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Calling the Coaches

B Blprkfrnks100+ posts
I have a son that is being recruited, but I can't get him to call a coach.

During his Sophmore season, he and I were told by several coaches and parents that he has a chance to play beyond high school. At that time, I was of the opinion that if he was good enough it would just happen. So about a year ago I found this site, and its timeline, and I realized it probably wouldn't just happen on its own.

We got him up to speed with all of the things on the timeline. He was evaluated at a camp after his sophmore year (considered a possible D1 player, but not a sure thing), and he got onto a fall scout team in SOCAL that will carry over to this coming summer. He will do a few junior days and a few camps this summer as well. So overall, he has done what is necessary up to this point.

But, the one thing he doesn't want to do is call coaches about his interest or to sell himself. He is modest and humble about his baseball talent, and doesn't talk about his accomplishments with his friends or relatives outside of baseball. Even in the e-mails he has sent, I have had to persuade him to write more. He has always been a good talker with adults, and especially with his coaches. His coach calls him a coaches dream when filling out questionnairres. He isn't really shy, but he is very reserved until he gets a feel for a situation.

I read on here about calling the coaches, and this is the one main thing he is missing the boat on. No coach has said specifically to call him and I do think he would make the call if specifically asked to. I realize this could be a sign that he isn't a top recruit.

My son said he wants to just play HS baseball, Summer baseball and go to the camps, and then see if there is interest in him after July 1st. His thought is that if he doesn't generate any interest, he will choose a college specifically for academics (he is a very good student) and location and possibly look for college club baseball opportunities (along with other college club sports).

While I want to push him to take more initiative, I also see where he is coming from. I am thinking that we have done a lot to keep the door open for playing college baseball. Maybe now I have to sit back and see if his talent and his drive are good enough to play at the next level. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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D dswann100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Blprkfrnks:
My son said he wants to just play HS baseball, Summer baseball and go to the camps, and then see if there is interest in him after July 1st. His thought is that if he doesn't generate any interest, he will choose a college specifically for academics (he is a very good student) and location and possibly look for college club baseball opportunities (along with other college club sports).


There's your answer.
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Nice post!

My thoughts are different than what is offered here normally. Most people advise to have their sons do all the contacting. Since I had never heard of the hsbbweb before my son signed several years ago, I had no qualms about calling on his behalf. The thing is, I wouldn't change a thing. Him and I are a team. All he cares about is playing and I had no problem helping him with those pursuits. When a coach wants to speak to a player, they know how to get in touch with the player.

All people are different. Your son sounds quite normal to me if not a bit on the shy/reserved side. To each his own - we are all different and there is nothing wrong with that. The only thing you need to be mindful is that you are helping him pursue his dreams which sometimes can be different than yours.

When I contacted a college coach who spoke to our high school coach about my son after a summer tournament game, I got a camp invite for my son. If we would have left it at that, it would have been the end of it. By acting upon that invite however, my son has turned that into a fine college baseball career at that college.

We could have been prideful and hurt that the phone was not ringing off the hook. We chose to be proactive about things. When a coach wants your son, he will call and ask for your son. In the mean time, keep busy trying to turn their heads (with his performance on the field) as often as you can. If you feel like calling them to find out what their opinion is, there should be nothing holding "you" back. The only thing I would avoid is telling them how great your son is. They ought to be able to determine that by watching him play.

My only other advice is to work from the bottom up. He may indeed be a D1 player but that won't be determined until he receives a bonafied D1 offer. Do not discount other levels of baseball until you find the right "fit" for your son. Also, I would rather be on a winner at a lower level of baseball than be on a losing team at D1.
CADadCADad5,000+ posts
CD,
Interesting. As long as I was playing I'd rather be on a losing team (i.e. 15-20 not 0-35) playing against better competition.

Blpr,
I don't think he has to be that proactive if it isn't his style for now. See what happens on and after July 1st. The calls don't all come on July 1st. He sounds a lot like my son and the couple calls my son got he handled quite well as far as I could tell. Being on the scout team should help too. If you don't mind sending a PM I'm curious as to what scout team he'll be playing for.
Last edited by CADad
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
As long as I was playing I'd rather be on a losing team (i.e. 15-20 not 0-35) playing against better competition.

It appears, even you have lines in the sand that you are unwilling to cross CADad (e.g., 0-35) Big Grin

Your losing example (15-20) is slightly below .500. What if you could play on a team like Marietta (a D3) who is annually in the running for the National Championship and who has placed several players into Major League Baseball? It might be too good of an opportunity to pass up. Obviously, each circumstance is unique where the appropriate context and personal preferences need to be considered by the player/family.
Rob KremerRob Kremer1,000+ posts
Would he be less reticent about emailing coaches as opposed to calling them?

My son didn't call a lot of college coaches. But he did 1) sent 25-30 letters of inquiry at the start of his junior year, and 2) correspond regularly through e-mail with a half dozen or so coaches who expressed interest in one way or another.

I think for most kids, it is much easier for them to email as opposed to talk on the phone.
AM AL MA 08100+ posts
Blprkfrnks,
Sounds like your son is very much like my son. The only thing you might miss out on is some early offers. When my son finally decided to call a couple of different coaches early in his junior year he got invited to stop by and he/we started doing just that. I believe this "helped" in developing early offers by being a little more proactive. He only did this with his top choices and ended up with early offers from both. He did not have to wait for the phone to ring in July. He had already decided on his top choice.
B Blprkfrnks100+ posts
ClevelandDad-
I have helped him organize his contacts and e-mails and I'm not against calling a coach, but I do want him to show initiative at some point. His biggest problem is that he just isn't sure what he wants to do. We aren't really focusing on D1's. They have simply been the most active in recruiting.

RobKremer-
I think we have done a good job on sending and answering e-mails. We are going to send out a slew of them when we nail down his summer schedule.

AlMa08-
My son's top choice doesn't do early signing, so although it is a longshot that he will get in to his top choice, he is not looking to sign early anywhere else. Another factor for him is that many schools have limited choices of majors, so until he is pretty sure that he has settled on a major, he doesn't want to commit to a school.
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
His biggest problem is that he just isn't sure what he wants to do.

That seems like a bigger issue than the one I thought I was responding to in your initial post.

It seems to me that you first have to figure out whether or not playing in college is a passion of his. If it is not, it will be hard to get on the field of play as the competitveness it takes to play at that level is hard to describe. You cannot succeed at the college level with a lukewarm attitude about it imho.

If it is mainly your dream for him to play in college and not really his dream, then that is also a much bigger issue than whether or not you can motivate him to contact a coach. The motivation indeed should be coming from him imho.
Last edited by ClevelandDad
CPLZCPLZ1,000+ posts
I guess I handled it a little more old school. I asked my son what his aspirations were, and when he told me he wanted to play college ball, my response was that I was going to hold him to that.

From there, I directed, cajoled, prodded, discussed, showed exasperation, and reminded...every time he didn't want to take hold of the reins and drive the buggy, I reminded him that he told me he wanted to play college ball and this is what he needed to do to live up to his own expectations.

All kids are different, this is just the way it worked for us.
CADadCADad5,000+ posts
quote:
Obviously, each circumstance is unique where the appropriate context and personal preferences need to be considered by the player/family.


Agree. Mine wants to play so although his goal is D1 he'll probably go the JC route rather than lock himself into a "lower" level for 4 years unless something comes up within a couple months. By the time he's done with a JC he'll have a better idea where he belongs and he'll go to a good academic school where he can play whatever level that may be.
OzoneOzone500+ posts
My son wanted to play college ball and did all the right things and sacrificed to get there. He got a few nice offers and ended up as a walk on at Notre Dame where he made the team and also decided to go into architecture. The 2 don't mix and he had to make a decision since all of sophomore year is spent in Italy. When he told me he was giving up baseball for architecture i was devastated. I actually didn't speak to him for 2 weeks until I came to my senses. I guess it was my dream more than his. Thank heavens he had more sense than me and is a successful arkie today. He likely would have sat on the bench for 3 years.

When he returned from his year in Italy he played 3 years of club ball at ND and he still plays in a adult league. He also played in Italy while he was there since he was of Italian decent.

There can always be a happy ending. So let things play out.
PU Pop Up Hitter dad1,000+ posts
Clevelanddad, maybe I should have been more aggressive for my son. I recall sending a few e-mails inquiring about their interest, never heard back. My son was very simialar to Blprkfrnks, son had no desire to communicate. Needless to say, no offers from big schools. July 1st came and went with nary a call. Most of the big programs have already selected their recruits by July 1.

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