FIRST LETTER!!!

Congrats on getting the letter! Sounds as if you have a good sense of what's going on there too. If you filled out the online questionaires I have to assume you are thinking of going there to play baseball? If that is the case it doesn't hurt to shoot an email (save the stamp money) to the head or assistant coaches, heck send it to them all and let them know you received the invite but unfortunately you won't be able to attend. They most likely will not respond to the email, but believe me, they get them. Coaches today receive tremendous amounts of emails, but I haven't met one that doesn't atleast glance at everyone he receives. If you still want to send a letter, probably do it for your top tier schools (in your top five).

With filling out the questionaires....you've taken the very first step in letting the coaching staff know you have an interest in their program. Most likely, they will glance at it, they might look into it further, and then just file it. Unfortunately there is no way to know. If your someone on first look that they have been waiting to hear from then why wouldn't they (depending on rules) send you a quick message that they received it....

My son sent no less than 20 questionaires to the schools he "really" wanted to attend....only one told him to stop...and it wasn't the school he will be attending next year.

GO BIG BLUE!!

shppirate09 - Congratulations on your first response!

I have a question for you, why would you fill out school’s online questionnaire if you did not want to respond to them if you get a response from the school? If you are truly interested in the school, you should do everything possible to keep the lines of communication open, so if you are truly interested in the school, respond to every correspondence you receive from them and overly communicate to them your true interest in their program with customized communication to them to demonstrate that shows your true interest.

I never said I was not going to respond, I was asking if it would be a good decision to send a letter to them.

At this point I am interested in whatever school I can play baseball at.

Thanks for the advice

quote:

Originally posted by shppirate09:
Should I send a response letter? And for the written questionaires, after filling them out and sending them to the universities/colleges should I expect them to send me anything?

thanks for the help

Sorry I must have misread your post....

To answer your second question, expect to receive more recruiting and camp letters. If they are truly interested, they will have more personalized letters or emails.

oo alrite. I'm not sure how interested they are in people who fill out the online things, do you think they would put me on a targets list?

SHP - just keep doing what you are doing. Congrats on taking the initiative and reaching out to the programs you are interested in. Keep up the contact with all the coaches who you are interested in playing for, including sending them emails about your grades, SAT scores, and any other award or accomplishment your earn.

Make sure when you communicate that it is for something real, but don't hesitate to reach out to them.

Good luck to you.

quote:

Originally posted by shppirate09:
oo alrite. I'm not sure how interested they are in people who fill out the online things, do you think they would put me on a targets list?

Not knowing the inter-workings of the individual schools, but I would think they see those putting information on their on-line profile would be good candidates for their camps and prospect mailing lists. At the camps they may find the diamond in the rough.

If there is true interest, they have contact information from the on-line profiles.

In addition, they would receive information from the showcases they attend and the letters/emails they receive from prospects.

I would think the schools will accumulate lists and look at their needs and start cross checking with whatever resources they have to determine if the prospect has skills that fit their needs. This may include services like Perfect Game, Baseball America, attending games and showcase, etc., in addition to contacts they have in the area who may know the player.

The top schools will obviously have their pick of top prospects, but there are many schools which do not have the luxury of attracting top prospects which may continue to recruit the general prospect and possibly marginal prospects.

The key is to find the school which fits your skill set and not just contact schools which do not fit your skills or your academic level.

It may be fun to receive information from a top school, but if you do not have the skill sets, it will be a waste of time.

maybe I missed it, but was a "camp invite" received or a "recruiting letter" ...
there is a significant difference

Bee- it was a Camp invite...I know its not a big deal, but for me its a step in the right direction

My 2010 has also started receiving "Camp Invite" letters with Questionnaires enclosed and his high school coach has received Questionnaires for him also. He attended a PG Underclass Showcase this past summer and was named to the Top Prospect team. Not sure if these things are coming because he is now on some kind of mailing "list" because of attending the showcase, we have also gotten invites to more PG Showcases. We know that alot of these come because there is money to be made that is involved. And, since he is only a sophomore we know that he can't be contacted yet. Just curious as to significance of all of this. This is all new to us, but we have learned quite a bit from reading the topics on this message board and are trying to educate ourselves.

Congratulations on getting your first letter, you can now take pride that you are officially being recruited!

Right or wrong here is how we looked at most of the typical recruiting materials that were mailed to my son.

Camp Invites – Didn’t think too much on this as an indicator that they were interested. (Some also put personal notes with the invite that we gave more interest to)

College Questionnaires – We considered these to be very important. Some put personal notes or included their media guide with them which made us think they may be pretty interested. Made sure son filled them out and if it called for his HS or summer coach to fill out a portion we made copies and sent in our part separate from coaches. (son attached a note on our part of the questionnaire saying that his HS coach would be sending second part) Be prepared to fill out 2 or 3 for the same schools in some cases. After a while I got the feeling that the admin staff sent the first questionnaire without the recruiting coach realizing it. I had quite a few coaches comment that they assumed players they liked weren’t interested because they didn’t bother to fill out the questionnaire.

Weekly or Bi-Weekly Program Update letters – We figured if our son was getting these he was on the “definite maybe” list (top 50 to 100 recruits). These were typically copies of newspaper or internet articles showing how the team was doing.).

Personal Notes - took them pretty serious as well however after a while you can tell the ones that a coach (or admin assistant) might be sending out to a lot of players and the ones where the coach was really speaking to your son.

National Letter of Intent paperwork - figured when he receive this the school was pretty serious


It's fun to get your first letters and I hope you celebrate and enjoy the moment however I also suggest you don't read too much into this stuff one way or another. Some schools bombard kids with communication and some hardly do anything. It doesn't necessarily mean one is hotter on you than another.

Also, another question. Is it worthwhile to send in these questionnaires if they had not solicited you directly? Some of these colleges make them available from their websites. I'm sure they receive so many of these daily, and if you were not on their radar already would they just file the questionnaire away and not even look at it?

Chipperj-
I believe you should absolutely respond to everything you receive.

chipperj, my son filled out a number of on-line questionnaires and didn't get much response from them, but you never know. I would fill out the ones for schools you are interested in. It won't hurt.

well chipper,

I have filled out a number of questionnaires so far, I have been emailed by some prominent programs....one even sent me a REAL letter, not like the one I received from the first school. When a friend who has been getting mail from a number of schools he said that the letter was "legit".

There are also some that I haven't heard back from yet. I am just getting started on the whole marketing myself as a baseball player and if I work hard enough, perhaps my ideal schools will be coming to me along with others.

pirate..

Do you by any chance go to Southeast High school located in ohio?? Just wondering if it is...

nah, I'm in at a catholic school in North Jersey...

quote:

Originally posted by shppirate09:
I am just getting started on the whole marketing myself as a baseball player and if I work hard enough, perhaps my ideal schools will be coming to me along with others.

Exactly what are you marketing?

myself as a baseball player, and a student.....

quote:

Originally posted by shppirate09:
myself as a baseball player, and a student.....

This is an honest question. I'm not trying to bust your chops. My understanding is you're a junior who hasn't played varsity and you haven't played travel. What are you marketing as a baseball player?

I'm marketing my will to work and desire to be best pitcher possible. I went from the "worst player in town"-my dad, to being a good, consistent, and at times dominating. I thrive on pressure and love being the one who comes into the game where there is no margin of error, where I have to get the batter to do what I want him to do, and to be the guy who silences a rallying teams players and fans.

I also know that just because I have been able to do the things above before, it doesn't mean that I am perfect, I know my game needs work..it always could get better and I am willing to do whatever necessary to attain the goals that I have set for myself.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but is it not normal for someone to go thru each level of high school baseball and have aspirations of playing higher?

quote:

by shhpirate: I went from the "worst player in town"-my dad, to being a good, consistent, and at times dominating.

regarding RJW's remarks, i think his valid observation is that's it's pretty important to expand your horizons ...
you might be prelly good, but you're doing yourself a dis-service if ya can't test youself against the best you can find ...
IF you do find yourself behind, you haven't given yourself much time to catch up

remember in college you have to get up to speed pretty fast & compete for playing time against guys older than you who were "all-something"

in reading thru many of the new signee press releases it certainly is possible to find guys that have lettered 2 yrs in hs (some w/only 1 letter) - but the common theme is "all-conference", "all-county", etc honors ... which basicly means they are YOUR COMPETITION and marketing themselves against you

unless you are a 6'8" 240# lhp, the "I know I can do it" attitude is unlikely to win out against the player who has shown he has "already done it"

Bee- I was apart of a program ranked among the top 50 in the nation as a freshman. When I transferred sophomore year it was after tryouts, I did get called up to games and played when I got called up and did well.

I know being 5'7 and RHP puts me behind the proverbial eight ball, and I am used to that. But I do have the tools...usually around 80-82 maxing at 84 and I am currently on a workout regiment that could bring more velocity (up to 10mph) come the spring.

And for your comments about the all-conference, all-county, all-state honors; I have set sights on attaining those kind of awards, and not for college approval more for myself and a way to show myself how far I have come

It's not uncommon for a talent in a major program to get blocked from playing time until junior, and sometimes senior year. But these players are usually accomplishing something at the Legion or travel level in summer ball (some areas have strong Connie Mack programs). What level is it you're dominating? What other level of competition is there?

I'm not saying you can't meet your dreams. But given your background and the college baseball programs you're asking about, it doesn't appear you're being realistic. My son is taller (probably thinner right now) than you and throws nearly as hard. He's going to grow several more inches. He has four years of high school to prove himself. I'm not assuming he's going to pitch or play D1. It has to be proven on the field against the best competition. I suggest you get to a NJ Super 17's game next year and objectively compare yourself to the talent you see.

quote:

by pirate:
today I received my first letter!! I know that it is a moneymaker letter (whole thing was a copy) ...
it was a Camp invite...
I have been emailed by some prominent programs - one even sent me a REAL letter, not like the one I received from the first school. a friend who has been getting mail from a number of schools he said that the letter was "legit"

quote:

by pirate:
TR I have not had the opportunity to do any of the things you have said... (travel team)
I was apart of a program ranked among the top 50 in the nation as a freshman
I am looking for a reputable club program ....

a bit hard to follow, but I'm sure you'll be fine

I am going into my junior year and I am trying to see if there are any examples of letters that I would send college coaches. Are there a series of letters that I will send?

THanks

BD13 - There is an area of the site which addresses recruiting information that includes sample letters, if you go to the top of the page, there is a green tab toward the upper left side of the page, if you put your curser over the green tab it brings out the site menu including recruiting tips:

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/recruiting_tips.htm

Good luck, enjoy the ride!

congrats on the letter but the only reason why you recieved the letter was because you filled out the questionaire not because the school has actually seen you play.
just something to think about

quote:

Originally posted by BD13:
I am going into my junior year and I am trying to see if there are any examples of letters that I would send college coaches. Are there a series of letters that I will send?

THanks

Some good tip are here. Good luck.

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/contacting_coaches.htm