Is this the beginning? Starting high school with my 13 y.o. Almost 14. Good solid all position +pitcher player in big baseball city. Not a superstar. There has been a clear shift to me (maybe not to him) of futures, college, minors, oh my. I get overwhelmed especially reading these posts. What happened to an afternoon at the ballpark for fun? How do you maintain perspective and still stay on track? Overwhelmed!
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You've got plenty of time. Just enjoy the ride and enjoy the Baseball. Most kids don't get seriously into being recruited until the summer before their senior year...
It’s still mostly fun. The stress is the recruiting period for everyone but the top shelf, pro prospects. Outside the top fifty D1 programs your son will have until summer post junior year to prove himself.
A certain level of focus on baseball and physical development will be required in high school. If he plays any other sports he will learn about time management and sacrifice.
Enjoy the ride.
For me, it was always about getting better each year and making it to the next level. When son first started playing, I was like, wow, maybe he can make LL All Stars, then I think he's good enough to play AAU, then it was all about making the HS team. Once in HS, it was about making varsity at some point. Then we were like, dang college is a real possibility, and it happened. We didn't have a master plan and regiment to get him there. It was more about his ability and desire to get a little bit better every year.
Don't get too far ahead of yourself, your son has a lot to improve and prove before you should start worrying about college, let along the minors. Keep his head on straight, let him enjoy high school, work his butt off on the field and classroom and see where it takes you.
Good luck!
Believe it or not, there is a kind of flow to all of this. As your son goes through the process, and using resources like this site, you'll be just fine. You have to be careful not to make this work and don't make it work for your son. My child was easy. She was driven and, as a parent, I just sat back for the ride. In the end, as you go through this process, you'll find out just where your son fits in if you don't have blinders on. Good luck!
A majority of threads here are about recruiting, but there are plenty about the challenges of high school baseball, too. The days at the ballpark are really fun, but high school adds the stress that you have to make a team and then the starting lineup. No getting away from that. There's no one "right" way to do any of it, there are many paths and journeys both in high school and in college recruiting. My son just graduated high school; looking back, there are things he, and we, might have done differently (and we might have had less stress if I had found hsbbw before junior year), but the end result would probably have been the same. All of it (making the high school team, playing in the summer, and recruiting) comes down to your son's talent, desire to work, baseball knowledge, height, strength, academic effort, and the intangible "makeup." Some of these you can support and encourage, some you can't affect at all - so, if your son wants it, support and encourage the things that you can.
Herewego,
Same with us CoachB25. Honestly, we did very little except drive him to practices & games, cheer, and support him. My son is very driven, and head strong but you'd never know it. When he was away from baseball, he is quiet and always reading or working on something new. For example, last year he learned how to arc weld. When he got out of college he started playing competitive tennis. In high school, he taught himself how to play the guitar. When he was under our roof, we just let him do his thing. He would come to us for advice or ideas when he needed them.
The one thing that my wife and I did (that my son did not see) was educate ourselves on different college options and requirements with baseball and without baseball. So, when my son(s) came to us with questions, we had the answers or at least an idea where to get the answers. We never stopped learning or asking questions. HSBBWeb is a great place to get answers or at least perspectives.
Good luck and enjoy the ride!
CTBBALLDAD and FENWAYSOUTH pretty much summed up what I recommend to players your son's age. The original OP referred to "me" which is fine for you to play "what ifs" as long as you don't focus on it at this stage. It is important to have your son figure it out on his own and once he does you be there for support and guidance. No matter how much you want it, if son isn't 110% committed and driven, he can't go through the motions just to appease his parents (unless a super stud). I used to sit in the stands and listen to some parents describe how they have high school then college then minors all planned out for their son. In many cases these are the same parents who put so much pressure on their sons to succeed and play at an elite level. Many of these players hung up the cleats during high school or upon graduation because they didn't have the drive and/or talent to continue. I often told others that when the day comes where my son decides to move on from baseball, that's it, it's over. Now and through high school is an excellent opportunity to bond as father-son where a shared common interest can be discussed between 2 "adults". Enjoy these times and watch baseball as a game, not an occupation. If fortunate there will be a time for that in the future
Very helpful all! I think I was shocked to see one of his “teammates “ - an incoming sophomore - commit to college. “Teammates” being same organization- two years older in travel group, one year older in school. Son was picked up for a tournament to alleviate some pitching.
Will try and sit back and enjoy. He still loves it - still immature and thinks baseball is the center of the universe. HS starts Monday!
2022 commitments are pretty common place now. I remember only knowing one or two last year. While the P5s are driving this commit from the womb craze, you can absolutely take the unconventional route and be recruited during the Jr/Sr year. As many said, enjoy the ride, my son is a rising sophomore and the year went by like a blink on an eye. Also don't get caught up with his age vs. his grade (my kid is turning 15 in November), just let him be the best player he can be and make sure he owns the process.
For some reason, this thread reminded me of what an adjustment it was for my husband when my son started driving himself to baseball practice. Now, I'm the one glued to this site.
Along the same lines as what everyone else has said, let your son make baseball decisions. Your input is valuable, of course. But, looking back, I'm really proud of decisions my son made, that if we had the choice my husband and I may not have made for him (ex. position change from catcher to MIF at 14u).
Good luck to your son! Enjoy it all and don't sweat the small stuff (easier said . . . ) because it goes by way too fast.
Lots of great input here, and the good thing is you are already aware of this site and can use it to inform yourself and help your son on his journey.
Your son will change in so many ways now that he is in high school--our focus was to be sure our son had all of the opportunities to make himself a better player and get a chance to play college baseball. So we paid for the private lessons, the travel ball teams, and then the showcases, camps and college visits as he reached the decision stage. Be prepared to spend the money, but we felt it was all worth it as he focused on baseball instead of getting into time-wasting activities or trouble. He continues on learning life lessons through his college baseball experience.
Good luck and enjoy the journey--as many here will tell you, it goes really fast!
2022NYC posted:2022 commitments are pretty common place now. I remember only knowing one or two last year. While the P5s are driving this commit from the womb craze, you can absolutely take the unconventional route and be recruited during the Jr/Sr year. As many said, enjoy the ride, my son is a rising sophomore and the year went by like a blink on an eye. Also don't get caught up with his age vs. his grade (my kid is turning 15 in November), just let him be the best player he can be and make sure he owns the process.
A vast majority of D1's recruit players during the summer before Senior year. For the most part it is only the Power Five conference teams that sign players early. There are a few exceptions (Illinois State has a few 2021 commits right now for instance) but in general most Mid Majors on down to the lowest level D1 have very very few (if any) 2021 commits right now, and are still finishing up their 2020 recruiting class.
