When should you try to get to know the college coaches?

What do you have to sell at this point? He obviously hasn't played varsity or high school age travel. Is he an above average size kid already throwing in the 80's? Was he the stud of studs in 14U travel, the kid everyone at tournaments notices and talks about? It can't hurt to attend the camp. But don't expect the coaching staff to track a freshman unless he turns heads.

Here's a reality check. It's not intended to show you up. You don't need to respond. Ask yourself if you really believe your son is on track to be a D1 baseball player. Ask yourself why.

My son (15yo soph) and I have had this talk. It includes a plan of how he needs to keep ramping up areas of his game. Before we had this talk I took him to D1 games (Ivy, Colonial, Big East and ACC ... had to reattach his jaw after watching Florida State hit). I took him to see an 18U showcase involving the team of one of our esteemed collegues from the board. He felt he could compete in the games he watched. Whether he could or couldn't, he had the confidence as a freshman. This summer's reality check is playing in a PG 17U event.

You don't need to be selling anything right now. Go to the camp as a learning experience. Practice making the most positive impression possible, with preparation, hustle and attitude. Ask questions during the Q&A sessions, or take note if there are no such opportunities (a bad sign).

Find out if your dream school is really what you dream it is. Establish a benchmark, and in the future, decide if you like other schools more or less.

Go back next year and see if anyone seems to notice, or care, that you have come twice. If they do, that's a good sign.

RJM, this is not necessarily true. My son attended his first college camp after his freshman season and it definitely got him on their mailing list and they followed him over the course of the next few years and it resulted in his college commitment.

Playing varsity means NOTHING to these college coaches, BTW. What matters to them is one thing and one thing only: PRESENT ABILITY.

So a kid is JV, and doesn't have present ability? They know that. They'll follow him, and if later he has it, great! But it can't hurt and definitely CAN HELP to get his name out there, so they can track his progress. Especially if it's the kid's dream school, I think this is a good idea.

rain delay, A fair question but maybe the question should be reversed to read: "When should the college coaches get to know him?" And I think that answer should be:
As soon as it appears your son will have the talent to contribute to their program.

Try to separate the "time" and the "talent" and understand the correlation of the two. If your son is 14 (time) and cranking out 85 mph LH FB's (talent) he may be low in the "time" scale but high on the "talent" scale and will garner a lot of attention as a future signee.

Your question of: "Is this a good idea or too soon to be seen?" It's a good idea because it's never too soon to be seen. While I don't advocate devoting a lot of time or money toward exposure at this time, recognition of talent is always good. You do understand you will have to (or should) repeat this process as your son develops and the latter "exposure" will be the one that counts. What he gets from "early marketing" won't hurt his baseball future but could prove to be costly and non productive at this early stage of his "career". My suggestion is to be practical about his exposure and ignore the marketing hype as there are many people that make money from early marketing.
Yes, parents and players need to be proactive during the recruiting process however there's not many 14 year old players that have the talent to turn heads as they enter the "recruiting process". Your son may be one of those players that is getting early attention I don't know ---- but his talent will dictates that ---- not whether he buys a spot at a camp or a showcase. Make sure you're not wearing rose colored glasses as you make comparisons and see how he stacks up against others his age and advance accordingly.
Fungo

Rain Delay,

We took our son to camp at his dream school over last Christmas break. It was definitely worth it. It gave him an up-close look at the campus and the coaches, he got a feel for what the competition was like in California, and he heard exactly what kind of grades he'll need to get in. I know these aren't exactly your objectives in taking him, but I think they're worthwhile reasons on their own.

LHPMom

Thanks for your comments guys. We'll see how this baseball season goes with my son before we do anything. However, with relatives in the city where we will be going, it shouldn't be that expensive of a trip for us and possibly another learning experience for my son to see where he stacks up with others in his age group and maybe plant seeds for future opportunities years down the road.

The only negative is the time and money.

You also may not be meeting the coaches that will be there four years from now.

There may not be any real "marketing" value to this. But there is much to be gained by the overall experience of seeing a college, sizing up where you fit in with the other competition, and any baseball knowledge gained. If those things are worth the time and money to you then go for it.

My opinion is that this is the wrong question, or at least the wrong motivation to go to the camp. It's too early for you and your son to worry about getting to know the college coach.

There are other reasons to attend the camp, for sure. Perfectly valid ones. But at this age, I don't think the primary reason is to get to know the coaches.

That time will come, to be sure. One of the most important factors in my sons/our decision of college was the character and quality of the coaching staff. When that time comes you will find this site an invaluable resource, because you can almost certainly find parents of players in the program to talk with about the coaching staff.

But it is too early, if your son is a freshman, to worry about that. There's a good chance the coaching staff at any given college will have changed by the time your son is of recruiting age.

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
RJM, this is not necessarily true. My son attended his first college camp after his freshman season and it definitely got him on their mailing list and they followed him over the course of the next few years and it resulted in his college commitment.

Playing varsity means NOTHING to these college coaches, BTW. What matters to them is one thing and one thing only: PRESENT ABILITY.

So a kid is JV, and doesn't have present ability? They know that. They'll follow him, and if later he has it, great! But it can't hurt and definitely CAN HELP to get his name out there, so they can track his progress. Especially if it's the kid's dream school, I think this is a good idea.

I never meant playing varsity to have any meaning to a college coach. But if it's a decent high school program it's a starting benchmark for the individual. If a kid can't make high school varsity he probably isn't at the talent level to impress a college coach.

And yes, there are some unique circumstances where a high school staff is loaded with pitchers who are college prospects and some have to pitch on JV. That's why I mentioned velocity if the kid is a pitcher.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
If a kid can't make high school varsity he probably isn't at the talent level to impress a college coach.

And yes, there are some unique circumtances where a high school staff is loaded with pitchers who are college prospects and some have to pitch on JV. That's why I mentioned velocity if the kid is a pitcher.

Bum, Jr. didn't make varsity until his Junior year. He ended up 7-0 while the varsity was getting squashed all year with poor pitching. I'm not sure their reasons, but lack of talent wasn't one of them.. both he and the #2 pitcher on JV that year ended up drafted out of h.s. Yes, it's all about velocity but if the kid is a LHP with decent velocity as a freshman, I believe they'll check in on him for sure.