Not having a good season.

First, get past all the accusations of favoritism now. There are a lot of people on this board who won't want to hear it. In your son's recruiting journey no one is going to want to hear it. It will have you come off as "one of those parents." Favoritism does happen. But rarely does a talented kid get benched after starting for many years. Most people will think it's something else. So stop making excuses and get over it whether it's real or not. The objective is to find an alternate route.

 

Your son has made one mistake already. He put all his eggs in one basket. The basket crashed on him. He should have made a list of what colleges he wanted to play baseball and figured out how to get in front of them. In addition to playing Legion he should have been attending individual showcases and prospect camps.

 

The showcase season mostly dies down by the end of July. But it ramps back up in September through December. Your son still has time. But he better get moving. Stay away from the excuses. No one wants to hear them. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt you're frustrated in the moment. Keep your cool. This can all work out. The first thing before targeting school and showcases for the fall have a good understanding of where your son potentially fits in to college baseball. You don't have time to be wrong and target the wrong market. D1s will have filled their 2015 class by the time your son gets started unless he's a gotta have stud a team can find a roster spot for. It's definitely not too late for D3s and JuCos. I'm not familiar with the D2 recruiting schedule.

 

Your son needs to make a list and email his target schools as soon as possible. Email the head coach and the assistant in charge of recruiting. This information can be found on team websites. Express his interest in the school and the baseball program. Explain he's graduating in 2015. Ask where how and where he can get in front of them between now and the end of the fall.

 

Do not mistake skill camps for prospect camps. You want to find a place to play, not help finance their spring trip. Your son will play college baseball if he wants to. It's just a matter of wanting it and focusing on getting there. Good luck.

 

Reminder: Stay away from the drama and accusations of politics and favoritism. No one will want to hear it. Build a positive sounding pitch. There's an old saying that goes something like "Half the people don't want to hear your problems. The other half are happy you have them."

NE Mom, RJM has given you a lot of good suggestions.  I just took a quick look, and just found a few quality showcase events that are scheduled soon in the MA, NJ, and PA areas.

 

In addition, I often ask our clients "who is your best advocate?".  It appears that it's not his HS or Legion coach.  Does he have a private hitting instructor, or is there an assistant coach who is strong in your son's corner?  If so, ask them to help with contacts that they have.

 

RJM, Thank you for your feedback. My posting didn't have a lot of additional information so I will respond to your reply.  My son does have a list of colleges that he would like to checkout and has contacted coaches.  We did a Feb. break college trip to visit schools and he spoke with the coaches. He has been planning this for years and we are friends with a college coach that was helpful in this process. We did a lot of homework knowing this was to be the year to get looked at as a 2015 grad.  He has attended showcases(last summer ) and has shown well. None this year so far.  A college coach told us it would be this summer he would be looked at more closely. We were also refereed to a recruiter to help us with the process after a trainer saw him hit over the winter. (he is a local recruiter with 20+ years experience...not a recruiting co.) He also has had a private hitting coach for the last 4 years that is a scout for the MLB. He is a reference/contact we are using. He has asked coaches for feedback on his skills and what he needs to work on and where he may be a good fit. All of this before our college visits. One comment given: work on release point. That's it. When the season started this year there was nothing said to him that he would not be catching because of XYZ.  Before the season started we sat down with the recruiter to go over his baseball career and talked about catching and OF since he has versatility.  Feels kinda weird to talk to the recruiter about the successes your son has had catching for so long and then when he wants to come see him play...he's not catching.   We do not have rose colored glasses on and by no means does he have to go to a D1.  We are looking for the best fit.  We have a video of his skills and he does plan on attending prospect camps.  I was concerned that having a "less than he is used to" season it would affect his college chances.  I hear what you are saying about excuses.  Not trying to make any but I've been around a long time there some things that are very obvious.  That's life, don't have to like it but we are pressing on. I love the great feedback here and yours was very helpful!!!

 

If he needs to work on his catching you might want to look into this. If nothing else there are some good online tutorials. My son caught through age twelve. The online conversations I had with these people are consistent with what a MLB catcher taught my son.

 

http://www.catchingcamp.com/

 

 

Your son should find a travel program for the fall and get on the stick with his recruiting.

 

He should join the very best team that will play him regularly.

 

It is fair to ask the travel coach what his playing time will be.  "Coach, we do not question your authority, but if in your judgment he is not good enough to see the field on your team, then I hope you can understand we need to move on to another team."

 

To me, your tale is all too common among players who eschew recruiting-oriented travel teams in reliance upon HS and Legion.  Happily, it's not necessarily too late, though obviously earlier would've been better.  Good luck.

With all of the people you state you have spoken with (college coach, trainer, scout who is his hitting coach, recruiter)I dont understand why anyone hasnt recommended him to some program?

Our recruiter is starting up a travel program specifically for players that do want to go to college and play baseball.  Being that it is a new program being developed and we are not familiar with all of this...we will be looking on here for great advise. It gets confusing when our baseball go-to's all have a different opinions when it comes to the questions we ask about recruiting.

You will get better and honest answers here...for free!
Ask away!

Can you define what you expect the recruiter to do for your son? Then I'm sure you will get feedback here whether he's of value. My opinion is you can learn every thing of value from this board. Some advice may be harsh. But it will be honest. To me the only value of a recruiter is if he's connected to a lot of college coaches and is a credible reference in the coach's view.

One thing you will want to do right away is find out exactly what events your recruiter plans on having the team attend.  Sometimes it is difficult for a start-up team to get invites or accepted into the key recruiting/showcase tourneys and events.  Also, be aware that it is fairly normal for a start-up to make mistakes the first time or two around so you may find yourself in a position where you thought you would be attending a key event but the team ends up not making it (for any one of a variety of reasons).  Check regularly on status of events, who has paid, etc.  Hopefully, your guy putting this together is well connected and this will be a non-factor but considering you and son are basically down to the last 3/4 year to make things happen, you don't have any margin for error.

 

I see there is a Perfect Game Northeast Top Prospect Showcase in mid August.  Any chance your son is scheduled to attend?  If not, you may consider trying to get him there.  Not cheap but these are the cream of the crop when it comes to showcases. 

They won't care whether he is playing now or not, they will judge based on what they see and measure.  Also, you will not be reliant on a team making the trip. 

 

BTW, the differing opinions is not uncommon, largely because everyone's journey is different and even those who have been around the block will have their POV's slanted by their own personal experiences.  One of the great things about this site is that you will get lots of POVs from may who have been in your shoes. 

Good advice...and questions.  The only showcase we were told that was worth going to was Headfirst. I know...crazy, but it was said.  While I have seen good responses on here regarding Headfirst...my son does not have straight A's and the colleges listed are not ones he is focusing on.  We worked with the recruiter as he wanted to know which schools my son was interested in going to. We are looking at schools that would be a better fit for his academics.  The recruiter had his video professional do his skills video to send out.  The Perfect Game Showcase is during the same time the tryouts are for the new team being put together.

   I may be wrong, but I felt that having a recruiter help with this process and focus on colleges that were a good fit with academics, we would then get him in front of the interested coaches where ever that may be...prospect camp or a showcase knowing there were coaches wanting to see him.  Too many times I hear stories of players attending showcases and they do not hear anything afterwards. It seems there can be 100's of kids attending one showcase but if you are already on a coaches radar then you will be looked at.  Once again, more talk from others experience. 

  I hope we are doing some things right at this point.  We will figure it out and you will someday see the results posted on here....probably under what "to do" and 'not do" for recruiting.

 

Forget about the recruiter. 

 

1. Get someone who has NO VESTED interest in your son to get an idea of his skill level. Not a hitting coach or any other coach that will take his money. Contact a local College or JC coach, someone who will give you a real HONEST opinion. 

 

Dialog me a link to your video and I will give you my 2 cent. (FWIW) I will send it to someone who will also give you an honest opinion. BTW what is his pop time as a catcher?

 

2. Make a list of target schools he is interested in and send them a video link with his profile and where he will be playing. This is a lot of work and takes a lot of time to match up his academic interest, big vs small, baseball program, cost, distance from home, etc etc, This is the list from 3 years ago for my son. Use it as a template the information is out of date and West Coast based anyway, except for the Ivy''s.

 

https://docs.google.com/spread...;usp=drive_web#gid=0

 

Here is a link to all of the D3 schools with baseball programs. You are on the East Coast so the good news for you is that most of the D3 programs are on the "wrong coast" 

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/m...b3b44&dg=feature

 

3. Get on a known team with a known coach who has placed kids. Forget the startups they will have no credibility with coaches or a network. You don't have the time for them to develop it.

 

4. The others have given you some ideas on what else to do in your area. 

 

You will get lots of help here but it up to your son and you to take control of the process and it is a LOT OF WORK. 

 

Good Luck

 

 

Also but the online version of US News and World report on colleges, It's the best $25 you will spend. Also buy a couple of others. Princeton and I forgot the other one we used. Go to collegeconfidential also. Make it your son's job to do all of this with your help. 

 

I can't underestimate how many hours you and your son will need to spend going through all of these sources and having discussions. It is a great experience BTW.

 

I did one more thing for you, I took my son's profile and stripped most of the information away so you can take it and make one for your son. I left some of the verbiage there to give you an idea on what to write. Every kid has a story so dig through all of his accomplishments and make one for him. Remember you are trying to get a recruiter to stop and say hmmm I want to take a second look at this kid. 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/...VjA/edit?usp=sharing

 

Sounds to me like Juco for a year or two might be in his best interest.  the showcases are extremely important and the perfect game one will let you know how he really stacks up.  I will tell you one thing that might help Your stress though, my sons HS team had 14  seniors of 10 wanted to play college ball.  Before and During the school season only 3 signed.  After playoffs until this last week 5 more have found a spot (one a D1 school who lost a player to the draft).  It's not to late.  Get him in one at least one PG showcase, also check the Juco's they will hold tryouts all summer and some in the fall.  Good luck.  Tell him to out work everyone else it is in his control.

Great work everyone!

 

CC me on this suggestion, NE Mom. I'm in.

 

Not to highjack, but I have a question.  Give the situation in the original post with the kid not really playing, would anyone recommend he "quit" the team to workout, attend events and maybe find opportunities elsewhere? 

Depends on NE Mom's actual definition of "not playing"   Good point, though.  Yes, if he really is getting little-to-no PT and they don't practice much, it should be a strong consideration.

NE Mom, you have a dialog.

NE Mom,

 

I'm going to chime in only because you are relatively new, and maybe not sure what to make of this advice.  You have apparently peaked the interest of others to the extent that they are offering more help than anonymous feedback.

 

Most on here for various reasons post anonymously.  Understand that those offering advice on this particular thread have reached out with a wealth of experience and knowledge.  You have replies from High level high school coach with sons playing at the next level, professional baseball scout, dads with son playing college / pro ball, one of the most baseball savvy moms with a son playing professional ball, etc.... I only point this out to let you know that the advice, and help offered comes from those who have been where you are, and those who understand the process.  I'd be very confident that these individuals are giving you advice, and help that cannot be purchased anywhere.

 

Good luck!

LOL you were one of the guys I was going to send it to....great minds....was also going to track down Jerry Weinstein, which would be about as good as it can get for a catcher eval I think. 

 

I can reach out to Jerry also…yes, it doesn't get much better than him.

 

Wow. I am humbled, impressed, and amazed at the generous advice that has been offered.

I have a 2018 Catcher and we are just starting to think about schools, etc. I will certainly be reaching out to this group over the coming years  

I have one question. When is the best time to go to a showcase. Most camps say High School 2015-2018 grads, etc but I am concerned that although my 18' is very strong when compared to other 18', he would not look good against 2015's and 2016's 

Thoughts?

 

Attend a showcase with a reasonable cost for experience.  Or a catchers camp.  When he makes varsity look for a better option for a credible evaluation.

 

Be careful not to push him too early, as he has time.  My 2017 will attend his first PG showcase next month in NJ.  It's an underclass one and I do believe he is ready for it.  But he and I thought this through first.

 

 

With the bolded portion of your post, you have answered your own question.  For most, attending true showcases is for the purpose of getting in front of (and impressing) college RC's and HC's.  If he won't look good against the other 2015's and 2016's that will be there, he probably isn't doing himself any favors. This is a good thread to tie in your question - if you read thru, you will see that the 2015 OP is borderline on being too late.  Depending on where your son may eventually fit, he will want to target high profile showcases either between soph and junior (particularly if he is a potential D1 kid) or between junior and senior year.  Keep following how that schedule is trending, though, as it may be creeping forward. Other variables come into play as well.  It wouldn't hurt to have him attend a local showcase or two sooner to get comfortable with the format as well as pick up any feedback and start to get some comparison as to where he fits in. 

I am so amazed by the generosity of this group.  This thread is very beneficial to many others in addition to the original poster - thank you.

I agree with the advise to attend a relatively inexpensive showcase now for the experience.  Then next summer get him into a PG showcase.  Also insure he is on the best team he can play for fall and next summer.  Look for teams that attend tournaments that attract the schools he likes.  Make sure it's a team he can play for, setting doesn't help at all.  Mine graduated this year, and even after him getting drafted I kind of wish we could start over from where you are, it's an amazing family journey, don't take this time for granted it will fly by and he will remember his HS years the rest of his life.

Seriously! after work I'm going to check out the links posted above.

 

NE Mom...You've got gold here! I hope you take advantage of what these amazing people are offering you.

I am taking it all in.  I knew this website would be great.

I wonder how NE Mom and son are doing. 

My experience is people who come here complaining and looking for reinforcement of their beliefs don't return when they don't get it. Those who allow the water in the face to wake them up become active members to gather advice. I'm betting her son's recruiter had his own view of this board and advised her to stay away. This board could cost him money.

I have a catchers developmental plan (22 pages) that you can have if he is looking to get better. Pm me.