What if you dont make the HS team?

Welcome to the site and hope you post often. I will warn you though there are some people in here who don't pull punches and will tell what they think is right. Don't get me wrong there is a TON of information you can find from people in here and they are very helpful. Overall your experience in here should be good.

As for your question - I'm sorry your son didn't make the team but it's not over. What grade is your son in?

Most college recruiting is done by the player AND at summer league games. While it's great to play high school (and I am a high school coach) if you rely on just that to get a scholarship then you are probably wasting your time. Colleges are playing at the same time as high schools so they don't get out much then. Summer time is when they can get out. Now you can't have your son just play the local community baseball league. He needs to find a good travel ball team that will play teams / tournaments that will attract the recruiters.

Another route to help supplement the summer playing is showcases. Find reputable ones and not just the ones looking for money. This is a good place to find which showcases are good to go to.

One thing I tell my guys to do is select some schools they would like to go to and attend all their camps. This gets you exposure to the coaches you want to impress and you can open dialogue with them to see what your chances are.

Now all this is well and good but the one thing you need to do is be completely honest with your son's talent level. If he is not a DI caliber player then don't go after a DI scholarship because you won't get it. If he is a DII down to NAIA level player then you and he is going to have to do most of the leg work to get recruited - send out letters, emails, phone calls - and contact the coaches directly.

Another warning is you will find most people polarized on the whole political issue you brought up. Some are going to say you are right that the high school coach is clueless and just play favorites. Some are going to say that your son is not as good as you think and just because he got cut you are going to make excuses for him. Some are going to say suck it up and if it's something you want then keep at it and don't let a bump in the road stop you from achieving the dream.

I tend to be the latter. I don't know why your son got cut because I have never seen him play. He may stink and you not realize it because of rose colored glasses OOOORRRR the coaches at his high school are jerks and do play favorites. I don't know but it's not over if you and your son don't let it be over.

Keep up the good work, good luck and keep posting.

One last thing - if you go the route(s) I put above then be careful because you are going to be spending a lot of money to do it. Don't get disillusioned that a college baseball scholarship will end up making that money back. The money college baseball players get is laughable. You are going to spend a lot of money just to get a very small amount to play college baseball.

There are other people in here who can give you more information about the scholarship process. The recruiting forum is great in dealing with this.

quote:

Originally posted by coach2709:
Some are going to say suck it and if it's something you want then keep at it

Now that's no way to talk to a lady!

Welcome to the High School Baseball Web! I can’t add much to what coach2709 said. He touched all of the bases. I will echo his words about your son continuing to work at his game. There will always be negative influences pulling in the opposite direction. It can be very difficult to determine what is having a negative impact on our son’s baseball --- While I know many thing factor in we shouldn’t waste valuable time and effort blaming politics, size of school, size of player, poor coaching, daddy ball, injury, weather, even geography. We cannot control most of the things I listed. What we can control are talent, attitude, grades, work ethic, and exposure. Those are the things that have the most impact on our son’s game.
Fungo
PS: The ONLY people that determine whether a student/athlete is eligible for scholarship are the player, the college, and the NCAA.

You've already gotten a lot of good advice, and coach2709's post was very valuable.

Just as a thought, my son was cut from the summer team prior to hs, which pretty much turns into the JV team. His AAU coach had four guys trying out for that team and called me the evening of the cuts to ask who made it. I told him what happened and he took it upon himself to call the hs coach. Very diplomatically, he said something to the effect of 'you don't know me, but here's my coaching credentials, don't know what happened at the tryouts, but I know this player and you might be missing out.' HS coach called the next day and gave my son another chance.

quote:

Originally posted by tonkmom:
My son pitches and has taken lessons on a regular basis as well as playing the spring and summer seasons. He did not make the jv team to our surprise. There are kids that have an 'in' to the team so I believe its political. Does this mean he will not be eligible for a scholarship later on? He does plan to play in the summer league..
Thanks,

Maybe it's political, maybe it's not. There are always kids with an "in". The way for the rest of the kids to make the team is talent. Every coach wants to win. Given two kids equal in talent, coach will likely take the one he knows. But given a kid with an "in" and a kid who can throw 90 mph, he'll take the later.

Politics exist everywhere. Coaches make mistakes evaluating talent on every level. We can't do anything about it. What we, or our sons, can control is their ability to play baseball. When my son got cut this year, I thought it was BS. I said it was BS. But I can't control school politics. I said, "you just have to get better so you will not be denied next time. Strive to be the best. Never settle for good enough and let the chips fall where they may."

What does your son's instructor think about what happened?

quote:

Originally posted by biggerpapi:

quote:

Originally posted by coach2709:
Some are going to say **** ** and if it's something you want then keep at it

Now that's no way to talk to a lady!

OH MY GOSH I DID NOT REALIZE I HAD TYPED THIS!!!!!!!!!

I apologize and will go up and edit right away. I am really sorry

I am also editing the quote above to remove the bad stuff.

Coach, papi, you are talking to baseball Moms. Although truly wonderful, we are NOT delicate little flowers.

quote:

There are kids that have an 'in' to the team so I believe its political.

Is this line in the "my kid was cut" handbook? It sure comes out a lot.

Tonkmom, there are a couple of posters here who are kids who were cut. Instead of making excuses they're asking how to be a better baseball player. Learn from them.

quote:

Originally posted by Orlando:
Coach, papi, you are talking to baseball Moms. Although truly wonderful, we are NOT delicate little flowers.

Son was participating in an adult outing a couple of years ago with a bunch of men, one of them threw out the F bomb and immediately turned towards my son and I and apologized. My son, being the gracious, well brought up young man that he is, responds, "don't worry, my Dad's a Captain, he teaches swearing to sailors." I'm so proud.

Thank you all for all of your responses. Okay so maybe its not political.. who knows but it may be..I have heard this from other parents. In response to Nitric_Acid.. the pitching instructor was very surprised that he did not make the team. Told me he had been throwing well and could not believe it. I spoke to one of the HS coaches and mentioned this instructor.. he responded that he had never heard of this guy and he has been coaching for 20 years. Do these coaches really know all of the instructors in an area? I found that comment kind of odd. Sounds to me like they might want us to use particular instructors. Anyhow the instructor told me to have my son ask the main coach WHY he was cut. He IS determined to improve and has joined the track team for the spring. He is going to attend a showcase at Fordham college in NY. I will have to check out that forum.. Im so glad I found this website.. Dont worry about the language.. I didnt really notice Thanks for the encouragement and advice!

Oh and I forgot to mention my son is in the 10th grade..

Lessons etc do not assure a player a spot on a high school team be it freshman, JV or varsity.

It may have nothing to do with politics

It may well be a matter of talent or lack thereof

quote:

Originally posted by tonkmom:
Thank you all for all of your responses. Okay so maybe its not political.. who knows but it may be..I have heard this from other parents. In response to Nitric_Acid.. the pitching instructor was very surprised that he did not make the team. Told me he had been throwing well and could not believe it. I spoke to one of the HS coaches and mentioned this instructor.. he responded that he had never heard of this guy and he has been coaching for 20 years. Do these coaches really know all of the instructors in an area? I found that comment kind of odd. Sounds to me like they might want us to use particular instructors. Anyhow the instructor told me to have my son ask the main coach WHY he was cut. He IS determined to improve and has joined the track team for the spring. He is going to attend a showcase at Fordham college in NY. I will have to check out that forum.. Im so glad I found this website.. Dont worry about the language.. I didnt really notice Thanks for the encouragement and advice!

Sounds familiar. I haven't met an instructor yet that will tell someone that their kid deserved to be cut, although a good one will give you an honest assessment of where your kid is at.

Most high school coaches don't give a rip what anyone else thinks. If they want a kid, they take them, if they don't, the kid is cut. I'll give you an example. During tryouts for the varsity at my son's high school, JV coach says a particular player is fantastic. Varsity coach says, not good enough. Kid gets cut. How can the opinions of two coaches be so different? Is it politics, or is it that they evaluate talent differently?

I think it's too much to expect a high school coach to keep up with every instructor in the area. Many high schools work with a handful of instructors that they would prefer all of the kids work with. Some don't care if you go outside "their guys", and some do.

Private instructors is a somewhat of a slippery slope. Just because you pay money for someone to teach your kid doesn't mean you are getting good instruction. There some private instructors who have no freaking clue what they are doing - just like some high school, travel and/or select coaches.

But there are some private instructors are some of the greatest teachers you will ever run into - just like some high school, travel and/or select coaches.

Always check out who you are sending your kid to because you never know.

No matter how much you like this guy it is still a business and he needs you to come back to stay in business. An ethical instructor will give you an honest assesment of your son and come up with a plan to improve him. An unethical instructor will blow smoke in your ear just so you will keep coming back.