Skip to main content

14 replies

Is it over?

B BASEBALL8888Member
My son who is a senior just got cut from Varsity team at his high school. He still feels he wants to pursue dream of playing in college be it JUCO or whatever. What I need to know is what are his options to be seen by colleges at this point? Should he work his tail off in private lessons and go to showcases this summer? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

R RedSoxFan21500+ posts
All depends on how open your horizon is. Bottom line, if he wants to play then its likely there is a college out there he can play for.

Don't answer this on the public post but understand, Why was he cut? Were those kept an exceptional group? Was the coach balancing his team with underclassmen? What would the HS coach say to a college coach about your son if asked?

Has he already completed college apps? Has he looked at the rosters of those schools to see if they are full or possibly rebuilding. If there are less than 20 players on the roster there is a good shot that they will take walk ons with a modicum of talent.

Do none of the colleges fit that description? Have him expand his choices to look at others that match what he is looking for and do the same.

Is he willing to travel? Northern schools are much more likely to be in need of players than southern schools.

In these parts I think of schools like Elms College in Chicopee, MA and Rivier College, also in MA,(actually in Nashua, NH, corrected by a fellow redsox poster, thanks!) where they are in good conferences but the team itself seems to be in a rebuilding mode.

Can't speak to JUCOs but I would imagine the same may be the case there.

Plenty of other posts on this board about it not being over until you decide it is over. Still time to attend uncommitted 2012 showcases, or reach out to D2 schools who are allowed to have try-outs and who might still take a look.

Good luck!
Last edited by RedSoxFan21
B BASEBALL8888Member
quote:
Originally posted by RedSoxFan21:
All depends on how open your horizon is. Bottom line, if he wants to play then its likely there is a college out there he can play for.

Don't answer this on the public post but understand, Why was he cut? Were those kept an exceptional group? Was the coach balancing his team with underclassmen? What would the HS coach say to a college coach about your son if asked?

Has he already completed college apps? Has he looked at the rosters of those schools to see if they are full or possibly rebuilding. If there are less than 20 players on the roster there is a good shot that they will take walk ons with a modicum of talent.

Do none of the colleges fit that description? Have him expand his choices to look at others that match what he is looking for and do the same.

Is he willing to travel? Northern schools are much more likely to be in need of players than southern schools.

In these parts I think of schools like Elms College in Chicopee, MA and Rivier College, also in MA, where they are in good conferences but the team itself seems to be in a rebuilding mode.

Can't speak to JUCOs but I would imagine the same may be the case there.

Plenty of other posts on this board about it not being over until you decide it is over. Still time to attend uncommitted 2012 showcases, or reach out to D2 schools who are allowed to have try-outs and who might still take a look.

Good luck!


Thanks redsox!
coach2709coach270910,000+ posts
I'm going to say no it's not over IF you can be honest with yourself and say your son has talent. There are a lot of reasons why kids get cut who have talent and sometimes it's because the talent might make them a stud at one school and not enough at another school. Fair or not is debatable but it is what it is. It's tough and hard and sometimes not what you want but not everyone is cut out for playing at the next level. This is why you have to be honest with yourself as to his talent.

If he does have the talent then he needs to keep working out in the spring. Find a private coach who knows what he is doing and will actually help your son. Then find a good summer team to play on, get to PG events, find showcases, go to college camps and contact schools your interested in IF the talent level matches where they are.

You have to be proactive in the recruiting process even if you make your HS team. The fact he didn't make doesn't change the overall process because HS is just one step needed to get there.

I don't know where Roswell GA is but I do know GA is full of great baseball. Its a very real possibility your son has talent but not at the school he attends. College coaches know this and won't let it affect their assessment of him.

Best of luck to him.
B BASEBALL8888Member
quote:
Originally posted by coach2709:
I'm going to say no it's not over IF you can be honest with yourself and say your son has talent. There are a lot of reasons why kids get cut who have talent and sometimes it's because the talent might make them a stud at one school and not enough at another school. Fair or not is debatable but it is what it is. It's tough and hard and sometimes not what you want but not everyone is cut out for playing at the next level. This is why you have to be honest with yourself as to his talent.

If he does have the talent then he needs to keep working out in the spring. Find a private coach who knows what he is doing and will actually help your son. Then find a good summer team to play on, get to PG events, find showcases, go to college camps and contact schools your interested in IF the talent level matches where they are.

You have to be proactive in the recruiting process even if you make your HS team. The fact he didn't make doesn't change the overall process because HS is just one step needed to get there.

I don't know where Roswell GA is but I do know GA is full of great baseball. Its a very real possibility your son has talent but not at the school he attends. College coaches know this and won't let it affect their assessment of him.

Best of luck to him.


Thanks I appreciate it. I just know the cards didn't fall his way and want to know options-so thanks for the feedback.
trojan-skippertrojan-skipper1,000+ posts
Ok, I'm going rogue here.
If he got cut high school but still wants to play college his list of colleges has to start at the bottom, talent-wise. He needs to find out about the lowest division JUCO's and either D3 or small Naia that are in your geographical area.
Research them. call their coaches or admissions people and just bluntly ask them if they are looking for or needing more baseball players.

Don't spend money on showcases. Do get in a league and play spring if you can (prob cant) but summer for sure (because he loves baseball). Start calling them now, look at their websites, and find one or two to visit. If he can find one that will fit with his field of study, and you can swing it financially ask the coach if it's okay to start making plans to attend there and compete on the team. Get the admissions office interested and he will be important to them.
This happens a lot. I coached at a small NAIA. I loved the kid who just by golly got himself there and told me he was going to play baseball for us and do whatever needed to be done. I loved the kid who wrote or called and said, 'you don't know me but' and these guys are welcome at the small schools. It's how the small schools stay afloat. It's why they offer as many sports as a big D1 school. No, you're not going to get some big scholly (dont' worry most of that is fiction too) and no you aren't going to play at Omaha and you might play 4 years and have less than 5 scouts total see you play... big deal, that ship sailed.
So go look at some places, at least by phone and website... then he can decide if he wants to go for it or if it's over (for now)..
RJMRJMHSBaseballWeb member since 2007
Where did he play junior year of high school? Where did he play last summer? How good were those teams? What kind of impact did he have on those teams.

There's always a place to play depending on how badly a player wants to play. Our high school could beat the local JuCo. I've watched them play. I can't imagine it would be hard to make the team. There are other teams like this in the country.

Not playing doesn't mean it's over. Your son could coach or umpire youth baseball.
Last edited by RJM
coach2709coach270910,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
Ok, I'm going rogue here.
If he got cut high school but still wants to play college his list of colleges has to start at the bottom, talent-wise. He needs to find out about the lowest division JUCO's and either D3 or small Naia that are in your geographical area.
Research them. call their coaches or admissions people and just bluntly ask them if they are looking for or needing more baseball players.

Don't spend money on showcases. Do get in a league and play spring if you can (prob cant) but summer for sure (because he loves baseball). Start calling them now, look at their websites, and find one or two to visit. If he can find one that will fit with his field of study, and you can swing it financially ask the coach if it's okay to start making plans to attend there and compete on the team. Get the admissions office interested and he will be important to them.
This happens a lot. I coached at a small NAIA. I loved the kid who just by golly got himself there and told me he was going to play baseball for us and do whatever needed to be done. I loved the kid who wrote or called and said, 'you don't know me but' and these guys are welcome at the small schools. It's how the small schools stay afloat. It's why they offer as many sports as a big D1 school. No, you're not going to get some big scholly (dont' worry most of that is fiction too) and no you aren't going to play at Omaha and you might play 4 years and have less than 5 scouts total see you play... big deal, that ship sailed.
So go look at some places, at least by phone and website... then he can decide if he wants to go for it or if it's over (for now)..


This is good stuff right here. I have to say I played NAIA ball and it wasn't because I was any good. I was a really good player on a horrible team so I guess that made me average at best. Nobody ever looked at me let alone made me an offer on a scholarship. I went to a school and was standing in the line for the bookstore when another guy (who was getting a scholarship) in line remembered playing against me in HS. He asked if I was going to play and said no. He took me out of line and introduced me to the coach. Coach told me when fall ball started and to come out for it. I went out and the rest is history. I was now an average HS player on an average NAIA team and loved every second of it.

You can make it happen if you have some talent and desire to make it happen.
C cabbagedadHSBaseballWeb member since 2011
quote:
Originally posted by BASEBALL8888:
My son who is a senior just got cut from Varsity team at his high school. He still feels he wants to pursue dream of playing in college be it JUCO or whatever.



"still.. wants to pursue dream of playing in college"

So, what has the pursuit consisted of to this point? To add to the list of questions from others...
Has he done any showcases?
Has he played for any summer teams that have may have given him any exposure? If so, what has the feedback been?
Has he worked with any coaches or scouts that may have given him an honest evaluation or feedback?
Has he contacted any colleges of interest or gone to any of their showcase/clinics?
What are his college aspirations/major(s) of interest?

Let's start there. With some of the answers, others can be more specific with advice.
Last edited by cabbagedad

Add Reply

Post
.

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Advanced Search
Advanced Search
Link copied to your clipboard.
×