Recruiting before Varsity

The main focus of recruiting will come from being on the right travel team. 6'2" and 85 mph as a soph is very quantifiable and projectable at a travel event regardless of his school experience. Make sure you have him on the right travel team for exposure. Don't bad mouth the high school coach even though others with credibility have done so.

I agree 100%. The summer team he plays on will play a much more important role then his HS coach or HS team. Recruiters won't care whether he is on varsity or JV as a sophomore, only if they project that he can help their team down the road.

HS coaches are responsible for winning games...that is how they keep their job.  I have on numerous occasions told my travel players, that they need to have their skills developed before they get to HS (and away form HS), because for the most part (exceptions exist), HS coaches will fill in the the lineup card with the players he believes will give them the best chance to win.  As this relates to pitchers, it is typically those who throw strikes, and get outs.  

A "scout" will look at velo, and size, and make his opinion on "projectabiliy"....whereas a HS coach is not as vested in a player's ability to play ball beyond HS...he is looking to win games.  Again, I know I may hear from some of you about exceptional coaches, that develop, instruct, and are vested in players beyond HS...there are exceptions.

Does your son throw strikes, and get outs?  If so, then for some reason your coach does not see your son's value to the varsity team.  You can always, or better yet, your son can in a very polite way, ask the coach - "sir, what do I need to work on to make varsity"...coaches typically will respect that, and provide the feedback you are looking for.  I am sure, there could be instances where a coach will have it "in" for a particular kid, but more times than not, if a player (especially a 6' 2" kid throwing 85) can help them win, he's on the team.

Sounds reasonable to me.  As far as making varsity as a sophomore, sometimes there are other factors, e.g. we thought son should make JV or Varsity as a Freshman, but coach said although son was ready as a 1st Baseman, he would not pitch.  He kept son down so he could pitch also, so that he could be a valuable 2 way player.  Is this a possibility that coach wants your son to develop his hitting, fielding, etc., and he already has enough pitching on his varsity squad?

Bum, Jr. went 7-0 as a sophomore on JV while the varsity pitchers went down in flames like a zero on V-J day.  Although at the time I was pretty upset about it, in retrospect it meant nothing.  Don't worry about things like this.  The D-1 coaches don't care if he has present ability as a junior.

BB Junior was the third hardest thrower at his school freshman year, the hardest his sophomore year and was undefeated on JV two years in a row.  They stopped pitching him in practice against the varsity to "not hurt their confidence", without a hint of moving to varsity.  He was a perfect game pre season all American going into his Junior year despite no varsity experience. Idiot coach but that's another story.  If you are on a good summer team, make the calls to get yourself on their radar they don't care about not making varsity as a soph. the summer is all that matters to college scouts.  This coming summer is huge make sure he is ready for that.

My son made  as a freshman for his Defensive skills in the OF and saw very little mound time even through his JR year.  He does PO during summer, and his is going to JUCO as a PO thanks to his summer teams, zero assistance from his HS HC.  So, IMO, it is absolutely insignificant if your son plays V or not.  He sounds like he has the right size and projectability right now.  You/he need to focus on developing the potential, tell him to just have some fun in HS...summer will be where it's at for him.

I have a HS freshman who has never even played a game for his school.  He plans to use the HS season as a chance to have fun with his friends.  The rest of the year is when he gets serious.  

Although it is still REALLY early, he is starting to get noticed by a few schools.  No one has even asked about HS ball.  This has all been based on his summer accomplishments.  

Who are these "scouts" that you refer to?  Are they other dads that claim to be scouts or are they legit scouts there to evaluate your son or another player?

Maybe the same ones taking readings from the radar guns? 

Those of you who are telling your sons to "just have fun" during the high school season because the time to be serious are doing your sons and their HS teams a disservice.  And you're plain wrong.  HS isn't a time to "just have fun" because that turns it into rec ball where winning and losing doesn't matter.  Winning matters in HS and doing your best at whatever it is you're doing is important in everything you do.  

I don't understand the "just have fun" mentality.  You're playing the greatest game on earth - if that's not enough to "make it fun" then you're doing it wrong.  Being able to compete, learn a new aspect of the game, work towards mastering an aspect of the game, competing for a conference / regional / state championship, et al IS fun.  You can get all that from summer and HS.

Obviously you have a better chance of getting seen in summer than HS but that's no reason not to compete like you would in the summer because that's where the scouts will be.  Who knows - they might be able to get down to a game without you knowing.  

Go out and compete because if that in of itself isn't enough fun then you're not going to make it at the next level.

Maybe saying "just have fun" was not the right wording.  For us at least, the level of play he will see at high school is much less then he will see in travel.  Also, the level of instruction will not be the same.  I fully expect it to be frustrating at times.  But he still puts his all into every game no matter what team he is playing with.  That is one way he has fun.  

Coach 2709 has it right, and although it is more likely to be seen in the summer, you can be seen during high school season too.  During this past season, my son had a teammate who was drafted in the 4th round on his team.  We live in an area where having someone drafted is a big deal, and the buzz he created benefited the whole area.  he had every MLB team travel multiple times to see him play.  Imagine if he was "Just having fun"?

Different schools have different cultures, and there is not a lot you can do to control that.  My freshman (if he's healthy enough) will make varsity this year.  But I can think of at least 5 kids in his class at neighboring schools who are much more projectable as D1 recruits, but have no shot at varsity, no matter how well they play, because for varying reasons their schools never put freshman on varsity.

I think having fun is an important piece of being competitive.  Competitiveness drives improvement and the spirit to win.  Fun/enjoyment/love of sport, whatever you want to call it, is part of the ingredient to endure the grind (the lows of the ride if you will).

BTW, I've seen some of the most competitive games in rec ball.

I take "just have fun" as enjoying the game and playing it without being uptight.  I think you can give 100% and enjoy the game.  In fact I told my son when the game stops being fun then get out of it. 

If "just have fun" means giving less than 100% and having no care about the team I agree with your statement.

I don't recall where anyone that has said "just have fun" said that it meant not trying or giving 100%.  We've had many discussions on the importance of participating in HS ball, I think you read a little more into it than needed to be.  Fun can easily mean being with your boys and representing your school

This is all very good feedback. I think the overall answer is in terms of recruiting, if player projects well, then the college coach will not get hung up on Varsity or JV. Most "looks" will come from summer travel anyway so just focus on getting better and better and the rest will take care of itself. I have learned a lot from this post and will share this with my son who will see not to worry so much about making Varsity as a sophomore.

Words are confusing at times.  I believe having fun is one of the most important things in striving to reach your potential.  People are much better at doing the things they most enjoy.  

That said, I hear what coach 2709 is saying.  Just having fun, all by itself without giving it your all, just isn't good.  Some people have fun working their tail off and competing for keeps.  Others have fun by goofing off and never being serious.