New to this...

Welcome to the site. You will find a home here for all your questions, venting, moaning, cheering etc. I will let some of the "experts" answer your questions. I guess the future will tell if these schools really see your son as a true recruit. I know everyone will tell him to keep up the grades, prepare for the A.C.T/S.A.T. and work hard this year.

I'd say yes to your last question. But hopefully he will come around and take on more of the responsibility. Good Luck this year.

Yes, he's coming around... thankfully his grades and academic efforts are so far everything I could ask for. Finding a school that fits him academically is the first priority, but hopefully it can also peacefully coexist with his dream of playing ball at the next level.

If I'm not using up our question quota for one night, I do have another. How can coaches/schools talk to a freshman or sophomore about a verbal commitment? I thought they couldn't talk to recruits until July 1st after their junior season? What are the rules? It seems very confusing...

Thanks for any help...

A-Train, welcome to the site! We are always glad to have new members.

I'll try to answer what I can:

Early offers/commitments can be made when a coach communicates with a recruit via email or through the player's high school or select coach. He can request that the recruit call him so they can talk. All of these types of communication are allowed prior to July 1 of the player's junior year. Also, a player can make an unofficial visit to a campus before July 1 and talk all he wants with the coaching staff. That said, there are very few who get these early offers, and the wisdom of accepting these early offers is debated by many on this site. If your son is not getting any offers at this point, do not fret. All is well. In fact, you have no cause for worry if he does not get any calls in early July.

Letters that have the word "recruit" in it are most likely sent out to myriads of prospects. At this point, the colleges are casting a wide net. I remember this past year when my son attended a Junior Day for a Top 50 program, the recruiting coordinator informed us that he had narrowed his prospect list down to "only" 200.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask when you have any questions at all!

All very valuable advice. I would like to keep the momentum going. Make sure he fills out any paperwork/questionnaire that he is sent. He needs to check his email daily (which is a good habit to get into anyway with so much of college coursework being communicated online now) and make sure he sends his high school schedule back with anything he sends to a school (If he doesn't have the schedule yet, have him send back the info and make sure he compiles a list of emails he needs to send once the schedule is available.)

You may have noticed that I have repeatedly said what he needs to do, and not once mentioned what you need to do. That is because he needs to take some responsibility and be accountable for his own recruitment. If you can provide opportunities for him (take him for unofficial visits, get him to college showcases, etc.) then you are going above and beyond in the process. There is little more frustrating for a coach recruiting a player than to for whatever the reason to feel like you are recruiting the kids parents rather than the player himself; whether it's a lack of responsibility on the players behalf or the parents are just too overprotective in the process.

Welcome!! You will soon be addicted, if you're aren't already. Be sure to explore everything on this site...not just the message boards. If you need a letter format to send to coaches, it's here. Recruiting rules and regs are scattered throughout..become familiar with the NCAA Clearinghouse website, too.

My son is halfway through his freshman year at college. Getting him there was a family effort and I understand how you might feel like "the star is in the sidelines, etc." It is a great idea to have him write a few letters or at least do some of the housekeeping. Some kids take to this..you'll see posts about kids who do all of it themselves, in fact. Others need a lot of prodding. some kids have absolutely no idea what they want in a college or a college baseball program.

The letters from baseball programs with the word "recruit" are really exciting. It DOES mean something and this might get your son more involved if he feels that he's drawing attention. This might be a good time for your son to consider what he is presenting to the world i.e Facebook, his outgoing greeting on his cell phone and his screenname/email address.

We started a filing system of letters received, letters sent and a spread sheet of when we sent out emails, letters and when we got responses. Believe me, when you're sending out lots of letters, you want to keep track. Good luck..and always, always ask questions. If you feel like you want to ask in confidence, use the private messaging option..I'm happy to answer your questions.

ATrain,

I agree with Infield08's remark:

"Letters that have the word "recruit" in it are most likely sent out to myriads of prospects. At this point, the colleges are casting a wide net."

However, I want to say this too: thinking that you're just one of thousands getting these letters can cause huge self doubt in your kid.

My son started doubting himself when he realized how many of these letters go out, to the extent where he actually believed that every single kid in America was getting them. Then the negative self talk kicked in and he was ... ahem ... difficult to live with.

In reality, your son is on someone's radar and that's huge when you realize just how many other players aren't.

After awhile, he stopped filling out the profiles since he thought it would all be fruitless.

Looking back, that was such a nerve-wracking time, and it all comes when, in terms of maturity, they can handle it least well!

Some really good advice I read here was to remember to talk about something else besides baseball sometimes and to just set those profiles aside and do them once a week. We helped him fill them out, too. We would fill in the basic stuff and he would fill in the answer to the questions, so that took a little of the pressure off.

I certainly remember that "campaign manager" feeling. In particular, when the college recruiting began to collide a little later with some pro recruiting, I felt like that had become my full time job.

Our son's apparent lack of interest at times (which made me crazy then) turns out to have been a coping mechanism. How else can a 16 or 17 year old manage that kind of attention when it just comes out of nowhere?

iheartbb's suggestion of keeping it all organized is a great suggestion.

With our other kids, we got them started on keeping a little file system in a cheap little portable file box when they were preparing for college applications and financial aid, etc. Later, it was gratifying to see at their apartments that they continued to keep their important paper filed.

We did the same with our young recruit, and it was less overwhelming to have it all in a file folder for referenced as needed. In it were additional copies of his schedule so he could send those as needed without having to do it all over again every time.

I recall that we spent a lot of time going over (and over) the recruitment timeline on HSBBW AND going through all the NCAA rules & recruitment calendar, and figuring out the Clearinghouse so that it all started to fall into place for all of us.

Eventually, we also helped our son create a couple of boilerplate email templates so he could touch base with the coaches he was most interested in playing for, altering what he said a little, but learning how to streamline that process.

All in all, son learned a lot about organization on top of making it through the recruiting process, and those tools have helped in college.

Best of luck to your son and your family. I hope we'll see a lot more of you around here!

The reason they cast a wide net at this point is because a lot of the players they want are going to go elsewhere or may not improve enough to play at that level. If your son has been sent that initial letter then he's in the mix, and if he continues to improve and express his interest in the school then he has a much better than 200:1 chance to catch on.

However, you have to take the same approach as the colleges and "recruit" a lot of schools unless your son is a potential early draft pick, because a lot of schools aren't going to have an opening at your son's position the year he's going into college or may get someone a little bit better at the last minute, etc.

quote:

Is that a standard letter they send to everyone in response to an introductory letter sent by our son or does it mean they actually have interest? How do you know for sure what the standard form letters are and when they actually have interest?

Welcome! Great question but there is no definite answer. We found that there were different letters, different methods and different words used by different coaches. However, ANYTHING you get from a college shows they have an interest in your son. How much interest remains to be seen. You should respond back in a timely manner keeping his name in the hat. The coach will be asking his staff the same questions you're asking now --- "I wonder if this young man (your son) REALLY has an interest in our program or is this just a standard reply to our letter?" I will warn you to not get too caught up in each tidbit of recruiting information you receive. It will drive you nuts trying to read between the lines. Recruiting is a process and not an event. I agree with CADad that you need to stay proactive and continue to develop (recruit) a lot of schools providing your son with additional opportunities. Recruiting is like the sand dunes of a dessert. Always shifting and changing on a regular basis.
Good luck and as they say ----- Enjoy the ride.
Fungo

quote:

Also, is it normal to feel like a campaign manager running some sort of election campaign

Yes................

But I prefer executive secretary.

Start the file system, initiate an email to each school of interest and store them in an e-file within your system. That said..........

Have him spend time on each college website where he shows interest as well as from the schools via the letter of interest.

Then, know the FITS:

Baseball FIT
Location FIT
Financial FIT
Academic FIT
Family FIT

Have fun on the roller coaster

Of course they all "cast a wide net". They are working on their marketing campaign just as we do on our players. They have gathered yur name from whatever source they use, kind of like what the credit card companies do.
You get a letter, you visit the website to learn about their school and their program, you sent back the questionaire, if they have an interest, they make it their business to invite you to their camp or go to watch you play. This is the first step in the recuiting process for both and to establish a relationship.
Often times recruits get questionaires and send them back, and then sit and wait. Sometimes you have to be more aggressive if you want something to happen, but results will only happen if you fit their criteria for what they are looking for, that includes, ability, grades, position, geography, etc. And they should fit your son's as well.

Be realistic in the recruiting process and everything will work out. Oldslugger suggests a good plan to follow.

Good luck and welcome to the HSBBW.

I am so glad I found this forum. I have been looking all week for something to stop this spinning we have just begun. My son was on the top 200 list at PG for 2010 class and the letters and e-mails have started flooding in. It's exciting but... So now we need to work on a profile and we have questions. Normally I would assume his high school coach could/would help but there is some issues on that page. Could be that his son is same age/class as my son. This coach also was our travel coach. We live in a small town. I think from reading these forums they call it daddyball.
So how do we get the information that the college's are requesting? The schools were impressive, Clemson, Miami, Virginia etc. We never expected this. He plays 3 sports and has fun. But his love is baseball pitching. It just seems way to soon to be doing this. He just turned 16 and is a sophomore.
Do we answer the letters with just the basic information? Do we have Guidance office help us? We really have no idea what to do.
He also has received offers for summer leagues but most are 3 to 4 hours away.
Just need some guidance. (Sorry for the rambling not much of a writer)

BBMom34,

First, congratulations to your son for making a big splash. That's terrific.

As to h.s. coach helping you, here's what I learned.

We're from a small town, too, and while son's h.s. coach was a fantastic coach and person, AND he had coached a number of kids who were drafted, including a second round choice out of high school, he'd never personally gone through this experience with any of his own sons.

While some coaches get more involved in the recruiting process than others, it's largely your family's game to play.

Your guidance counselor may help with class rank if you school does that. The coach should be able to give you the stats you need. Then the rest you fill out.

Our summer leagues were quite a drive, too (more like 2 - 3 hrs. one way) but it was well worth it. The coaches of summer league were very understanding about our drive and our son's inability to be there at 3:00 for practice on school days.

Best of luck with this experience.

A-Train.. Welcome to High School Baseball Web, the Greatest Website on the Planet Earth.

Just remember, your first and foremost duty as a member of HSBBW is tell at least 10 friends. That way, we can continue to grow.

Your post equating your role of parent to that of a campaign manager really hit home. That was exactly how I felt. And ktcosmos' analysis that this is a coping mechanism sounds about right. In my opinion, your son's focus at this stage in his high school career shouldn't be about the marketing aspect so much, but rather to work as hard as possible in the next year to become a marketable baseball player! So I think it is not only acceptable but appropriate that you handle his "campaign".. at least until next year.

I would first project your son's ability. Will he have D1-level skills by next year? DII? Juco? Concentrate on contacting--by email or phone--a good 50-60 of the programs which best suit your son's ability. Followup with a copy of your son's school and Summer schedule. Keep in contact, and go to a few college camps this year, along with a few showcases like Perfect Game. Get him on the best Summer team possible for exposure.

The recruiting process surely has gotten earlier and earlier. But do not fret. There are opportunities out there for nearly every high school player who wants to play college baseball. So if you concentrate on talent first and marketing second you'll be better off.

While we're on this subject, I want to ask those who've been through the process with their kid this:

How much help is too much help?

There seems to be a consensus that when the recruiting starts many kids aren't as believing or invested or committed to doing their part so parents take the reins to steer the process.

It's what happens after that I am asking about. Helping to keep it all organized is one thing, but beyond that we took a back seat.

In our home, there were a lot of profiles that didn't get completed and returned and more than one invitation to an event that went unacknowledged because our son had had enough, and we didn't step in and do them, they just went undone.

Likewise, we assisted him with making some contacts by letter or email, but we did not make others on his behalf without his participation.

It was hard NOT to just do it for him. As self-employed responsible people, it went against the grain NOT to respond to every request or invitation. But our feeling was, this is HIS career, not ours. If the natural consequences of not following through were going to kick in, then so be it.

Some other local parents described their own letter-writing campaigns, in which they sent more than 200 letters to schools, with no involvement from their son.

I bet our son may have had more looks and school choices had we done more of the process for him but it felt inappropriate to me at the time.

Was I wrong? Did I do too little?

It did all turn out ok, I should say. Son was drafted twice (not high!), opted to stay in school and is now happy to be at a strong D1 program.

Ok, now, let me have it!

ktcosmos
I think that is why our heads are spinning because as parents we really have not put him out there. He just happy that someone wants him to play baseball. But reading all these posts it seems as though we need to step up and not just accept the local stuff?
I guess I am not like other parents I think my son is good but most of all is he having fun and showing respect and giving respect for the game? Many people/coaches have approached us and told us he has a talent but we just say oh Thank You. He just likes to play. He makes all his choices we just encourage him to have fun. We know many people that have paid thousands of dollars for recruiting services but have passed on that route. I guess its okay to do it just family then. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMom34:
I am so glad I found this forum. I have been looking all week for something to stop this spinning we have just begun. My son was on the top 200 list at PG for 2010 class and the letters and e-mails have started flooding in. It's exciting but... So now we need to work on a profile and we have questions. Normally I would assume his high school coach could/would help but there is some issues on that page. Could be that his son is same age/class as my son. This coach also was our travel coach. We live in a small town. I think from reading these forums they call it daddyball.
So how do we get the information that the college's are requesting? The schools were impressive, Clemson, Miami, Virginia etc. We never expected this. He plays 3 sports and has fun. But his love is baseball pitching. It just seems way to soon to be doing this. He just turned 16 and is a sophomore.
Do we answer the letters with just the basic information? Do we have Guidance office help us? We really have no idea what to do.
He also has received offers for summer leagues but most are 3 to 4 hours away.
Just need some guidance. (Sorry for the rambling not much of a writer)

I would not doubt that your son being ranked the top 200 in his class by PG generated lots of interest and now gives you an opportunity to respond to them, instead of you having to go after them first. They will begin doing their homework from the questionaires received and begin an elimination process just as recruits do the same. Then by this coming fall they will begin to actively pursue your son more aggressively based on their interest. This might mean more letters and coming to watch your son play. Also, remember that your son must do well in the classroom as well as on the field.
All you can do now is provide the info they ask for and if you can't put N/A. But gather the proper info that they do request, which might include transcript, class number, GPA that you can get from the guidance office and make sure you get information on the clearinghouse to make sure he is taking the courses needed for D1 elibgibility. That may mean a trip for you and your son to the guidance counselor.

Good luck and welcome to the HSBBW.