Soon to be 8th Grader - What is the Gameplan?

What is the Game Plan? If he has the goal of College Baseball, it all starts with....

Grades,Grades Grades.  Too many HS players start considering that Jr year, could be too late.

Then just watch him grow as a player.  It's still baseball whether it be Pre HS on a small field or HS on a bigger field.  Support him with a hug when he makes an error to lose a game and a hug when he gets the game winning hit.  Support him in his efforts to play HS and college baseball by being just as happy with an A on a test or report card as you would with an on field achievment.  Remind him that what he has done by wanting to play HS and college baseball is set a goal which takes work as opposed to just having a wish and a hope of achieving it.  If you help him distinguish and decipher the two he will do great at each level and in the classroom. 

Unless your son is the next coming of Bryce Harper all he has to do is enjoy playing 14u ball. The game gets a little faster since last year which was a transition year. No one is scouting 14u players. 8th grade grades don't go on a transcript. Just enjoy playing, learn the game and develop good study habits for high school. With next year start thinking skill appropriate instead of age appropriate. If your son can handle 16u next year move him up.

The transition to the full size field is a big one, however it is way to early to be thinking about college baseball when you don't even know if you can make the HS team. 

Most important thing IMO is to play multiple sports, find his passion, and for you to help him along the way he wants to go. 

- First step is to play on the large field  

- Work on fundamentals and have fun

- Go to some HS games and get a feel for the level of talent at Frosh/JV/Varsity

- Toward the end of next baseball season get in contact with the HS coach and find out about his summer program (if he has one)

- Work on overall athleticism

- Play multiple sports

BTW tournaments don't mean more, unless your talking about the parents thinking they mean more.

 As SnQ pointed out academics are key.

Have fun!

Actually that's not 100% true about 8th grade grades. It could be our district only, I guess, but if he takes Algebra and Geometry in MS here, those grades do appear on the kid's HS transcript.

As for the OP - agree with all. This is an important year for your son, because around now he (and you) will discover whether his skills translate to the big field, and whether he really loves playing the game for himself.  If a kid's skills do not translate, or he has been playing it for dad or for any other reason, he'll be out of the game very soon.

The game plan:

Don't kid yourself that being an athlete will save you from slacking off academically.  Mom and Dad expect you to exert yourself in school and you should expect that of yourself as well.

Don't expect the moon in terms of a future in baseball beyond high school.  For now, play for the love of the game, play for the love of competing, and never stop looking for ways to get better.

If all goes well, come back in 2 years and then we'll see if any college baseball recruiting preparations are in order.  In the meantime, don't lose sight of the points above while chasing after things that may or may not even be desired in two years. 

A lot can change about what your son wants and doesn't want over that time, especially at that age.  And to repeat a point I expounded on in another thread, the big separator between those who will continue playing in college and those who will not is often based as much, if not more, on desire and will than on ability.

Great info in all posts above...

I'll expand on the "grades/study habits" angle - Most college money for baseball players is academic scholarship or otherwise grade-related.  Acceptance into better schools is, of course, largely grade-related.  It really is vitally important for student-athletes aspiring toward college baseball.  Actual baseball scholarships are few and far between and are often only 25% when you do get one.  The better the grades, the more $$$ and the more open doors available to him.  Now is a good time to gently plant that seed in a way your young son will relate.  "If you want a chance to play at the better schools, you have to have a XXX GPA before they'll even look at you."  Getting study habits in order just prior to HS is a big plus.  

Another suggestion... balance, balance, balance.  There are 1,000 things that could change his current path toward college baseball.  Make sure he is experiencing life as any 13-14 y.o. should.  When baseball ends at some point, there should be plenty of other cultivated interests to pursue.

PS - typing same time as Midlo, so some duplication.  Sounds like you already have a good handle on making sure you and he enjoy the present.

A lot of great comments above.

When my son was in JH he also talked a lot about college and stated that his goal was to go to a D-1 school and play ball.  His mother and I in no way made any comment to dampen his enthusiasm or his resolve.  The one thing we emphasized to him was that he needed good grades to do so, and he took that to heart and from that point on always got onto the Honor Roll all the way through HS . . .and to our surprise and delight, he did it without without his parents ever having to push in any way.  He had a goal and was self driven to get what he wanted.  

On the baseball side, his mother and I simply tried to make it possible for him to play at the highest level he could get into in order to challenge him that we could stand back and watch him to see if he really had the talent and excel. And I must stay, it was great fun to watch and not have to do anything but play catch with him often and do some live pitching for some batting cage work.  It didn't take long to where old Dad didn't know much about baseball any more and so he relied more on his team coaches. Old Dad still took videos of him on cage work and at his games that he liked to look at to see afterwards to evaluate if he was doing things mechanically like he wanted to.  So, in my son's case, the best thing I feel we did for him was to be sure his parents were out of the picture except for providing support for what he was trying to accomplish.  

Though I could see he had a lot of athletic talent during JH and afterwards, I was never sure just how far he could go and every year as he moved up that ladder I was surprised and delighted for his accomplishments.  And even now, this is still going on as he makes his way though Minor League pro-ball (post a high level D-1 college).

So, with this experience I'd say don't worry about the transition and be sure not to project your own expectations onto your son, but do give him all your support in whatever he decides to do and enjoy the ride for however long it'll last.  And keep in mind that things change AND they very often grow up much faster that you realize.

Great Article by Eric Cressey on the subject. His recommendations. 

Up to Age 10 – Complete fun, wide variety of activities
Ages 11-15 – Multiple (3+) organized sports with “seasons,” integration of strength and conditioning
Age 16-17 – Hone in on 1-2 sports
Age 18+ - Specialization

http://www.ericcressey.com/lon...l-development-part-1

+1 to every post before this one.  Not much to add so I'll add 1 thing strictly related to his game.....transition him to a -3 bat AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  The biggest thing I saw from the freshman this past season at my kids school, was that it was very easy to see who had adjusted to swinging -3's earlier than others

Great advice from everyone. I would just add or reiterate two things:

At this age I believe it is really, really important to not get too consumed with any one thing--emotionally, psychologically or physically. Diversified interests, commitments, and goals are not only healthy but help pave the way.

Grades are important regarding specific school choices. But fundamentally speaking, the better your son does academically, the more options he will have in terms of playing ball in college. Having multiple choices and not feeling unduly limited is a great thing.