The "marketing" game??

JT

The most important thing you can do is to visit campuses, narrow down your choices, then, if possible, arrange a one on one with the coach.

CV

JT there are a couple of things factor in here. Number one is your son’s talent level. You need to have a good assessment of your son’s talent so you can help guide him into a good fit. All divisions have great talent but a lesser talented player may never see the field at a large D-1 while he may see significant time at a D-III or a small JUCO. What schools can satisfy your son’s academics needs? Is his course of study offered at all schools? I agree with CVSting about narrowing your search down and making visits is the normal process but only after your son has drawn sufficient interest from multiple schools and I’m not sure that is the case at this time. “Narrowing your search” may be a little premature at this time. We want maximum exposure between the junior and senior year of high school (NOW) with the anticipation of drawing interest from multiple schools allowing us to “pick and choose” by this fall. The fall showcase team is good but there should be more exposure prior to the fall showcase team. Not sure how much exposure your son will get from your comment “My son is playing Legion ball, attending a tryout for a Blue-Grey event and attending a Best in VA Showcase”???? Without knowing your son’s talent would I be off base by suggesting a major showcase like a Perfect Game event? The process of "marketing" your son it is basically:
1. Get maximum exposure to draw interest
2. Analyze interest he gets from schools
3. Narrow your search down by eliminating schools
4. Select a school based on his/your criteria
Fungo

Thanks, Fungo. I'm not sure what his talent level truely is (DI?, DIII?) Defensively he is DI (imho), and his bat has really come around this year. We are working to get to a PG event in late summer or fall.
BTW--my dad is from Humboldt and lives in Trenton!

JT, Best of luck to your son! Small world...our house is just across the bottom from where your father lives. If he ever drives by tell him to stop by. Can't miss us!

Hey Fungo,

If you are ever in Hornsby (Hwy 64), stop by Sharecropper's and say hello to my Mom and Step Dad.

The sooner you get to a PG or T1 event the better. Many schools will have already made commitments to players by late summer/early fall and its helpful to know early in the process where you skill level stacks up. Plus making phone calls to coaches is very frustrating if they don't know who your kid is.

Also keep in mind that marketing if done wrong can be a disaster !!!

TR

could you plesae share with us what would be the correct way to market your player. I wouldn't want a disaster on my hands.

Your vast knowledge could benefit us all.

Let's face it, NCAA baseball scholarships don't usually amount to a lot of money. Your player marketing should focus on schools that you can afford to pay for yourself. Visits give an idea of how he likes the area and the school (some are "ugly" and some are "nice" with no set criteria for either one.) Another question is does he have an interest in academics, or does he just want to play baseball? Major? Check rosters online. Junior college? Call the coach and arrange a tryout in the fall. Where would he want to go to school if he couldn't play baseball? You know that just because the s chool is D1 it doesnt mean that the baseball is better than some D2. Don't get hung up on the Div.

a little pointer let the colleges coaches know they can see you at XX showcase. But keep in mind if you kid has no baseball talent/ tools no amount of showcasing will matter

Drivel

One way to find out your talent level is to attend a shwocase or two---the response the player gets will tell him what his talent level is--if the majority of calls and letters are Division II or III then he knows what schools he should target --if the majority are Division I then he takes that route--- not every player is a Division I player and that is nothing to be ashamed of-- a select few players get to play college baseball at all, so go for the level that your talent permits you to play at

and if you get no calls from any colleges?

showcases should not be a cattle call or a collection of players who cant play in one place
but some hs showcases are

Drivel

Where did you get the term "cattle call" ?

That is a Broadway term--did you ever get to Broadway?

Also FOR YOUR INFORMATION most kids have a pretty good idea of their talent level--

AND

Despite what YOU think most HS varsity starters can play college baseball somewhere--it may not be Division I but it will be somewhere

Sorry TOFU Hits you are so far off base. 90 % of HS Players will not play college baseball at any level.

But the world is filled with clueless parents whose kid cant break 75 mph and spend thousands of dollars on HS Showcase and travel teams thinking they are top 25 college material.

what college have you coached for

DRIVEL

Read what I said--- VARSITY HS STARTERS not varsity HS players--

What college have I coached for? I never said I did--- what college did you coach for and can it be verified ? Contact please

By the way has Angefire contacted you yet?--they are still looking at all their free sites to see those that are abusing the rights given to them-

TR

sorry watching house of flying daggers


觸怒的一個將被轉換為一

Dibble

Your argument with TR aside - consider this.

How is a player to know WHY he received no calls from colleges? Any player who automatically assumes no calls means he can't play anywhere is never going to play anywhere.

A showcase does two things for them. First, it gives then a chance to compare themselves to players outside their own conference. They may very well stink it up at the showcase, but they will have learned something essential, and that is that their talent is not at the level they once believed it to be. In that way the showcase would have been valuable to them.

Second, it gives coaches whom would otherwise never know who they are a chance to see them. Believe it or not, it actually is possible that a player is not right for 100 coaches and yet there is one who would consider that player a perfect fit for his present needs and syle of coaching. This is the type of player who needs the showcase the most.

Being proactive may not always get you what you want. But NOT being proactive gets you no where.

quote:

Being proactive may not always get you what you want. But NOT being proactive gets you no where.

AMEN

I don't know why people continually classify college programs as simply D1 or D2 or D3. Putting the top 50 or so D1 programs aside there are many D2 and D3 schools that are just as talented as many D1 teams if not more talented. This a baseball phenomenon and not a necessarily a college athletics phenomenon.

And most kids do not have a pretty good idea of their talent level as it applies to college, that is partly why %40 of student-athletes who enroll in a 4-year college leave or transfer and do not graduate from the school they originally enrolled in.