Were is the education?

Good Post! Sure the ideal situation is for your son to graduate from high school with a 4.0 and to get a full ride athletic scholarship to the best college in the US, pursue a degree for four years in his selected field at that college and graduate summa cam laude. Oh I almost forgot: we also want him to be an All-American and be selected in the first round after he gets his degree ….. but this is not a perfect world. No two players are alike, no two colleges are alike, and no two coaches are alike. There are variables everywhere. The college selection process is filled with unknowns, unrealistic expectations, visions, and promises. As things unfold and the unknowns become realities, adjustments have to be made. While the player and the parents cannot totally eliminate the need for adjustments, we can minimize them by doing our homework.

Pirate Fan,

Good post and Fungo is right on the money. It is a lot different when your son is being recruited; to then making the squad, then making the starting nine. All of this along with dealing with being away from home and the academics. A ton of pressure and often times it just is not exactly what you or your son thought it was going to be.

Baseball is a game of adjustments and those who can't or don't make adjustments will eventually be out of baseball. The adjustments that have to be made in college in order to survive are both on and off the field. That is a difficult situation for any player or parent.

This is no guarantee because things are going to come up that you are just not prepared for. But as Fungo says we may not have to make as many adjustments if we do our homework, before he signs that NLI.

O42

Good topic. I would answer the question "Where is the education?" by saying, "It's there - in between the bumps and detours in the road - but sometimes because of them."

I have a niece who was offered several athletic (softball) and academic scholarships out of HS. She chose a college that did not seem to be a logical choice (because of a certain young man). She transferred after 1 year. She transferred again. After 4 years this straight-A student had enough credits, but not the right classes, to graduate. Her parents asked her to start paying for most of her education, and she worked 2 part-time jobs while continuing with school for the next 2 years. Now at her 3rd school and in her 6th year of college, she is about to graduate with a very practical, employable major (Registered Nurse). And she is one of the best-educated, smartest, and most mature young adults I know, thanks in part to the bumps and detours in the road.

What does this say about the person? If I am an employeer and see this person changing schools every year, "because thing didnot go his way", what does that say about his perserverence to stay on the job.

MN-Mom at least your niece settled down and became successful.

Pirate Fan,

I can see your point of view, but I also see another way of looking at it.

When someone either makes some mistakes or encounters some obstacles that help to change their path, I respect the kind of perseverance that allows them to learn from mistakes and keep pushing on until they reach a goal, even if they reach it by an unconventional route.

Topic for discussion is, where is the education I would say there was none, had to have lost plenty of credits.
While I realize as Fungo suggests it is not a perfect world, things happen, after the second transfer I would have told mine this was not what we expected and enough is enough. JMO.

TPM, I agree with you. My kid was never drafted, but he went to juco with some that were drafted in the very late rounds, and they werent any better than he was...Somewhere along the line you'd hope that one would get the message that they're not mlb material and it's time to move on. I would expect that by the second transfer you either accept that you are at the school you may or may not play for and get the education that the parents are paying for. By the third year of school, it ought to be evident to the parents why Johnnie is in college (academic progress) If it's not happening by that time, I think Johnnie could then go on his own dime.

Is the scenario of signing with a D1 and ending up "placed" at a JC for the sophomore year typical for the schools that bring in 15+ signees each year?

Okay reality here:

Kid goes to a JUCO 1 year and 1 semester
transfers to a D2 for 1 year and 1 semester
transfers to a NAIA program 1 year and 1 semester.

Where is the education?

Well, this is my son - and he's graduating in about two weeks with honors.

The education comes when you focus on it - no matter how many schools you attend.

Granted my son transfered once due to parenthood, and the second time, due to the baseball program being dropped. But does that matter? No, it really doesn't matter if the kid transferred strictly due to baseball.

There are plenty of kids who spend 4-6 years at one college - who never place their focus on education.

It's not how many schools you attend that matter in your education - it's how much time and attention you focus on learning while you are at each of these schools.

Congratulations to your son for graduating with honors. I know you are very proud