Should player talk to HS coach about goals

I think it is very important for a player to tell his HS coach that his aspires to play at the next level. But his work ethic should also be indicitive of a kid that wants to do this as well. The best players I have coached in HS have always been the ones that wanted more. I have coached some good players that did not want to play in college they just wanted to go to work or go to college. But the ones that have excelled at the game in HS have been the ones that have a burning desire to play at the next level. I dont know what kind of coach your son has. But if your son lets him know that he has a goal to play past HS and he shows the work ethic needed this will put the coach on notice that he has a kid he needs to help out. As far as the summer team of course. Let the coach know that you want to play on a competitive team in the summer and could he help you find a good program. As far as goals in HS there is no need to imo to tell him you want to play varsity or this or that. Let your play and your strong work ethic do the talking in this situation. Any coach worth his salt is going to put the guys on the field that help him win.

I love it when I have a young man with goals and even more when I see they are willing to work to achieve them. In the classroom and on the field. I love having a young man tell me "Coach I want to play in college". "Will you help me find a place thats a good fit for me". What I dont like to hear is the same thing and then the kid is lazy and or does not take care of business in the classroom. Good luck. I would definitely let the coach know I have goals and then I would show him I was willing to do what it takes to achieve those goals.

Not knowing the whole situation, I think there could be different answers here.
Is the high school coach well connected? If so, then I would have my son talk to him about his aspirations. Otherwise I would let my play do the talking for the next year or so. If your son really wants to play at the next level then all the off season conditioning, camps and workouts will help show the hs coach his desire. If the travel team he gets on is a good program that should do plenty for him.

My best advise would be to work as hard as he can if the off season and let the chips fall where they may for the high school season. Make sure your son is in a good travel program in the summer that goes to a national tournament or two and when the time comes get to a showcase or two. If you do your homework and are diligent enough you will give your son every opportunity to be seen by the people that need to see him.

He just needs your support and money the rest is up to him!

There is another aspect here so as to keep "peace o in the family"---- talk to the coach and let him know you will be working your "marketing" and you want him involved--by doing this you do not put the brunt of the situation on him but you are still involving him in the process---I think he will accept that as a positive

Good point TR. It never hurts to get as many people as you can to help you out.

It worked for me as a Dad with my son and it still works with our players


One never knows where the "situation" will come from

I think it is very appropriate for a player to talk with a coach about his goals. In fact, my son's HS coach meets individually with every player each year and asks that specific question. Then he meets with each after the season for a kind of post-mortem, suggests things to work on, etc.

In my son's first meeting with the coach prior to his freshman year, the first goal he mentioned to the coach was to help the team win a state title. Then he talked about his individual goals.

Don't forget to include the team in his goals!

Why would a HS coach meet with 8th graders coming into his program? It would seem to me if you were going to meet with rising HS players you would want to meet with all of them as a whole and not single kids out. This is the kind of thing that can cause alot of problems for a coach and a program imo. What about the kids that did not get a meeting with the coach? What about the parents that did not get face time with the coach? Meet with everyone coming in or dont meet with anyone. Not very smart imo.

As a coach I always have liked it when prospective or current players discussed their goals with me. I think the coach should aid a player in anyway he can in shaping/achieving goals including honest/realistic evaluation.

Thanks for the feedback - valuable as always.

My son's HS coach always had the players share their team goals and individual goals each year. I'm sure he expected (or at least hoped) that those goals would evolve as the player grew. I think it's a great idea. I believe our players shared this in private with the coach when he met with each player (varsity) at the beginning of the season.

I've never heard of a HS coach meeting players before they enters into HS. Is that allowed?

Coaches have baseball meetings at school in the fall and later parent meetings before tryouts. Because of HS rules here a HS coach is not allowed to be around them when they are on the field during fall ball or summer ball. Actual tryouts or practice is not allowed until January, unless things have changed. If you want to workout in the fall, you have to take a workout class the coach is teaching.

My son's HS coach knew who he was because he had attended games his friends were playing in. But they didn't meet until the baseball meeting.

TG - you lettered in 3 sports? That's great.


TPM I think they have changed things a bit. Our HS coach was able to coach the summer team.

The PLAYER should talk to the coach, not the parent.

I agree. The player and parent communication should be kept to an absolute minimum if possible!