Should HS coaches care about a players future goals?

I don't think that was his intent but came off as so. The comment was disparaging against that particular program, my problem is that maybe some other kid who is not as confident making a decision could hear that from a coach and allow it to change their path. That is why i tried to preference the thread along the lines of should a coach ask a kid in a full room of teammates what their future goals are in regards to schools. Personally i don't feel its right and if its going to be asked it should respected and dropped.   

We have hired a number of kids from Cal Tech and MIT.  These two schools are just different.  Very different.  The kids that go there are unique and I would personally be very uncomfortable dissuading anyone who genuinely wants to go there from doing so.

 

In other words, these are two schools that are so uniquely elite, that I would feel I'd be doing the kid a disservice by saying anything other than, "WOW!  Good for you and I simply wish you nothing but the very best!"

Maybe you shouldn't have posted it then because to one obviously you painted a pic of the guy as a total jerk.  Its hard for me to judge as I wasn't there, but again I didn't see him cutting down the academics.

If you are that close, then why not ask him or why not have asked him before you posted?  Just a thought.

Hey, I hear ya, when son was a sophomore only one school was where he wanted to go, University of Miami.  A year later, with other schools courting him, it didn't seem as important. FWIW, son was recruited by Notre Dame, Brown, Duke, Dartmouth  and wanted to major in engineering.   All of those schools along with the ACC he attended, all shot down any hopes of majoring in engineering while playing baseball while in their programs.

What is a "non baseball" program?

You and he will learn a lot over the next few years about recruiting, then after it is all said and done, you will understand why it might be important to also consider the  bb program along with academics.

Caltech (and MIT) are on a much higher plane than schools for mere mortals like Cal, Stanford, Harvard, and the other Ivies. 3-1 student/professor ratio, avg. starting salary of BS graduates >80K (most go on to grad school), low student debt, 32 Nobel Laurites, 85% of freshmen engaged in research their first summer, etc.  You play athletics (or music, or both) for the camaraderie, physicality, and love of the game.  Your skills are not wasted.  My daughter is being courted by Caltech (and similar) and she would be a fine addition to their volleyball team.  Now, if you fence then Caltech is for you as they compete in D1 in that sport.

The kid who has won a game for Cal Tech each of the past two years was a JV pitcher at our high school. If he keeps it up he could leave the program after two more seasons as one of their all time great pitchers. All kidding aside, he's a great kid with nice parents. They were never deluded about their kid's talent. The kid got a uniform senior year for being a dedicated program player. He pitched a couple of mop up innings.

 

If your son can handle the northeast weather MIT has a competitive D3 baseball program. They're 16-11 so far this year. I was recently talking with a dad of a MIT recruit. The kid's other choices were typically ranked D3s.

 

I'm willing to guess the high school coach in question doesn't understand the magnitude of a Cal Tech degree.

 

(Do you think you're a rocket scientist? As a matter of fact sir, I am.)

Great thread...

 

To answer OP's original question, yes, I certainly believe a coach should care about a player's future goals.  Most HS coaches that I know choose to coach, at least in part, to translate the lessons of baseball to all that applies to life outside of the game.  They want to provide their players with tools that will help them succeed on the field and off, during HS and beyond.  They can also use the knowledge of a player's future goals to help motivate and better relate to each player.

 

Now, that said, many of us coaches are far more up to speed on the current status of the game of baseball (across levels) than we are with the specific academic benefits of any particular high-academic institution.  (I don't believe there are an abundance of rocket scientist HS baseball coaches.)  Therefore, we, generally, are likely to be better at providing guidance as to which college baseball programs may be a match and worth consideration as opposed to which colleges may best match a given student's academic goals.  

 

So, I can see where the coach may have made the comment or asked the question with the best of intentions but perhaps his reactionary comment was lacking detailed knowledge of the academic aspect.

 

Many in this thread have made great points on both sides of the argument as to what the OP and son may want to consider going forward and the OP/ son seem to really have it together so far regardless.

The coach made a spectacularly stupid response.

 

I'm not sure why he really asked the question now.

As a college player I appreciate a coach who is just a coach. Teach the game and manage your players. That was a ridiculous thing for your sons coach to say, imo, but that is a coach only seeing baseball and thinking every kid sees himself playing forever, which is not the case for most. It is rare to find a kid in HS that sees baseball as a means to better his life after baseball and is a great perspective to have. Just chalk it up as another one of the millions of stupid things coaches have said; its because their life revolves completely around baseball they think everyone else sees it the same.

K Dad, at first I took exception but after some reflection I would cut him some slack. First off your wife who was also present had a different view ; and secondly imo the Coach might have lacked tact but he was honest. I prefer honesty to an insincere

" that's great".

TPM brings up a good point; it should be considered and go in with your eyes open. The school is top notch , but will he be truly happy if the program is very bad? Don't know the answer to that question but it should at least be considered. The Coach gave your son and family something to think about.

Funny.....BASEBALL coach says something about how crappy of a team Cal Tech has and that your son can do much better and you take offense to it.  He never talked down about the school, never said he would not get a good education.  He said your son could do much better in regards to baseball and you are offended by that.  Could he have worded differently, perhaps, however he paid your son a compliment. 

I suppose I just don't know how to articulate this very well, but Cal Tech is so uniquely special that I too feel its a little offensive to hear something along the lines of...

Coach under his breath says something along the lines basically saying that there is no need then to better your baseball skills if that's all you aspire for...

This might have...at least sort of...offended(?) me too.  Or made me shake my head.I realize that may be hard to understand if you're not living in my world.  We recently ran across an amazing young lady graduating (undergrad) from a school in the Midwest.  We wanted to hire her...very badly.  We would have paid for her graduate school at Stanford or Cal.  But then she told us her dream was to go to Cal Tech, that she already had it all set up and thats what she was gonna do.  We backed off.  Why?  Cal Tech is so special (and yes, for a group of people it is most definitely 'above' the Stanfords and the like) that we didn't feel right doing any more than telling her we were here if she changed her mind.  She hasn't.
I guess in this baseball case, I wish the coach would've had the same insight.  Maybe its hard to explain if you're not in my business, but that is the way it is and we greatly respect it.

I have somewhat of an insight to Cal Tech so I understand what you are getting at from YOUR profession.  Keep in mind that from the BASEBALL profession the coach had a good point in what he said.  If your kid is good as a sophomore he is already good enough to play at Cal Tech.  I honestly believe that, even though he chose his words wrong, that it was a compliment.