Nervous....

Good luck.  It's nerve wracking for sure but try to stay loose and enjoy it.  The coaches do this for a living and want to see his personality and interest level I bet more than anything.  They wouldn't get to this point if they weren't convinced that your son has the talent and ability for their level of ball.

When my son threw for his (soon to be) DII HC, he (the HC) kept asking him "how's the arm?  you feeling ok?" etc. which of course made my son think "oh sh** I must not be throwing hard enough."  Turns out he (the HC) is just a great guy and wanted to make sure my son was comfortable and not trying to overexert.

Anyhoo what a great opportunity - best of luck to him!! 

It is crazy how quickly things can happen.   Enjoy the ride!

Congrats on the interest! 

I mentioned on another early-recruiting related thread today, it's all about perspective.  He worked to put himself in this position, hoping this would be the result.  Celebrate and embrace that he is accomplishing what he set out to do.  Don't fear it.  He also has the additional benefit of being on the young side.  If he doesn't perform quite up to his capabilities, he has plenty of time to learn from the experience and come back to the next opportunity better prepared for it.  If he is getting interest this early, that is not likely to stop any time soon if he keeps doing what he's been doing.  Stick to the routine.  Keep executing the same way you always do.  There is a reason they like what they see.  And, have fun, dammit!    Best chance for success.

Just remind him that they may or MAY NOT be looking at his abilities at the camp as has been said.  They may care more about him interacting with the other players and them.  Plus it will be a little awkward.  When the camp is over, they will probably say something along the lines of Muskyshane's son and Johnny and Billy, hang around for a few minutes.  it is awkward for him and those around him.  But it is also very exciting.  Tell him to work on interacting as much as playing.  They are impressed by the player now they want to see the kid in many instances.  And sometimes that is tougher than the playing. 

MuskyShane posted:

We are going but he (and his dad ) are as skittish as a cat on a hot tin roof.  

Honestly (no offense to all the dads on this site), my son got comfortable way sooner than my husband did. In the end, he went to a few of the camps, but few college visits and I think the only coach he met with was the one son signed with. The whole thing just freaked him out, which in turn made my son edgy, so we eliminated the issue and left dad at home. I still don't let him talk to son before games and not too much after — he has too much advice to give.

Iowamom23 posted:

MuskyShane posted:

We are going but he (and his dad ) are as skittish as a cat on a hot tin roof.  

Honestly (no offense to all the dads on this site), my son got comfortable way sooner than my husband did. In the end, he went to a few of the camps, but few college visits and I think the only coach he met with was the one son signed with. The whole thing just freaked him out, which in turn made my son edgy, so we eliminated the issue and left dad at home. I still don't let him talk to son before games and not too much after — he has too much advice to give.

 

“Left dad at home”, that made me laugh!  

We were the opposite for a different reason.  I’m 6’3” but my wife is 5’2”....she was not to be seen by college coaches, as she would have ruined any visions of projectablility

CTbballDad posted:

Iowamom23 posted:

MuskyShane posted:

We are going but he (and his dad ) are as skittish as a cat on a hot tin roof.  

Honestly (no offense to all the dads on this site), my son got comfortable way sooner than my husband did. In the end, he went to a few of the camps, but few college visits and I think the only coach he met with was the one son signed with. The whole thing just freaked him out, which in turn made my son edgy, so we eliminated the issue and left dad at home. I still don't let him talk to son before games and not too much after — he has too much advice to give.

 

“Left dad at home”, that made me laugh!  

We were the opposite for a different reason.  I’m 6’3” but my wife is 5’2”....she was not to be seen by college coaches, as she would have ruined any visions of projectablility

I'm 5'4" and my son is 6'4" — we're not sure where it came from but no question about projectability. Half the time he'd get to campus and people would greet him at the door with "you pitch, right?"

CTbballDad posted

“Left dad at home”, that made me laugh!  

We were the opposite for a different reason.  I’m 6’3” but my wife is 5’2”....she was not to be seen by college coaches, as she would have ruined any visions of projectablility

My son asked me what I'm going to do when he went to his first showcase. I told him, I'm going to try and look tall and athletic . lol

A high school teammate of my son was six feet as a soph. The dad is 5’10”. The mother 5’4”. The dad joked he should pay some tall actors to be his son’s parents at showcases for projectability  purposes. The kid is six feet at twenty-five. He was done growing as a high school soph.

Once a kid is 6'1" who cares if the Dad is 5'7"?  6'1" is plenty enough to play some ball.  And if they are a legit 6'1" in bare feet they'll be listed as 6'2" in the program or on a website anyways.  At that point it becomes "can they play?"

3and2Fastball posted:

Once a kid is 6'1" who cares if the Dad is 5'7"?  6'1" is plenty enough to play some ball.  And if they are a legit 6'1" in bare feet they'll be listed as 6'2" in the program or on a website anyways.  At that point it becomes "can they play?"

Exactly.

5' 7" (on a good day) MIF Nick Madrigal, 2017 first round draft choice of the CWS, was promoted to AAA this week after playing A advanced and AA already this season. Meanwhile their 5' 11" 2018 first rounder was just moved up to A advanced.

Some clubs and some college coaches are looking for skills not height.

JCG posted:

3and2Fastball posted:

Once a kid is 6'1" who cares if the Dad is 5'7"?  6'1" is plenty enough to play some ball.  And if they are a legit 6'1" in bare feet they'll be listed as 6'2" in the program or on a website anyways.  At that point it becomes "can they play?"

Exactly.

5' 7" (on a good day) MIF Nick Madrigal, 2017 first round draft choice of the CWS, was promoted to AAA this week after playing A advanced and AA already this season. Meanwhile their 5' 11" 2018 first rounder was just moved up to A advanced.

Some clubs and some college coaches are looking for skills not height.

 

Yes indeed!

As a father of an "undersized" pitcher I used to worry about if my son's opportunities would equal his abilities....then one wise man told me "Build him and they will come"!  That is when we changed the focus to 5 instances of training for every 1 instance of playing.  Playing does not advance "what you have to offer" nearly as quickly as quality training we found out.  Couple that with an understanding of what a typical college coach needed in a pitcher shaped what training/playing actions were taken.  Basically, the goal was to soley build a pitcher that would be attractive to the school my son was targeting and leaving out the concern about size.

The belief in this thought process was so strong my son chose to not play High School baseball his Sohpmore and Junior years (just played high level tournaments with his National Team as a PO) so he could dedicate himself to becoming the pitcher his dream school would want. He knew this would be the path less traveled and took major criticism for it.  

Today my son is at the Top 25 P5 school of his dreams as an "undersized" pitcher. 

Interesting path.  How tall is he?

BTW my son had a HS teammate who is 5' 6" (maybe).  Absolutely amazing athlete. Was player of the year in our area for baseball and I think basketball too.  He got zero interest from colleges coming out of HS. Played 2 years of Juco and was drafted in the last round in 2017, and went on to a Big West school, where he was a 2 way player - LHP starter and CF. He was drafted in the high teens in 2018 and has worked his way up to AA as a  reliever, and they're playing him some at CF too, and he's hitting well.  It's going to be interesting to see how they use him if he makes it to MLB.

MuskyShane posted:

Been an interesting summer for us.  Son's travel ball coach told us at a tournament that recruiting would start up late this summer or fall at the latest for my 2022 son.  That very weekend things started.  Had a great game against another travel ball program who had a coach watching one of their players.  Since then has had many conversations with a D1 mid-major and three P5 coaches.  We knew things were getting serious when one of the P5 coaches was at his last game videotaping him on the mound.  

 

That coach calls and wants him at the next camp, says he is ready to make an offer and he's one of their favorite 2022s they have seen.  We are going but he (and his dad ) are as skittish as a cat on a hot tin roof.  

Muskyshane - Keep it simple.   Relax and take one thing at a time.  Coaches say a lot of things, so please don't get ahead of yourselves.   Enjoy the ride.   You'll know when genuine serious interest happens.

Good luck!