2014 is fast approaching his HS season in Ohio (where today is is 24 degrees-ugh!). He is interested in 5 relatively local colleges (within 3 hours) and they have shown interest in him as well. He has done junior days at 3 of them last fall and visited the other 2, also, in the fall. I have read on here the best way to get to know a college baseball team/ coach is go watch games or practice. Any suggestions on how to fit that into his HS season?
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Depending on distance and teams schedules you might want to do a bit of a tour over a long weekend.
We did it before son's season started however if your guy is of a caliber to warrant recruitment I would imagine his high school coach would let him miss a Saturday practice to do a couple unofficial visits. Typically a coach will make time to meet with a player and show them around prior to the game. We actually were able to visit 3 schools over a long weekend. If he misses school for a day it should be an excused absence too. 
Thanks for advice,unfortunetly.they have doubleheaders scheduled most every Saturday.When does college season end? HS schedule for regular season is done fisrt week of May.Most tournament games are thru the weekdays so might be able to catch a couple of colleges that way. I like the idea of going thru the week maybe (usually no games on Thursday and Friday). Might be able to work it that way. This is more of 2014 being proactive to seeing games / practice than colleges asking him to come. Though they have been in semi constant contact (slowed way down once college season started, as I have read on here it would)
Many schools and conferences have some video feeds available... some live, some replay, some free, some pay. If the schools do not have video, check the website of their opponents. You may be able to watch them play online.
We have run into that problem also. Since our son is only a 2016, his HS season ends the last week of April and we are going to 3 games at 3 schools right after he's finished and before the colleges do. I'm guessing that it only gets worse as they get older!
ChefMike -
Great move planning to see games. I can't tell you how many dad's think their kid is a D1 player despite never seeing a D1 game.
You know, there are a ton of games on the weekend. Can't you drive out on a Saturday or Sunday?
1 thing I do very often is catch BP and the first few innings of 1 game then drive across town and catch the last few innings of another game. You can meet 2 coaches prior to game 1 and 2 more after game 2.
1 website I use to check scores and schedule is www.d1baseball.com
I'd highly recommend catching some games at all levels of baseball, not just D1.
Another recommendation would be to take a lap around the actual school on foot.... not just the baseball field.
So many kids/parents I deal with have neglected to do that during the busy summer/fall seasons. That is what lead to my College Bus Tours... www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour
Every baseball field is pretty much the same between the lines (bases at 90 ft. etc). But campuses are very different.
Good luck.
Rich
I cannot stress the importance of being in the atmosphere and witnessing the level in which your son wants to compete at. Him getting a feel and a taste of where he wants to be will fuel him more both consciously and subconsciously. Find the targeted colleges' schedules and simply look at your high school schedule to decipher what is an available time. The earlier the better. The more the better.
Rich, Interesting you should say that about the campuses. We have toured 7 colleges so far, not including the 2 very local ones which we have been on many time. They are very different as you can expect. The ones I thought he would really like, he didn't and vice versa. The other part I have found very interesting is how different their facilities are (hitting cage, workout area, locker rooms, etc). His summer team is playing near a lot of colleges and we have plans to see many of them D1,2 & 3 inbetween games. His HS team plays a lot of doubleheaders on Saturdays, so our thoughts are to catch as many sunday games as possible.Being in Ohio, most of teh teams aren't "in town" yet and are playing mostly in the south. 3 of the 5 he is most interested in at moment are within an hour, so Sunday games or even a weekday practice are realistic. The 2 that are 3 hours away will take more planning . I really like the idea of 2 games in one day as a possbile solution to getting all this in for our research.
Stafford, thanks for idea about video feeds, What a good idea..
Canyonmom, if I figure it out thru help from all these fine people, I will pass on my knowledge
My son didn't have many Saturday games. He rarely had practice on Sunday. He was free from Sat afternoon on to watch college games. We had the Big East and A10 within biking distance of home. More often I went and judged. Through business travel I saw games from Boston to Philadelphia (ACC, Big East, Colonial, Ivy, A10 and NESCAC. I talked with parents about recruiting, money, academics before and during college and what the coaches were really like. I found most parents enjoyed discussing their kids. My son ruled out one college based on the coach's on field behavior. We also couldn't find many parents not saying negatives about him. He's a local legend who has stayed too long.
I cannot stress the importance of being in the atmosphere and witnessing the level in which your son wants to compete at. Him getting a feel and a taste of where he wants to be will fuel him more both consciously and subconsciously. Find the targeted colleges' schedules and simply look at your high school schedule to decipher what is an available time. The earlier the better. The more the better.
That is good advice. My son had no idea what at level he would be competitive and I surely had no clue. As a high 80's RHP he was recruited by every level. Watching the various levels play he was being recruited by, over a period of time helped him make the decision he made.
When you go, go very early. See the pregame BP and pregame in and out. Let the coach know ahead of time that you are coming up. Take it all in and by the end of the day you should have a good feel for the staff and program.
I've found the games in video format in a number of different places. Some will have video links in the schedule. Others have a link listed under multimedia. Others may have a link that actually says video.
Also, most colleges have a video tour or virtual tour on their main webpage. If you can't make it to campus and are watching a game online, make sure and do a video tour of the campus as well. It's usually the typical cheesy video with a student host, but gives you an idea of what the campus looks like, a view of the dorms, campus food services, etc....
Also, search Youtube for a driving tour of campus. Usually, some student has driven around campus with a video camera and posted it on Youtube. Sometimes these videos give you a better feel for the look of the campus.
I love this site! so much good advice. He called teh local college college that have mutual interest(10 miles from home) and set up a time in april on a sunday to see a game. great advice SDlefty to go very early. coach told him he would be happy to take him down on field to watch pregame stuff.
I love this site! so much good advice. He called teh local college college that have mutual interest(10 miles from home) and set up a time in april on a sunday to see a game. great advice SDlefty to go very early. coach told him he would be happy to take him down on field to watch pregame stuff.
That's why we are here! Good luck with the visit Mike, and let us know how things progress.
