paid college education

TPM,

Interesting question.

A few things.

I never helped them play hard. That was always their decision - not mine or my wife's. They are the ones having to do it - not us. I stopped playing in 1980 - and my wife never played.

As for them - only they could answer the question - but my guess would be that they couldnt care less either. They just want to play and win.

I never saw any of the other stuff as anything other than giving them what they earned and what they asked for.

As for college recruiting - and all the BS that goes with it - I still couldnt care less.

My son never played baseball to pay for college. We didn't "approach" recruiting because we didn't know at the time there even was such a process or the options that existed. He played baseball because he loved it - it was just what he did. Would we do it any differently if we knew that college was already half paid for? No.

quote:

Originally posted by itsinthegame:
As for college recruiting - and all the BS that goes with it - I still couldnt care less.

Some folks would be surprised at some of the inner workings of college baseball recruiting.

I suppose Polk really has it pegged. The fractional grant monies really skew the process. If all college baseball coaches had 30 full rides to hand out, and money wasn't the issue, and had that aspect eliminated from the equation, you would see college head coaches spending more time hard-selling themselves, the assistants, and the school itself.

The red-headed stepchild that is college baseball is truly the understatement of college sports.

And is a major feeder system to MLB????? Who you gonna blame?

It's a good question, because it brings out what the priorities of the prospect are.

That being said, I have told my kids long ago that they will pay for college, not me. I believe vesting their financial future with their decisions makes them more responsible for their actions. I realize I am in the minority here, but that's ok.

My older sons decision to play at Army however, was not based on the fact that he would not pay for his education in dollars but in service. He was more drawn to the educational qualities, lifestyle, and purpose. He had significant scholarship offers from some universities, and I only bring that up for perspective.

Having been a basketball coach for years, I preach the same to my sons as my former players...if you have a talent that someone wishes to use, leverage it for as much future as you can. i.e. get the most valuable degree, not the best team.

JMHO

We never counted on dollars from baseball grants as a means of paying for the school, playing baseball is his life and was a added benefit as a way to get into the school of his choice.

All the travel we did with his travel team was a great way of seeing the country and to get to know some of the top players in the area and against some of the top players in the country.

Playing in and winning some of the top tournaments in the country was the topping on the whole experience.

It's surprising how many pre high school parents don't know baseball and softball only have 11.7 and 12 rides. They talk like their kids are going to get a full ride. The sad thing is their ignorance regarding the number of rides available is exceeded by the view their 10U to 14U stud is going to get one.

I don't know about anyone else, but I had no clue either.

We weren't thinking college (neither was he) in pre high school, it was about having fun.

quote:

Originally posted by TG:
It's surprising how many pre high school parents don't know baseball and softball only have 11.7 and 12 rides. They talk like their kids are going to get a full ride. The sad thing is their ignorance regarding the number of rides available is exceeded by the view their 10U to 14U stud is going to get one.

same thing happens all the time in this area! Of course they never believe us when we tell them 11.7!

quote:

Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom:
I don't know about anyone else, but I had no clue either.

We weren't thinking college (neither was he) in pre high school, it was about having fun.

It's a shock isn't it! I never thought about our son playing baseball at the next level until about a year or so ago. We realized he was doing well, and He was telling us he wanted to a pro! gulp. So the first thing we did was a bit of research. We printed out several articles from a website dedicated to high school baseball....

Helps tremendously to put things in focus.

quote:

We weren't thinking college (neither was he) in pre high school, it was about having fun.

[qoute]
You go down on one knee and bless yourself, "Thank God for making me a ballplayer," because this is heaven. - Bill Lee describing the first time he walked into Fenway Park [/qoute]

My feeling and what I conveyed to my son, at HS age 15/16
Let the game take you as far as you can go.
Use it as an end to a means.
Work hard,
And have Fun along the way.
Remember Your Not ( insert name ) the Baseball player.
Your ( insert name ) , Who happens to play baseball.

EH

quote:

Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom:
I don't know about anyone else, but I had no clue either.

We weren't thinking college (neither was he) in pre high school, it was about having fun.

College sports were never a discussion in our house until my daughter hit the college recruiters radar screens when she was fifteen and verballed at sixteen. Personally, I never saw it coming. Until her soph year/summer travel there was nothing about her play that hinted at the potential. Maybe it was growing (late) fourteen inches in eighteen months. Once she verballed, guess what eleven year old JR's goal became?

I used to hear "You'll never have to worry about paying for college with him" going back to when he was little. I just thanked people and laughed it off. It's a clueless statement to make about a pre high schooler. Parents were always telling him how good he was and ask if he was going to play in college (pick the sport in season). I keep him in perspective by telling him to make the high school team and star before thinking about college ball. He believes college ball is his right of passage because of dad and sister. But he works hard at it. We'll see.

Other than this board with all the focus on college ball, I don't think about him playing college ball. I bookmark valuable websites I learn about here for future reference. I think about how to help my son (skills and mentally) get to the high school varsity lineup. I don't have a dream of him playing at a major D1 and turning pro. My dream is he plays at Penn and graduates with an undergraduate degree from the Wharton School of Business. This means he'll spend as much time in SAT prep as he will in the batting cages in a couple of years.

I know plenty of dads with kids my son's age who spend a lot of time plotting their son's baseball future right into college ball. It started when the privates started recruiting our boys in 13U. Can you believe these schools ran showcase tournaments and had radar guns on 13U pitchers? I entered my team due to the quality of competition. I listened to the pitch and compared notes with other dads. It didn't take long to figure out these schools were over recruiting. They were bringing in ten future prospects per freshman year.

It sure has changed from when I was a kid. The only choices we had were play LL, then Babe Ruth, then high school/Legion. There weren't other options. No one thought about being prospects for college or pro ball. We found out by our coaches telling us. I just figured as long as I went to school/college I'd play ball. I never thought about D1 or D3.

My guy has his eye on the larger prize. He has since he was 10. What was I to say? He asked "Dad, do you think I can play baseball in the majors?" What was i supposed to say? No? Of course I said "If you work hard enough it is possible", Or "Yes Son, I believe in you". And so it went on, year after year. Until we both actually believed it was possible to play professionaly, "At least he can bang around in the minor leagues" I would think. His education is important to us, but his love and energy, and his joy come when he steps onto the baseball field. So now he is a Senior in HS. And College looks like the next stepping stone in the path of his journey. We (His Mother or I, or anyone else for that matter) don't know, but there is no doubt in his mind that he will play at the level beyond college. Whether that is based in reality or not, only time will tell.

Right after his first season of kid pitch my son told me he was going to play in the major leagues someday so it was never about the money for college. Of course I gave him the usual parental explaination of the dedication, hard work, talent, and just plain luck that might take but he never faltered. Now he is a college freshman and still working hard as ever as he came home for Fall Break and asked me to grab the bucket-o-balls and take him down to the cage because he didn’t want to miss any cuts over the holidays.

Personally, I am thankful for baseball as he was always a good student but he has never been that excited about school so baseball gave him a reason to keep his grades up and to attend college. It also kept him busy enough to keep him out of some of the mess that a few of his non playing HS friends got into.

My boys and I were riding down the road in the old pickup, listening to the Tiger pregame aand Jim Leyland came on to talk about his years spent in the minors. They asked him what did you tell those young players.... his answer was if your chasing the money, you probably won't make it, but if you chase the dream you probably will. Boy did that message hit home, we talked at length about that statement and what it meant to them. And as if I didn't already know it,my boys really really love baseball.

We work pretty closely with an organization that has many ties to mlb,d1,d2,juco's, so my boys are able to interact and see what some of this stuff means as well as myself.With what I've learned in my time here on this site it helps put some of it together.As for them, do they have the dream of playing beyond high school? You bet! And I tell them don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't.

quote:

Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom:
Is baseball just the catalyst to pay for school, or is playing baseball in school the catalyst for bigger things for your player?

I'm going to chime in for upwards of 1/2 of all those playing college baseball...those at the DIII level.
For the most part, none of them are receiving money that is associated with playing baseball.
Despite that, and maybe because of it, they play the game with passion and love. While the games are not played with the quality of DI/DII, you could not tell when you see the effort, hustle, desire and intensity. It is baseball that motivates most of them to miss out on social activities, and to do everything required of every other student, even though 20 plus hours per week are spent on buses, airplanes and baseball fields.
For 99% of the DIII players, there isn't anything bigger than playing and baseball pays them nothing for the opportunity.
Interesting how the experiences of our sons impacts our views of how baseball fits into college.

Both of my guys dreamed the dream of pro ball at an early age. The oldest is now a senior in college, D-III level, will likely see little playing time, but absolutely should have his picture in the dictionary under "loves the game". He will not be drafted, he will not go pro, he won't even start very often if at all this season. He does love his teammates, he is undeniably the team leader in "keeping it loose", and he's the one guy with so much charisma that he can say almost anything to the coaches, with just enough humor to get away with it. He loves the school, but does not like...school. Enough GPA to graduate is his goal. I gave up arguing about grades several grey hairs and wrinkles ago. He is what he is. He would beyond any doubt not have stayed 5 years to get a degree if he were not playing baseball. He would make a great coach someday as he's one of those disgusting types who can watch a kid swing and instantly diagnose 2-3 teeny tiny flaws detectable only by somebody that knows exactly what they're looking for..unlike me who only sees a swing. He says TV commentators are wrong on describing pitches just about 50% of the time. If he were asked to wade through three miles of hog slop to play a baseball game, he'd been in the slop in a nanosecond.

I suspect he'll be very successful at something, but it won't be playing professional baseball. He loves the game, and has learned lots about character, hard work, discipline, and the frequent seemingly unfairness of life. He will forever be able to say "I played college ball". That will open some doors for him. He has enjoyed every second.

Who paid for all this simply doesn't matter.

Nice post, hokie.......

Hokie,

Ditto!

For us the money was a major part of our decision. We are out of state and when my son was a frreshman it cost 24 cents on the dollar. I could send my son to a top uninversity here for under $5000.00 dollars plus room and board if he went out of town. BB money was ahuge consideration for us. He got max academic money from all the schools we got interest and offers from.
Simply without the BB money my son would not be playing D1. I negotiated very hard for the BB money and my son was not a part of this. I told him his job was to play ball and do well in school. As it has turned out he is doing what he loves and for less thyan it would cost to go to a local school. Financially the 1st year was tough but now with the strong CDN dollar, his job, and the scholarships it is really inexpensive.
To say money was not a major factor for us is farthest from the truth. It reflects in no way my son's love for the thrill of D1 BB.

Hokie, I just love the DIII guys. Your son sounds like a truly special one.
Stories like yours are refreshing.

Hokie there are lots of opportunities for guys who may not turn pro. One guy who went to a local University and played ball became the Blue Jays roving scout in Florida and is now one of the top guys in the organization. my son wants to be involved in BB even if he doesn't go anywhere after college. He has an offer to tryout for a team in the Independant League when he graduates but many doors are opened by BB.