Question about Questionnaire..

Judy,
You should do what the questionaire asks, the college coach will make his own assessment by watching your son play. The HS coach should answer fairly any questions on what he knows of your son if asked. He has the perogative to do so. This is just my opinion, others may feel differently, don't let that stop you from doing what you have to do now, mot in summer.
I don't think any coach contacted son's HS coach, but did his travel coach, but he was pretty well known by many college coaches. They also knew that if you played for him you were pretty special, not just for baseball, but as a person.
High school baseball is what it is, for most it doesn't make much of a difference unless that is all your son has to refer to.

Judy,
I would list two names for high school coach--the present coach and the recently departed coach. Give college coaches some credit--they know very well about "some" high school coaches. Actually, if a college coach knows nothing about a high school coach (or travel coach), then he won't attach much weight to the evaluation. College coaches tend to rely on their own observations for athletic potential anyway.

But for sure, he needs to include his coach's contact information on the questionnaire. Leaving it blank would be a large red flag.

JUDY

Include the HS coaches info and also the summer/fall team coaches info---thus the college coaches can make their own decision---not inlcuding the HS coaches name and info can possibly raise a red flag---keep in mind also that during the summer the college coaches will see the team play and be able to talk with the coach before, during and after the events. This is especially critical with a pitcher because the college coaches can adjust their schedules to be there when he is on the mound.

I know we need to include HS coach's name, but do you all think it's OK to put the name of last year's summer coach who is the ousted former HS coach? I guess I can just ask him for permission. So complicated! OTOH, we could just wait to fill any out until son has played a few games with summer team this year. We are planning to visit a couple of schools over spring break and son wanted to email the coaches to ask if he could meet them during our visit. Guess we'll just have to see what happens...

Judy by all means put down anyone who your son has played for.

Again, it is really is not going to mean much until the coach sees him play for himself or sends someone to scout for him. I wouldn't let my son go play for anyone on anyone else's word unless I really trusted his judgement (you know the Coach May type ) on evaluating talent.

Your son is a junior you need to fill out the info now. You are making this more complicated than it really is.

Judy -
No, it really isn't complicated at all. Have your son fill out the questionnaires he receives as soon as he gets them. Put the names of all of the coaches he's played for that you want to include. (Putting one name or more than one is not a problem and done all the time.) Staple a spring schedule to it so that they know when they can see him play. Mail it back. That's it, Simple! Relax and try to enjoy your son's recruiting. Good Luck

Guess I'm making it more complicated than it needs to be. Thanks for the input.

Judy -
That's why this site is so great. Baseball recruiting can be very stressful for a parent and having a place to come and ask your questions is priceless. You'll get both great and sometimes not so great responses, but the key is you'll hear from other parents who understand the issues and can let you know how they handled it. I didn't mean to make light of your concerns regarding what a coach might or might not say when contacted. But usually a college recruiting coach has "been there/done that" and will not be making his decision on just one contact but more on what he is seeing on the field. That's why this is not one of the recruiting items to be too concerned about.

Our son attended a showcase this winter and received about a dozen questionnaires from college coaches. Several of them included a separate questionnaire for his HS coach to fill out.

The HS coach had some pretty negative comments about our boy's current skill level and potential. The negative comments from the HS coach were returned along with the rest of the stuff.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder!

Brian