My son has graduated getting his diploma with a GED as of January. He is a good ball player both in High School and travel teams. He is 6'3" 175lbs outfield/infield and pitches. We got a late start on recruitment and are just getting going. How can I help him get into a community college in Florida or nearby?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
For this fall? I don't envy you at this late stage.
My older son, who doesn't play ball, goes back to college in 10 days. Baseball players may have already reported at some schools. I am not a pro at this, but I would find out which community colleges (in Florida or nearby) have baseball teams and apply quickly. I am guessing you would need to have high school transcripts and SAT/ACT scores sent? Register for at least 12 hours to be considered full time and talk to the coach about your interest to play ball and try to walk on.
You may want to post in the Florida forum as well.
Many community colleges start this week and fall workouts start next week. Why did he wait until the last minute? It depends on the college, but many classes are already full. He's got some scrambling to do!
He/we spent way to much time playing ball and not near enough time learning the recruitment process. Yes it may be to late we are still going to look around Florida and beyond. My next question is can he look for next year and when do we start for that?
I would do whatever it takes to sign up for classes this year and call the coach to inquire about the fall workouts/tryouts. It's Monday. Start today! If he waits a year to play, his chance to continue to play could go WAY down.
To look for baseball programs in your area, go to www.collegeboard.org and put in the parameters you need for the college search (ie: 2 year, X miles from zip code XXXXX or which states, and that has a baseball program.)
College coaches are looking at high school freshmen these days. D3s are looking at rising high school seniors now. Community colleges and JuCos can be fertile ground for some D1s looking for players.....BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE GRADES. Get him enrolled in classes to prove he can be a student-athlete.
If he has high school coach or travel coach who's willing to go to bat for him, have them put out some feelers on who might have a need at his position.
Also, some JuCo's will hold open tryout events, so he should be sure to check their web sites and/or e-mail their coaches to inquire.
If none of that seems to work, then I would suggest he just attend the college that he would choose if baseball were not a factor. If they then hold a fall tryout, go for it. If they don't, then he'll be in the best place given his circumstances.
I really appreciate the posts and efforts it is helping us a lot. Coaches have said they were going to do various things but nothing has materialized. My son grades were ok but not the kind of grades that coaches get excited about. He got behind changing high schools for baseball and instead of finishing in high school he chose to get his GED which he got in January. Now were trying to just figure out the best course to proceed. He has spent his life playing ball and wants baseball to be part of his future in some capacity. Hopefully we will find a juco school somewhere.
Was your son ineligible at one point to not play HS ball?
Also has your son registered with the clearinghouse and taken SAT or ACT?
I am not understanding why your son isn't registered to begin college which begins in a few weeks if not few days. The best place to start is your local Juco, do they have a program. This comes first before baseball.
Your son may be very good, so are many many other guys out there. Not trying to be negative, but he has a lot of work to do. Keewart is on the mark, he must prove he wants to be a student athlete, not just a baseball player.
My son has always been eligible for high school ball and played jv and varsity ball . He has always been a starter and is a good ball player along with a whole lot of other kids. He was a better ball player than a student. He was an average student. He decided to finish school getting his GED which was really the counselors idea. He got his GED in January. Many coaches have told him many things and were finding out now we should have done more on our own. We will probably enroll him somewhere and keep looking around. He is trying to make up his mind about many things concerning his future.Either way he loves to play baseball .
We will probably enroll him somewhere and keep looking around. He is trying to make up his mind about many things concerning his future.Either way he loves to play baseball .
Rather than jump into an institution that is unknown or not a good match and trigger his athletic clock to start ticking, maybe he should consider registering at a local CC as a part time student. That way he could get going on his classwork but not be locked into an institution with transfer restrictions and retain all his athletic eligibility years.
I talked to a coach in Alabama this evening who was extremely helpful and we are going to look into enrolling him locally and get started with school. The coach broke it down for me and explained the process. He said that once my son gets some grades and classes behind him it should get a little easier. He said he would be happy to take a look at him in the winter. He said he would look at him now but the chances of getting everything we needed done in time would be very tough. I feel like like we are getting an understanding of all this. All the comments have helped.
I talked to a coach in Alabama this evening who was extremely helpful and we are going to look into enrolling him locally and get started with school. The coach broke it down for me and explained the process. He said that once my son gets some grades and classes behind him it should get a little easier. He said he would be happy to take a look at him in the winter. He said he would look at him now but the chances of getting everything we needed done in time would be very tough. I feel like like we are getting an understanding of all this. All the comments have helped.
*He got behind changing high schools for baseball"
It's not only that you are behind in understanding the recruitment process, it's that he neglected a key factor in the formula. Playing college sports is about being a student athlete not just an athlete. Even if his coach was able to get a recruiter to look at him, they may not have given him a chance if they were concerned he wouldn't make the grades or couldn't handle dealing with how schools run (professors, classes, coaches, schedules...the whole system). Not saying he would have a problem, but staying in high school would have made it an easier sell. Injuries rob teams of great players, but not being able to handle the student part of "student athlete" leaves teams hanging too. It's a costly mistake recruiters don't want to make.
You are doing the right thing now getting him enrolled in a community college as soon as possible. If as you say, his grades while he was in high school weren't bad, he should be fine in community college. He can then work on getting a tryout/getting seen. If he stays in shape and proves he can handle it, he could actually be more attractive to coaches. Players that work hard, make adjustments and overcome odds are great assets to a team!.
