Significance of your summer ball coach in recruiting process

If your team is know for having the type of players coaches want to see they most definitely will be there.

I would agree, if your team is well respected and the coach is well respected for giving good honest information regarding the abilities of his players.

The two previous posters have told you all you need to know. Being on the right team, with the right coaches, can make a difference. Of course, nothing will happen if the aspiring student athlete doesn't do his part - on the field and in the classroom!

For RightyShortstop his summer coach was WAY more important to the recruiting process than his HS Coach.

100% agree with Leftyshortstop. Travel coach did everything to give my son visibility and contact with the right coaches the last two years. I'm not aware of HS coach making one call or note on my son's behalf.

Also, it is so important to come up with a plan developed by parents and son. The travel coach and HS school are part of that plan, but ultimately it is your son's academic and athletic future. There are a lot of recommendations all over this website, please read and come up with a plan. I can't tell you how many countless hours my wife worked with my son to direct him on executing our plan. My son had to learn to deal with adults on a whole new level than he ever had to experience before. It was a lot of work, but he is a much more mature young man for it.

Our experience is that a travel caoch can make all the difference in the world. When we have talked to college coaches, his travel team and the coach reputation have come up many times. They both are well respected. So it can be a great help.

For some kids on our summer team, it made a very big difference. In five cases that I'm aware of, it created the D1/JUCO opportunity they were looking for. In my son's case, yes it did create some interest and opportunity, but ultimately his school choice has come down to two schools that did not see him play with his summer team or HS team. (They have talked to both his HS coach and his summer coach.) I think to rely on the summer or HS coach to market your son, or make all contacts, will end in disappointment. Make sure the team plays in tournaments that offer the right exposure.

We actually initiated the interest from the final two schools my son will choose between by sending his DVD, having his HS coach call and give a recommendation, and visiting during their prospect camps during fall of senior year so that they could see him on the field and he could meet the players. If he had attended the Headfirst Academic Showcase he would have been seen by both. Because he didn't attend that showcase, we had to make the contact and get him in front of them on our own. Wish we'd skipped a big tournament to go to the showcase!

His summer teams over the years (since age 12) have been of great importance in another way: they allowed him to play the best ball he could play for as many seasons has possible each year, and he had some great coaches to teach him along the way. He would not be the player or person he is today without his summer/travel teams.

In our case, the Travel coach was essential in opening doors for my son (and the other rising seniors) with colleges. The Summer coach is currently a college assistant and has contacts at all levels of college baseball and was very willing to tap them if he thought you fit their program. He also went the extra mile for those seniors that were in limbo and helped them find college homes. While he would have liked to have some of our kids on his own college team, he never pressured that and really steered kids where he thought they could appropriately compete. (D1-D3) He weighed grades and abilities to assist in helping find the right fit. He could also give you a pretty good idea of how different programs were run, how well prepared teams were on game day, which schools were good at developing player as opposed to just loading up with talent and going for wins. In many cases, he might tell a kid, you're D1 talented but might get lost at a Big East school, maybe Atlantic 10 or MAAC is something to think about. At any tournament we played, invariably college coaches would come by and ask about players and he gave them concise, objective reviews of strengths and weakness. We saw this come back during the recruiting process as Coach might ask "What do you think you need to work on most?". My son might answer "I'm a little slow to the plate from the stretch and tend to leave my arm up. I need to polish that up as I can lose a little velocity and my location suffers." The coach usually would come back with a comment how they had heard that from the Travel Coach but in recent games they had seen improvement, good you're working on the right thing etc. To us it indicated that he told it like it was and they respected his appraisal and followed up on it.

My son had early interest as a junior, so from that standpoint the high school coach was involved. It really only consisted of him responding to information requests and questions from the colleges. He didn't really proactively assist in finding a college opportunity. In his defense, when he knew what colleges were becoming serious players, he did take the time to counsel my son on the pro's and cons of the various schools and their staffs as he knew them.

Thanks guys, this all helps alot!

Don't overlook the role of a good HS coach either. Just like there are good travel team coaches, there are some excellent HS coaches who take pride in helping their players when appropriate. And, there are plenty of travel team coaches who are not worth spending the time or money to be on their teams.

Caveat Emptor applies in both cases, but at least with a summer team, you have say in which team you're with.

Agree with Freddie. RightyShortstop's Summer coach was a College Assistant coach and that made all the difference. When son was interested in a school the coach could say "I know the coach there" or, "I know how to reach him, but I don't think that's a fit for you". When the coach did speak to colleges he had credibility that a HS coach can't have. The program has since lost this coach (promoted to recruiting coordinator at college) and has replaced him with a HS coach. For the same money the player would get much less value. So, in the end, you have to make a difficult judgement based on very little information. Some of this is luck.

One more thing. We only asked the summer coach to make contacts with coaches at the END of the process. RightyShortstop made ALL first and second contacts himself. In essence he asked his summer coach to help "close" the process.

Texas boy


It matters not which coach--summer/fall/HS ---that helps you just so long as you have one who says all the right things to the college coaches---some are not too diplomatic

Some players are very fortunate to have one or both in their corner, some not so much. IMO, the credibility of the coach/program is just as important.

GED10DaD

My sons summer fall coach had it right imo. "I will get you out in front of the college coaches. It is then up to you to show them what they want to see in order for you to get opportunities."

Thats what it is all about.

Depends on if your organization has more than one team. Some organizations have their "elite" team that does indeed get seen, and then the other teams which don't get anywhere near the exposure. Just because you are a member of the organization does NOT mean you will automatically get seen.

Dont you play other teams with prospects on them? Dont you play in tournements against other teams? College coaches understand that every team is not loaded. But every team has at least a guy or two that they will want to see play. How many times do you need to see the same team play over the course of a summer or fall? At some point you want to see the other teams as well.

Do you play at the same venues as the elite team? Do you ever play other elite teams? We have three teams in the same age bracket. One is considered elite. The other two are teams comprised of players that have not verballed and are maybe not as high profile players. But college coaches see them play. And if the kid can play the college coaches could careless what team they play on.

If a program does not play at venues where college coaches are in attendance whats the point? If you assume that no college coaches are going to watch a team just because they are not considered elite you are wrong. All they have to do is play a team they want to see. All they have to do is play in a tourney where teams are at or players are at they want to see play.

Quite honestly getting seen is not a problem in todays baseball world. Getting them to like what they see is the issue. Many times college coaches have asked me when our other two teams are playing. "We dont need to see you guys we know all your kids." Again its not the team your on as much as its where you play , who you play and can you play.

Playing at large tournaments doesn't always get you seen either. We've played at tournaments where they have the elite teams play at the college stadium and the rest of the games play at nearby local high schools. Still part of the tournament but many games at those high school fields had no college coaches.

Either playing on an elite team or against an elite team seems to be the ticket.

No the ticket is being good enough that when you are seen you are noticed. There is no way you can play on a summer fall team in tourneys where college coaches attend and not get noticed if you can play.

There are so many ways the information about a player gets out outside of a particular coach actually seeing a player.

"Coach you might want to make sure you see Team X play. They have a SS that is ________."

"Coach we played team X and _________."

Alot of times coaches of certain schools will feel like they can not compete for players on certain teams. They feel like these players are out of their league so to speak. So they focus on the teams that are not as high profile in an attempt to find that diamond in the rough or that guy that is not on the radar. I know several college coaches that follow the teams that are new in the hopes of seeing guys that they have not seen before.

Just because you dont see any college coaches does not mean there are not people there watching that will report back to these college coaches about players they have seen. There are coaches at every game. The ones coaching the teams. When you talk to college coaches you just dont tell them about your players you tell them about any player you have seen you believe they would be interested in.

You will never know you have been seen if they are not interested in you. You will know you have been seen when someone see's you and they like what they see. There was a day when a prospect could fly under the radar. In todays baseball world if you can play and you are out there playing you will be noticed.

You can play on the most elite teams in America and be seen over and over. But if you dont have the tools to play for them it will not matter how many times you are seen. You can play on the worst travel team in American and be seen one time. And if you have the tools to play for them you will be noticed. I could give you numerous examples of players that played on these type of teams.

We will just have to disagree on this one. Yes playing on an elite team will get you seen more often and by more coaches. And if you can play it will give you more options. But if you can play and your playing , you will be noticed no matter what team you play on.

The summer league coach is only one layer of the whole process. Not everyone can afford to play on elite teams at elite tournaments. We are an american legion type team. We play our league and 2-3 tournaments a year. We dont travel much but 70% of our players in the last few years have gone on to play college ball. The summer coaches will send team roster and schedule to all the schools within our surrounding area before the season starts. There is some follow up by the college coach via email or phone on who the summer coach thinks can play for their school but ultimately the players are the ones who have to do the leg work and finish.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
We will just have to disagree on this one. Yes playing on an elite team will get you seen more often and by more coaches. And if you can play it will give you more options. But if you can play and your playing , you will be noticed no matter what team you play on.

Coach May is spot on with this IMO. A summer team is just one part of the process. From my experience YOU must take control of the process. Get on a good team if you can, but get to the important tournaments and make sure YOU are communicating with the programs YOU are interested in. If they are interested they will come to see YOU. Be proactive and have a plan, work your plan. Thinking that all you need to do is get on an elite team and everything will take care of itself is a big mistake.

Originally posted by BOF:

quote:

Thinking that all you need to do is get on an elite team and everything will take care of itself is a big mistake.

I hate to make this sound like a big love fest, but that last comment by BOF is as important as much of the other information given out in this thread. BOF is spot on with that comment, the player has to do his part, just being on a great team isn't enough.

Thanks guys, I have some early contact with some schools, but I realize that this is my career and I need to be proactive with it. It is an elite level team, I was just wondering how much college coaches actually listen to summer ball coaches. My high school coach really is not in the picture, so all this info is encouraging and appreciated.

It all depends on the credibility of the coach. What is the coaches track record? Has he told them about other players before and the information was solid? Does the coach have a track record of having outstanding players playing for him in the past? When he said Joey is a stud you need to see him. And then when they saw him he was a stud? The more times his information is proven to be accurate the more credible he is when he tells the coaches they need to see then next Joey.

Some coaches have a tremendous amount of credibility with the college coaches. When they say , yes he is really good. This means alot and the coaches will want to see him. But then that kid has to show what has been told. Some coaches can really help their kids with exposure because they are credible in coaches eyes. But the bottom line is it is up to the player to actually show he can play.

It all comes down to the ability to show the tools needed to help that college coach win games. Again getting seen is not the issue. You can sign up for showcase events every weekend. You can get out in front of college coaches at literally hundreds of events every year. The issue is not getting seen. The issue is getting noticed.

TexasBoy2011. It is NOT early for you if you are a 2011. You should be in the middle of it and be in contact with a number of schools already. Spend this Christmas break making a list of schools you are interested in and get in contact with them now. Get some help from your mom or dad, talk it over with them. The list should have stretch schools, safe schools and schools in between. It get's complex since you should have a baseball and academic list. It takes a lot of work you must find out who is the recruiting coach for the program and be in communication with him.

Do not assume a summer coach, fall coach, HS coach is going to do much for you. They are only a data point for the college recruiting coach.

It is not too late for you, but you must get started NOW. Good Luck!

TexasBoy2011. I have no idea how good your summer coach or hs coach is at all of this ie how credible he is , what type of contacts he has , how hard they work for their players. My sons was really good. We didnt have to do anything he did it all. He would call and say "The coach at so and so wants to know if you guys are interested." He constantly called and told us what was going on. Seriously we never had to do a thing he took care of everything.

BOF gave you some great advice. Have an idea of what schools you would like to attend and which would be a good fit for you. Let your coaches know about these schools. And if he is on top of his game he can let you know if he thinks they are a stretch or a viable option as well. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
It all depends on the credibility of the coach. What is the coaches track record? Has he told them about other players before and the information was solid? Does the coach have a track record of having outstanding players playing for him in the past? When he said Joey is a stud you need to see him. And then when they saw him he was a stud? The more times his information is proven to be accurate the more credible he is when he tells the coaches they need to see then next Joey.

Some coaches have a tremendous amount of credibility with the college coaches. When they say , yes he is really good. This means alot and the coaches will want to see him. But then that kid has to show what has been told. Some coaches can really help their kids with exposure because they are credible in coaches eyes. But the bottom line is it is up to the player to actually show he can play.

It all comes down to the ability to show the tools needed to help that college coach win games. Again getting seen is not the issue. You can sign up for showcase events every weekend. You can get out in front of college coaches at literally hundreds of events every year. The issue is not getting seen. The issue is getting noticed.

No better advice than this....Sums it up IMO! GED10DaD

BOF I did not mean that it was early for me to be in contact with these schools, I only meant that I am in the early stages of contact and recruiting with them. I do not have currently any offers but am hoping to get them from these schools. I am atending showcases for both of these schools over the break. Thank you for all of your input guys.

By Coach May

quote:

The issue is not getting seen. The issue is getting noticed.

Life would be much easier if everyone understood that. Of course, you can't be noticed without being seen. But you can get seen without being noticed. And you can get seen and be noticed in the wrong way.

There are other ways to get noticed. In our case the summer coach did not factor in at all. In fact after offers were made I asked the HS coach if the schools had talked to him; he answered no. The HS coach did fill out the questionnaires and returned them but was never contacted directly by the coach.

My son got noticed at camps and showcases conducted at the colleges he was interested in. He repeated visits to the colleges and stayed in contact with the ones that he was interested in attending. But you will also have a lot of competition to get "noticed"; go prepared.