How to pick a travel team for college recruiting

Also, check the accuracy of the travel ball orgs claim that advancing players were actually part of their org and did more than guest play for them one time. That little gimmick is a favorite ploy of some travel ball orgs. None more so than the Dallas Patriots who claim responsibility for any player that ever wore their hat for more than 5 minutes.

My son was invited to play for several top 17u programs within an hour of home. They were all known for getting players to D1. One he was less interested in I dropped in without him to check the place out. Their 16u coach had recommended him for the 17u team from coaching against him.

I noticed four names on the wall I was familiar. Two were sons of former college summer ball teammates who played at a ranked powerhouse. Three were were current MLBers at the time. One was in the minirs.

When I told the coach I knew the dads of the two kids from playing with them he assumed my son was as a talented (he wasn’t) and turned up the pitch.

The problem I was having is two of the players were from Southern Virginia and two others were from New England. The facility was in Pennsylvania.

I called on of the former teammate dads. He told me this facility picked up the four players for 17u PG nationals, didn’t charge them and threw four of their season long starters under the bus at the biggest recruiting event.

One of my son’s travel teammates sued a facility when they didn’t take his name off their recruiting wall. All he did there was rent a hitting lane on a rainy day. Since he was in AAA the facility was trying to claim him.

He played one year of fall ball with the above mentioned organization. They also tried to claim him.

I am interested in this because my son is going to be making the jump into 15U and it seems that this where the funnel narrows again. Looking at regional and local tournaments there seems to be a lot less 15U teams than 14U.

I am not sure what happens because there are still a lot of kids who want to play do travel organizations only want to deal with a select few at 15U and up that have potential for college and beyond?

I've heard there is a lot less movement from team to team and that kids try to stick with one team and organization so they don't have establish themselves at a new organization and start again.

Did anyone find that to be true?

They should be coming to you after you start doing well in HS. If you can't perform well at the varsity level you probably have very little business spending all that money going out on the showcase trail or considering colleges.

Mine played local until HS. After good HS seasons against good comp they played for more statewide/regional teams playing up at 17u. The teams played the better tournaments in the region, practiced 1-2x/week, and then went to the big tournaments (WWBA, Ft. Myers). This was a good experience, playing up helped them get better, the coaches had their connections to schools.

After commitment they were approached by national teams. They sold us on the level of play, the exclusive events, playing with top talent every day, and more importantly it was free outside of uniform costs. The coaches knew every coach, could pick up a phone and call whoever they wanted in 10 seconds and have somebody pick up on the other end. When schools would try to poach they were often the middleman. Went deep into every tournament, played and completed against the best of the best, playing with all that talent elevated the play of everybody. First taste of what college ball would be like. Great experiences.

I guess I didn't really answer the question. What I would be doing is seeing where the better kids in the state/area play. Reaching out to those teams about joining. Son throws _____mph, he's this tall, this weight, and he plays these positions. Can we get a private workout? Never pay for a tryout.

I wouldn't consider spending money traveling around until he was good enough to excel in HS ball. How are you going to make a college roster if you can't crack your HS's starting lineup. The exceptions would be if you went to some athlete factory in Texas or something. Being a good HS players is the prerequisite to playing college ball. Too many kids play travel baseball against other average competition and think they're good because they play "travel ball". Parents then get the idea to start showcasing and spending all this money flying across the country when there is nothing to showcase.

A good travel org is going to

A. Be honest about his playing ability

B. Give honest feedback about where he can and cannot play

C. Reach out to schools on his behalf or dive into their network of people who can handle it.

Our travel org once sent one of mine to play with another team for a weekend because the coach over there was an alum of one the schools he was interested in and they were going to their camp. That is a class act and it made us loyal.

D. Play in events suited for your son. Son wants to play at local D3s? No need to go to Georgia. Son capable of playing at Top 50 program? No need to play at the local tournament 15 minutes from home.

@PABaseball posted:

I guess I didn't really answer the question. What I would be doing is seeing where the better kids in the state/area play. Reaching out to those teams about joining. Son throws _____mph, he's this tall, this weight, and he plays these positions. Can we get a private workout? Never pay for a tryout.

I wouldn't consider spending money traveling around until he was good enough to excel in HS ball. How are you going to make a college roster if you can't crack your HS's starting lineup. The exceptions would be if you went to some athlete factory in Texas or something. Being a good HS players is the prerequisite to playing college ball. Too many kids play travel baseball against other average competition and think they're good because they play "travel ball". Parents then get the idea to start showcasing and spending all this money flying across the country when there is nothing to showcase.

A good travel org is going to

A. Be honest about his playing ability

B. Give honest feedback about where he can and cannot play

C. Reach out to schools on his behalf or dive into their network of people who can handle it.

Our travel org once sent one of mine to play with another team for a weekend because the coach over there was an alum of one the schools he was interested in and they were going to their camp. That is a class act and it made us loyal.

D. Play in events suited for your son. Son wants to play at local D3s? No need to go to Georgia. Son capable of playing at Top 50 program? No need to play at the local tournament 15 minutes from home.

Well said.

@BB328 posted:

I am interested in this because my son is going to be making the jump into 15U and it seems that this where the funnel narrows again. Looking at regional and local tournaments there seems to be a lot less 15U teams than 14U.

I am not sure what happens because there are still a lot of kids who want to play do travel organizations only want to deal with a select few at 15U and up that have potential for college and beyond?

I've heard there is a lot less movement from team to team and that kids try to stick with one team and organization so they don't have establish themselves at a new organization and start again.

Did anyone find that to be true?

I started an elite team at 13u. I made a list or twenty players from our eighteen team LL district I thought had high school potential. I secured thirteen of them. In the mix was three other players with dad coaches who also played college ball. We weren’t trying to make money. We were in it to develop players. The team also competed in 14u. Then we moved up to 16u. We changed three players after 13u and added three primarily pitchers in 16u.

When I started the team the plan was to go right through 17u. Then I started learning about what’s involved. I figured why reinvent the wheel. I wanted my son and other players playing for 17u coaches with contacts who could promote him.

Playing 16u as a 14u eligible post freshman summer (May birthday) he got the exposure to all the 16u academy coaches who recommended him to the 17u coaches. But through word of mouth he ended up in a program that only did 17u. My son and three of his teammates went to the same 17u program post soph summer. They were all asked to join in the fall of soph year before playing a day of varsity.

So my advice would be make sure you’re already in the right program or getting exposure to the right programs for the transition from 16u to 17u.

You want to be asked to play on 17u teams. You don’t want to be trying out. 17u is where “go where you’re loved” starts.

@BB328 posted:

I am interested in this because my son is going to be making the jump into 15U and it seems that this where the funnel narrows again. Looking at regional and local tournaments there seems to be a lot less 15U teams than 14U.

I am not sure what happens because there are still a lot of kids who want to play do travel organizations only want to deal with a select few at 15U and up that have potential for college and beyond?

I've heard there is a lot less movement from team to team and that kids try to stick with one team and organization so they don't have establish themselves at a new organization and start again.

Did anyone find that to be true?

I think it depends on where you are, and how good your son is.  Some places are swarming with travel organizations, others have very few.  In our area most kids stayed with their organizations, but there was definitely constant change among those.

Travel teams and organizations want to have as many kids as possible recruited to the best possible colleges.  That's how they advertise themselves to the next group of players.  Some of them monetize this by having as many teams as possible at 15U, 16U, 17U.  Some don't do this.  It's really very hard to figure out if you don't know much about it.

The P5-type kids get invited to play on teams.  But if you're in the large middle, where people tell you you "could be mid-major D1" depending on how you develop, it's much harder to know what to do.  Many kids don't think they are D2 or D3 players, until that's what is offering.  We asked instructors and the HS coach, who all recommended our organization.  Did my son need to go to Georgia for recruiting to a D3?  What about his teammates, who almost all ended up going to in-state D1 schools?   Was the organization honest and helpful with training?  They didn't say much - or maybe we didn't ask enough.  Did we have better options?  Not really.

And even lowly D3 players have to have lots of baseball experience before they get to college, if they want to be in the lineup.

The best thing, if you can find it, is a team/organization where you feel comfortable talking to the coaches/owners about your son's recruiting, and where you feel you can ask lots of questions and get honest answers.

@adbono posted:

Also, check the accuracy of the travel ball orgs claim that advancing players were actually part of their org and did more than guest play for them one time. That little gimmick is a favorite ploy of some travel ball orgs. None more so than the Dallas Patriots who claim responsibility for any player that ever wore their hat for more than 5 minutes.

it's a pyramid scheme..................DFW joke.

@russinfortworth posted:

it's a pyramid scheme..................DFW joke.

“Where are you getting your energy in this world?”

My son is on three boards in Kansas City and he played one tournament for 2 of them but he played for them so that is not a lie.  But one of them was a major tournament and he was a major contributor so I don't see the deal.  If you played, you played.

I think you have to know the coaches not just the guy who owns the organization.  Ask them who they helped get recruited and then follow up if it is that big of a deal for you.  I don't think travel ball organizations help the top guys very much as long as they will pass on information but they are critical to the middle and bottom guys.  College guys ask travel ball guys about competitor information and HS coaches, if they call them at all, about character questions.

Here's another question...

I don't think my son who is just entering hs is ready for such a team as you describe. He's a good 14U season but he still needs to develop his arm strength and is just starting to hit the gym, and clean up his mechanics.

Some of these showcase teams just seem to "meet up for tournaments " and don't practice together at all or rarely. I understand that kids should be putting in work on the side but one of the main complaints in my area is that teams don't practice enough.

Is it normal not to practice at all in travel baseball or very little? At what age does this become the norm. My son's team has hard working athletic kids who put in work on the side and have some talent but need the weekly or bi weekly practices to gel more as unit, practice plays etc.

Why is this so hard to find?

Is this why a lot of coaches complain that while kids have the metrics they don't know the game? Because they spend so much time on individual skills development instead?

@BB328 posted:

Is it normal not to practice at all in travel baseball or very little? At what age does this become the norm. My son's team has hard working athletic kids who put in work on the side and have some talent but need the weekly or bi weekly practices to gel more as unit, practice plays etc.

My son's 17U travel team has the following schedule:

Monday: Off or still at a tourney

Tuesday: PO/Catchers/Outfield/Infield Position specific practices for 2 hours.

Wednesday: Team Practice for 2 Hours

Thursday - Sunday: Play.

They are also expected to lift/throw daily.

This obviously changes with travel days, game schedules etc.  My son's club has 3 17u teams.  The top team travels the most, we go to all the big tournaments.  The entire team will play in college, we currently have 8 D1 commits.  The lower two teams focus on local tournaments so the local schools can see them.

@BB328, one of the main reasons that most travel ball teams don’t practice is that they don’t have access to a baseball field. And yes, the lack of team practice has greatly contributed to the deterioration of the quality of play. When I watch 17U & 18U games I see pitchers that can’t field their position, corner IFs that can’t defend a bunt, OFs that don’t hit the cutoff man, nobody backing up bases, terrible baserunning, and on and on. All things that would be routine parts of a team practice. It looks like @Master P has found a team that has the right idea. Kids need to be practicing more and playing fewer games. The emphasis on individual metrics (and individual performance) is killing the team aspect of the game. And after all, it is a team game.

It depends on the level of play.  The top teams do not practice because they are usually playing every day from start to finish or travelling.  When my son played, his showcase team was from 14 states so there was no way for them to practice together.  They did a short workout when they got together the first time and had a few open workouts if anyone was able and wanted to come.  They did bullpens for pitchers and worked out when they were not playing but they did not practice but they were elite players who knew what THEY needed to do individually to get ready.  The coaches would throw bp or whatever they needed to do to help a player but they played almost every day for 6-7 weeks and some times 2 tournaments/showcases at the same time.

Locals teams can/should practice but it all depends on how far away kids live and schedule.

My son played on a team that played a warmup tournament in DE. Then they went to GA, FL, NC, OH, NJ and MA for major exposure tournaments.  He also had individual showcases in PA and NJ. Throwing was every day. Practicing was when they could. Sometimes BP was at public batting cages.

They got more practice indoors in the winter practicing as a travel team to prepare for the high school season. Based on how player’s high school teams did in the post season determined how many preseason practices they made.

My son had excellent coaching from 13u to 16u in travel ball and excellent high school coaching. Two coaches were former D2 All Americans. He had quality instruction. He also had natural instincts. He had a high baseball IQ.

Agreed, depends on level of play.

Son's 16U team was made up of all but 2 HS Varsity level players from all over south Texas. They completed their HS season and went right into summer ball. I am willing to bet, most of the team were working on their own, on off days. The Org also had practices for the HS players in several different regions on Tuesdays for those that could attend. Son had calls all summer by local players wanting him to catch bullpens on his off days. He would go catch a pen or two and hit for about an hour after to get his work in.

My son's travel teams had winter workouts once a week, before the HS season started.  In the summer, they did not practice as a team - no time between tournaments, no fields, players from a wide area, etc.  The HS coach ran summer "open fields" (i.e. practices) twice a week for whoever wanted to come, my son did that.

I remember one time the 14U team tried to practice, on an actual field.  Various dads got in an argument with the coach about the right way to field, and that was that.

Why is it hard to find a good travel team?  In my area it is because there are a ton of teams!  And each organization has multiple teams.  I am going through it now.  Trying to find a quality 15u team for next year.  I think we found one, but I’m not 100% sure it’s the right one.  Unfortunately a lot of these teams are average at best.  It was mentioned earlier, too many kids and parents think their kid is good because he plays for such and such organization.  I wouldn’t mind finding a team that has kids from all over.  Son works hard and practices on his own as well as with the hs.  If there were only a couple of teams (say 5 or maybe even 10 ) where I lived they would be legit teams.  But I bet there are at least 50, if not more

@Dadof3 posted:

Why is it hard to find a good travel team?  In my area it is because there are a ton of teams!  And each organization has multiple teams.  I am going through it now.  Trying to find a quality 15u team for next year.  I think we found one, but I’m not 100% sure it’s the right one.  Unfortunately a lot of these teams are average at best.  It was mentioned earlier, too many kids and parents think their kid is good because he plays for such and such organization.  I wouldn’t mind finding a team that has kids from all over.  Son works hard and practices on his own as well as with the hs.  If there were only a couple of teams (say 5 or maybe even 10 ) where I lived they would be legit teams.  But I bet there are at least 50, if not more

Aren’t the quality teams he’s performed against making contact with you or your son?

hmmm ... Do you (the parent or the player) pick the travel team, or does the travel team pick you?  It becomes a supply vs. demand equation, with many intangibles and a few tangible measurables.

I was out to dinner with another dad last week, both our sons have played both baseball and basketball together going back to age 9.  The boys will be HS seniors this year.  My son has selected baseball, my friend's son selected basketball.  Both the perceptions and the realities of the college recruiting process are now undeniably outside dad's control.

I suggest ... as parents, the best we can do is expose our son to many different doors to knock on and possibly walk through, and then step back some, and see what sticks ... see how the boy's intrinsic motivation steers them to their young future.  Get to know your son's true passion, and get to know your son's potential (ceiling), then use a light touch to influence what travel team they play for next.

I visited multiple facilities with my son to chat with coaches. Then he and I discussed the benefits of each. He made the decision. That three of his 13-16u teammates chose the same organization likely impacted his decision. It was the choice I wanted him to make. It turned out he knew or knew of everyone on the team. But, if a player isn’t being pursued isn’t dad likely to get in the middle of how to find a travel team for him?

@RJM posted:

Aren’t the quality teams he’s performed against making contact with you or your son?

Without coming off as boorish, the better players will be recruited by the more elite travel programs. Even  my region is pretty active and those programs definitely know who the better players are across the 3 states.

This is how we found the new travel team for son 16U, and we have been very happy this summer. We had a couple teams reach out for him to switch to their teams. We also had others that we wanted to see what they were about. Son attended all the tryouts in December. All teams made offers for him to join. Once the offers were received I came up with a list of questions and sent it to the organizations. One team did not reply, so we marked it off the list. Other teams were short with their answers or we were not satisfied with the responses. It came down to two teams. At that point we sat down with son to really dig into what his thoughts were. One of the teams really stood out to him. He said, there were not many bad players at the tryout, the coaches were talking to him the whole time (showing love) asking him questions about his HS, what teams he played for, what he liked and disliked about those teams, explained how things worked with their teams. In his mind it was a no brainer. The team we chose is a reginal team that has been an independent Org for 20 years, and have a good track record of helping players reach the next level (all levels) They have a couple players in the MLB right now (including son's team coach's son (a catcher)).

Things that stood out this summer that we liked:

We played in all high level tournaments. It was not often that we saw a starting pitcher that was not at least throwing 85+.

Team had two catchers and they would split innings due to the heat. One would start first 4 inning, then the other would come in and finish the game. Son had more of the starts and most of the time stayed in the lineup after he came out.

The head coach was always positive, but pushed the boys to play their best.

The players and families were great. Son says some of the players may be his friends for life.  No attitude issue at all. 

Org decided not to do WWBA in Georgia. With 430+ teams we think it was a good choice. We saw a few of the teams that did well at the tournament, in out state.

Saw a number of scouts without leaving the state. He did play one out of state tournament and it had the same amount of scouts we saw most weekends. But, it was a good vacation trip.

Maybe we were just lucky to get into a good situation.

@TxballDad posted:

This is how we found the new travel team for son 16U, and we have been very happy this summer. We had a couple teams reach out for him to switch to their teams. We also had others that we wanted to see what they were about. Son attended all the tryouts in December. All teams made offers for him to join. Once the offers were received I came up with a list of questions and sent it to the organizations. One team did not reply, so we marked it off the list. Other teams were short with their answers or we were not satisfied with the responses. It came down to two teams. At that point we sat down with son to really dig into what his thoughts were. One of the teams really stood out to him. He said, there were not many bad players at the tryout, the coaches were talking to him the whole time (showing love) asking him questions about his HS, what teams he played for, what he liked and disliked about those teams, explained how things worked with their teams. In his mind it was a no brainer. The team we chose is a reginal team that has been an independent Org for 20 years, and have a good track record of helping players reach the next level (all levels) They have a couple players in the MLB right now (including son's team coach's son (a catcher)).

Things that stood out this summer that we liked:

We played in all high level tournaments. It was not often that we saw a starting pitcher that was not at least throwing 85+.

Team had two catchers and they would split innings due to the heat. One would start first 4 inning, then the other would come in and finish the game. Son had more of the starts and most of the time stayed in the lineup after he came out.

The head coach was always positive, but pushed the boys to play their best.

The players and families were great. Son says some of the players may be his friends for life.  No attitude issue at all.

Org decided not to do WWBA in Georgia. With 430+ teams we think it was a good choice. We saw a few of the teams that did well at the tournament, in out state.

Saw a number of scouts without leaving the state. He did play one out of state tournament and it had the same amount of scouts we saw most weekends. But, it was a good vacation trip.

Maybe we were just lucky to get into a good situation.

Sounds to me like you made your own luck by doing good research

We have said this on here 1 million times in the past 17 years I've been on here.  Know what pond to fish in.  RJM said it best above with the teams that seek you out will tell you what pond you need to be fishing in.

Son's 14U year he played in 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18U WWBA with various teams.  P5 coaches at one point were like weren't you here last week with such and such team.  He played with East Cobb, Upstate Mavericks, a team from MD, a team from TN, and a team from CA.  He always got to pitch at LakePointe and hit if he wanted.  They told him what pond he should be fishing in.  He actually pitched against the 16U and 18U winners and threw a 1 hitter and no hitter in 6 and 2 innings.

When the KC Royals Scout Team had their first tryout, there were over 300 kids who showed up at Kauffman Stadium.  They cut it to 30 then mid 20's.  I never thought son would get picked but knew he was fishing in the right pond because he had gotten a private invite to attend, which by the way I thought was a  scam.  They picked kids from multiple states and all ended up getting offers from P5 schools or drafted out of HS.

If you are supposed to be playing college locally, there is no reason to go to WWBA or the big events.  If you are a mid major then you need to go to regional events.  And if you are a P5 guy, you will know because the top teams will  be inviting you play with them.

Know what pond to be fishing in.

It's truly awesome that your son had multiple teams reaching out due to a combination of talent and hard work. The things I hear about some of your sons are truly amazing.

However for us it is clear that my son needs work. He has some talent with his bat and will definitely make his hs team. But he still needs to grow, fill out and clean up his throwing mechanics.

So at 15U our situation is different. We are saturated with organizations here and most organizations he will try out for he will make. But what team? Good, bad or in between.

At his current org the coaches know him and are watching him progress. They seem to like him and believe in him but our team needs development. They could be good if they stay together.....But there is so movement from team to team every season due to people coming and going. There are so many options here. So I don't know what the right thing to do is to assist him with finding the best fit.

To frank it seems like the most orgs. around here invest heavily in their A teams i.e. more practices, guidance but the lower teams get much less but pay the same or more. It is super frustrating because there are kids who work hard on their own at every level who deserve better.

The only thing I've come up with is to make sure he is playing good competition. I prefer he feel just a bit outmatched to stretch himself, see good pitching and get enough playing time/practice in his primary and secondary positions for it to be worth it. A least those goals have mostly been met for this season.

As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20.  We did not pick the right travel team for college recruiting at 15U.  Our coach had a strong network of local & regional coaches, and a team that performed extremely well at national events that provided exposure.   My son was getting attention from the travel coaches regional & local network of college coaches.  We didn't know any better at the time, so we continued down this path.  We thought everything was hunky dory at 15U and part of 16U.  It wasn't.

As @PitchingFan points out, we were fishing in the wrong pond...mostly because we didn't know what pond to fish in.   Then it dawned on us that he was getting attention from a subset of schools that were not in the travel coaches network.   We figured it out, and it became our responsibility to focus on the schools that fit his criteria.   Yes, it was a very quick learning experience, but his travel coach taught us how the recruiting process worked with the first group of local & regional schools.   We took that knowledge and experience and applied it toward his "recruiting 2.0" mode.   We began a totally new campaign late in his junior year that took us through the summer as a rising senior.   The pivot worked.

My point is you are going to make mistakes.   We certainly did.  We learned he didn't need exposure to local and regional schools.   He needed exposure to academic schools that recruit nationally.   Huge, huge difference.   Be willing to change your strategy if you aren't getting the results or responses you seek.   Recruiting coaches make it very apparent the difference between interest and serious interest.

Just my experience....

BB328,

With what you described and your son's age, I think you have two options IMO.

1. Figure out how much you would spend on playing for a team this fall (team fees, travel, any additional tournaments fees not covered in team fees (how much you would pay to get in)). And find a qualified baseball coach for individual one-on-one development work this fall and not play for a team. I say this because a large number of HS baseball teams practice a lot but, don't have much instruction. By going to an individual coach, they should be teaching your son what he needs to work and focus on (how to practice). He then can use what he was taught in the HS practices.

2. Stay with current team if the following applies or focus on finding a local team that has "good experienced" coaches that practices more then they play games. Should not be a team with a dad coach unless that dad played high level college ball or higher (Just my option). You may be able to ask for your son to attend a practice before he commits to the team. To see how the practice is run and what is taught.

Then redirect focus on finding a summer team (the time that matter for HS players) when the summer tryouts start. The one-on-one coach may be able to help point you to a summer teams that fits.

Not sure if this answers your question, hope it provides some things to think about. My son is not much older then yours so, I am sure others may be about to provide input if what I said would help your son in the long run or not. I am just a dad trying to wade through the high waters as well.

We might have "done it all wrong" too, but it all worked out.  If you're future P5 or strong D1, top teams will be recruiting you at 15U.  If you're not at that level, you will most likely be recruited for college in 17U summer, in which case, here is what I would look for at 15U:

- can you talk to the coaches/organization head about recruiting?  Will they be honest with you, and say "he is not ready to be recruited now, and that's why we are putting him on the C team"?  And are you willing to pay for that?  What will you get out of being on the C team?  Can they tell you that?

- will he have coaches who will help him improve?  and how will they do that?  can your son talk to the coaches about playing?  (we had one very knowledgable coach who was reluctant to give any advice, which was very frustrating).  Does your son like the coaches?

- will he be with other boys who have similar aspirations for HS and college, and who are working to those ends?  My son definitely benefited from playing alongside kids with baseball ambitions.

- will he get decent playing time?  how does the team manage playing time?

- what tournaments will they play in, and why are they playing in those?

My son was always on the B team, but was asked to play in some select tournaments with the A players.  The B team went to the same big tournaments as the A team, and did about as well.  A fellow parent, early on, told me to ask about that, so we did, although we didn't know what it meant.   In hindsight, those tournaments were probably only necessary for one or two players' recruiting for either team.  On the other hand, as I've said before, we didn't have that many choices, and so this organization was a good option at the time.

Fenway's questions about playing time, coach, etc are really good and I don't have much to add beyond my son's story. I hate to say this, given my views on the youth baseball industrial complex, but my son blossomed when he moved from a local 'travel' team that didn't go east of Phoenix to a larger organization that played all the major tournaments.

He was on a HA path, so it wasn't as though the program advanced him with those schools - they regularly send kids to P5s including the SEC/ACC. Coach confessed he didn't know much about the HA world. So why was it great for my son? It challenged him to elevate his game. He was the star on his local team and another guy on this larger team. While he won a starting job, it took lots of reps and getting aired out pretty regularly in practices and games. But he got better and tougher.

Every kid is different. Mine lives in his head a fair amount and needed a crusty baseball guy to kick his ass and get him to play instead of thinking how to play.

My oldest child (of two) is my daughter. From 8th grade through freshman year she went from 5’2” high school prospect to 5’10” D1 prospect. A lot had changed since mom and dad went through recruiting. I didn’t have a clue. For those who don’t know the softball travel and recruiting model preceded baseball. Cathi Arcadia wrote a softball recruiting book in the Nineties that for the most part applies to baseball today.

She had been scheduled to play 16u after freshman year. They bumped her up to 18u Gold (D1 recruiting team). Upon recommendation of her high school coach. The high school coach was also a roving hitting instructor for the travel program. This was fortunate luck.

The high school team was very talented with five D1 prospects in my daughters class freshman year. One of the players had two older sisters already playing D1. I latched on to that dad while trying not to drive him crazy. He was my mentor.

It all happened fast. My daughter was committed before soph high school season started. The moral of the story … if all else fails latch on to someone who knows what they’re doing.

@RJM posted:

Aren’t the quality teams he’s performed against making contact with you or your son?

Some, but no interest in playing for them.  They are average or below average.  They played in a number of local tournaments that were not very competitive.

@TxballDad posted:

One of the teams really stood out to him. He said, there were not many bad players at the tryout, the coaches were talking to him the whole time (showing love) asking him questions about his HS, what teams he played for, what he liked and disliked about those teams, explained how things worked with their teams. In his mind it was a no brainer. The team we chose is a reginal team that has been an independent Org for 20 years, and have a good track record of helping players reach the next level (all levels) They have a couple players in the MLB right now (including son's team coach's son (a catcher)).

Exactly what we experienced.  They couldn’t believe he was only 14.

@Dadof3 posted:

Some, but no interest in playing for them.  They are average or below average.  They played in a number of local tournaments that were not very competitive.

Each case has to be evaluated individually. But, the multiple teams recruiting a player are typically the level the player belongs.

So many great suggestions on this thread, but I’ll add one more.  

Stay away from teams whose coaches or owners offer college recruiting services as an add-on or side hustle.  If you don’t pay for the extra recruiting, your kid will likely get a less than enthusiastic recommendation when the college coach calls.

@2022NYC posted:

Without coming off as boorish, the better players will be recruited by the more elite travel programs. Even  my region is pretty active and those programs definitely know who the better players are across the 3 states.

We did find another team that we committed to.  It is a showcase team that will just meat up for tournaments due to being spread out.  Might try for one practice/scrimmage before the season starts.

Pick one where your son can play the position he'll most likely play in college.

The kid played mostly OF through youth ball, TB, and HS. He was just quick enough that 3rd base was given to other players. Come recruiting time he was "to slow" to play OF and had no experience at 3rd and wasn't athletic enough to beat out players that had more experience at 3rd. This was the biggest mistake I made as a parent. Got caught up in playing for the best team we could possibly play for*, and not a team where he could play the spot he was most suited for. I wish we had played for lesser teams where the kid could have demanded to play 3rd. No doubt collage wouldn't have ended up being the CF it was. Hell, even this year. Some of you here have seen the vids I've posted. Sports Center top 10, lead a SR team in BA, and was at the top in fielding percentage. That said there were multiple times the coach started another player in the OF because we "need more speed".

*We did have a blast playing for those teams. My son took me on a great ride. Many weekends drinking beer at the hotel pool at night, watching some really great baseball during the day.

If a player gets in the lineup and hits colleges coaches will figure out where they can get him in the lineup.

My son played nothing but outfield for two years in 17u. His first start in college was at second.

"You hit, you play." There is no other metric for college coaches (with - perhaps - the exception of catcher in a few programs).

There is no other position skill which trumps hitting - which is why every effort (money, coaching, time, discipline, focus) should be made to advance hitting. (And there are no shortcuts, no marketing strategies, no puffery, no travel program which can trump this fact.)

Personally, I would find the program which cranks out hitters. (As an aside, these show up and play programs are all fine and dandy - if you have already mastered the only metric important for college coaches; otherwise, you are selling what no one is buying.)

@Goosegg posted:

"You hit, you play." There is no other metric for college coaches (with - perhaps - the exception of catcher in a few programs).

There is no other position skill which trumps hitting - which is why every effort (money, coaching, time, discipline, focus) should be made to advance hitting. (And there are no shortcuts, no marketing strategies, no puffery, no travel program which can trump this fact.)

Personally, I would find the program which cranks out hitters. (As an aside, these show up and play programs are all fine and dandy - if you have already mastered the only metric important for college coaches; otherwise, you are selling what no one is buying.)

This ^^^

My kid has been a PO since juco but was 3B and 4 hole in HS -  he didn't make JV as a freshman, but was a varsity starting 3B as sophomore, because he worked on hitting and driving the ball (he also got bigger). That's where we spent the money on lessons, because that's what gets you on the field. Many times over the years, I've told his HS hitting coach I should get a rebate since he's not picked up a bat since the end of senior year, but the truth is he'd not been on the HS field if he didn't hit. So, if your son is not a PO in HS, I believe it's all about hitting.

Being realistic, IMO by HS you should know if your son has: the natural athleticism of an above average SS (they move differently - and SS's will be playing 2B in college), the plus arm strength and glove for 3B, the size and hit tool for 1B, the speed, athleticism or natural path to the ball to be above average in the OF. IMO you can tune and improve these gifts, but it's not likely there will be step level change from their peer group over time. Hitting is the big equalizer, do that well and they'll find a spot for you...  

Excellent posts and advice above by @JucoDad and @Goosegg.

Thank you!

Gooseegg, RMJ, Jucodad...

You know where the son played. Easy to look up team stats. Lead the team in BA and close in other metrics. Yet was sat at Vanderbilt, in the first game vs Iowa in Regionals, and many other times. Go look up stats and then explain why he was sitting. For defensive proposes the coach said.

To be clear, and say it slowly, HE  LEAD  A  SUPER   REGIONAL  TEAM  IN  BA  AND  STILL  SAT  THE BENCH...

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1611784906001923

SBD

Thanks for confirming the points RJM and I made about hitters.

This thread is about HS recruiting; the thread was not about playing time at the college level (though it's pretty clear your son had a lot of successful playing time at an extremely high collegiate level.)

It's clear your son was a very successful hitter at the college level - and I assume he didn't first learn that skill in college. My bet is he was an absolute hitting machine during his HS recruiting phase. And, as you pointed out he led his Vandy team in BA - an incredible achievement!

Now, start a thread about who plays in certain situations at the college level; it will probably bring up some interesting view points and anecdotes.

(I'll note that college coaches have many reasons for their game strategies and each is a bit different; but college coaches aren't employing college game strategies during recruiting. College coaches during recruiting are looking for hitters.)

I don't know the reasons behind what happened to your son; but those reasons are not relevant to HS recruiting  (except perhaps as a forward look to what game strategies a particular coach may employ years later.)

@Goosegg posted:

SBD

This thread is about HS recruiting;

Might want to reread the title....

That said I'll give you the "rake and you'll play" applies more to YB and HS than college. I sat in the stands this year looking at the scoreboard as the opposing team came to bat. I took note of the BA of the players after the 4 or 5 hitter. It was surprising how many were just north of or below the Mendoza Line.  There's a reason they are playing, and it's not because of what they're doing at the plate.

I also think, and told the kid when he was pissed, that I thought the transfer portal played a part. This was the kids last year and the other OF had two years left. So the coach was walking a tightrope, not wanting to lose a good player due to playing time.