Define Response

Tripledad,
A college coach cannot actively recruit a player until after the end of his junior year (July 1).

Before that time, you can expect the standard package info to the intro letter. However, if there is something that the coach picked up that he likes, you may receive a bit of a more personalized response.

The into letter should be written on the premise as one would be applying for a job.

Hope that this helps!

JMO.

There are so many variables that it is always difficult to gauge interest until your son/you can actually talk to the coach. Of course, you also have to keep in mind which schools would have seen your son play or had a report on him.

If you don't know that any of their coaches have seen him, this really is an Introduction Letter. If the school has an Admin and the budget, they may respond to every inquiry with a package. Big Name schools may send a package as a courtesy or to entice your son to a camp. Other schools may go fishing on inquiries to help their recruiting focus.

Early days on these letters are exciting times; let him enjoy the first few, then keep him grounded that there are many steps between initial letters and a firm offer. It's baseball --- don't let the highs get too high or the lows get too low.

The posters or any baseball parents you know may each have their own definition of 'response'. If my son is Joe Blogg average hs player and I send out 50 intro letters, I might get 30 responses (25 offering a $500 Christmas Camp )

Until such time as the coaches can talk to your son, the coaches watching your son's summer games or checking him out at showcases will give you more clues as to interest.

In response to introduction letters most schools sent my son a standard package about the school and the baseball program. Most included a response form that asked for much of the same info that we had sent. We based the letter on the one found on this website and included a bio page with stats, and contact info.

When we went to showcases, I think that every school sent a similar letter and brochure. We saw you at a recent showcase. Send us $$ and come to our camp.

When we followed up with a tape and phone calls we started to get more personal responses and calls from coaches. Some were very good about letting him know if they were not interested. For example, already loaded in the outfield, or that we were to far away to come see him play. One coach even sent back the tape with some instructional comments. (That was one of the stretch schools - A long ways away, top D1 program, top academics)

The list quickly got narrowed down to about 10 schools to do visits or open houses.

This is a good question. Not trying to hijack the thread...but would it be appropriate to just come right out and ask the coach if they are REALLY interested or not?

We have sent many emails (with links to his website)...letters...the works, and have gotten pretty generic responses so far from a lot of the schools, so we don't really know where we at at with these schools.

Many replies now are just asking him to come to their camps (so we can spend even more money )

Son is an 08 and has got only one phone call from a school he is not interested in.

What should we do in this situation?

Thanks.

Rob, my 2 cents

not sure what you mean re generic letters?
general & camp info or form recruiting letters signed by the coach?

jr yr, a sign of interest are letters from the coach (handwritten or typed) that obviously contain personal content, and/or a jr day invite (unofficial visit)

I don't think many coaches would burn a "camp bridge" and say no interest at all if asked -
more likely a -
"we'll follow your development while accessing our future needs ... hope to see you at camp"

quote:

by Rob: Son is an 08 and has got only one phone call from a school he is not interested in

as they have stepped forward showing interest in your son - I hope you didn't reject their interest and the calls from that school are still coming weekly

If you have sent the coaches materials regarding your son and they have not responded, if it were my son, I would assume they are not interested at this time. The non response is an indicator, I don't think you have to come right out and ask. Recruiting season is very early yet, early signing period is in November. Make sure your son is getting out there to play this summer in venues where coaches go to seek out players.

Maybe you need to go into a new direction. Maybe the schools your son is interested in needs to be redirected to schools where they would be more interested in him.

I think that many parents here can tell you, once they changed direction, made more of an effort to get son seen, things worked out in the end.

JMO.

Keep in mind one important thing---just because you are interested in a school does not mean they are interested in you---and it may have nothing to do with talent--they may have 5 players at your position already---or your style of play does not fit their style of play

Have you looked at the rosters?

Have you looked at the academic requirements/ Perhaps you do not qualify right out of the box

quote:

We have sent many emails (with links to his website)...letters...the works, and have gotten pretty generic responses so far from a lot of the schools, so we don't really know where we at at with these schools.

I would call them because it could help you re-focus your strategy. I wouldn't assume anything. Why not get it straight from the horses mouth? You might be really surprised by what they say. For starters, they might tell you they have not seen him play yet, and will not be in position to make any offers until they do. What to do then? Ask them. Maybe an invite to camp would do it or you can attend a showcase that they would also be attending or they might be able to swing by one of your son's games. Frankly, I am unaware of a program that will make an offer based off of letters, e-mails, stats, promotional web sites, etc. They want to see him play and if they have not, that may likely explain things more than anything.

They may flat out tell you your son's position is not one of need. They might also tell you they know of another program looking for someone like your son. They may tell you they just are not interested. That is a positive in my mind. Rather than devote anymore energies toward that school, you can re-focus on those that may seem more inviting. I know there are those that think differently on this, but I don't believe in waiting for the phone to ring. By talking to these coaches now, you may find the salient information needed for your son to play at the next level.

CD - Great advice! If we had to do son's recruiting over again, I would use the letters, etc that came in the mail as an invitation to call the coach. We didn't. We simply waited for the one's that called son. You can't really interpret what each mailing means.... did they send a media guide and school B didn't, did this coach write a hand written note and school D didn't. It's just impossible to read a coach's mind. By speaking with a coach you can at least let them know you're interested and put that ball in their court. Then you have to see what happens with calls and visits. Nothing really matters until offers are made - so until then, a player should be as proactive as he can be.

Thanks for the replys. I appreciate it.

I know it is early, but we were hoping to get a few calls at least. Son is playing at many venues to be seen, although he doesn't play every game the team plays (maybe plays 80% of the time).

Son is an 08 Pitcher...6' 160# righty, throwing 86mph currently. He is a 3.0 student and scored 24 on ACT. I don't think the academics is the problem but I may be wrong.

There is a regional tournament coming up for our Connie Mack league (end of July) and then a large Showcase that is held at the beginning of August that he will be attending.

I'm hoping the Regional tourney has some of the schools we have been pursuing show up. I'm pretty sure the showcase will probably have quite a few there.

Should I be proactive and have him call right now asking about their interest or wait until these events have passed?

Rob - sent you a pm.

Reply sent.

It is always a good idea to call the coach. We visited many college open houses. At the open house they frequently have the varsity coaches available. At 2 schools the old coach had left and did not pass on the letters and tapes we had sent. We had to start over with the new coach without him having seen my son play. If we had called first we could have arranged to have the new coach, or his staff, know our schedule of games and showcases. Both were very good schools, beautiful campuses, the right major - but my son was put off by the poor transition.

quote:

I'm hoping the Regional tourney has some of the schools we have been pursuing show up. I'm pretty sure the showcase will probably have quite a few there.

Please don't just hope they'll be there! Have your son call or send an email to the coaches of the programs he's interested in and invite them to attend specific games. And afterwards, follow up with an email or phone call to each coach who attended.

When my son was 16, he invited a D1 coach to come and see him play. The coach did come and afterwards, my son emailed the coach and asked for specific pointers on where he needed to improve. The coach replied that he really liked the way my son played and said my son was on track to become a great player. As you can imagine, this was quite encouraging and my son has continued to keep the school updated with his playing schedule and progress.

This summer, my son asked an NAIA coach to come see him play and he did. Afterwards, my son and the coach talked on the phone and the coach said he was more interested in recruiting junior college players who were "bigger and stronger." Like Cleveland Dad shared, it was better to know about his lack of interest up front so we could move on.

We have passed on his schedule of games several times to coaches and haven't had much luck at all with any attending.

He also doesn't have a lot of notice of when he will be pitching a certain game or not (he usually finds out the day of the game if he will be pitching). So it is kind of hard for a coach to come at a drop of a hat I would imagine.

We are trying to get his summer coach to give more notice, but it is difficult. We only have a few more games left unfortunately.

He has had some regular contact with 1 coach who has been out a couple times to see him play. So that has been his best so far.

I was just thinking he would/should be getting a lot more action than he is, but maybe I'm mistaken.

RobV, your son's in a difficult spot not knowing when he'll be pitching. When he emails his schedule to coaches, he might want to mention this fact and pass on the coach's or program director's cell phone number. Perhaps if a college program calls your son's coach directly and asks when he will pitch, the coach will commit to playing him a certain day.

I'm sending a PM to you.

That's a good idea. I think I will try that too.

Thanks.