PG-Ft. Myers

My son, who is also a 2015, has already committed to a school, but, prior to that for 2-3 years he had a group of 10-15 schools in which he was interested in attending and I had him email his schedule to all of these schools prior to every tournament.  Whether it is actually necessary or not seemed irrelevant as it forced him to start thinking about what he wanted from a school prior to having to make a decision.  When the time came to actually make a decision, everything happened pretty quickly and we were glad we had done the up front research.  Process is different for everyone, but, I think you always have to be as prepared as possible.

There's a tremendous amount of great advice on this site.  We followed the recruiting timeline for our 2012 (now playing in college) and are doing so again with our 2016.

The timeline highlights that the player be proactive and responsible for his recruiting.

Some travel ball / high school coaches do help "market" their players to colleges, but in our experience (and I think what most on this site would recommend) the messaging/"marketing" of your player is the responsibility of your son and to some extent, the parents/guardians.

When we went to a showcase or tournament or camp, my son messaged his schedule to the coaches at schools he was interested in attending.  Did not assume that the travel team coach or high school coach would take care of it.  There are obviously a lot of other things to communicate with coaches about and my son scheduled regular communications (calls, emails, letters) to the schools on his list.

Thank you NH57 and Branson Baseball for your responses.  This was pretty much my thinking as well.  Especially to contact the schools that he's interested in and the ones that have showed some interest in him.  I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy for being a little concerned here. As I keep telling my son, there are no do overs, I want to make sure he is doing the right things.

My son went last year as a 2014.  He and a few others generated some interest from schools that were there, which continued until the following Summer.  Go ahead and send email to any school you are interested in, that is going to be there, telling them when son will pitch.  It shows you have interest in the school as well. 

baseballmomx4,

From your description, it sounds to me like your son's coach has been around for a while and has contacts with many college coaches.  If that's the case, he will probably be a great asset in your son's recruiting process.  If that isn't the case, or if you feel like the coach isn't focusing enough on the right academic fit, then your son probably needs to get more involved.

Since the coach has given his blessing to make contacts, I would definitely have your son do so.  My 2015 started sending e-mails to coaches about a year ago, and started making phone calls on September 1st.  He stumbled at the beginning, but now he's a seasoned veteran.  Just yesterday he received an e-mail from one of these coaches wanted to know if he'll be in Ft Myers.  His efforts haven't resulted in an offer yet, but I know for a fact that a few coaches have come to see him play because of it, which is the objective. (Of course, they still have to like what they see.)

If your son knows his pitching schedule in advance, he should send that information to the schools he's interested in.

Be poactive as many have said. My 2014 waited, he wasn't proactive and I did not push him to be. Figured I gave him the info, he needed to send the info to coaches. He finally started to mid summer when some emailed him. He still didn't push until end of July. He was lucky, he had a local college that saw him on their own and really like him, But he did not give himself much opportunity for others to see him. He counted on other colleges just seeing him and guess what, they were busy watching others who had been proactive. He was sweating out an offer until just last weekend. When he did contact all the colleges he was interested in, most were full or nearly so and we were going to have to make a giant effort for him to be seen.

I did set up a data base for him with contacts, emails, phone numbers etc. I helped him write his first emails. we put together a boilerplate email for different things he could start with for different types of emails, then he customized them to the individual colleges.

I did that in fall of 2012, same place you are for 2015 now. I truly believe if he had been more proactive in his search of a college he would have had more choices. I think who he ended up commiting to might have still been where he ended up, but he really gave himself little choice and if they hadn't come thru, this would have been a VERY long winter.

I just re read my email to proof for spelling (because I type terribly). I must REALLY like the word proactive LOL 

Thank you for your replies Mid Atlantic Dad and Chef Mike.  Even though his coach does have a lot of connections, I still will have him contact the schools that he is interested in. I do want him to be proactive  in this situation rather than sit back and wait.  I told my son that anything can happen. This coach could pick up and move next week, or get a new job, and then what?? Chef Mike, I read through your posts last week. Congratulations to you and your son.

baseballmomx4 Thanks, we are excited and relieved. He went to a practice wednesday  (not our first one there but they have new coaches and so new pitching coach- he was promoted from volunteer so has been helping with pitchers for 4 years there) and that was really good. Wednesady evening he ent to conditionin for basketball. When he came home, he said it is so nice not to have to think about where he is going to play baseball but just concentrate on the conditioning and school.I can tell he has a weight off his shoulders on making the decision, much more relaxed kid.

Thanks again Chef Mike. I wish your son all the luck in the world. I can imagine it must be a relief to be done. I know everyone says enjoy it, and of course I love watching them play, but all the rest of this stuff I'm finding very stressful.  So happy I found this site last year.  Lots of great people and great info. Hopefully by #4 I'll be a pro and come back and give everyone else advice. lol

My advice is to pick a few colleges you want to attend and go to their camps/showcases. My 2015 targeted one D1 college as his preferred choice. We signed up for their showcase, he performed well and walked away with an offer. These D1 staff's do not have the resources to see every summer game and rarely make it out during high school season. you need to go to them!!! Do not expect a high school coach or summer coach to help you. The burden is on the parents to market their players.

Right on ECTIGER. That is exactly the best way to go.

We have contacted many coaches and they ALL invite you to their camps.

Not to say they won't look you up at the PG Tourney,as one SEC school told us they will be in Ft Meyers. But like you said there are too many kids to see.

That's why PG and their staff are so important.

I will add, however that while the responses are camp invites, There is that process of communication that is good to start.

They invite. We thank them. And they wish us well and hope to see us.