What are the benefits of playing college ball?

Look at all the athletes across the board in college sports who will be going pro in something other than (name your sport). They play because they love their sport. Done right they gain development skills they might not get in the classroom. When looking for a job an athlete can play up preparation, time management skills, mental and physical discipline, competitiveness and leadership skills. A lot of employers love athletes and military people. They've lived a life where losing is not an option.

Cameraderie, dogpiles, having that 'family' all four years, networking, being physically solid, walking around campus as a collegiate athlete, meeting girls otherwise perhaps not met, teamwork, perseverance, learning how to handle different personalities, pushing yourself to your limits, managing stress, managing time, etc.......and maybe, just maybe, getting that crack at playing beyond......or at least being the mega-ringer on your company softball team in 2015.

Having an instant group of comrades. Setting goals and achieving them or not. Playing is better than watching. Less downtime=less trouble, less boredom. But most importantly like anything else, if you don't love it, don't do it.

quote:

or at least being the mega-ringer on your company softball team in 2015

quote:

They play because they love their sport. Done right they gain development skills they might not get in the classroom. When looking for a job an athlete can play up preparation, time management skills, mental and physical discipline, competitiveness and leadership skills.

Thanks...I think this applies to HS sports as well and I'm going to memorize this list and use it on the next kid who tells me he's not going out for the team because there is 'no point in playing since (insert reason here)...'

my older children are former dI athletes and they all say that when they have gone on job interviews and the interviewer sees they were DI athletes it pretty much seals the deal. People in the business world know how hard DI athletes work and if a job comes down to two people and one was a DI athletes chances are they will get the job...
As far as why play??? Ask any female athlete why they play even though there is almost no professional possiblilties after college, but they still play.

I'm guessing that most people don't spend much time thinking about what the benefits of playing college baseball might be.

To me the biggest benefit by far is that you are playing college baseball and you will have memories that will last a life time.

Some just want to play as long as they possibly can. For many it ends at youth baseball, or high school baseball, college or pro baseball. If all those people were to consider the benefit of playing at every level... There wouldn't even be youth baseball... In fact, there wouldn't even be baseball! Can't imagine a world with only a couple thousand players total... Just those who actually have "benefitted" enough to be a professional player.

That said... There's nothing wrong with hanging up the cleats. For some it might even be beneficial. There are more important things than baseball.

quote:

Originally posted by Krakatoa:
Cameraderie, dogpiles, having that 'family' all four years, networking, being physically solid, walking around campus as a collegiate athlete, meeting girls otherwise perhaps not met, teamwork, perseverance, learning how to handle different personalities, pushing yourself to your limits, managing stress, managing time, etc.......and maybe, just maybe, getting that crack at playing beyond......or at least being the mega-ringer on your company softball team in 2015.

Amen. It isn't all pie and ice cream, but the ones I know who did it cherish it and would not change very much. It makes you feel alive.

For me, I figure that I only have so long to play competitive ball, so I might as well do it. It is something that has been with me forever, and I don't want to give it up until I have to.

Plus, I feel that in the long run if you are competing for a job with someone with similar grades and resume but you played a sport, I feel that you should have an advantage because of your time management and team experiences.

I just couldn't imagine not doing it. When God pulls the plug on my career I will look back and have no regrets...

I guess one should “play baseball until it is no longer fun”.

Many years back when my son was 9 or 10, I took him to a baseball camp one February afternoon. There were current and former MLB and MiLB guys there. The one guy, who really stood out in my mind, was Sid Bream. He told the boys that day what his father told him many years ago, “play baseball until it is no longer fun”. The game should be fun.

My hope around that time was that my son would have the opportunity to play high school baseball. He ended up playing HS ball. This was awesome! His first two years he was in right field and his last two years they converted him to pitcher. From time to time, I would ask my son if he had the desire to play post high school. He would always say ‘yes’. However, he was not aggressive about pursuing this.

During the fall of his senior HS year we signed him up for a college showcase in the next town over (this was the only showcase he ever attended). In attendance were mainly NAIA, JUCO, DII, and DIII schools. I think they were all in-state schools – no big name programs there. Three colleges, two DII and one JUCO, showed some interest in him. He ended up going to one of the DII schools on a partial (one thousand dollars) baseball scholarship.

To me, this was awesome! My son was going to play NCAA baseball. It was great. However, he did not have such a great freshman season. He ended up with about 12 innings of relief pitching with an ERA of 6.75. He had trouble finding the strike zone, the coach lost confidence in him, and he probably lost some confidence in his own abilities. There was no fire in his belly to do this any longer.

Going back to what Sid Bream’s father said, this was not fun anymore. My son decided he did not want to play college baseball any longer so he finished the season but decided to not play his sophomore year. He remained at the same college the next year and basically did the typical college stuff – joined a fraternity, played in many of the intramural sports, spent time in the weight room, etc. He had a lot of fun, got stronger, and continued his college education.

As the months passed, my only concern was - I did not want him to regret this later in life. The window of opportunity is small and he was still within that window. As time went on he did miss playing baseball and decided to pursue playing college ball again (for the fun of it) at a local DIII school.

He applied to the school, got accepted and prepared to take classes in the Fall. There are no athletic scholarships at DIII schools but he did get an academic scholarship that covered a large portion of the tuition.

Maybe he was a late bloomer; maybe he found his groove; maybe this, maybe that… He was stronger, did gain his confidence back and had a great season. His velocity was in the 90s, he was striking guys out, and he was having fun. This was awesome! I thought this was very positive; I doubt there will be any regrets later in life regarding his collegiate baseball.

I did not think it could get any better. However, on April 1st of that year, and I did think this was an April fool’s joke, the team trainer mentioned to me that a scout from the Kansas City Royals called the coach and wanted to see my son pitch. What! A few days later the scout came out. My son had a good outing and got the win in relief. The scout gave me a questionnaire to give to my son and invited him to a pre-draft workout with the Royals. This was awesome! Over the next few weeks, more and more scouts showed up at his games. It was surreal. I asked one scout how he had heard about this kid. He said he got a call earlier that day from his scouting director and was told to drive down (about 125 miles) that day to see him pitch. The scout said he had never heard of this kid before 11:30 that morning – he was not even on the radar.

After 10-15 MLB team questionnaires, three pre-draft workouts, quite a few phone calls from scouts, the MLB draft finally came. Day one came and went. There was no expectation that we’d hear his name called that day. Day two came and went. A few of the scouts had indicated that they’d take him in the 10th-15th round – never happened. A phone call came towards the end of day two but nothing ever came out of it. Day three came. We figured, even if his named was called that day, the signing bonus would be minimal and there would be no MLB scholarship money offered. But about half way through day three my son’s phone rang. They asked if he was willing to accept an amount along with MLB scholarship money. My son said yes. He was drafted about five minutes later. This was awesome! My son had a few very restless nights deciding if this was really what he wanted to do (instead of finishing college first) before signing his contract. His signing bonus was not substantial, but it was a nice amount and he had MLB scholarship money to finish his college education when his professional career was over. And, although the odds are long, he has a shot of playing in the bigs.

He started his professional career in the Appalachian (Rookie) League and about half way through the season was promoted to the short season A New York – Penn league.

saintpetrel - unbelievably fabulous story!!!!

Welcome to the hsbbweb! Perhaps the best first post of all time. It will be hard to top that story

Great story and thanks for posting it. Welcome!

saintpetrel,
Glad to see you back.
Thank you for posting the story about your son.
As you know, I have a fondness for the DIII guys who get/earn these types of chances.
Loved following your son last Summer on Milb.
I am very happy for you and your son that his first season was a success. 93-95mph pitchers, even those in the late rounds, can open doors.
Of course, I also ate a bit of crow on the DIII site questioning those velocities, but it was pretty tasty.

quote:

Originally posted by Hawk19:
I think this applies to HS sports as well and I'm going to memorize this list and use it on the next kid who tells me he's not going out for the team because there is 'no point in playing since (insert reason here)...'

Without question it applies to HS. While my son decided on not playing college baseball, and also was a four year varsity letter winner and team captain in his other HS sport and team captain on his American Legion baseball team, he learned how to manage his time in school between the schoolwork and the time put in being a two-sport athlete. His transition to college was relatively easy and his GPA is higher than it was in HS. That was in part of growing up a little and has a little more time on his hands since he's not playing college baseball. Also being a team captain has helped him develop some leadership skills which he carries with him. He has recently got a recommendation from one of his professors (which is required to be even considered for the program) for a teaching program at his college.

Also, when he was looking at colleges, when he was interviewed, they asked him about his club and school activties, he gave them what he did and he said it don't hurt being involved in athletics (or any other club) for that matter to gain an edge.

I can say my son's HS athletic career has served him pretty well so far.

Saintpetrel - All I can say is WOW!!! Awesome story!

Thank you Saintpetrel for sharing your son's story. Good luck on his future!

My take on your son's story: "This was awesome!"

Saintpetrel,

The story about your son is a great one. I hope you stick around here and keep us informed about him.

SaintPetrel,

I'd guess 'the east' is glad your son has moved on! I read a lot about him on the D3 boards. Best of luck to him!!

quote:

What are the benfits for playing college ball if you don't have a chance to play pro?

I don't know if this was mentioned but IMHO, any Athlete who graduates with a Bachelors degree should be awarded an additional degree from the University. Not only are the hours put in, but there are so many other attributes from Human behavior, to Kinesiology, to Health Medicine, to Physical education, to Teaching skills, and the list goes on. To me that is deserving of a Minor degree. Even though the sheepskin is not handed out, the experience was had, and will be applied regardless of the profession.

quote:

Originally posted by rz1:

quote:

What are the benfits for playing college ball if you don't have a chance to play pro?

I don't know if this was mentioned but IMHO, any Athlete who graduates with a Bachelors degree should be awarded an additional degree from the University. Not only are the hours put in, but there are so many other attributes from Human behavior, to Kinesiology, to Health Medicine, to Physical education, to Teaching skills, and the list goes on. To me that is deserving of a Minor degree. Even though the sheepskin is not handed out, the experience was had, and will be applied regardless of the profession.

I agree. The "bootstrapping" and teambuilding these guys do from 18-22 is expereince you can't buy.

The biggest benefit of playing college baseball that I saw in my sons and I see in our players who move on is the maturity of the young man that ensues over the 4 or 5 years. You can literally see them grow from a young boy into a young man. And they get a college degree to boot--not a bad deal

I have to SECOND the story from Saintpetrel! WOW! What an inspirational story!

I guess at this point as a Dad looking at what baseball has meant up to this point for my son and that is he has learned what he wants to do in life - Become a Teacher and Coach. To me that means he wants to become a Shaper and Encourager of young lives and help mold them.

Update: He just called and told me that he just found out he made a A+ and B+ in 2 of his 5 classes this semester! It looks to be a good Christmas afterall! LOL

quote:

What are the benfits for playing college ball if you don't have a chance to play pro?

Doughnutman,
This is a very interesting question.
The responses are likely to vary and be quite personal. The post and path described by SaintPetrel is spine tingling.
Speaking from another personal view, here are some benefits our son experienced:

1.) Finding out you are, indeed, good enough to have a chance to play pro!
2.) Learning to, and being willing to, take the risk to set a goal of how good you can be, commit to a discipline and work ethic to achieve that goal, and achieve it.
3.) Once you think you achieved your goal, have a coach show you how you underestimated your ability,and then have him support you, challenge you, and coach you in doing more and achieving at higher levels; levels that you never envisioned for yourself, or at least acknowledged to yourself...and you do.
4.) Using the life lessons that the experience and process that college baseball teaches including teamwork, sacrifice, leadership, slumps, hot streaks, wins, losses, bad calls, good calls, highs and lows to learn that if you commit 110% and give 110% everyday, you never regret the path you took. Learning to give up excuses and to appreciate you learn more from the process than the end result.
5.) Recognizing that if you went 0-4 yesterday, you get to start over tomorrow...just as you can with your life. Recognizing that if you went 4-4 yesterday, tomorrow is a new day, and a new challenge, in baseball and life.
6.) Learning and sharing with your parents how much baseball taught you about living your life and how you use the lessons of college baseball to live your life after baseball.
6.) Posting on Facebook video of the dogpile following your catching the final out of the Conference Championships in your senior year to secure the NCAA berth, and hoisting the trophy with your 4 year roommate and team co-captain, who was thinking of not playing that season, until you challenged him to excel.
7.) Sitting with your family, friends and coaches and hearing your name called in the draft, when 4 years earlier only one coach believed it could happen and challenged you so that it did happen.

Great post!

All I can add is "Not having to wonder the rest of your life if you could have."

quote:

What are the benifits for playing college ball if you don't have a chance to play pro?

If your a Freshman going into college ball at any level, Why would you have such a realistic attitude?
It may be true that you don't have a chance.
But I just don't believe in that kind of attitude towards your game.

You should go at it to be the best you can be.

Remember the saying, before HS. You have know idea how much you will grow, are how well you will adapt to the game.
Same goes for the time frame in college , you have know idea how much you will grow or adapt at this level.
I have known student athlete's that have decided to quit the baseball team after there junior year to concentrate on academic's.
I've known very good HS pitcher's not persue baseball in college so they could concentrate on Med School.
All great reason's not to play baseball in college.
But I would not preconclude that you have no chance before going into it.
Thats selling yourself short before you even try??
JMO
EH

When my son was young and he would try out for the local travel team, they would hand out an envelope to all the players to let them know whether or not they had made the team. I coined the term the "Golden Ticket" that him and I still use as code language whenever he achieves something in baseball. When we would get in the car, and he opened the envelope, and the news was good, we would both sing the song the Golden Ticket all the way home. For those that may not have heard this classic song, here it is:

I've Got a Golden Ticket

I am sure we quit singing the song years and years ago but even to this day we talk about the Golden Ticket. We talked about it when he made the freshmen team, the JV team, varsity, when he was recruited to college, and when he got his first college start. He called me last June and told me he was going to work out because he was frustrated his name was not yet called. Five minutes later, I saw his name come up on the computer screen draft board and excitedly called him. I said "Congratulations you got the Golden Ticket!"

He still has a few more to collect.

I realize how corny all that sounds and my son would probably be embarrassed for me telling it but the benefit for him and his parents continues to be a little boy's love of the game and how much that love has enriched all of our lives. It is no more complicated than that

As far as college goes, it was the best and yes, sometimes the worst of times. JT started a thread about my son getting listed on the roster and it turned out that same day, he was redshirted. I had to post the bad news in that thread and everyone treated me wonderfully. A month later his luck had changed and he found his way on to the roster. A couple of weeks later on St. Patties day his first collegiate at bat was a walkoff game winning base hit. My wife and I were lucky to be there for his first collegiate start about two weeks later and we could barely breath because it was so exciting. He remained a starter from that day forward.

He went on to play more games than most players in the history of the school and finished ranked in many all time categories. He was on ESPN numerous times with palm trees blowing in the warm ocean breeze and came within two games of playing in Omaha. His last game ended in regionals in North Carolina and ended in tears as he came a wee bit short of leading his team to Omaha. He loved college baseball with all his heart as he also did with high school baseball.

I imagine that anyone who takes the time to be a member here intuitively understands the benefits. There is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears involved but for those who can stick it out and battle for their spot in view of long odds, it is indeed the best of times.

Guys i am again impressed by the wisdom. Again thank you. I will be making a copy of this post for my 2010 grad. He will be play college ball also. Hope he reads it with an open heart. Hope he sees his ability as I do from reading this post.Or atleast his potential and rewards. Thanks guys and gals.

quote:

Originally posted by hisbiggestfan:
my older children are former dI athletes and they all say that when they have gone on job interviews and the interviewer sees they were DI athletes it pretty much seals the deal. People in the business world know how hard DI athletes work and if a job comes down to two people and one was a DI athletes chances are they will get the job...

It's one of the first things I look for on a resume.