High School Coaches Involved In Process

quote:

many prohibit travel team play during summer
most are still suspicious of showcases & discourage it

I had to go to war for my kid to be able to play on a fall scout team in the middle of the hottest part of recruiting, just prior to early signing period.

His new 26 yo HS coach felt very slighted, insulted not having his ace for fall weekend scrimmages (he wasn't even allowed to coach by state rule, but did anyway) so he could pound the next towns scrubbinni's

I had to tell the coach that we were preparing for life AFTER high school, with his help or not, just 8 months away abnd if that was a problem, to please let me know so we could plan for the spring and just transfer at the end of fall.

Good points all around. If a college coach is calling a HS coach about a player, just a wild guess that the coach already has an idea of the player’s talent level. I would think the college coach would be interested in work ethic, team play, game toughness, academics, and etc. If playing for a high school coach that can’t provide that, then I hope the coach is looking for a different line of work next year.

Everybody is making great points and observations in this thread. Now that people are seemingly agreeing that not all HS coaches are bad, etc.....

Bee's 'timeline' of the changes in the recruiting landscape are not bad.......for most coaches things are business as usual.

College coaches at all levels are still going to watch high school games during the spring, tournaments in spring summer and fall, etc. There are more tournaments in the fall than there were 20 years ago, but most HS state tournaments and summer weekend tournaments are still attended by college coaches. Coaches also go to watch particular players during the week in spring and summer.

What is now added to some college coaches' schedules are showcases, whether they are national, regional, statewide, or more local. In addition, coaches also make occasional visits to watch players during their workouts with their private instructors.

High school coaches still have the same responsibilities as they did twenty years ago. They receive letters, phone calls, questionnaires, emails, etc., from college coaches and ML Scouts. Recruiters and scouts want to know when certain guys are pitching, etc.

The summer landscape has changed with some travel teams traveling more than they did in the past. Believe it or not, sometimes it best serves players (especially who are not D-I bound) to play on teams which will play regionally (or in state) rather than nationally.

I will say this....something I have written before on other threads.....there are the same # of roster spots and scholarships now as there were before. The new landscape is not increasing the number of opportunities for players. The players who are advancing to college baseball today would also be doing so if the landscape had not changed.

Showcases have provided more jobs for baseball people outside of coaching. Showcases have also benefitted the US economic cash flow. Showcases have also provided opportunities for families/players to travel to places they would not otherwise travel to.

The increased amounts of time and money spent on youth sports (not just baseball) have also led to some parents believing that all the hard work and sacrifices that they (their kids) have made should entitle them to scholarships, etc. That is not a bad thing, just a change in the youth sport culture, which has led to some more frustrations on the part of parents and athletes (I understand this is not the topic at hand....forgive my rambling).

As somebody already mentioned, the HS coaches who contribute on this site are some of the good ones......the same can be said for the parents.

quote:

some parents believing that all the hard work and sacrifices that they (their kids) have made should entitle them to scholarships, etc. That is not a bad thing

that mindset by parents could lead to some serious misgivings down the road


Grateful, your neck of the woods

the guy controlling the "help" (???) our kids get, ran a young Charles Woodson (Fr-Ross) out of his basketball program, and tried his darndest to affect his football opportunities because he
"didn't have the right attitude for success" - fortunatly, Fremont ran HIM off - unfortunatly, to US

hey also, re: recruiting changes from 1990 -

your guestimate is OK,
but it would seem that with the added venues for exposure,
showcase & recruiting guys gathering/organizing data
and generally a more organized approach (by them & colleges)

tho total opportunities are the same (# wise) . . .

but - all college baseball generally should have -

1) fewer overlooked top tier players
2) stronger over-all starting line-ups
3) stronger/more consistent depth

- - add as needed



.

Been reading this thread with interst and like anything else, there are always two sides to a coin.

Lot's of horror stories out there, that is obvious. However, don't batch the HS Coaching profession in a category such as "cut them out of the process." It is quite disrespectful to the hard working coaches that read the e-mails, letters and take the phone calls of college and MLB scouts. I can't and will not spreak for every HS coach out there, but there are many that I know that work very hard to market their players and realize their dream of playing at the next level. Recently, I called a college coach and based on my word, verbally offered the player a partial scholarship, sight unseen. Point here, college coach trusted my reference of the player and my projections.

Yes, there are coaches out there that do the bare minimum. That is unfortunate. There are people like that in every profession. I don't have a bad experience with a particular profession and throw the rest of them under the bus so to speak. If your coach is not doing his job or he is hurting your son's future ambitions, there are options, such as transferring to another program.

This particular year, I have 7 seniors, all but two have signed or are committed. The two have some options and not a practice passes that I dont speak to them about what "we" can do. Yes, its a team sport and a team effort between the player and parents to find the right fit for their son's. I found the right fit for my son and it was a quality JUCO in FL. He had opstions with some quality programs but chose the JUCO route.

In closing, I just wanted to share my perspective from the coaches point of view and not make excuses for the minority coaches, yes minority coaches out there that do not or don't want to market their players. IMO the majority of coaches that run quality programs do their job, yes, work hard with the recruiting process.

I just got home from scouting a future opponent after practice with some of my coaching staff, typical night getting home after 1030 pm. After dragging the field, sprinklers etc, every night is a late night, then baseball e-mails etc. Going to fix myself a bite to eat and check back to see how many people I have offended...

quote:

Originally posted by Bee>:

quote:

some parents believing that all the hard work and sacrifices that they (their kids) have made should entitle them to scholarships, etc. That is not a bad thing

that mindset by parents could lead to some serious misgivings down the road


Grateful, your neck of the woods

the guy controlling the "help" (???) our kids get, ran a young Charles Woodson (Fr-Ross) out of his basketball program, and tried his darndest to affect his football opportunities because he
"didn't have the right attitude for success" - fortunatly, Fremont ran HIM off - unfortunatly, to US

hey also, re: recruiting changes from 1990 -

your guestimate is OK,
but it would seem that with the added venues for exposure,
showcase & recruiting guys gathering/organizing data
and generally a more organized approach (by them & colleges)

tho total opportunities are the same (# wise) . . .

but - all college baseball generally should have -

1) fewer overlooked top tier players
2) stronger over-all starting line-ups
3) stronger/more consistent depth

- - add as needed



.

It sounds like the coach that Woodson had was run off like he should have been.....that means the system is working to get rid of the 'bad apples'.

I would disagree that college coaches now have a more organized approach.....and I am not saying that they are less organized now......it is just EASIER to organize lists when you can see a couple hundred players in a 2-3 day period.....watching them all throw from the same spots, run the 60, etc.....just makes it easier to organize.

You are right that there may be fewer overlooked top tier players, but in reality there are just fewer of those guys overlooked by D-I coaches......those guys weren't being overlooked by smaller school coaches.

I'm not sure how the current recuiting landscape makes for stronger overall lineups and depth.

On thing that will continue to be a trend is that IF top tier guys are no longer overlooked and they sign more often with major D-I teams, the D-II, D-III, and NAIA teams will perhaps have fewer pro prospects on their rosters than in the past.

GW4S

Thanks for the kind reply, I know how difficult it is as a parent. Maybe why I am motivated since I have lived in the "parent" shoes.

What year is your son?

I did not mention it in my post last night, I was tired and just a tad emotional on my reply but in addition to the assistance of the HS Coach, I do think the help of the summer coaches, fall coaches and yes, the showcases, complete what I consider the full spectrum of necessary things to do. With that said, if one aspect of this team effort is falling down on the job, it is important to prioritize the off season coaches efforts and showcases. Being a coach, it was a little awkward for me to be swinging the pom poms for my son. Fortunately, his talent got him looks and this past fall, he showed very well at a college showcase and the phone rang off the hook for a few weeks.

Yes, I know the showcase route is expensive, however, it has become the means to get an unbiased look and evaluation. There are many good showcases and camps out there, read the posts on this thread and make inquiries to find one that you feel will benefit your son.

Send me a PM anytime if you have a question, if I can help, I am pleased to do so.

Best wishes this season and be positive, even when it seems like the situation is hopeless.

Waveball
You are right. Grateful is also correct. There are professionals and fakers in every walk of life. Like Bee said, the coaches on this website are cream of the crop. You have helped kids to the highest levels after high school.

Allowing or encouraging, players like Ryne M. to travel with the Scorpions helps him and brings positive attention back to PKY. Your follow up with recruiting efforts is part of the process like showcasing and travel teams. Keep up the good work and good luck this spring.

Dad04

Thanks! Nolan M (Ryne's younger brother) 2008 is already a prospect and he will be one to watch! He is a great kid! Work ethic is unquestionable and talent to go with it.

Best wishes to your son this season!

We have Taylor County today for pre season, my scouting report on them is OK, I will find out at 4:00PM.

Have a Great Day!

waveball
Your players are lucky to have you. I think the bad apples leave more of a lasting impression with parents. If you get a HS coach who not only believes in your kid, but actually promotes him, count yourself lucky. We fall with a the disgruntled group because our son couldn't even get help when the recruiters initiated the contact with the coach. Our coach just didn't have it in him to help and was actually quite negative with my son. We finally did take the coach out of the process, but not in a malicious way. A good life-lesson about pulling up your own bootstraps.