Transferring high schools?

What are you looking to gain by transferring? What schools do his friends go to?

Better recruiting opportunities. He has friends at several different  schools so friends aren’t an issue.

thank you.

I think for the most part college RCs are not looking at a HS pitchers stat sheet. If they are interested they'll come to see him or have someone come see him. With  a lot (most) recruiting happening in summer ball these days, I personally think changing high schools for the sake of baseball is a waste. JMO though.

Thank you! Yes, that’s what I was thinking.

Welcome to HSBBW. This is an awesome  site and if you search past topics you will find a discussion on any possible subject you could think of related to the path to keep playing baseball. I have learned a ton of info I have never heard anywhere else discussed along my kid's journey.

I used that to preface my answer to your question. What I've learned here is step one is to figure out what level you're kid can play at. Step two, is you need to figure out how to get seen by the schools at that level.

Schools are not recruiting based off the highschool box score. There are many reasons when transferring high schools may be in a player's best interest. But a bad highschool team is not going to hold a player back if you are using all the other avenues available for exposure.

What does your son want to do?

@CollegebaseballInsights posted:

What does your son want to do?

IMHO, If your son, your wife an you feel that for the next 4 yrs it will be the same, then move on and don't look back.

KISS method "Who moved My Cheese"

I agree with your travel coach and the posters here.  College coaches trust their eyes, and the eyes of people they trust.  High school stat sheets only matter to the general population.  My son had a few local colleges who were recruiting him stop by to watch his games.  His high school was average in our area.    Never once did the college coaches talk to the high school coach in person or ask to see his stat sheet who was kept by a high student student.  Significantly more meaningful eyes will be watching your son play summer travel baseball as the talent pool is better and deeper.  Evaluations will be more meaningful there.

As always, JMO.

Thank you for all the responses! My son is torn. He is very competitive on one hand and doesn’t like losing, but isn’t sure about leaving his HS.

Go the best high school possible for the education. Play baseball for the best travel team possible for the baseball advancement. Colleges look at the high school classes and grades. Baseball coaches look at the best competition the player competes against in the summer.

I’ll be the outlier here as I live in the SoCal area and my son was recruited through his high school league, BUT was able to cast a wider net for recruitment by playing travel ball.

If the intent is for your son to join a high school that plays in the Trinity League or a similar D-1 rated league, then yes he will be seen by a lot of college recruiters and MLB scouts, “while playing in that environment “, against top talent.

If he cannot get playing time at that level of high school ball then you’re wasting your time. As Fenway mentioned the class curriculum will also factor in the decision of if transferring is worth it.

Correction: RJM made the comment about the education.

Welcome!  The only thing to add is, if he stays at the current school, you'll have to make sure that he is not over-used.  Keep track of his pitch and inning counts, make sure he doesn't have over-long innings due to errors, etc.  I think if you don't trust the HS coach, that could be a reason to transfer.

I totally get the competitive kid and the losing team, but I agree that priority should be school situation.

Thank you, again, for all the responses. I truly appreciate it! I’m concerned with his arm getting overworked, too, with errors and/or simply missed plays. I agree, too, that school is priority. For sure. In terms of level, I have no doubt he could get playing time as a pitcher playing in a league similar to Trinity down here in SD. He has pitched against that level of players in Summer last year very well. His velo last summer was only 81-83.

I’m thinking I am leaning toward just keeping him where he’s at in HS as his Summer team is competitive and in most of the relevant West Coast tournaments.

It sounds like your mind is made up. But I will offer up our personal experience as a consideration anyway. My youngest son was in a similar situation a few years ago in the Dallas area. I reference the location only to establish that, similar to you, it’s a place where HS baseball can be both very good and very bad. The local suburban HS that my kids attended was only competitive in the country club sports and the overall condition of the HS athletic departments in this particular school district was pathetic. The baseball program at the local HS was a dumpster fire and had been for years. My middle son had a bad experience playing baseball there. So after my youngest son’s freshman year we transferred him to a more competitive HS in a more competitive school district. We did it for more than baseball but baseball was a big part of the equation. The move paid off in every way possible. His new school is a top ranked public HS and is full of very bright and motivated kids. Being around them in the classroom helped my son learn better study habits and as a result he was much better prepared for college. But the payoff on the baseball side was significant as well. He was a position player but what I’m about to say will apply to a pitcher also. The level of play in the district that his new school was a part of was far superior to the school he left - from top to bottom. He went from competing against mediocre talent to seeing a college bound arm every Tuesday and Friday night in district games. And he was a 3 year starter at 3B so that was a lot of at bats against elite HS pitching. Elite HS pitching attracts MLB scouts and college coaches and there were both at many of his games. So he got a lot more exposure and that elevated his status as a prospect. Playing against better players also better prepared my son for college baseball and it helped him make a smooth transition. He was able to avoid the struggles that so many players go thru as a college freshman. The bottom line is my son benefited from being in a more competitive environment. Both in the classroom and on the baseball field. I would never compromise on the quality of education as that is the trump card. But if can move your son to a competitive baseball environment without a compromise on the education side, I would recommend doing it. It may pay off in ways you never expected years down the road. That has been the case for us. It’s always better (for most kids) to be around competitive people in a competitive environment.

@adbono posted:

It sounds like your mind is made up. But I will offer up our personal experience as a consideration anyway. My youngest son was in a similar situation a few years ago in the Dallas area. I reference the location only to establish that, similar to you, it’s a place where HS baseball can be both very good and very bad. The local suburban HS that my kids attended was only competitive in the country club sports and the overall condition of the HS athletic departments in this particular school district was pathetic. The baseball program at the local HS was a dumpster fire and had been for years. My middle son had a bad experience playing baseball there. So after my youngest son’s freshman year we transferred him to a more competitive HS in a more competitive school district. We did it for more than baseball but baseball was a big part of the equation. The move paid off in every way possible. His new school is a top ranked public HS and is full of very bright and motivated kids. Being around them in the classroom helped my son learn better study habits and as a result he was much better prepared for college. But the payoff on the baseball side was significant as well. He was a position player but what I’m about to say will apply to a pitcher also. The level of play in the district that his new school was a part of was far superior to the school he left - from top to bottom. He went from competing against mediocre talent to seeing a college bound arm every Tuesday and Friday night in district games. And he was a 3 year starter at 3B so that was a lot of at bats against elite HS pitching. Elite HS pitching attracts MLB scouts and college coaches and there were both at many of his games. So he got a lot more exposure and that elevated his status as a prospect. Playing against better players also better prepared my son for college baseball and it helped him make a smooth transition. He was able to avoid the struggles that so many players go thru as a college freshman. The bottom line is my son benefited from being in a more competitive environment. Both in the classroom and on the baseball field. I would never compromise on the quality of education as that is the trump card. But if can move your son to a competitive baseball environment without a compromise on the education side, I would recommend doing it. It may pay off in ways you never expected years down the road. That has been the case for us. It’s always better (for most kids) to be around competitive people in a competitive environment.

@adbono thanks for sharing

Selection will be more than the metrics, if you look at the participation statistics, the percentage is very low, thus my take the student athlete must play in a competitive environment and be surrounded by players that have similar dedication.

The window of opportunity is very limited.

Thank you! I definitely see your point for sure. Another thing to throw in the equation is that in California he’d have to wait 6 weeks to play if he transfers.

My son was recruited to play for some top privates (academically and athletically). The gifted program at his high school was just as strong academically as these privates. His high school was slowly transitioning from being an athletic dumpster fire to competitive. As the football coach once joked to me, “It’s challenging recruiting off the mean streets of the country clubs” (four in the district). My son saw a trend and decided to stay.

The privates recruited and were so stacked in talent almost no one started before junior year. Those who started earlier usually ended up professionals. The high school baseball program was still in dumpster fire mode.

A new coach came in. He had been the top assistant at a powerhouse public school program. He convinced the reasonably talented middle school kids not to leave the district. From my son’s high school junior year roster twelve kids went on to college ball at some level.

The only reason my son didn’t start varsity freshman year is the coach didn’t believe in freshman playing varsity. The team went 6-16.

After twenty years of losing the next three years the high school team came in second and won the conference twice. They were in first his first season until two pitchers got in a car accident.

College recruiting was done off his national schedule 17u travel team he played for two years. At the high school he got to stay with all his local buddies he grew up with in multiple sports. He got to be hassled as he entered high school, “Are you as smart and athletic as your older sister?” He just smiled and responded, “More talented in every way.” She set a high bar for him.

Thank you for the info!

@SanDiegobaseball posted:

Thank you! I definitely see your point for sure. Another thing to throw in the equation is that in California he’d have to wait 6 weeks to play if he transfers.

You should not be worried the short term inconvenience of sitting out for 6 weeks this year or next, it is about the implementing a process that meets long term goals and objectives.

You must determine if the family has to find some new cheese.