Help needed!

High School academics, for some boys (mine was one) simply don't inspire. Mine just made eligibility, with the good fortune that he is one who tests well.

He chose to start at a JuCo for a variety of reasons --- for him PT was a big concern; for me, the idea of his being eased into college studies was. As it turned out, he made President's (Dean's) List, as of the first semester because (unlike hs), he was now studying what he wanted to study and was interested in. Further, the instructor's and prof's were, shall we say, considerably more competent and interesting than hs.

By the second semester, I actually heard him lecturing a starter in danger of losing academic eligibilty about the importance of grades to continue on to a good D1 program. It was astonishing: his mouth, my words --- the understanding was just a bit delayed.

So there is hope.

If your family doesn't know a player currently in college, the coach of your summer team certainly will. If your conversations haven't borne fruit, having him talk to a guy who is currently dealing with college academics after having gone through the application process could have a lot more 'real world' meaning for him.

You might also get some info from the summer coach about previous players who missed a chance to play at a Rice or University of TX because of academics.

Sometimes parents have to call in reinforcements!

(By the way, I had to giggle at the 'paying time' typo. With all the discussions here about how expensive baseball has become, I thought that was a great Freudian slip!)

In life, there are all kind of obstacles. In high school, baseball comes with obstacles. You must work hard, be at practice, follow the rules. But here's a big one, teachers and grades.
I have told many players in the past, that if playing is a goal for them, what obstacles will stand in ther way? Will they let poor grades dictate there future? Keep them off the team? Or will they do whatever it takes to be sure they have a spot?
College is not far away. Does he think college coaches are giving away free money, when they have thousands of players with good grades waiting in line for a chance. Try some of these things and see if they have an impact. Good luck.

Just on a whim try looking up admissions information for a top notch academic college you know he would be interested in.

When you show it to him and ask him how much better it would feel if this coach were to call him someday in the future if he could say "Yes sir, you won't have any problems getting admissions to accept me."

he wont get it until a college coach asks the first question they always ask: How are your grades?
Mine didnt get it until junior year.
Have him troll the site and he should call a college he is interested in and talk to the coach personally to find out for himself.

I posted this once before but I will post again.
My son did not work, had a very low GPA but was a great baseball player and always said "dont worry Mom I'll get into college with my baseball". Well, when the coaches starting looking at him, their first words were "what is your GPA?" His options dwindled, he was not eligible for NCAA Div 1 or Div 2 schools and he did not get into the colleges he wanted to because of his low GPA (his SAT's werent bad) He ended up at a small northeast Div. 3 college playing baseball. Actually it has worked out well but he didn't get what he wanted because he did not work hard enough. You have to stress to your son how important the grades are (more than anything else) or he will not be eligible to go where he wants or do what he wants. There are just too many other great baseball players with great grades and the competition is fierce.

Also see Academic Question / Recruiting in th Golden Threads Forum.

mmac,

Thanks for your honesty and willingness to post it. I am printing your post and taping it to my son's bedroom door.

Good luck to you and your son - I hope it all works out. My son has his first college start tomorrow!

It's always good to try and be logical and rational with your child.....but if that doesnt work.......and....if they have the ability to do better , and they are not.....then when it comes to grades....put your foot down....and the sooner the better. Car, allowance, groundings.....etc., etc.....

The way I looked at it we were a family....a team....his Dad and I went out to work everyday.....paid the bills....afforded him a comfortable lifestyle....the only job we gave him to do was his school work....we explained the importance....the academic scholarships....more opportunities and schools to choose from for baseball.....and we just kept reinforcing....that we would not comprimise on grades.

It worked....and I know.....we were lucky too....

From the age of ten when my boys started playing AAU, baseball has always been a reward for getting good grades.

One son let his grades slip one fall and missed playing until the next marking period when his grades were back up.

He had to sit on the bench and root for his team even though he was not allowed to play.

My oldest son was a pretty good LHP at age 12. Played for a good team but he decided grades weren't very important. I gave him the opportunity to get his grades up over the winter with him knowing that if the grades weren't passing, there would be no spring ball for him. I guess he didn't think I was serious as the grades still stunk and I took away his ball. I guess ball wasn't that important to him as he still does not put much effort into his school work.

Now at 16, he just made the JV golf team and his coach talked to him about his grades. If you have an F, you don't play. You also can't have a D for more than 3 weeks. Kind of ticked me off that after the golf coach told him this, he went to his teachers asking them for extra credit for my son so he could get his grades up. Apparently not much substance to the coach, all talk. Well, the extra credit got his grades up so he played in the first tournament. We'll see how it goes from there.

Funny how kids aren't alike. My 12 year old RHP is straight A's without being told and with effort comes the rewards. Plays on a great travel ball club, gets to do most whatever he wants (within reason), etc... All I ask of my kids is to make my life as stress free as possible. At least one of them got the message.