Bird in hand

Which program is cheaper? Sounds like some great options. What position(s) does he play?

Has he committed yet?  What level do you think he falls in with college?  If not committed, where is he at in recruiting?  Those are the questions.  17U is more competitive but 16U has more recruiting except the WWBA's and other big events.  In today's world, there are a lot more 17s already committed than there used to be.  When you look at the big teams, most of the players have already committed.

Catcher, third, pitch.  Not committed and hasn't started recruiting since he's playing 15u this year.  I considered moving him up last year but he didn't start growing until about 18 months ago.  Now he is 6' 170.  I didn't think he could compete with the bigger boys last year but the growth and weight room has really helped him out.

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't 17u next season equal out to his grad year of 2022? IMO he should be playing with his Grad year if possible. 

I am not sure how being able to play down, below his graduation year, equals "a great travel ball birthday".  He is competing with his grad year for offers.  When he gets to college he will be competing with his grad year and the next couple of older grad years for a roster spot.  What is the point of playing against kids that will still be in HS when he goes to college?

There are a lot of 2022's playing 15u and will progress straight to 16u.  It's not uncommon.  It doesn't seem to concern the other parents.  That's why I'm here asking a wiser more experienced audience, that's been there, done that.

PG is looking at going graduation year rather than age. They’re the experts in travel ball and college recruiting. Does this provide any insight to a decision? My only question to PG is, what took so long to consider this change?

At what level of college ball do you see him likely to play? This should have some bearing on where he plays next summer. Which teams gets him in front of the target programs? 

I'm not more experienced and certainly not wiser, but my son is 14u 2023. He plays as much 2023, 15u, and even 16u as he can, but will jump in a 14u tournament for fun if there is good competition. The most recent one the tournament zeroed in on him and did a lot of Twitter and video stuff on him. He would not have had that had he been in the 15u or older division.

I talked to PG last year.  Fall plays by age.  So the 15u team played in 16u tournaments because they had some older players.  In the summer, PG plays by graduation year because that's what the colleges want to see.

PG may say that, but if you read the rules on every tournament in any season they are still AND/OR for age/graduation.

I agree that the recruiting is happening at 16U, but they will be looking for 2023s.  He needs to get to some showcases (and stand out) and play 17U.

There was recent discussion about playing up or down here (there were other issues in that thread, too):

https://community.hsbaseballwe...higher-a-big-mistake

What is his target level of school?  If his current organization has had him playing down, presumably they project him as D3, JUCO, D2?  Have you asked them?  Those levels, along with D1s, recruit at 17U tournaments the summer before senior year, that means a 2022 needs to be playing 17U next summer.

Have you talked to his current travel coach, or the organization's recruiting director, about this?  If they are a big program, they should have a pretty good idea about where he needs to be to get seen.  Why have they had him playing down?   What does the new organization that wants him on the 17U team say about recruiting?

I would think for the fall the age wouldn't matter as much as playing time to get video. I don't recall the latest on the dead period, but if coaches can't come watch will it matter the age?

Unless he’s considering a gap year after high school, he should play 17U next summer.  College coaches will want to see him competing against kids in the same grad year as him.

If his goal is to play in college, he should play with his graduation year.  Age is really irrelevant, some HS seniors graduate at 17 years old, others are close to 19.  What matters is the year they graduate.  This is how college coaches organize their recruiting and schedule their tournament calendars.

Agree with Smitty that if he wants to play in college he should play with his graduating class.   If you don't agree, I'd really like to hear your reasons.

My son played on an elite travel team since he was 14U.   Almost always, his 14U team would play up in national level 16U tournaments.   By the time they were actually 16U, they won the PG 16U WWBA in East Cobb and they were playing 18U teams the following week.   Bottom line is your son should align to his graduating class to get the most eyes on him at the right time.   Travel baseball (for end goal of recruiting) is about exposure and separating your talents on the field in your recruiting class.   His 16U team can  always play up to 18U, and 16U teams are going to have more recruiting eyes on them. 

As always, JMO.

Half the tournaments played this year were 16u.  Playing in a 16u tournament right now.  Played both the 15u WWBA and the 16u WWBA. Made it to the semi's last week in a 15u and will make bracket in this weeks 16u.

If he plays for the top 16u team, we know which players are already being looked at by Tennessee, Vandy, Georgia, etc. at 15u. They are also 2022 grads.  He will definitely get seen by top teams and coaches by virtue of playing with them.

If he goes to the 17u team, does he get those same looks?

@fenwaysouth posted:

Agree with Smitty that if he wants to play in college he should play with his graduating class.   If you don't agree, I'd really like to hear your reasons.

My son played on an elite travel team since he was 14U.   Almost always, his 14U team would play up in national level 16U tournaments.   By the time they were actually 16U, they won the PG 16U WWBA in East Cobb and they were playing 18U teams the following week.   Bottom line is your son should align to his graduating class to get the most eyes on him at the right time.   Travel baseball (for end goal of recruiting) is about exposure and separating your talents on the field in your recruiting class.   His 16U team can  always play up to 18U, and 16U teams are going to have more recruiting eyes on them. 

As always, JMO.

This is really important as us Dads think that playing up is better... but in recruiting it is better to stay with your graduating group. We found out the hard way as my son played up in a 17U PG event and all of the coaches were looking at specific kids to fill gaps in their current rosters and not looking for the next following year. 

@JETSR71 posted:

Half the tournaments played this year were 16u.  Playing in a 16u tournament right now.  Played both the 15u WWBA and the 16u WWBA. Made it to the semi's last week in a 15u and will make bracket in this weeks 16u.

If he plays for the top 16u team, we know which players are already being looked at by Tennessee, Vandy, Georgia, etc. at 15u. They are also 2022 grads.  He will definitely get seen by top teams and coaches by virtue of playing with them.

If he goes to the 17u team, does he get those same looks?

Do his metrics match up with what the schools you mentioned look for?