done but the younger one may have an entirely different experience.

NCAA Summer leagues are very important to players future.

Any college coach that does not promote his players playing in a NCAA summer is a terrible coach and avoid him like the plauge.

Good example saw two pitchers both throwing in the 90's mph at NAIA colleges. Was interested in both for a NCAA sumer league team. One coach signed everything fast and the player played well there that summer, later turn pro. Other coach did not send in the contract. Other player not scouted and out of baseball thanks to his college coach.

Unless you are in summer school or are injured. You should be playing in a NCAA league if you have the chance.

Frank, should a pitcher pile on more innings after throwing 100+ in the spring?

Excellent post 04and10. Summer leagues will be the big losers in the APR/Later start equation. The NCAA is meeting this week with my son's athletic department to discuss penalties for the hoop teams bad APR. In a couple of years it could mean the baseball team misses post season. Sadly, baseball has a higher APR than the revenue sports.

Summer leagues are great for the experience, the opportunity and the development, but they are not for all players every year. Sometimes a players needs the time off to just get away from baseball or to go to summer school or some other reason. Lots of players at Arizona State play in the best summer leagues across the continent, and many of them stay in Phoenix for all kinds of reason. Players from both groups have excelled in college and later in pro baseball.