Playing in College Question

You know downandout...I'm pretty sure you will get a myriad of replies to this post. Some good, some bad. Some informative, some off the wall.

When I read this post of yours the first thing to come to mind was why? Does he want to do this, or do you and are encouraging it? It speaks volumes to me that if something isn't good enough, i.e. the team, then abandon it and and your teammates. Your son is only a Junior. Let him enjoy his last year in highschool with his friends and teammates. My son is a Senior this year and I would give anything right now if he was starting over in the 9th grade just to keep him home. This last year has awakened in him the things that were not once as important, i.e. close friends, church, teammates, coaches, every single game, his bed, mom's cooking, dad's pep talks, etc, etc.

Your son will grow up soon enough. Take this time to teach him how to not throw in the towel on his team and be that spark of hope to them for next year. You never know what may happen.

You asked for any thoughts. There is mine.

Those are good thoughts, YoungGunDad.............

Being a good player on a bad team will teach you a lot about his competitiveness and maturity. It'll be good for him in the long run. He'll either be the leader and help the team improve, or play selfish baseball and come home and complain everyday about how bad the other players on the team are. Being a "player coach", and helping the others, will teach him more about the game than any juco coach (and I'm one) can teach him in a year. It'll give him a chance to see the game from the big picture, rather than just focusing solely on his role.

www.blastbat.com

quote:

Originally posted by downandout:
Can a HS player sign with a JUCO or college team after his junior HS season, then graduate early in December, then go to play for the college team that spring?

Yes he can, if the coach and school allows him to do so. It also allows him to be drafted earlier.

It's a personal decision and understand that the clock starts ticking as soon as he sets foot on campus, if he has not practiced with the team in the fall, he might waste valuable time on the bench. He has to be pretty darn good to win a start over an older more experienced player.

More important than baseball.. Would your son want to miss his sr prom,class trip, attending his graduation??? time and memories with friends?

downandout,

If your son graduates early from his highschool in the December of his senior year, I believe he will have missed playing Fall ball with his future college team.

From what I hear, Fall ball is usually a vital prerequisite towards who makes the starting roster for the Spring. ( Especially for incoming freshman ).

Keep in mind, senior season and senior year are a part of lifetime memories. Win or lose, good or bad, its a chunk of the childhood puzzle.


Best of luck. It's a big decison.

down

Is your son part of the reason the team is "lousy" as you term it?

Your attitude makes me nervous

Is your son that good that he transcends the team?


Many kids play on losing teams and still have great HS careers--- adn then go on to be solid college players

Please don't misunderstand me, I would love for my son to play his HS senior season. But our school is a football school and our bball coaches do absolutely nothing to develop or help players go to the next level. Our pitchers for example, nine out of ten pitches are curveballs, these guys take the easy way out. I have even thought about moving him to a private school for his last year. It sucks but that it is the way it is and there is nothing we can do but get him out of there asap. You can't transfer to another school because they won't sign a release to play so my options are limited.

quote:

Originally posted by Randy Powell:
there is no way that getting to play in high school is a waste of time.

That simply isn't true.

Since you brought the question to the forum , I want to ask,...
Is your son wanting to graduate early in December,
or is this just a question from a parental point of view?

If we know the answer to this, we may be able to help better.

As i see it it you have one option here:

Learn to live with it and allow your son the opportunity to learn how to learn to deal with adversity---if you think this is tough wait until he is a college freshman and he is sitting on the bench earning his spurs---what will you do then?

quote:

Originally posted by downandout:
Please don't misunderstand me, I would love for my son to play his HS senior season. But our school is a football school and our bball coaches do absolutely nothing to develop or help players go to the next level. Our pitchers for example, nine out of ten pitches are curveballs, these guys take the easy way out. I have even thought about moving him to a private school for his last year. It sucks but that it is the way it is and there is nothing we can do but get him out of there asap. You can't transfer to another school because they won't sign a release to play so my options are limited.

Many HS coaches are teachers etc. who do not develop players or have the connections or interest to help players play at the next level. Thats why you pay for lessons,play summer ball and attend showcases.
For many players HS ball has little to do with players going to the next level.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by downandout:
Our pitchers for example, nine out of ten pitches are curveballs, these guys take the easy way out. I have even thought about moving him to a private school for his last year. [QUOTE]

Talk about taking the easy way out. It's amazing to see how many kids these days move to different school districts to "improve" their baseball experience, change summer teams, transfer from one college to another, and sometimes multiple times. Kind of pathetic.

www.blastbat.com

quote:

Can a HS player sign with a JUCO or college team after his junior HS season, then graduate early in December, then go to play for the college team that spring?

one of our webster's son did it at FSU and it seemed to work out well

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
down

Is your son that good that he transcends the team?

The goal is to transcend the situation.

Playing for your school should include fun, pride of school colors, and developing relationships under a common goal. It is also where leadership skills can start developing. An adverse baseball situation can help one deal with the failures associated with the game.

Playing in the summer has more meaning as far as recruiting.

Old Slugger


Not talking about goals here


I was asking if the kid is that good that he transcends the team


Perhaps Daddy is more concerned than the boy

quote:

Talk about taking the easy way out. It's amazing to see how many kids these days move to different school districts to "improve" their baseball experience, change summer teams, transfer from one college to another, and sometimes multiple times. Kind of pathetic.

How do you think these kids handle the business world after the wonderful lessons on bailing their parents taught them? Maybe we should call it Jeff George Disease. He played football for three high schools and two colleges. When he got to the NFL he had trouble getting along with coaches and teammates. He never fulfilled his potential.

quote:

Perhaps Daddy is more concerned than the boy

So what TRhit, maybe Daddy wants what's best for his son. There are a few of those parents still around.

quote:

transfer from one college to another

College is a business, period. They are there to make money just like any other business.
If you are unhappy at your business, not enough money, you look elsewhere. If you get tired of or don't like the line of work your in, you look elsewhere.
If a student does not like the education he is receiving or school he is attending, he changes schools or drops out. No different for an athlete. If he is disappointed in his lack of playing time, he has every right to transfer (with penalty). If a player is disappointed they cut his scholly money and it cost him more money to attend this business, he has every right to transfer (with penalty).

Each person including student and athlete is different, each situation is different. To use such a wide brush in painting athletes that transfer is just wrong and closed minded.

Balk, we're talking about a high school kid here. The age where they are most impressionable.

Why jump start him this way now to leave if he's not happy with the status quo? Sure, he can when he's in college where it's more acceptable, but not doggone high school. Please.

Young,

Please, reread my post. That's all it talks about is college transfers. I don't agree with high school transfer unless it's purely academic purposes only. Now would you have a problem with that?

First of all it would be to serve two purposes, the education is number one. My son is in the top of his class academically and he has taken several dual credit courses while in high school. Both he and I want him to get college behind him and if he can play baseball while doing it thats great. As far as the high school and the team, he is a starter and enjoys his coaches and teammates. But that doesn't mean he is married to a high school, he is just asking about merely moving on with his life early. Kind of taking an assertive approach to getting the school work over with as soon as he can. And since his SAT scores are high and he could easily be done accumulating HS credits, the only reason to stay on for his senior spring would be to play ball and take a course in how to kick antpiles. I really want to thank the group, you guys, all included, have great comments. It is a big decision and probably one we won't pursue, but he asked the question if it was possible. And for those of you dads or HS coaches out there, my situation is not the norm. There are many of you'll that do a great job.

No...I don't have a problem with that scenario only if it can't be worked out amongst all concerned.

I may have misread your post. I took it as since it was ok in college and the business world to move on for various reasons then you were saying why shouldn't this high school kid be able to. My bad if you were only talking about college age kids.

I will say that I still don't agree even with college kids moving all over the place if they don't like their ___________ (fill in the blank(s). Seems to me that they should learn how to investigate things more in-depth before making a decision. A lot of headaches can be eliminated if this were taught better by parents and/or mentors. Yes, things change unexpectantly. Learn to suck it up and forge on..grow up.

Society is full suck it up people who were told to grow up and were afraid to make changes. Let the kid (in college) make his own decision on what he wants to do.

Alot of talking out of both sides of the mouth on this site. First it's keep Daddy out of it, let the kid handle his own issues from high school on. Then it's tell the kid to suck it up, grow up. You can mentor/educate but you can't have it both ways.

I will fill in the blanks-

I will support my son moving from one college to another if he doesn't feel he is getting the education he is paying for and deserves. Better than dropping out.
I will support my son moving from one college to another if he wants more playing time than he is receiving and still has that burning desire. Better than quiting all together.
I will support my son moving from one college to another if a coaching change occurs and he no longer feels comfortable with the new staff.

I have no son in college yet, but not one of these scenarios will ever cause me to tell my son to suck it up and grow up. If other opportunities are available and it will make my son a better student, athlete and person entering society, I'm all for it.

This is not an attack on you YoungGunDad, this is just my opinion and how I feel about these issues.

downandout,

Here's something else to consider. My niece graduated from high school in December, with good grades, AP classes, etc., and planned to attend college starting in the spring. Sports were not in the equation for college. But it turned out that while it was possible to enroll in the spring, as a practical matter, she wouldn't be able to take appropriate classes. The core classes required by the college she will attend have a duration of one year, and she has to start those classes in the fall. The beginning semester of a year-long class isn't offered in the spring semester. In fact she would not have been able to enough courses to be considered a full time student.

The end result is she won't enroll in college until the fall. Now she wishes she hadn't graduated from high school early.

Probably this depnds on the particular college, but I think it bears looking into.

[quote]downandout:
Please don't misunderstand me, I would love for my son to play his HS senior season. But our school is a football school and our bball coaches do absolutely nothing to develop or help players go to the next level.

Not very good at the quote.I cant tell you what decision to make.There are a lot of HS coaches that really dont develop players, or help with the next level.There are only 3-4 months of actual season. I would think playing at a JUCO as a senior would be tough, but i dont know how developed your son is. There are a lot of things your son can to to develop his own game. Be on a good workout program with weigts, agility drills, work on speed, work on hitting, on his swing. approach etc. Then make sure he gets on a good travel team in the summer. start contacting colleges now, make up a resume that you can send to all the coaches at schools your looking at.There are books out there that list all colleges with baseball programs Start putting packages together.Go to some perfect game showcases and get a rating. the colleges sure seem to put kids ratings on their bios, so they must be looking at it. Just continue to be proactive.

Kids grow up way too fast. Let them enjoy the little things...proms, graduation, being a senior etc and let baseball take care of itself. IMHO.

The "fill in the blank" scenario's I speak of are these kinds:

I don't like my head coach. I wanna quit the team.

I don't like my teammates. They don't like me. I'm transferring.

I should be playing every day and not riding the pine. I'm going to the D3 school close to home next semester.

Balk, if your son wants more playing time, encourage him to work harder, get to practice early/stay late, etc. etc. First sign of trouble or unhappiness and calls home you're ready to help junior quit. Is this your advise for him from now on when things get tough? Quit? Whatever happened to the theory of out working someone to EARN the spot?

The 3rd one you mention is quite hilarious. Transfer because of a coaching change because he no longer "feels comfortable"? You're kidding, right? The only reason a kid would use this excuse is because the new coach(s) aren't playing him!

I was raised in an era when "The going gets tough, the tough get going." Not "throw in the towel because I haven't the fortitude" to stick it out.

Just as you mentioned when you finished, no attack on you Balk...but how I feel about these issues.

Nothing wrong with agreeing to disagree.

C'mon Young, get real.

What makes you think working harder, staying late, going early etc. etc. has not already been exercised?
You know, there are just some kids who are better than others and always will be. You make it sound as though transferring is the lowest form of shame and failure known to mankind! It happens everyday, are all these kids failures?

First sign of trouble? I didn't mention anything about trouble. Unhappiness? Sure, I hope my son and I have a close enough relationship where he seeks my advice when things are not going well. Please don't put words in my mouth or assume what I would tell my son. If you want to put a spin on it and use the word quit, go ahead.

I still use the theory of working hard and earn a spot, but at some point you have to make a common sense decision and decide if you would be better off elsewhere and admit the better man or athlete won. If not, you can waste four years, probably for most, your last four years not playing much. Again, it has nothing to do with not working hard or quiting, has to do with moving on to a better situation.

And last but not least, I don't see what you find so hilarious about a coaching change transfer.
I guess just a different sense of humor than me.
Most kids who make decisions on what schools they will attend have who the coach is pretty close to the top of their list. Why in the world would an athlete attend a University if they didn't feel comfortable with the coach. I don't think they would.
So again, don't assume or use such a broad brush when you say they only reason my son or any other kid would leave because of a coaching change is their not playing.

One last thing, your era is no different than mine, "The going gets tough, the tough get going".
The towels not being thrown in, the young man is still gonna "stick it out", same work ethic, same enthusiasm, same love for the game. The only thing that will change, is the scenery.

No quitter or failure in my eyes. Just a young man who wants to fulfill a dream and enhances his chances to do so!

Randy,
A blanket statement like yours is not true because you can't declare an absolute to something subjective in nature. "waste of time" is a comparative term. What may be "the best time in my whole life" to one person, may be "a waste of time" to another. We simply cannot paint lifes picture with that broad a brush for everyone.

It's much easier for people on the outside looking in to judge,then when they are living it day to day.
You and your son need to make your own decisions, because you have ALL the facts and are living it.
Everyone has an opinion---which we all have a right to. But there is always a fine line between anothers mans opinion and the truth--and you have to sift through the garbage and in the end do whats right for YOUR son---and then live with it. Its tough out there--good luck to you both!