Hindsight is 20/20

Nice story - all the best to your son in the future

 

 

I agree, great story and great advice from someone whose son just finished up the recruiting process.

A lot of people say that it is time for the old timers to step down, funny thing is though, the journey that has taken you to this point in time (a commitment for your son) is the same as those whose sons are now not even into baseball anymore.

Best of luck to your son!

Very helpful picture.  Your son got a lot done in two years.  Did he also play Fall Ball and these college visits...over above the camps, and through admissions with perhaps meeting the coach?  Thanks for sharing his journey.  It's early days for our son.  Your look ahead much appreciated.

 

Player's Parent,

He made repeated phone calls to the baseball office's starting a couple weeks before our visits, which we did during his Febuary break sophmore year. He also sent emails with his information and his plan to visit the school so they would have a heads up. The coaches (asst/recruiting coor) he reached were very willing to meet with him while he was on campus. He never involved admissions in getting in touch with coaches. We picked schools that seemed to be a good academic fit for him and within reason from a baseball standpoint. Our goal for the visit was to get a feel for various campuses, find out about the program and where they go to recruit and who he should try to play for junior summer. Basically, we wanted to know the best way to be seen by these schools without spending a fortune on camps. Visited 8 schools and met with 5 coaches, some more of a reach than others. My son has never played fall ball. He is a 4yr varsity soccer player (with 2 state championships) and did not want to give that up. Way more fans at the soccer games under the lights than the baseball games!

You old timers are very important to this site.  Don't you guys go anywhere.

I agree 100% with Aleebaba!  This sight is so helpful, I cannot imagine going through the recruiting process without the help of the seasoned old timers on this sight!

As a newbie to this sight a few years ago I would totally agree. We learned everything we know about the recruiting process from this sight and took in the wisdom of all wiling to share. We would not have been able to put together the plan we did without it. Nothing is foolproof but if the players take what they've got, work hard, put themselves out there and keep their fingers crossed...hopefully something good will happen. One thing we learned first hand is that there are a lot of very talented players out there!

Some of us old timers are much older (not wiser) than other old timers. Also it is very possible that some newbies are much more knowledgable than any of us Old Timers. Being an old timer just means we have posted more often. At the same time, there are a lot of very experienced people who contribute here. I really think most of these people truly enjoy helping others. But nobody is better than anyone else just because they are an old timer. If Bobby Cox posted something here, he would be a newbie.

I certainly agree regarding the amount of talent out there.

I'm also amazed by how many talented players there are out there every year.  I see kids that would be first team all state in some states, but they are just average good players in their area of the country.  I see kids from small towns in northern states that are equal in talent to most anyone from the biggest baseball states. There is talent everywhere!

The problem most parents have is they don't always compare their son's talent with others correctly.  They think they do, but they are not always looking for the same things as those involved in scouting and/or recruiting.  It is natural for this to happen, because your favorite player is your son.  If you're like most parents you are not scouring the country trying to find the best players.  So you know your son is talented, but you don't know about all the competition out there. Nothing wrong with any of this, but it's something worth knowing. I think it really helps the thought process.

Rally Cap,

 

Congratulations to your son!!!

 

...and thanks very much for a terrific set of posts. Please keep it up as time goes on.

"Rally Cap" you have some good advice and this is a good topic.

 

I had a 2012 son who is now pitching at a nice DII school and absolutely loves it. The recruiting process with him was ok but very stressful.

 

Now I have a 2014 son who is an exceptional student with a high GPA 4.75, High SAT and ACT scores. Still wants to take them as he feels he will be awarded more academic money and make him a better pick on the totem pole when coaches compare students academics.

 

Here is my two cents on the process:

 

I would be hard pressed to do a summer or fall ball program again from the standpoint unless you are on a TOP team and I mean TOP team you get very few looks. We have a local team that is stellar and they have several age groups and they get many looks at the tournaments. What I have seen though is if you do not have those kids or players that bring the scouts or recruiters to the field your are pretty hard pressed to get minimal looks at tourneys. The one thing that was stated to me by a couple of college scouts at a tournament is to remember those guys on that 1% of those stellar teams does not fill all the vacancies that the next level at college has. There is a lot of people trying to recruit those 15 to 20 guys so what about those guys that may not be on those stud teams that are excellent players as well as students? we have to look and find them to fill those empty spots

I believe (and it is my opinion) you get more bang for your buck using the monies that you would use for summer programs and traveling to do the following:

Engage a program of training for your son, maybe a local quality instructor once or twice a week.

A regimented work out and throwing program to be a set schedule. (Crossfit or a trainer at a gym)

Source out and do the PG showcases both the local and area events. Even cross the borders to do as they will always produce scouts in general. You would be traveling with the summer team any way. Locate a showcase of solid quality and travel to it.

 

The Academic showcase had the most scouts that I have ever seen except for that Jupiter tourney in October it was well attended and these guys were intent and looking at all players not just certain teams. The academic showcase combines both high academics and a showcase for general players. Very well run and attended.

 

Travel and do the college prospect camps. You were traveling anyway

 

Do the college prospect camps that may be attended by multiple scouts and recruiters. You never know who is watching 

 

Do a quality video for your son to send out to garner interest.

 

Plus I am sure there are many more things to attend but that is just a few of my thoughts. I am sure I will have the nay sayers on this forum as I have had them before, but the overall expense of a summer program verses the individual stuff would be something that I would really put a pen to and look hard at what the results could be.

 

When sitting down and placing two columns on a sheet of paper and using the costs of a summer and fall program to include the actual program costs, travel, hotels, and so forth. Verses the cost of the individual events and the training as I stated it all measures up, but the end result is more looks for your son when not playing on that STUDD team. Again these are just my observations and general notes. This also may be regionally not true. It may not fit everyone's situation I am only speaking from where I live and that is Florida.