Letters from coaches as a sophmore

Your son is in the very beginning of the process, as stated he has been identified as a possible student athlete (not necessarily for that program), and they cannot make anymore contact at this time.

This is the time when you and your son need to sit down together and make a PLAN. This plan would include possible schools he would like to focus on, however it is very important that you get an idea of where he might stand talent wise (D1,D2,D3) so I suggest sometime after his season to go to a showcase (reliable) for an evaluation.

Also keep in mind that his grades will also dictate who will recruit him.

Visit the recruiting section on this site and follow the timeline.

Not too sure if it is too early to set up a video. 

The best part is that you recognize the need to begin now and not later.

My advice is that I would not have my son call the coach, he probably has sent out 100's of these letters, fill out the questionnaire. 

And yes it is definitely a way of  generating business for camps and showcases.

If the cost of this showcase is not too high, it might be a good place to start for practice to see how they are run.  However, spending money on a  good summer travel team for exposure probably might be better use of your limited funds.

You will receive many more of those. My 2015 got them everyday, They are fairly generic but every once ina while you can tell it is more personal and sent only to your son. I would suggest making a list a of schools in a geographic area that you son has interest in whether they know of him yet or not. Once you got your list (my son had like 20 schools on his list) Start working the list, start by going to their website and trying to get all the coaches emails address's. Some are easily listed but others take more work. Try Googling the coaches name with the college name and email address. For example "Brian Anderson PSU email address" Once you get all the email address for the all the schools of interest start sending them emails, should come from your son. Start by introducing yourself including grad year, position, HS, Summer Team. Then list your sons accolades and start with GPA and include current Height and weight. Include all of your sons reference with email addresses and phone numbers. Encourage them to contact them Mentioned how their school is one of the Top schools on your list. You could then type a brief summary of your summer and what he is doing this fall. Ask then about Winter camps this way they can respond to you somewhat. My son always selected the option for  a read receipt. Some schools will play it by the book and won't respond and others are a little bit more loose and will reply however its nice to know when they read it. Do this for 20 schools or so and you will really get the ball rolling

Son is also sophomore in SoCal. This is a mass mailing as many of my sons HS teammates including him received the same letter. FYI

This^^

I remember when our younger son got a questionnaire from a mid-D1 southern school (we are in CA) about the same time as your son (sophomore).  Then a day or so later, another poster on here from FL posted 'excitement' that her son had received his first recruiting letter...from the same school.

It was pretty obvious they were mass mailing.  I kind of liked what his HS coach said...something like, "Yeah, do you believe those Christmas cards from the White House are personal too?"

I'd be pretty sure this is a mass mailing.  Don't be discouraged by that.  Its still VERY early.  Fill out and return the questionnaire if it truly is a school your son would be interested in.

Real interest comes at this age when a college coach contacts your son's summer or HS coach and asks him to have you call him.  When that happens...they "you're cookin' with peanut oil" as one popular TV character likes to say.  

SoCal, Bum, Jr. got his first D1 letter at age 15 as a sophomore as well.  It was very exciting but HSBBW grounded me.  This is not to mean there's not more to come, but it's very early so be patient.  As for the second question, get your son into a PG showcase so you can honestly compare his skills to other players his age.  Good luck to your son!

We figured it was a mass mailing to generate interest in the showcase.  I did find it odd that no other kids on the high school team got one and it came through the school addressed to the guidance counselor.  is this pretty much the norm then?

Yes, this is the norm.  Bum, Jr. went to a college camp at age 15 and was barely noticed until the end of the camp (more on that later).  You see, in reality, the camps (showcases) are held to help pay the costs for volunteer coaches and to allow the school to attract the attendance of 2-4 "real" prospects who fly in.  The coaches are really honing in on whether to offer those 2-4 prospects. 

For the rest, as in the case of Bum, Jr., the experience can be frustrating.  On the last day of camp, the pitching coach of the D1 school walked up behind Bum, Jr. who promptly threw six straight fastballs through a tire-size hole set up over the plate.  He threw 79 at that time.  The coach then pulled him aside and talked to him for several minutes and since that time he received weekly emails.  They tracked his development and eventually as a junior throwing about 88 (LHP) Bum, Jr. went on an official visit and was an early commit.

So, the bottom line is, go to the camp if 1) your son has talent and 2) you can afford it.  Good things CAN happen.  But it is early in the process and if your son has only marginal talent be aware that his camp fees are usually subsidizing the true prospects.

Yes, my son came home from school with the same letter as did many of his teammates. He joked about being identified as a possible "Student Athlete" at a school in Ohio.  

so how do these guys get the kids names and school?  do the online sites like PG or maxpreps provide mailing lists?

I'm guessing MaxPreps since it was sent to the school. Could be wrong, just a guess.

You see, in reality, the camps (showcases) are held to help pay the costs for volunteer coaches and to allow the school to attract the attendance of 2-4 "real" prospects who fly in.  The coaches are really honing in on whether to offer those 2-4 prospects. 

When my son was fourteen I stopped at the Villanova field to watch their showcase/camp. After watching thirty-five kids hit I walked over to a Villanova player I knew. I told him I only saw four potential D1 swings. The player asked which ones. When I pointed them out he laughed and said, "You win a prize. Those four were discovered at PG and flown in for their visit this weekend. The rest are helping finance our spring trip."

Almost all of the thirty-five had D1 hands in the field. About half had D1 arms. But only four had D1 bat speed and swings.

I was at an event where a large recruiting service was a sponsor. I filled it out (parent info) and then my son (2016) did as well. When I get an invite that he gets we know that is the big net being thrown out. They sold the list. We have avoided any camps that are more play than instruction.I was told by another parent that you want your son spending as much face time with the coaches as possible and field play is not the way to do that. We have accepted the fact that my son is not a catcher or a 90 plus pitcher, just your basic good hit, great swing, good defense. He will not get pulled off the field to get signed but when they are looking for the mr fixit we hope they think, "great guy, can do a lot, not cancer." Finally he doesn't go to camps at schools that he would not go to if not a baseball Player.

Don't mean to hijack the thread here but I have similar question. My 2015 has received many generic invites to camps - showcases - etc. Recently we got a letter from a college advertising a local camp taking place at a HS near us this winter. Included in the letter was a lot of generic information that I assume goes into a lot of mass letters. However, this one in the last paragraph included the assistant coach's email and cell phone # and encouraged my son to contact him with any questions.

Also, I know the assistant coach and head coach reviewed his profile on BeRecruited.com.

Not sure what to think of this letter. Obviously, my son filled out the questionnaire on their website as requested but hard to distinguish between this letter and other mass letters.

There is a difference betweeen a mass-mailing camp and a prospect camp.  Mass-mailing camps, if you look at the school's website, can be identified if they are running a few different age groups for skills training.  A prospect camp is for older players only (sophomores and juniors). 

jhelbling, what level of baseball is this?  Find out where your sons skills lie (D1, D2, D3 or Juco) then have your son email schools he's interested in.  Your son can give a short spiel about his athletic and academic accomplishments.  If a pro scout or a baseball guy well known to them has seen your son play, mention this.  Send them your son's schedule for next year's play.  All of this may get him an invite to the real prospect camp next year.  Good luck.