So I just got cut from varsity 
, and I wanted to know what the next steps I should take in terms of my recruiting process?
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Are you talking about college recruiting? You didn't make the high school team your junior year. For the most part recruiting ends with fall ball tournaments and showcases.
One course of action is to work as hard as possible to improve for senior year. You HAVE to make the team and start senior year. Then you could pursue the D3 JuCo route.
Another alternative is college club baseball. Club ball doesn't have the time requirements of NCAA ball. Most travel is local. Class takes priority over practice. But, a lot of club players were good high school players who don't want the demands of NCAA play.
You may have to face you don't have the talent to play college ball. But, if you love the game you can find 18+ adult league teams to play on.
@PALOBASEBALLER posted:So I just got cut from varsity
I'm sorry to read that you were cut from the varsity team. There is an obvious first step that you need to make, and that is to find out why you were cut. It wouldn't be a bad idea to meet with the coaching staff and find out from them where your game is lacking, and then bust your tail to make improvements on that aspect of your game. More than likely the issues that your high school coaches see that led to your being cut, are likely issues that any Juco or college coach is going to see as well. Work hard be focused and overcome those deficiencies.
Reading your other threads...
"Can you recruiting process start spring of junior year/ summer of senior year?" & "Only 4 days of varsity tryouts and 1 day of fielding and 3 days hitting, is this normal????"
A more complete picture may help others help you...
How are your grades?
Have you been playing summer/ club/ travel baseball?
If not, playing the spine of the defense requires a lot of skill development and experience. Were/are you getting those? Everyone has a bad day, but coaches are often looking for specifics too; footwork, initial move, arm strength etc.
Were you a relative baseball unknown in your community and trying to make the team as a "sleeper"?
How big are you. Looks like you're young for your grade as well. I empathize.
Did you make the JV team?
Reading between the lines and looking at an aerial view of your situation, you may have some tough sledding ahead of you. You'll learn from others here that baseballl, like life, is all about overcoming challenges and adversity. YOU CAN DO IT (if you want it badly enough...)
Best of luck!
If you love it...keep at it. You might be too young to know about this 
, but even Michael Jordan, one of the best players in NBA history, did not make every team he tried to make. But he did not quit basketball. https://www.newsweek.com/missing-cut-382954
I know of quite a few kids who were cut from their varsity team junior and senior years who still played in college. Keep working, sometimes the worst things to happen to us in life end up being the BEST things.
I'm sorry you were cut from varsity. Can you still play j.v. this year?
The question I would ask is, what do you want to get out of playing baseball in college? What I mean is:
- do you just like being around baseball and baseball players? In that case, you could ask your current coach if you can be a team manager this year, as well as asking why you were cut and what you need to work on
- do you think this will help you get into college? Do you plan to pick a college where you can play baseball? Even if you are the 50th player on a 50-person team? There are many schools that recruit to fill their enrollment goals, and if that's fine with you, then fine - but just know going in.
- do you think that, being young, you will get bigger and stronger by the time you get to college, and want to give it a chance that high school isn't giving you? In that case, you need to find out from the coach what you need to improve, you need to gain strength, and you need to play this summer at a level that will convince some college coach that you can play at their level. If you have to play 18U (from another post) then you do that.
Most important, you need to have someone - summer coach, baseball instructor - that you can ask about college possibilities, and who can act as a reference for colleges. And, that person needs to be honest with you and tell you if he thinks you can play in college or not.
I guess depending on where you live and what level you are reaching for, if you are playing travel baseball too, it might not matter much what you do in High School. I surmised from our recruiting experience that none of the D3 coaches we approached cared one iota about high school baseball, none contacted the High School coach even though all his information was provided. they only contacted his travel coaches and other private coaches we listed. Maybe they checked off that he was on the HS team and maybe they didn't. They did ask for a schedule, but we never saw them at a game. But, what they do care about is how good you are. Players get cut from teams for many reasons and not all of them are about whether you could be on that team or not. Sometimes it's just a numbers thing, some HS teams carry far more players than others and some HS teams are better than some colleges, and some aren't very good, it all makes it very hard for a college coach to make decisions based on who you play for (of course if you play for a HS powerhouse, that could hurt or help even if you were cut or not). But regardless, this should motivate you to get better, put a chip on your shoulder and prove a mistake was made.
I've seen kids on HS teams that barely played but had been committed since junior year and then went on to play major roles in college. again probably depends on where you are trying to get recruited.
So steps: all been said, also depends on what year of school you are in, do you have another shot next year, are you a senior?
1. Find a summer team to play for that has coaches with recruiting connections, if they give you a workout to make the team, ask them for their honest feedback regardless of whether they accept you or not. IF they do accept you, still ask them what you should work on to get better.
2. Ask HS coach what you need to improve to be a better player. This is not something you should be ashamed to do or nervous about after being cut, it's part of becoming an adult. Be cordial and mature about the way you ask and with any answer given. Thank them for their feedback.
3. Work on those things that need improving, first and foremost get in a gym and work on getting stronger and faster. A number of skills get better simply by being able to control your body better.
4. Practice, the road traveled that leads to nowhere is often paved with good intentions. Showing a coach you did the things they suggested and that you've made improvements goes a long way. Coming back in the same condition you were when cut, says a lot also.
@HSDad22 posted:I guess depending on where you live and what level you are reaching for, if you are playing travel baseball too, it might not matter much what you do in High School. I surmised from our recruiting experience that none of the D3 coaches we approached cared one iota about high school baseball, none contacted the High School coach even though all his information was provided. they only contacted his travel coaches and other private coaches we listed. Maybe they checked off that he was on the HS team and maybe they didn't. They did ask for a schedule, but we never saw them at a game. But, what they do care about is how good you are. Players get cut from teams for many reasons and not all of them are about whether you could be on that team or not. Sometimes it's just a numbers thing, some HS teams carry far more players than others and some HS teams are better than some colleges, and some aren't very good, it all makes it very hard for a college coach to make decisions based on who you play for (of course if you play for a HS powerhouse, that could hurt or help even if you were cut or not). But regardless, this should motivate you to get better, put a chip on your shoulder and prove a mistake was made.
Interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing!
@GratefulNTXlurker posted:Interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing!
that's just the way it shook out in my son's case. I'm not a big fan of travel ball and the industry it's become, so not at all trying to make a case travel over high school or vice versa. Just stating for the OP that there are options and that it's not the end of the world.
@HSDad22 posted:I guess depending on where you live and what level you are reaching for, if you are playing travel baseball too, it might not matter much what you do in High School. I surmised from our recruiting experience that none of the D3 coaches we approached cared one iota about high school baseball, none contacted the High School coach even though all his information was provided. they only contacted his travel coaches and other private coaches we listed. Maybe they checked off that he was on the HS team and maybe they didn't. They did ask for a schedule, but we never saw them at a game. But, what they do care about is how good you are. Players get cut from teams for many reasons and not all of them are about whether you could be on that team or not. Sometimes it's just a numbers thing, some HS teams carry far more players than others and some HS teams are better than some colleges, and some aren't very good, it all makes it very hard for a college coach to make decisions based on who you play for (of course if you play for a HS powerhouse, that could hurt or help even if you were cut or not). But regardless, this should motivate you to get better, put a chip on your shoulder and prove a mistake was made.
I've seen kids on HS teams that barely played but had been committed since junior year and then went on to play major roles in college. again probably depends on where you are trying to get recruited.
So steps: all been said, also depends on what year of school you are in, do you have another shot next year, are you a senior?
1. Find a summer team to play for that has coaches with recruiting connections, if they give you a workout to make the team, ask them for their honest feedback regardless of whether they accept you or not. IF they do accept you, still ask them what you should work on to get better.
2. Ask HS coach what you need to improve to be a better player. This is not something you should be ashamed to do or nervous about after being cut, it's part of becoming an adult. Be cordial and mature about the way you ask and with any answer given. Thank them for their feedback.
3. Work on those things that need improving, first and foremost get in a gym and work on getting stronger and faster. A number of skills get better simply by being able to control your body better.
4. Practice, the road traveled that leads to nowhere is often paved with good intentions. Showing a coach you did the things they suggested and that you've made improvements goes a long way. Coming back in the same condition you were when cut, says a lot also.
I don't mean to derail this thread, but you mentioned something that I have been thinking about for quite a while now about travel baseball.
Here we have this 16/17 year old kid who wants to look for the best route to playing some form of college baseball. Just being honest, he isn't likely to wow any D1/D2 coaches if he isn't even making the Varsity baseball team. Of course, we don't know what type of varsity team this may be. Is it a massive school with 200 kids trying out? Is it a small school and this kid just doesn't have the skill? We don't know, but regardless it doesn't appear that high school coach is going to be instrumental in helping get an inside track into a program AS THINGS STAND TODAY.
My opinion is that his best bet is to meet with the High school coach, find out what he has to work on, and make a major impression. Spend as much energy, time, and focus changing what that coach thinks of him as a performer. Ask if he can work out with the team? Find out what he needs to improve? Then impress the socks off of those high school coaches so much with work ethic that it leads to high school coach making calls to someone at a D3 or JUCO school to promote, "great work ethic, really a hard worker, a team builder type of kid" etc... The best outcome in my opinion if for this high school coach to be so impressed that he calls a JUCO assistant with words like, "this kid didn't even make our varsity team last year, but he worked his tail off, focused all of his attention on improvement, that not only did he make the team, but he ended up being one of most valuable club house and team guys. This is the type of kid that you want to have in your program...."
High school coaches can change their minds if you give them a reason too. I would go so far as to say that most high school coaches want a reason, and look for opportunities to go out on a limb to promote a kid that they really like and believe in. The OP can definitely accomplish this, but it's going to take being focused, being relentless, and putting in the work.
Now... I think, and this is controversial on this site I am sure, that travel ball might be a bad route to go here. Look, travel baseball has been a great for my son, and there is no question that his travel ball coach/organizer etc... coupled with high level of performance at top competitions (that he used to promote himself) played a big role in his D1 offers that he received. However, travel ball is also a shady organization that takes advantage of kids/families like this OP all the time. It's great for some kids and a terrible investment for many others. I would hate to see this kid and his family fork over $2500 or more to a travel program only for them to put him on team number 7 of 8 teams, barely take the time to know his name, never do much of anything to help him improve his game, while all of the kids on team 1 and 2 are getting exposure and promotion to next level assistant coaches.
I just can't help but think that travel ball is going to be nothing but coaches seeing a chance to take someone's money in this situation. The kid didn't even make his varsity team. What travel team director is going to see him and think, "we need to get him in front of some coaches."
I believe that the best bet is to use the emotional ties that come through the high school coach to get an audience with a D3 or Juco program.
Not that I know much about HS varsity baseball because my son is 14U but just to encourage the OP it seems like you really want this so take that passion and drive to get bigger, faster and stronger. In our area there are HS teams filled with college commits some of which don't play on regular basis on their HS varsity team due to the talent at their schools but are on very strong travel teams. Sometimes coaches do underestimate players drive and heart to improve so there is that as well.
But definitely go to the coach ask what you need to do to make the team next year. Don't give up. If you can afford it take some lessons or see if you can attend practices, help with the team or team up with another player who will motivate you. It is time to push and see what you are made of. Good luck.
Kiss method.
Talk to your travel coach, see what you to work on and go to work.
Here is a perspective, a player I knew played a total of 4 varsity games at his HS. Limited varsity games was due to him not playing for HS Coaches' American Legion team. Instead he played travel baseball. He didn't play his senior yr HS.
He worked out, did some showcases, received a scholarship to Akron before it suspended program. Pivoted to JUCO route, Florence Darlington, Santa Barbara, finished at Saint Leo's.
He was a left handed center fielder that ran a 6.4 sixty
Note, there could be various reasons why you were cut. It could be just a simple numbers game.
Don't dwell too much, just move on and get ready for summer ball.
@Ster posted:However, travel ball is also a shady organization that takes advantage of kids/families like this OP all the time. It's great for some kids and a terrible investment for many others. I would hate to see this kid and his family fork over $2500 or more to a travel program only for them to put him on team number 7 of 8 teams, barely take the time to know his name, never do much of anything to help him improve his game, while all of the kids on team 1 and 2 are getting exposure and promotion to next level assistant coaches.I just can't help but think that travel ball is going to be nothing but coaches seeing a chance to take someone's money in this situation.
Agree with this 100%. But, possibly a local 17U travel team would not cost or promise so much, while playing other 17U teams that are decent competition.