How to get recruited on a shoestring budget?

You could focus on colleges you can make day trips to their camps. You will have to determine whether the camps are money makers or legitimate prospect camps. These usually run $150 to $250. 

You could email colleges explaining your sons interest, your limited exposure budget and their suggestion for the best way to get in front of them.

Your son could go the JuCo route and rely on the JuCo program to get him to the next level. You would need to make sure he attends a JuCo with the ability to give him exposure to the next level.

He should ask his high school and summer ball coach if they can help with contact in any way. Even though my son made all contacts through travel his high school named colleges he knew coaches and was willing to call on his behalf.

If your son is good enough a travel team may be willing to finance some or all of his participation.

Watch this site for teams looking for additional players for a tournament.

If your son wants it badly enough he can get a job and put all the earnings towards his recruiting budget.

The American Legion team in my area went to a showcase tournament last year. 

First welcome to this website. You will find more information here than you can digest. You are early in the process. So I would think first, find someone reputable or a showcase that can give your son an idea of where he falls talent wise.  I saw you were from the midwest. Perfect Game and PrepBaseballReport both do that. PG is more national, they are excellent at what they do and can be pricey if you are on a low budget ($500Plus depends on which showcase you go to). They will let you know where you son is talent wise. PBR is midwest basically (Kansas, Wisconisn, Illinois, Missiouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsilvania, West Virginia). They are less expensive but you don't get a "rating". You do get to see compare son to others in your region. Niether will tell you (your son is D1 or D2 or Naia), but you will get the basic idea. If you think your son is D2, he is probably D3 . We all have rose colored glasses when it comes to our child. I know I did.  The best way may be find someone locally who is a scout of MLB or someone who does instruction who has the background to tell you (I learned that from here).

I would find him the best team he can play on (not be on, but play on). The big year for that is summer between Junior and Senior year. If your son is big time D1 (like top 10- 15 in your state since you are midwest), then recruiting will start this time next year. D1  summer between Jr and Sr year will be the key, then D2, and D3 and so on. Most D2 and D3 are really heating up in Ohio right now, but being that it is 45 degrees right nowout, the summer is the key.

I would target 20-25 schools he is interested  with his major if he knows. Have some at every level. Research coaches and rosters and have him email them and introduce himself. If you get the opportunity, go watch in spring, some at every level. I think you will get at least some idea where he might have an opportunity.

I wish you and your son the best of luck. Recruiting is a roller coaster. Enjoy it, it goes by very fast. 

I know that there are many examples of players being recruited without attending a showcase, but typically these players have had the opportunity to play on a relatively high profile tournament team that hit the East Cobb, Jupiter and Ft. Myers tournament circut.

I think that to hope to find a home for your son without utilizing one or both of these options will prove to be a very difficult challenge.

Even the JUCO route, if one hopes to transfer to a D-1 or D-2 will require significant efforts at recruitment. The stronger JUCO's are extremely competetive for players, and once there, the player will find an extremely competetive situation for playing time.

The PG Underclass event in Ft. Myers is tremendous and hard to beat for exposure. In spite of the financial outlay, it really does provide a significant "bang for the buck".

In our case my son played year round in Florida and played on Travel Teams and did the showcase circut. He was fortunate in that he was respected and thought to be a valuable player. If we had not ventured outside of North Central Florida, I am not sure he would have found his opportunities.

It is expensive, it is also very enjoyable. It was our family's vacation experience.

If you can not do both, or if one is not available (as in the case that there are no travel teams in the area), I would have to encourage you to go to PG showcases such as the Underclass and World Showcase.

If your son has never participated in a large showcase, it may be helpful to find a smaller cheaper one to get a sense as to what is expected. Blue/Grey, Pro Day, Next Level... these are good in their own right (Next Level especially), but perfect for getting properly geared up for a big PG event.

Opportunities come from these events. There are cheap hotels in Ft. Myers. It was worth it for my son, perhaps for yours as well.

Good thought. Do you know if most colleges out their are using their camps as legitimate recruiting opportunities? Meaning are the decision makers paying attention and looking for players from these camps?

Will do. I've heard it's good to send them a link to a skills video when you email them to introduce yourself. This seems logical to me. Any thoughts on whether this needs to be a professionally produced video or what the exact contents of the video should be?

You need to have your kid to self-advocate. Work as his "agent" in a sense considering you are the parent. Contact college coaches yourself. Send workout videos to those coaches. Contact via phone and email. Look at it as if you are trying to find/obtain a job. Do you simply send in the application then sit around and wait to hear back? Of course not! Go after what it is you are wanting. Don't stop until you get it.

Rich at Play In School (PIS) regularly posts on this site.  His business is professionally producing videos of players, mostly baseball and softball.   Check out his website and view several players, especially position players.  (keewartson is on there somewhere).  I have seen several Youtube videos as well floating around.  You can even do your own website for your son with his baseball resume, video clips, contact information, etc.  A google search (ie. "baseball recruiting video") will also bring up many players that have done this.

To be honest, a college coach isn't going to recruit from a video, but it could drum up interest.  keewartson attached his video link with all college coaches he corresponded.

Send these coaches his playing schedule, too.  If he is only playing high school ball or legion, send that schedule to local schools that can easily make the trip.  (And don't discount fall ball. There were 2 local D1 schools at keewartson's game two weeks ago).    

The least expensive way to get your name out there is to go to a MLB tryout.  They are free!  You might have to drive somewhere, but no overnight type travel.  Going to one is good, but going to several is better.  Some of these Tryouts will have college coaches in attendance.  Make sure the player has some tools, running especially, because that is usually the first thing that will separate one player from the next.  Some Tryouts will have you do more than others.  I've actually seen some where they send half the kids home after they run the 60. Others will have you do everything.  It's all about tools!

Often we here about kids that stood out at Pro tryouts.  It can lead to lots of things in some cases.  Again, most important... They are FREE!   If money is an issue, you should take advantage of the tryouts run by ML organizations. 

Best of Luck

Regarding videos... We get thousands of them every year.  I have a suggestion.

Have someone that has lots of knowledge watch the video and tell you what they think before sending it out to colleges. Especially do this if you are not totally secure about what college coaches want to see.

I have seen videos that make me think the player is very talented.  I've seen videos that don't show me how good or bad a player is.  And I've seen videos that make me think the player has no talent.  So obviously it is a waste of time sending anything that can't possibly create any interest.  In fact, I watched one 15 minute video that came with a notebook full of statistics and more information than anyone would ever need. The music in the video was great, outstanding production, unfortunately it just proved that the player lacked talent.  There is no sense in going to all this trouble unless there is something in there that will impress people who see lots of player videos.

There are quality web based sites that offer direct access to thousands of Universities and tools that both educate parents and athletes and guide their steps and very affordable.  I have used www.PeakProspect.com and  found it to be very helpful and using the basic systems had my youngest child just commit to a terrific D 1 School.

Don't pay thousands of dollars for "Talent Scouts" who make big promises.  It is not necessary, the idea of waiting to be discovered is a great way to never receive an offer.  You have to have a system and be prepared to out work the parents and athletes who want the same opportunity you do.  If you are not making an effort and  in contact with Universities marketing your child, you can bet that someone else is. You have to take charge of the effort. Waiting to long can lead to a major disappointment.  Just because coaches can't communicate with underclassmen doesn't mean that they are not scouting and making lists of priority prospects.  Verbal commitments seem to be occurring more frequently for very young athletes.  Hope this helps and good luck.  WCD

Hope this helps; there is a lot out there so atleast here is a good place to start.  

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/officia...ut_mlb/tryout_us.jsp

http://www.collegebaseballcamps.com/

Thanks for all the great ideas and valuable feedback. I will definitely incorporate much of this into our search for the right school.

Thanks for the shout out Keewart!

Midwest - There has already been some good info provided here.  Hopefully it will help.

One of your sons top assets at this point is TIME.  He's still young enough that you will have plenty of time to communicate with coaches.

Here are a few things to consider...

- Think of the recruiting process like a job search.  I know you want to stay on budget but sometimes splurging on a new suit for that big interview is not a bad idea.  But that doesn't mean you have to buy a $3,000 suit if the 3 suits for $250 will do the trick!

- Be proactive.  Or rather, support your son in his efforts to be proactive.

- FILM IS NOT MEANT TO GET YOUR SON SIGNED.  It is meant to be a conversation starter and give coaches a chance to make an initial assessment and figure out if they want to drive 7 hours to come see you play. Just like your resume is not meant to get you hired.  Problem is lots of people (even on this board) never hear the 2nd part of that thought process.  They just hear "film doesn't get you signed".  

- "NO" is not bad.  You son is who he is.  Period.  Film captures a snapshot in time of his skills set right now.  It is the job of the college coaches to predict the future (they call that "projectability").  So waiting until your son is "perfect" before filming could be naive.  My rule of thumb with timing of being filmed is to wait until the kid is playing Varsity.  If he's a at a competitive school and starting as a freshman he will probably project well.  If he doesn't play until late in JR year he may project to be a D3 guy.  Either way, you want to gather INFORMATION.  YES, NO, MAYBE are all pieces of information.  Many travel and high school coaches are VERY afraid of "NO" because they may have promised you a "YES" from some big school.  Oh well.  If the entire ACC & SEC is telling you "NO" you now have the INFORMATION to aim a little lower.  If the entire ODAC or USA South is telling you "YES" you now have the information to aim a little hirer.  

I don't know about you, but if I'm applying for a big job at a Fortune 50 and I'm not going to be offered I want to know today.  Not 6 weeks or 6 months from now.  If UCLA or UVA DOES NOT like me, I want to know NOW.  This gives me time to move on and continue communicating with other programs.

- Why use a 3rd party for filming?  TRUST.  Colleges coaches across the country can trust the work I do to be genuine.  Working with Play In School does not give a kid any sort of "stamp of approval" but it does mean that what you see is what you get.  Any kid or parent with a cell phone & computer can make a video and website.  But how can you prove that you didn't speed your bat up?  How do you know that pitcher didn't speed that pitch up?  Its easy.  Its tempting.  Say you have D3 bat speed.  What if you put the video at 110% of normal speed?  I cannot do that.  I would be out of business in 2 seconds.  

-  All of the ratings everybody gives kids are wonderful.  At the end of the day though, to be a college baseball player you need 1 college baseball coach to like you.  Just 1.

- Here is an example of a simple video of a 3B.  Note that we filmed him from SS.  Ideally his videos would be embedded on a personal website instead just a YouTube link.  Presentation is important.  And limiting distractions is vital.  There are a billion other videos on YouTube.  You don't want to make it easy for a coach to click 1 button and be watching some cat video and now you are forgotten.

FYI... This kid will be playing for Prepster's son.  

- Final thought.  Just because a girl likes you doesn't mean you have to marry her right?  Just because a college coach from some school "likes you" doesn't mean that college is right for your son. Begin doing research into what is important (besides baseball) to your son's college experience.  Jeesh, could you imagine if we all married the first girl that liked us?!

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com 

College Recruiting Videos & College Bus Tours

www.twitter.com/PlayInSchool

PIS....the hitting video looks good and the video quality is great.  I'm curious though..in the fielding video, why would you include two plays where the player awkwardly backhanded two balls that shouldn't have been backhanded??

Like I said above - its a snap shot in time... At that moment in time that is how HE fielded the play.  

He ended up at an ACC school so I'm guessing his awkward backhand was not an issue.

That day we filmed about 50 kids.  But even on days when I film 1 kid privately I am very careful to NOT turn a filming session in to a lesson or coaching session.  Its not about that.  Its about allowing the kids to do their thing and capturing that moment on film.

But you bring up a wonderful point.  Filming for hours to make a "perfect" video is not always the point.  Not to beat a dead horse, but he was not signed off this video alone.  It was a part of the process.  

Remember this, if you hit, you don't sit!  Will this kid play short stop in college?  Probably not.  But I'll promise you that if he is one of the top 8 hitters on the team he will be somewhere on the field.  

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

Makes perfect sense when you put it that way.  Thanks for the info.