Stress and Showcases: Ruminations

Smoke,

I hope it's going great for your son!  I know you went a long way to Jupiter.  Hopefully it will be beneficial as you evaluate the long run of recruiting over the next year.  It was for my 2016 who had the butterflies in Jupiter last year.

This process is stresful.  My 2016 had horrible bp in Jupiter last year.  And he had a horrific pitching debacle there too.  And he just finished applying to his top 7 schools all of which he has Spring roster spots for next year!  This will work out!

branson, pm'd you.

Smoke,

How did your son fare at HF Jupiter?  Did it meet your expectations?  Given all the intel you had, was your son successful with contacting coach's prior to the event?  If so, was he able to talk with those same coach's at Jupiter?  You had a lot of insight, curious if it was overload or helpful.

Very interested, and really hope your son felt he was competitive and there are opportunities for him.

When my son was 14, he, like most of the kids on here had high aspirations and set his goal to become a D1 ballplayer.  I suggested at that time he attend a tryout where the format was the standard pro-style workout just to get the experience under his belt. I had no idea how he would physically mature or how his skills would develop later on so the intent of the early evaluation was simply to go through the process.  Over the last couple summers, there have been more workouts, primarily in camp settings but he did attend a PG showcase in August.  There are still nerves in play but with each passing event or game played in front of recruiters, he is better equipped to handle the stresses and just play.  If the kid is up to attend a pro-style workout at 13 or 14, shoot maybe even 12, I don't see any downside to gaining the experience, especially if the focus is on the process. As my son has matured and maintained the same goal of playing D1, the opinions or grade matter more now but the process remains unchanged.  Having lurked around this site for a while, I understand some kids never attend a showcase, tryout or even a pro-style workout and have ended up getting drafted or playing D1, but it appears the majority of players go through some type of evaluation outside of playing in games...at some point.     

smokeminside,

I hope your son did well at HeadFirst.  The stress you or your son feels is just a precursor to college baseball.  I'm willing to bet you were a lot more stressed than your son as your son was doing something familiar....you weren't.  The same can be said for college baseball.  These kids practice day after day and then play in a game.  They get used to the baseball pressure and the routine....at least that was my son's experience.  Athletics was a release for him. 

HF is a pretty unique experience.  The coaches speeches, the interaction, the private conversations, and the showcase format overall.  Hopefully, you and your son walked away with many nuggets of information that you can use with your college search going forward. 

Take a deep breath, relax, put on your seatbelt because you haven't even started to get really stressed out yet.   Seriously, I hope it went well.  Talk to you soon.

I've never told my kids anything more than "Go have fun." Internally they knew what they were up against. I didn't need to add to it. My daughter (softball) didn't care what level she played as long as it was the right college academically. My son's first showcase was two travel teams in front of five area coaches. When it was over he told me he was the best player on the field that day. When he went to East Cobb he came off the field saying, There are some incredible players here. But I can hang with them."

i never got nervous watching my kids tryout, showcase or play. I had my turn. Their turn is all about them and me enjoying it. The only time I freaked out was when my son had a serious knee and shoulder injury and missed his post junior year showcase season. The kid calmly told dad it would all work out. It did. He also told the doctor who told him he would miss his senior year of high school he would be in the lineup opening day. He was as DH and back in the field two weeks later.

The one thing I learned from watching my kids and their teammates is it will all work out if the player wants it.