Letting foot off exposure recruitment gas pedal

What does your son want?

First, JH has a great question for you. What does your son want? Are you frustrated because you feel you are dragging him through the process? He has to want it and put in the work.Have you made a business plan? Or are you randomly hitting showcases to see what sticks on the wall?

Make an honest evsluation of your son. Or get one from knowledgeable baseball people you trust. Select target conferences you feel he will have the potential to play.** Decide which schools within those conferences are academic, social, cultural, geographical and financial fits. Contact the baseball programs via email. Express interest and ask where is the best place to get in front of them. As part of your business plan calculate what you can afford to spend on exposure and what time you have.

If you sit back and wait for your son to be found he better be a jaw dropping stud. Otherwise his exposure becomes limited to write ups in your local paper. Is that enough?

This isn't an easy journey if you're prone to stress. It takes patience. A soph has plenty of time to blossom as a player. There's a place for every player who wants it badly enough. A JV player from our high school found a place to play in D3. He never started in high school. But he never gave up.

** I said potential, not a dream

JH - This post was more about me than him.But since you asked, his mindset hasn't changed. Still loves to play, wants to play college baseball. Disappointed he hasn't played better. Looking forward to playing for his summer team and coach.

RJM - Has had some evaluation. This year's summer coach, who has never seen him play before, called me out of the blue after the winter workouts and mentioned he hasn't seen many kids play SS like him and is recommending him to some D1's that he has relationships with.

Guess we'll really find out when he attends the Silver and Black series showcase given by the Chicago Scouts assoc.

That being said he is not a jaw dropping stud. He's very talented and has not played up to par this year.

However you have triggered me out of my self induced rut.

Got to keep putting the work to get him in the best possible situation where he'll be happy and have a chance to be successful. I certainly need to push him more to identify what he is looking for from his college experience.

Thanks RJ! I appreciate the straightforward response.I will copy it for reference

I could share a lot of thoughts here and can certainly relate in some ways.  But, to be brief, one thing jumps out at me.  You say "he has not played up to par this year."  Think about that for a minute.  Depending upon where you live, you are talking about 2 or 3 months, 20 or so games.  Focus on his skillset, and I am sure you and others are.  Any Soph starting at SS every game and batting top 6 in the order on what seems like a very good squad is, almost by definition, very talented.  If I were you, I'd be excited about the future.

Everyday Dad,

Unless your boy is a blue chip top 100 type of player the recruiting process will be a grind.Now is not the time to let off the gas so to speak.It's hard work ! I went through this with my 2014 son and we both shed a lot of blood,sweat,and tears.LOL !

As far as showcases are concerned you want to get the biggest bang for your buck.There are some really good ones out there that are well attended and will offer your son a lot of exposure..For us it was The Stanford Future Stars & All Star Camps.I would encourage you to look at camps/showcases that have schools from every level(D1,D2,D3,NAIA,JUCO) .

Help your son build a recruiting profile.It's quite easy to do and the costs are minimal.For example, my son's 18U summer/Fall team created a profile for every player on the team.All we had to do was input the information.You can add video links like youtube as well.All the information a college coach or MLB scout needs in one neat and organized place.Here is what it looks like :

http://sbcardinals.com/teams/d...&playerID=422126

If your son's team does not have something like this, maybe you can help the team by building it for them. That will help rejuvenate you

Another suggestion I have is for your son to work hard this summer on his speed,strength.and conditioning.Work out 60-90 minutes each morning 6 days a week.Have a goal to become bigger,faster, and stronger by the time school starts again in September.Turn those singles into doubles,doubles into triples,and then lasers over the fence.Not only will this help his game, but it will also help with his self discipline.Lots of inexpensive ways to do this at home.My son uses TRX,K Bands, P90X,Eric Cressey videos and more.

Maybe you can work out with your son ? My son had my wife and I doing some of the P90X workouts with him.Damn near killed us ! Haha ! I decided to stick with throwing BP in the cage and let him do those insane workouts

Encourage/push your son to be the very best student he can be.A high GPA with a challenging class schedule and high test scores will open up doors that are not available to everyone.Lots more academic/merit money available than baseball scholarship dough.Something to think about

Hope this helps !

Everything depends on the skill level and projection of the player.  If he has what decision makers are looking for you will not waste money putting him in front of as many of them as possible.

If the player lacks the necessary skills you can spend a fortune, but no one can help. Several thousand kids enter college baseball every year.  Hundreds sign pro contracts. You don't have to be a top 100 to get lots of recruiting action.  That would be less than a half of a player for each DI.

bobbyaguho- You have a bright kid.

JH,

Thanks ! He gets it from his mom.I blew out most of my brain cells and hearing on Mill Avenue in Tempe during the 80's.

Mine are somewhere on Water Street in Oneonta, New York. College was fun...

Good stuff

I think mine are still here, I just can't seem to find them!

Everyday Dad,

For son's HS career, just  be at his games and don't waste time worrying about the next level. Enjoy every second as it goes by way too fast. Don't waste your money with lessons, travel teams, etc, run by ex ballplayers. Put that in a 529 account. 

Son had tons of exposure, in the end he came away with no degree and a student loan after college.

If he stands out, or his dad is a member of the club, things will fall into place.

The good news is Pop up has a good job and pays his taxes. What was meant to be has come to be.