Interest During Stanford Camp--First Coach Phone Call

Wow! That's fantastic news! I'll let others with more experience comment on the substances and nuances of the HC conversations, and I don't want to get off track, but at some point I'd love to hear your family's impression of the camp.

Congrats on the interest.  Ah, the first phone call...very cool.   My advice to my son was to write down his questions/comment before hand, and keep it real simple.   I knew he'd be a little nervous, and there was no threat of my son talking too much (he's not a big talker but he is a great listener), so I suggested he write his questions down and carry them with him.   We rehearsed the call many times, and the goal of the conversation is to keep their interest, continue the dialog, and to request a face to face meeting (camp or showcase) in the future.   I tried to make it Sesame Street simple.   This worked for us.   I had a very shy 16 year old who was not a natural conversationalist with strangers.  This helped him tremendously, and he quickly gained a lot of confidence in speaking to coaches.    My point is if my son can do it, anybody can do it with just a little practice and a simple formula.

Good luck!   

I once read here the excellent advice that a kid (and parent) should not get too stressed out about a coach phone call, because coaches are used to talking to inarticulate 17-year-olds and they will do most of the talking, or at least lead the conversation.  That was true, in our experience; if they are calling, they are trying to sell their school and gauge your interest, so pretty much all he had time to say was, "that sounds great."  It was always the case that, at the end of the conversation, the coach would ask if my son had any questions - so it might be good to have a question or two ready, although I think my son didn't always have one, in which case I seem to remember hearing him say "no thanks, you've answered all my questions." 

Congrats to your son on the interest!  You said he has been emailing this particular coach so it shouldn't be anything to get stressed about since they already have dialog.  I would suggest he have a few new questions ready about the school or program and be prepared to answer questions like where he is in the process, what other schools he is talking to, if he plans on making a decision soon, etc.

As long as he is respectful and himself and shows interest in the program, he'll be fine. 

You said...

Coach asked son when a good time would be to talk and son said he would get back to him.  Since his flight did not leave until later this evening, I suggested to son he should offer some time to talk today, but son said, "I am sure tomorrow will be fine."

I am probably reading too much into this but it almost sounds as if son is thinking he dictates when he will talk to the coach.  Even though the coach made the courteous comment, I would, instead, suggest that son offers multiple timeframes and shows flexibility to make himself available when it is convenient for the coach.

My 2020 son also attended Stanford and it was a great experience, he got several follow-up texts and emails of interest. But for those you have attended Stanford in past, I was wondering about 2 things:

1. Do the outside coaches working the camp get the player's testing data and evals? The Stanford organizer said that they send the players their data and evals as few weeks after the camp which they can then forward to any coach, but that only the players get that info. But another outside coach said that they can access the data by logging onto database. So not sure which version is correct.

2. How much do the baseball coaches care about the athletic testing data in their evaluation of a prospect? Of course, the 60 yd dash time and hitting exit velos are standard tools that are considered important, but do strong performances in vertical jump, broad jump, medicine ball toss, 20 yd shuttle matter much? These athletics tests seem to be considered at NFL combine but how much do baseball guys care about these measures?

Thanks for any advice!

cabbagedad posted:

Congrats to your son on the interest!  You said he has been emailing this particular coach so it shouldn't be anything to get stressed about since they already have dialog.  I would suggest he have a few new questions ready about the school or program and be prepared to answer questions like where he is in the process, what other schools he is talking to, if he plans on making a decision soon, etc.

As long as he is respectful and himself and shows interest in the program, he'll be fine. 

You said...

Coach asked son when a good time would be to talk and son said he would get back to him.  Since his flight did not leave until later this evening, I suggested to son he should offer some time to talk today, but son said, "I am sure tomorrow will be fine."

I am probably reading too much into this but it almost sounds as if son is thinking he dictates when he will talk to the coach.  Even though the coach made the courteous comment, I would, instead, suggest that son offers multiple timeframes and shows flexibility to make himself available when it is convenient for the coach.

The text came in just before son was playing his last game at Stanford, and at the time he didn't know what time his flight home was or what his schedule looked like for today (he has a tournament with his summer team that starts on the 4th, but he wasn't sure if he'd have a game today until he checked with me), so he responded right away letting him know he would get back to him, but didn't want to throw out a time until he knew for sure he was available.  He is going to text back this morning that he is available all day except for a couple of hours when he has something scheduled.

I will concur that the coaches do most of the talking.  He shouldn't stress out.  I have an extremely shy kid who is known for not saying much and he did fine.  After a few, he didn't worry about it anymore.  They lead the conversation. He should just be himself.  Good luck and congratulations on a good camp.

Zoom 2020 posted:

My 2020 son also attended Stanford and it was a great experience, he got several follow-up texts and emails of interest. But for those you have attended Stanford in past, I was wondering about 2 things:

1. Do the outside coaches working the camp get the player's testing data and evals? The Stanford organizer said that they send the players their data and evals as few weeks after the camp which they can then forward to any coach, but that only the players get that info. But another outside coach said that they can access the data by logging onto database. So not sure which version is correct.

2. How much do the baseball coaches care about the athletic testing data in their evaluation of a prospect? Of course, the 60 yd dash time and hitting exit velos are standard tools that are considered important, but do strong performances in vertical jump, broad jump, medicine ball toss, 20 yd shuttle matter much? These athletics tests seem to be considered at NFL combine but how much do baseball guys care about these measures?

Thanks for any advice!

My son attended the Stanford camp last summer and I'm pretty sure that all the attending coaches have access to the player data and videos. The testing results are only one aspect of a coach's evaluation of a player and how important they are would to a large extent depend on the position your son plays. I wouldn't think that the jump metrics and medicine ball toss are very important at all. 

2020Hopeful posted:

cabbagedad posted:

Congrats to your son on the interest!  ... Even though the coach made the courteous comment, I would, instead, suggest that son offers multiple timeframes and shows flexibility to make himself available when it is convenient for the coach.

The text came in just before son was playing his last game at Stanford, and at the time he didn't know what time his flight home was or what his schedule looked like for today (he has a tournament with his summer team that starts on the 4th, but he wasn't sure if he'd have a game today until he checked with me), so he responded right away letting him know he would get back to him, but didn't want to throw out a time until he knew for sure he was available.  He is going to text back this morning that he is available all day except for a couple of hours when he has something scheduled.

NorCalBBDad posted:

Wow! That's fantastic news! I'll let others with more experience comment on the substances and nuances of the HC conversations, and I don't want to get off track, but at some point I'd love to hear your family's impression of the camp.

I can't give a detailed report, as I wasn't there.  But, from the feedback I got from my son and husband, it was overall a good experience.  Son had fun, really liked his coach and said there was a lot of activity with practices, BP and games.  There is a wide range of ages/talent and so some of it is luck of the draw in terms of what team you are on.  It's an individual showcase, not team, and there are plenty of opportunities to showcase individual skills, but the kids on the "good" teams had a couple advantages in that (1) players got more at bats in games because they went through line up more times and (2) if you have 1 or 2 superstars on your team you are likely to have more coaches watching your games.  For example, son's team was not very good and had mostly younger players, so even with 9 innings and a 1-1 count for each batter, he only got 2 at bats in 2 of the 3 games (3 at bats in 1 game).  First game, he was batting 3rd in the lineup and still only got 2 at bats (struck out first time against a good pitcher and second time got a different pitcher that was struggling to throw strikes so he got walked twice and never even got something he could swing at--balls were bouncing in front of the plate), so that was a frustrating start. 

I will say, he did Headfirst last summer and that camp seems more conducive to kids talking with coaches in between games, etc.  In fact, they really encourage the kids to do so and it seems the coaches there expect it and are welcoming of it.  Son had a few brief conversations with coaches at Stanford while he was doing drills/BP, but said he didn't really see coaches in between games/events that he could go up and talk to.

2020Hopeful posted:

NorCalBBDad posted:

Wow! That's fantastic news! I'll let others with more experience comment on the substances and nuances of the HC conversations, and I don't want to get off track, but at some point I'd love to hear your family's impression of the camp.

I can't give a detailed report, as I wasn't there.  But, from the feedback I got from my son and husband, it was overall a good experience.  Son had fun, really liked his coach and said there was a lot of activity with practices, BP and games.  There is a wide range of ages/talent and so some of it is luck of the draw in terms of what team you are on.  It's an individual showcase, not team, and there are plenty of opportunities to showcase individual skills, but the kids on the "good" teams had a couple advantages in that (1) players got more at bats in games because they went through line up more times and (2) if you have 1 or 2 superstars on your team you are likely to have more coaches watching your games.  For example, son's team was not very good and had mostly younger players, so even with 9 innings and a 1-1 count for each batter, he only got 2 at bats in 2 of the 3 games (3 at bats in 1 game).  First game, he was batting 3rd in the lineup and still only got 2 at bats (struck out first time against a good pitcher and second time got a different pitcher that was struggling to throw strikes so he got walked twice and never even got something he could swing at--balls were bouncing in front of the plate), so that was a frustrating start. 

I will say, he did Headfirst last summer and that camp seems more conducive to kids talking with coaches in between games, etc.  In fact, they really encourage the kids to do so and it seems the coaches there expect it and are welcoming of it.  Son had a few brief conversations with coaches at Stanford while he was doing drills/BP, but said he didn't really see coaches in between games/events that he could go up and talk to.

This matches our impressions of the Stanford and HeadFirst camps as well. My son enjoyed both - it was awesome to stay in the Stanford dorms too - but the formats were different and he definitely had more one-on-one interactions with the coaches at HeadFirst. The Stanford camp contains more comprehensive assessment and instruction in my view. My son worked with a renowned pitching coach in a small group for a couple of hours every day.

2020Hopeful posted:

Coach asked son when a good time would be to talk and son said he would get back to him.  Since his flight did not leave until later this evening, I suggested to son he should offer some time to talk today, but son said, "I am sure tomorrow will be fine."  I admire his confidence and self-restraint (if it were me, I would have wanted to talk today while things were hot!), but I am sure he was also physically and mentally drained and just wanted some down time before traveling home.  

This will be his first phone call with a college coach, so if any of you have any thoughts on questions he should ask or things he should say at this stage of the process, I'd love to hear them!

One thing. Don't make excuses like physical and mental exhaustion. He went to a baseball camp, he was asked to set up a phone call - that is not physically or mentally taxing on a teenager. He's tired I get it. But he will be a lot more tired when he has to go to morning lifts from 6-7:30, then class from 8-1, then practice from 2-6, then eat something quickly before study hall/tutoring from 7-9. Then finish any leftover hw, studying, etc all while keeping gf happy, seeing friends, having a social life, etc. 

I'm not trying to be harsh, but it is easy to get caught up in the excitement and assume things are in the bag. These guys don't work day jobs, this is what they do. He is already on his way to another camp/showcase/game to see another kid. Or on the phone with another kid who plays his position. I get that he didn't know the schedule for the day but a simple check in with you and then a response back to the coach would be the route you take next time. "Hey coach I have a flight at ____, as long as it's before ____ I'm available to talk. Or I can give you a call sometime tomorrow if that works better for you."

The interest is great, now the goal is having a conversation and getting on campus. Good luck. 

PABaseball posted:

2020Hopeful posted:

Coach asked son when a good time would be to talk and son said he would get back to him.  Since his flight did not leave until later this evening, I suggested to son he should offer some time to talk today, but son said, "I am sure tomorrow will be fine."  I admire his confidence and self-restraint (if it were me, I would have wanted to talk today while things were hot!), but I am sure he was also physically and mentally drained and just wanted some down time before traveling home.  

This will be his first phone call with a college coach, so if any of you have any thoughts on questions he should ask or things he should say at this stage of the process, I'd love to hear them!

One thing. Don't make excuses like physical and mental exhaustion. He went to a baseball camp, he was asked to set up a phone call - that is not physically or mentally taxing on a teenager. He's tired I get it. But he will be a lot more tired when he has to go to morning lifts from 6-7:30, then class from 8-1, then practice from 2-6, then eat something quickly before study hall/tutoring from 7-9. Then finish any leftover hw, studying, etc all while keeping gf happy, seeing friends, having a social life, etc. 

I'm not trying to be harsh, but it is easy to get caught up in the excitement and assume things are in the bag. These guys don't work day jobs, this is what they do. He is already on his way to another camp/showcase/game to see another kid. Or on the phone with another kid who plays his position. I get that he didn't know the schedule for the day but a simple check in with you and then a response back to the coach would be the route you take next time. "Hey coach I have a flight at ____, as long as it's before ____ I'm available to talk. Or I can give you a call sometime tomorrow if that works better for you."

The interest is great, now the goal is having a conversation and getting on campus. Good luck. 

 "Hey coach I have a flight at ____, as long as it's before ____ I'm available to talk. Or I can give you a call sometime tomorrow if that works better for you."

To be clear, this would have been my preferred approach, and is what I suggested to him that he do yesterday, but he didn't, and to a large degree I think I have to let him take ownership of the process (and the results or lack thereof).  That doesn't mean I am not going to make suggestions and sometimes push a bit, but ultimately he controls his actions/decisions.

By the way, he now has a call scheduled with the coach, so we'll see how that goes....