Need advice

quote:

Originally posted by Furrybear:

quote:

Originally posted by journey2:
Furrybear, is your son's HS program a small to med size program? Trying to digest your concerns.

How would you define size? Number of players?

Furrybear, I assume the poster is referring to "size of program" to likely mean the size of the student body/classification of ISD, as defined by your State Ed Agency. In Texas, we have 1A (rural) up to 5A (suburban and/or metro).
There is going to be a larger "pool" of athletes/baseball players for a coach to choose from as defined by the size of the student body.

Basically what I was getting at was how many players are in the HS baseball program? In a smaller program, I might expect a little more interaction this time of year from the head coach with my younger son, than I would in a larger program. That said, I'd keep my distance & let my son communicate with the coach.
Furrybear, you mention your son playing Fall HS games. My sons HS experience was (is) part of very large programs. There are no sanctioned Fall games. The players in the Fall program are working out hard, throwing pens, hitting some, & occasionally the coaches will have an inter-squad scrimmage. Lot of speed & agility, not near as much work on fielding as will they will see in January & early Feb when the grass is dead & most players are present. Currently, quite a few varsity & jv starters are playing football, the varsity coach & his assistants know this & are fairly guarded with what they say to younger players that may be able to contribute next Spring on Varsity. As the parent of a 2015, can imagine the level of head coach interaction with a younger player would be quite different for a program that barely had 20-25 players from Frosh through Sr's, & most, if not all of next Spring's squad are currently playing state organized Fall HS baseball.

Furrybear -

Sounds like you have several things going on and you have definitely come to the right place.

Throughout all of my son's years of playing, I have never once gone to the coach. That has been my son's responsibility since he was in 7th grade. And that includes the coach who responded "Nothing" when my son asked what he needed to improve to get more playing time. (He played 6 innings the entire season!) My job was to help my son through these rough times, keep him focused on his goal, and provide any assistance he needed (practice with him, find pitching/hitting/training coaches, etc.).

I will agree that sometimes you just have to stop going to the games (I have done that during two seasons - one in middle school and one in high school). Those were the times where I felt he wasn't getting a fair shot. I did go to the games the season where he legitimately lost his starting spot and he knew exactly why. Sometimes you're not proud of your actions, but staying away is better than doing something stupid.

As far as the Varsity Coach "ignoring" him at school, you may need to ask your son more questions. Maybe he is expecting some type of interaction that is not realistic. Does your son say "hi" and the coach ignores him? Or is he expecting the coach to say "hi" first? Hard to tell from your original post. It's possible that the coach is more comfortable with his Varsity players and does not really interact with the other players. I really don't remember my son saying much about the Varsity coach before the season he made the Varsity team.

Next point you brought up is recruiting. Definitely check out the recruiting timeline link on this site. Since you were not aware of the primary recruiting coming from the Summer showcase teams, you really need to educate yourself on the process. It is great that you had him evaluated, but be very careful if this guy is trying to sell you something. You may be better off looking for a Showcase where he can walk away with an assessment by a college coach who has no hidden agenda. Checkout the Showcase message board and ask questions about showcases in your area. Do your research before plopping down a bunch of money (another lesson learned)!

Best of luck to your son. It sounds like you have given him great advice to keep working hard. Adversity is a great teacher and he will become a better man for working through it.

the boy is old enough to fight his own battles turn him loose---let him deal with the siuation