New to High School baseball

While it wouldn't hurt to go now, I'd recommend starting the summer prior to his Junior year.

newbie - welcome to the hsbbweb!

Suggest you read every article and link in the following hsbbweb sections - recruiting tips and recruiting timelines:

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/recruiting_tips.htm

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/recruit_timeline.htm

Hope that answers some of your questions.

You might also check with the Texas Forum. We played two different Texas teams at the 16U USA Baseball Championship last week, and I think there were several more. Maybe one of them is in your area.

You might look here:
2008 16U Championships

Looks like there were Texas teams in both the east and west. Maybe you could google the team names and get more info.

newbie - Welcome to HS baseball and the HSBBW!

newbie44, welcome to HSBBW!

First of all, make an honest assessment of your son's playing ability. Go onto Perfectgame.org and compare your player to others at the same age-level. Get feedback from qualified coaches and instructors.

If your son is a good player but not yet a top player, the main emphasis of your baseball expenditures should now be 1) instruction 2) finding him the most competitive team he can get solid playing time. Read up on all the offseason training advise offered on this wonderful site. Your son should work twice as hard as anyone else in the offseason to become the best player he can be.

If your son is a top player now, of perhaps D1 potential, then yes go to a few showcases to get his name out there. Perhaps a few college camps. Email schools he may be wanting to attend. Let them all know who he is in his sophomore year. Then, in the Junior year do at least two high-profile showcases in front of scouts.

Good luck!

Welcome. You have gotten good advice already but this is something we should always "talk" about.

Compare getting to the next level to preparing someone for a more skilled/better job and then applying for that better job. #1. You have to increase your skills in order to be qualified ---- #2. You have to apply for the job.

1. Increasing your skills:
Your son can increase his skills (baseball and academics) in many different ways. This normally means getting good one on one instruction, playing for a good coach, playing with talented teammates, playing against talented players, developing a good work ethic, --- generally focusing on baseball. Academically he must prepare himself for college. College prep means more than passing high school. Many tend to separate high school academics from college academics when in reality high school academics are a very important building block for success in college. Failing to concentrate on high school academics could reduce his options and could even mean an end to his baseball career.

2. Apply for the job:
This is the processes where the college coach and the player come together for the “interview”. I use the word “interview” loosely. It is the exposure event(s) where the coach evaluates the skills of the player. It can be a high school team, a showcase, a camp, a summer team, word of mouth, a player website, contact letters. It can be all of those mentioned, one of those mentioned, or any combination of them. Most parents focus on this and provide excess exposure for their sons even sacrificing much of the “skills” segment.

Bum brings up a very important point when he says: make an honest assessment of your son's playing ability. That is VERY important but a very difficult chore because most parents are NOT honest about their son’s playing ability. The route a player takes to increase his skills and to apply for the job are based in part on YOUR evaluation of his current ability. The summer team he selects and the colleges he targets need to be a good “fit”. Your ability to make that assessment will help him in finding the proper “fit”. Best of luck.
Fungo

Thanks so much for all the great input. If you think of anything else, please let me know. I will be checking in daily to get more great advice!!!!

I, too, would recommend a showcase or two this summer, though more for getting him comfortable with the format and the competition level than for getting his name out there. This will also help you to be realistic as to where he fits within the universe of players looking to advance. Next summer will be very important to him, and it will be more benficial if he knows what to expect.

Academics can't be overstated --- not simply for admission, but for the coach's comfort level that he will be solidly academically eligible.

There's great baseball in Texas --- best of luck to him!