My son has made his decision

Joe87,

A tip of the cap to your son for his maturity.  I totally understand and I've been in your shoes with my two youngest sons who considered college baseball as well.  In both of their cases it was the right decision for them.  I know a few young men who decided against it and then changed their minds to play in college...baseball helped with admissions and they played all 4 years.  So, while your son seems to have made up his mind I won't totally rule it out 100% yet. 

Good luck!

Thanks for sharing that story!  So many folks whose sons take the same path just disappear and we never know what happened.  I think its good to hear all the different stories.

I applaud you for allowing your son to have such a big say in his future.  Can be tough to do - I know.  Our daughter, who had D1 athlete choices to make similar to your son, also opted for focusing on academics in college rather than athletics and it has paid off big time for her.  I wish/hope for the same with your son.

Congrats Pops!!

It's bittersweet Joes87.  I went through this in football with a son.  He is thriving now + does not regret his decision what so ever.  All the best to your son, who sounds very smart + mature! 

Thanks for the encouragement so far.  I am 100% behind my sons decision.  A little more insight.  He has decided he does not want to attend a smaller school.  He wants the Big 10/SEC atmosphere.  A school that has traditions and comes together around sports on the weekend.  Think MSU, UofM, Wisconsin, etc.  He feels that if he is able to play at that level its going to take a lot away from his studies.  Right now he is very focused on what it is going to take to get started in life.  He has very high grades and ACT scores which is going to provide him with scholarship money at most schools.

Another tip o' the cap, congratulations and thanks for sharing.  Agree with JBB, this is a smart choice for so many but those actions don't get shared here often enough.

Joes87,

Congrats on raising a very mature and insightful son! Even though we live and breathe baseball here, college baseball is very difficult and a lot of kids figure this out too late. Your son was mature and insightful enough to make this decision on his own and before it potentially took him down a road he did not want to go.  Enjoy the rest of his HS career and thanks for sharing. 

Joes87,

My son decided this past fall that he wasn't going to pursue playing in college, so I can relate to what you are going through.

I was kind of bummed out at first.  More so because my son also decided that if he wasn't going to play in college, that he should dedicate his time to academics, so he opted not to play this spring HS season.  It ended up being a good decision as he is now able to do some things academically that the baseball schedule would have prevented.

At a certain point we have to expect our kids to be able to make adult decisions.  We can provide guidance, but ultimately they are never going to learn how to navigate the world if we only allow them to make the choices that make us happiest.

joes87 posted:

Thanks for the encouragement so far.  I am 100% behind my sons decision.  A little more insight.  He has decided he does not want to attend a smaller school.  He wants the Big 10/SEC atmosphere.  A school that has traditions and comes together around sports on the weekend.  Think MSU, UofM, Wisconsin, etc.  He feels that if he is able to play at that level its going to take a lot away from his studies.  Right now he is very focused on what it is going to take to get started in life.  He has very high grades and ACT scores which is going to provide him with scholarship money at most schools.

Joe, when I think Big 10, I think Ohio State    My daughter and several of my son's friends go there.  If you need someone to show him around, I got you covered 

Buckeye 2015 posted:

joes87 posted:

Thanks for the encouragement so far.  I am 100% behind my sons decision.  A little more insight.  He has decided he does not want to attend a smaller school.  He wants the Big 10/SEC atmosphere.  A school that has traditions and comes together around sports on the weekend.  Think MSU, UofM, Wisconsin, etc.  He feels that if he is able to play at that level its going to take a lot away from his studies.  Right now he is very focused on what it is going to take to get started in life.  He has very high grades and ACT scores which is going to provide him with scholarship money at most schools.

Joe, when I think Big 10, I think Ohio State    My daughter and several of my son's friends go there.  If you need someone to show him around, I got you covered 

Considering I was brought up to bleed Maize and Blue, Im not sure if a school even exists south of Toledo.  Though I had to make the sacrifice and wear Green and White when my oldest decided to become a Sparty.

Your post title says it all. He owns it.  Atta kid.

joes87 posted:

Buckeye 2015 posted:

joes87 posted:

Thanks for the encouragement so far.  I am 100% behind my sons decision.  A little more insight.  He has decided he does not want to attend a smaller school.  He wants the Big 10/SEC atmosphere.  A school that has traditions and comes together around sports on the weekend.  Think MSU, UofM, Wisconsin, etc.  He feels that if he is able to play at that level its going to take a lot away from his studies.  Right now he is very focused on what it is going to take to get started in life.  He has very high grades and ACT scores which is going to provide him with scholarship money at most schools.

Joe, when I think Big 10, I think Ohio State    My daughter and several of my son's friends go there.  If you need someone to show him around, I got you covered 

Considering I was brought up to bleed Maize and Blue, Im not sure if a school even exists south of Toledo.  Though I had to make the sacrifice and wear Green and White when my oldest decided to become a Sparty.

Lol....I understand.  Had to be tough to break down and put on MSU colors

Joes87,

I respect your sons decision, but being it's only his junior year do you think he might change his mind?

College baseball might just be the best of all baseball experiences.  Players build friendships and memories that never go away.  So many college players end up being very successful in the real world.   Even becoming the President of the United States.

Guess I just hate to see someone hang it up and later on wish he would have stayed with it.  Especially when there are colleges interested in him. It does sound like a grown up decision, but I know a lot of grown ups that wished they would have made a different decision when they were a teenager.

Anyway, maybe he knows best and deserves a lot of respect.  I wish him the best. As much as I like baseball, I know there are more important things in life.

PGStaff, I had some of your same concerns. hence the long talk over the weekend.  It seems that baseball is not fitting into his life goals and he is ready to concentrate what he needs to do to move into the next phases of his life.  He is very comfortable with his decision.

I'm with you on the friendships and memories as I played a sport in college.  Some of my best friends and memories are due to this.  That said, when I look back on the college experience I had and the college experience my older (already in college) son is having they are very different.  It would have been impossible for me to do some of the things my older son has done; take off for a weekend and drive 8 hours to visit friends, or head to Europe with his girlfriend for a long weekend, or take a semester off for an internship.  These are things that my younger son desires out of his college experience.  The ability to be free and a little irresponsible within a controlled environment.  

Your son sounds like he made a well-thought out decision, and like others have said, bravo to you for letting him make it. 

There a few kids who have the option to do all of the things many hope to (1) pursue an excellent college education, (2) enjoy the bigger school sports and weekend experience, and (3) play college baseball.  In most of the cases for those of us with kids that are not already set by the end of their junior year, one of them has to be sacrificed.  And it sounds like your son went through his priorities and decided it was baseball that had to go.  I haven't gotten my 2017 to make that decision yet, but after the Summer showcases and events, he should have a better idea of what his options are, and then make his college applications based on the experience and feedback.

He could attend Big Ten and play club ball. He could still play in a local semi-pro league in the summer. It's a lot less time consuming. 

fenwaysouth posted:

Joe87,

A tip of the cap to your son for his maturity.  I totally understand and I've been in your shoes with my two youngest sons who considered college baseball as well.  In both of their cases it was the right decision for them.  I know a few young men who decided against it and then changed their minds to play in college...baseball helped with admissions and they played all 4 years.  So, while your son seems to have made up his mind I won't totally rule it out 100% yet. 

Good luck!

I am with Fenway on this.  While he has made a decision, its ok to change your mind.  

Although I don't believe college baseball is for everyone, it opens a lot of opportunites.  It's very hard to manage trying to dedicate yourself to being a full time student to earn your degree and play baseball.  That's why lots of players do drop out by senior year.

He can continue to play summer ball and in HS and have fun. If he has lost having fun playing, than that's another issue.

Good luck!

I had the chance to be a collegiate athlete.  In high school my whole world was focused on my track and field team, practice every day, weight training every week, heck I was home by 10pm on my prom night because I had a district track meet the next day. I sacrificed a lot of the typical high school experiences because of my sport.

I made the choice to enjoy college as an average student and not an athlete. I missed the sisterhood of the track team but the trade off was well worth it.  I got involved in a service club that went out and did some great things for the community, I was able to hang out with friends on the weekend, I had more time to study than I knew what to do with, and it was like walking out of a fog. 

In that fog of being an athlete I had to micro-schedule my life down to 15 minute blocks, and those blocks didn't include a boyfriend, I got my license a year later than most kids, and a wide variety of other sacrifices that I gladly made at the time because I was on a straight track, no deviation, but just because I was alive didn't mean I was living.  Without the time constraints of being an athlete I finally started figuring out who I was as a person.  I have NEVER regretted not being a college athlete.  It was the best decision I could have made for me and thankfully my parents supported me 100%.

Sad for you Joes. I know it is a great thing when your child makes a logical and well thought out decision for the rest of his life. But not getting to watch him play ball anymore...  Comes for everybody I suppose. Probably sad for parents of big leaguers when their sons retire or get released. So it's gotta happen someday. I hope you really really enjoy the last year of his baseball career!!