When do you know?

I remember those feelings too!!  At least the HS and college part. 

But it I did not know about HS until he made the JV team and I did not know about college until a recruiter told him they wanted him.

2 boys, same realizations. 

I agree with JBB, you truly never know until the time comes.  You will most likely get an idea based on how your son competes with his peers.  In the end, these are the kids he will be competing against for HS.  Some kids are "late bloomers", but most kids, in my experience, that make the HS team could have been picked out at 9 or 10.  Yes there were a few I thought would be on the team that quit baseball for various reasons, but there were none on son's team that "shocked" me.  Our HS team was basically the same kids that made All-Stars, etc all through rec ball.  I think the kid has to have some level of talent, but hard work will also take you a long way and get you passed a LOT of kids with more athletic ability.

And you should know,  Dadof3 that Justbaseball's two sons have gone very far in baseball indeed.  But I suspect he's also being a little modest about the two of them.  They were both well known as young studs in these parts.   

Invest in a good camera and a video recorder.  They will be there before you know it.

Dadof3 - All I've ever done with my son is to try to instill a sense of humility and competitiveness.  At each level of the game from tee-ball - now into his rising senior HS summer..."Can you compete at this level?"  If the answer is yes, we continue. So far it's been yes but I know the time will come when it will be, no.  Until that time comes he should love it, savor it and have fun (all of which he does!).

As the scout in Moneyball says to a young Billy Beane, "We're all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children's game, we just don't... don't know when that's gonna be. Some of us are told at eighteen, some of us are told at forty, but we're all told."

Enjoy the ride, however long it lasts.  I have a feeling that dads and moms who've been full circle will tell you regardless of how long it was...that it was too short!

There are two ways to look at it. One would be he potential you see combined with genetic realities. But a lot can get in the way until the high school years when you realize the athletic potential, internal motivation and interest by colleges exists.

My kids have college baseball players from my side of the family that go back every generation to 1890. On the other side there are two generations of college baseball players. I played college ball. My ex played college field hockey.

i figured my daughter (the oldest) would develop into a competent high school player. Throu middle school sports were nothing more than fun to her. After losing two consecutive years of undefeated middle school ball 1-0 in the last game of he season my daughter was very quiet. Then she blurted out with fire in her eyes, "Losing really sucks." Softball went from fun to an obsession. She became all everything in high school and played college softball.

My son was the kid everyone thought would get a college scholarship in whatever sport he was playing in the moment from the day he started playing. Through age twelve his favorite sport was the one in season. Whatever sport it was he had to be the best. He's five years younger than his sister. She verballed at fifteen years old. He was ten at the time. As he says with anything she accomplishes, "If she can do it, I can do it better." He was all everything in high school in two sports, recruited for both and plays college baseball.

Neither kid played fall ball until after eighth grade. Starting with high school, even though they were multiple sport stars, baseball/softball became year round between playing and training.

When a kid gets to high school age and you see they are not going to let anything get in the way of baseball success is when you will know. I saw kids star from 9u to 15u who didn't even become high school stars. I saw stars lose interest in baseball due to other sports, girls, jobs, lack of work ethic, alcohol and drugs.

Thats awfully kind of you - but I always thought there were better players around us.  And certainly there were.

Kind of an interesting story thats relevant I think.  When our younger son was going to enter HS, we decided to send him to one of the local private schools that had a good coach, AD, etc...  No, not so he could play college ball.  Just wanted a good HS experience.  But I was concerned he wasn't good enough to play at one of those schools, so I started asking the coaches of 2 schools (I knew both) in particular (SluggerDad surely knows which 2).

Coach A would not only answer, but follow up with an email, phone call...letter in the mail.  The message was basically, "Your boy is a superstar and we want him at our school really bad!"  He even told him on a shadow day that as a local neighborhood kid he was a critical player for them to get.

Coach B would never answer.  Or not in a way I easily understood.  He'd say, "Your son will probably be fine wherever he goes.  Just make sure he has fun."  This caused me some concern - as in, does he think he's borderline?  Why is Coach A calling him a superstar when Coach B barely answers?

Son went to Coach B's school (20 minute drive instead of 10 minute walk)...cause I thought he was a better coach and I liked the composition of the student body better - more "linear" from poor kids to rich kids and more diverse.  Even though I wasn't sure what the coach thought of him.  Ended up being perhaps the best decision we ever made for any of our kids as parents.  Tremendous coaching staff - our son's team won everything his junior season and ranked #1 in the nation by PG.  And son made varsity as a sophomore and played a whole, whole lot.

But I did, indeed wonder leading up to it.

Oh - and why didn't Coach B ever really answer my questions?  Cause he wasn't allowed too by rule and he played by the rules (I didn't even know that at the time) - yet another great lesson in good ethical behavior that helped our son to have terrific reinforcement in HS that complemented what we were teaching at home.  Honestly, integrity...hard work...nothing guaranteed.

Man, I really do love these stories.  Very cool and inspiring and exciting.

Mine came to me out of the blue and declared that it was his goal. He was in the 6th grade.

He came in the living room and said, "Dad, I've been thinking about it; and I think that if I work really hard at it, I can play baseball in college."

At that moment, you could have knocked me over with a feather. A better-than-average athlete and highly competitive, he'd shown aptitude for both basketball and baseball; but, I think most would have said that he was slightly better at the former at the time.

In any case, I sort of chuckled and said, "Well, son, I think it's a great goal to establish; and, who knows what the prospect of achieving it might be? However, I know this: you've put your finger on what it will take to get you there...a commitment to hard work on your part. There are lots of talented athletes out there. The thing that most consistently allows them to achieve their goal is their willingness to dedicate themselves to it. Your mother and I will help you along the way as we can; but, you need to understand that 95% of what it's going to take is going to come solely from you"

From then on, baseball was his preferred sport (although, he still loved and played basketball); and it was "Katy bar the door" in terms of how he went about trying to improve.

At the end of his playing days, he happened to choose to remain in baseball as a profession. However, I'll always believe that the lessons he taught himself in the process of pursuing his goal would have served him well along any path he might have selected. This helps explain why I'm such a huge advocate and fan of those who set goals and work diligently to achieve them; whether baseball's involved or not.

Great post Prepster!

High School? I guess I knew from the time he was eight. He just projected as one of the top kids in his age group. I never really doubted it. I've told this story before, but one of his youth coaches when he was 10 actually made a bet with one of the dads who was bragging on my son as they sat around the pool drinking beer that my son would never play high school ball. Once my wife got wind of that bet, it was the last we ever played on that team. Fast forward five years and I made sure that that guy collected on his bet the day after my son threw a no-no in his first varsity appearance as a freshman. My wife had held that grudge for years.

College? I think that day came last week as I sat with my son watching the Arkansas-Virginia game in Omaha. Out of the blue, he just said, "I want this. I really want this." One look in his eyes told me he meant it.

My son told us at 5 he wanted to play ball for the Canes.  That was his dream. Nothing else. We used to laugh. He knew he would playball someday , preferably at Miami.

As for us, we werent as positive as he was. We just wanted him to be healthy and happy. 

As for playing high school ball, it was probably not until around 13 that we felt comfortable.  The high school he is zoned for is quite large and tons of kids playing baseball.  When you started to look at the raw numbers it was daunting.  Son drifted a little bit at 11/12 and it seems like the group of kids in his class that would end up playing was already set and we were on the outside.  A year or two and a few more inches helped turn the tables.  At 10 year old I probably put the probability at around 25%. 

As for college, it was two fold.  Part of the process was really understanding the different levels of college ball.  I remember someone on this board saying that there is a home for anyone wanting to play at the next level (assuming you can walk and chew gum at the same time).  Son just kept getting better and at around 14 I figured he could play at the next level somewhere.  As for what level he can play at, the verdict is still out.  As he is rather young for his class, I fear that his decision will have to be made before he fully develops.  If only we had held him back in preschool....who knows.

My 3 year old was watching one of my clients pitch in the big leagues with me, and he said: "Dad, I can do that someday too!"

I said: "Maybe you can play third base. Hitting home runs is more fun than pitching anyway," and tousled his hair.

Having been a pitching coach and a trainer - and the fact that I will be one for the rest of my life as my chosen life's profession - I've seen a lot of heartbreak from releases, scholarship losses, and so forth. And I've seen a lot of good. I've certainly not seen it all, but I know that as long as my son has fun playing the game - if he chooses to play it at all - then I'm happy. If he quits at age 10 because he likes other activities or plain doesn't like the game, no big deal.

Our journey was definitely not a straight line. Standout in all sports when he was 9-12, but not interested in super-competitive development/travel baseball ball. Just wanted to play with friends. Spring of 8th grade, decides he is done with sports. Packed all of his trophies and put them in the garage. January of his 9th grade, decides he wants to give baseball a try. Ends up making the team, starting the season batting 9th and finishing the season batting 4th. Fast forward to 12th grade. Had good success as a varsity HS player in a very competitive program/league but not interested in playing in college. As the season is coming to an end, a D1 in very competitive league expresses some interest and is willing to give him an opportunity. Nothing guaranteed. After much reflection, he decides to pass on his dream non-baseball school and give baseball a shot. He ended up making the team, the travel squad and playing 4 years. His baseball career recently concluded but after the last game he gave me a hug and said it was the best decision he ever made. 

This.....

We keep wondering if we are too optimistic.  But, he plays at the most competitive travel ball, and showcases available, even though he is 2-3 years younger than the field and still dominant and yet to be intimidated.  Playing showcases as 14-16 yo against seniors and JC players made him realize he needs to work on the strength as well.  If you look around and you belong then coaches hopefully will believe that as well.

First note, Welcome to the site, Sunwalkingvalley...

We noticed early on that my son enjoyed both watching and playing baseball. As a really young kid he was passionate about playing and his attention span and interest was longer than the other kids. He liked his other sports, and up until his senior year of high school he would always say that his favorite sport was "what ever season it was." He was given opportunities to play up both in little league and Legion which was truly beneficial. (U12 as a 10 yr old, and 17U as a rising 8th grader). He was smaller than most but his hitting ,running and fielding could always "hang with" the bigger, stronger, older kids.

At the start of high school when he received accolades his freshman year, he began thinking about baseball in college with the goal of playing for and attending a top academic school. As I saw him perform at showcases where talented kids come from across the country (against kids who threw harder than he's accustomed to seeing) I thought it may be possible. He saw baseball as his "hook" for getting into his select school, and put the work in to make that happen.

Wow, some great and interesting stories.

That post by Kyle says it all for me. I wanted my son's to play as long as it was fun for them. Understanding that if you want to get the fun out you better be willing to put the work in. And finding out that the work ends up being part of the fun part as well. But I never wanted to be that Dad. The one that was driving it. The one that pushed his kids to the point that he had no relationship with them once the games were done. I wanted my kids to know I cared about them not about what they did. All I ever asked is if they were going to do something that they do it to the very best of their ability or find something that they wanted to do that with.

I had a rule. Never, ever, ever have a job. Have a passion. Don't get up every day of your life hating what you have to do to make a living. Get up every day of your life excited about what you are going to be doing that day. Find a passion. Something you love. Something that you can do every day and someone will be crazy enough to pay you for it. If that means drive a bus - Dude Awesome! If that means cut grass - YES! You mean you are happy and enjoy what you do for a living? That ain't no job.

So they both do that. One is a college baseball coach who absolutely is living his dream. The other builds stone patio's outdoor kitchen's etc - and absolutely loves it. Push them? Yep. Push them to understand that the only thing that matters is that they find something they love to do. And then go for it. Don't settle for anything less. Maybe I am off topic a bit. Kyle's post fired me up. Kyle great post.

Watching him play a high level of travel baseball, I knew he'd make the high school team. The question was would he make the HS JV team in 8th grade (very few) or 9th grade and which high school would he go to.  Our county offers academic specialty centers.

College baseball is a little trickier.  We really didn't know until his travel coach was being contacted by college recruiters late in his sophomore year.  My wife and I thought he could play college baseball but we kept that to ourselves because it wasn't up to us.  We saw extraordinary talent on his national travel team and other teams that we played.  We thought he could compete at some level in college.   We provided the opportunity and let nature (some good grades and a lot of luck) take its course....and it did. 

If your son is 10 today and wants to play HS/College baseball then develop a path for him to develop and succeed.  I've been through this 3 times with my sons all with different skills, motivations and passion for baseball.  If your son has that "drive" and passion to get better at baseball, help him get there at his pace.   JMO.  Good luck.

Excellent post, IMO.

I dont think its about when WE knew, it has to be when they know. Mine figured it out after being chosen to try out for USA junior team. He was a 2004 and all of the final team consisted of only one 2004 and all 2003. Most of those players were drafted out of HS or signed to top D1 programs. This was in 2001. When he came back from tryouts we asked what did you learn. He said that he could play with the best out there (at that time).  We figured he would figure it out and i became more aware that HS GPA would make the difference in the entire equation.

We knew the following fall at PGWB tourney when about 30+ scouts had their radar guns on them at field blue 7!