How to Pass a Redshirt Year

We did the redshirt experience last spring, and I exchanged e-mails with a few parents in same boat. The key seems to be how involved the team keeps your son. We were fortunate, my son dressed for home games, had all the pre-game meals, travelled to a few away games, went to the conference tournament, warmed up before games, etc., and did literally everything but play. It helped seeing him out there in uniform but it was a long spring at times. It was a good thing for my son as his grades definitely improved and as a pitcher, his mechanics were changed some (dropped his arm slot)and it gave him a chance to get used to the changes. I didn't appreciate how difficult that is till I saw him pitch in a scrimmage Saturday and the smoothness and fluidity of his motion are greatly different from last spring.

We made it to as many games as we could; you enjoy seeing them just as much, even if they don't play. Your son will likely be a little up and down emotionally through the spring, ours was, but knowing it was done for good and necessary reasons helped a lot I'm sure. I followed the same rules I used in Little League and high school ball-if he wanted to talk baseball, I talked baseball; if he spoke of other things, I followed suit.

Good luck.

Am I allowed on here to offer advice regarding my sons "redshirt" year
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Without permission I will not post

Since I am now in the Teacherman " you don't know shoot " Hall of Fame I will ask permission in each forum before I post from now on

TR - Please allow me to invite you get in touch with your feminine side and offer any advice, comments and or experience here. It is a timely topic and one that is relevant to both genders. You are quite welcome, and as a parent of a freshman college player anxiously awaiting whether her son will be travelling or not, I am personally quite interested.

Go for it TR!

TR ...

quote:

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Since I am now in the Teacherman " you don't know shoot " Hall of Fame I will ask permission in each forum before I post from now on

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I think I can speak for most of my fellow "Ladies' Lounge lizards" when I say that his list doesn't mean "jack shoot" in this forum and you don't need permission to share your experiences here.

One needs to look at a redshirt year in a positive way especially if it is in the freshman year.

The first plus is that the player gets rid of 30/32 credits --- for the final four years my son was able to take a heavy class load in the fall semester and then the minimum 12 credits in the spring semester

The redshirt year also gives the frosh student athlete the chance to adapt to college life without the pressures of baseball.

As for as a parent there no impact-- he was in New Mexico and I was in NY-- long commute for a game

In actuality the only thing a reshirt misses is game time--otherwise he is doing everything else and for a frosh the reshhirt year can be a year of physical and emotional development

TR- I agree. Although my son did not get redshirted, I would have looked at it as a gift. Another year of eligibility to spread the credits around in, with hopefully another year of scholarship assistance. Many majors, these days, require 130+ credits, not the 120 that were standard when I was in college. That does make a heavy load for a student athlete.

Thanks All for the thoughts and advice (including TR). He's a sophomore but he did think to modify his schedule a bit so this semester will be a little more challenging than a normal 'spring' load.

He's doing well. The team and coach want him at everything; he charts pitches at intersquad, rides the bike during weight/workouts.

We're planning on going to a few games, especially to watch his roommate / teammate play.

Best to all,
Mays