More unofficial visit questions - 2021 grad

Funny I see this today. Just got home from an unofficial with my son ......visit that was requested from coaches of (school is top 25 preseason D1 school) with my RHP (6’ 3”, 88 mph PG).   An amazing visit, 6 hours talking, touring, etc.......both son and I had an amazing time.  In my opinion, if he meets with coaches then you need to be there with him. 

Jenksmom,

So, I'm not really clear on the nature of your son's coaches request or its end goal.  Is this to play at a camp or is this to visit, tour the school and drop by to say "hi" to the college coaches.  I think it is a great idea for parents or grandparents to take their kids to visit schools and see if this is something they really want to do for 4 years.  The more they are exposed to many schools the better as this is a significant family investment.   I'd have a sit down or telephone conversation with the travel coach to better understand exactly what he is suggesting then consider if this is something that will help his recruitment and something you feel comfortable with.

If this is going to be an unofficial visit where the college coach is expecting the recruit that is a different level of college visit, and there is a lot posted on HSBBWeb about that.   I can offer my personal experiences.   We were fortunate that my son did a handful of local unofficial visits with myself or my wife when he was a high school sophomore.   Initially, during  these visits my son was responsible for the dialog unless it had to do with money.   As time went by, my son visited these same local schools again and he would visit by himself, and handle everything on his own.   Fast forward a few months later, my son had an opportunity to unofficially or officially visit some high academic schools up to 8 hours away driving or an airplane flight.   Again, my wife or I joined him, and the same rules applied....he was responsible for the dialog with the coach except for the topic of money.   We practiced and rehearsed a bunch of questions that were important to him.    This prepared him for his meetings with college coaches.   it worked out well for us both in the short term ( he learned a lot about recruiting process and communicating with adults) and long term.   He matured very quickly because of it and prepared him for internships and job interviews.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. The coach's purpose of the visits are to meet the coaches, tour,etc. We will gage son's criteria/wishlist for colleges although at his current age of 14, his criteria may change within 2-3 years. Lots of work  to do to prepare . 

Thank you!

JenksMom posted:

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. The coach's purpose of the visits are to meet the coaches, tour,etc. We will gage son's criteria/wishlist for colleges although at his current age of 14, his criteria may change within 2-3 years. Lots of work  to do to prepare . 

Thank you!

If this is a group visit, where he's taking many kids just to get them familiar with a college program and maybe use it as inspiration to work hard, then I say let him go and say thank you to the coach for being willing to put in the extra time.

If the coach is only taking your son, then it's probably a good idea for a parent to tag along.

Parents may sit quietly and listen during the actual visit, as many people on this site will tell you. And early on, when the coach or admissions person says "do you have any other questions?" and your kid goes blank, you can step in with a general question that gets him back on track.

But more important is afterwards, when parents can be thoughtful sounding boards for their sons, asking good questions to help them shape their thinking. You will be much more effective in that role if you go along on the visits.

I have a 2021 RHP also. He was sent numerous invites to a small D1 to a prospect camp about 2 hours away. He sent back an email saying that the time of camp didn't work with a prior commitment. Even the day of in morning they sent another email about coming to camp. We just could not make it work. Do you think this is a place we need to take Unofficial visit to? We had previously filled out a questionaire that they sent to us about a month ago. He also has been working with a former pitcher from this school this offseason. I just don't want to push it since we are still talking about a freshmen that hasn't even pitched an inning of varsity ball yet. Although he is going to pitch for varsity next month. Just curious on thoughts.

Judge the relationship, if any, between your son and the program with any personal dialog between he and one of the current coaches, not camp invites.  The fact that your son got another invite after having told them he wouldn't be able to make it speaks to the automation of the camp invite system, not to the interest of the school.

It was very personal from the pitching coach, and was just seeing if our day plans had changed to where we could come. He said it was sold out, but would still like him to come. The original invite was definitely automated. However it was sent before we got the questiinaire. I guess he needs to call direct and find out the interest level. I don't know what to think....this is gonna be a long 3-4 years. ...lol

bullet34 posted:

It was very personal from the pitching coach, and was just seeing if our day plans had changed to where we could come. He said it was sold out, but would still like him to come. The original invite was definitely automated. However it was sent before we got the questiinaire. I guess he needs to call direct and find out the interest level. I don't know what to think....this is gonna be a long 3-4 years. ...lol

You can spend a lot of time second and third guessing coaches and what they mean when they say something. I'd take them at their word and keep moving. If your son is a freshman, there's tons of time for an unofficial visit, there's tons of time, period. Don't worry, enjoy. If he wants to go visit, go visit. Heck, maybe go watch a game. My son lost interest in a couple of schools after showing up without telling anyone ahead of time and watching the game and the interactions of the coaches and the kids when they weren't on their best "here's a recruit" behavior.

You admitted already not knowing the coach well. Based on the age of your son, you would be well advised to tag along. Pedophiles come in all forms, and youth coaching is fertile hunting grounds, even baseball.

Your son is 14, a HS freshman who hasn't thrown a pitch yet in HS.  Why not wait to see how that goes for a little bit before thinking too deeply about college visits?

I have two sons who pitched in the Pac12 and did very well (both now pro pitchers).  I never would've been able to say either one was a college pitcher at age 14/HS freshman.   And visiting colleges at that age would have been a big distraction anyways.

You have plenty of time, even in today's hurry-up recruiting world.  How about enjoy his freshman year first?

I would go with your son, you are the parent and have every right to be there.

Bullet, College camps are revenue generators for paying the volunteer assistant coaches. Invites will come in many forms and some more personal than others but at the end of the day it's about the money. Unless you have money to burn and time to waste, target schools he sees himself attending and do it when you have something to show or a reason to network beyond simply being there.

justbaseball posted:

Your son is 14, a HS freshman who hasn't thrown a pitch yet in HS.  Why not wait to see how that goes for a little bit before thinking too deeply about college visits?

I have two sons who pitched in the Pac12 and did very well (both now pro pitchers).  I never would've been able to say either one was a college pitcher at age 14/HS freshman.   And visiting colleges at that age would have been a big distraction anyways.

You have plenty of time, even in today's hurry-up recruiting world.  How about enjoy his freshman year first?

Nails. Give it a while. Let him enjoy being a kid.  This isn't a popular route as everyone is in a huge hurry, but in my opinion it is the best choice.