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25 replies

Where do I start! So many ???'s

NP Niner's Parent10+ posts
My son is finishing his junior year of baseball. He is an 06 graduate and plays in Iowa for one of the largest schools in the state.

He has been taking private lessons from a retired Div III coach and a retired pro player since the age of 7 once a week. He plays Catcher.

At the age of 15 He was told by a DIII school at a winter camp he was better than the catcher they were looking to pick up out of Chicago. The coach told him by the time he was a senior he would not be even remotely interested in playing DIII ball. In order to get into this school you have to have ACT of 27. He is at 23, so the school is out, but the coach gave him a good idea at that time where he stood as far as skill level.

Last year he started as a sophmore and the team went to state. He was 2nd team all district.

This year he is batting 385 30 RBI's w/ 3 home runs. Leading his team in RBI's. Regular season ends next week with sub state starting next Friday.

In September 2005 he started getting some invites to some showcases. (D1 schools) Reviews were always good. Attended everything he was invited too and some we went to on our own in the off season.

We have yet to get a phone call now from any of them. He will be busy with Perfect Game this fall, in Cedar Rapids,Iowa and hopefully get a few more invites to more showcases.

I found this web site very informative and got many questions answered. I have been reading and skimming for about two weeks not and decided to post.

I guess and maybe this is directed to more of the high school coaches. What should be your roll? Our coach says let him make the first contact with the college coaches, they don't want to see or have time to look at portfolio's off kids that are interested in their programs.

My feeling is if I sit around and wait for our coach to call the colleges he is interested in it will be to late. The coach thinks PG is a money trap. I guess my feeling is he is not proactive but reactive.

I respect our coach and the decisions he makes regarding the team, though many parents don't and really make it known. I think it is wrong, and don't mingle during coach bashing.

So what should his roll be in helping him get recruited? My son has sent letter and emails to the school he is interested in.

Thanks
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L lafmom5,000+ posts
Niner - Earlier this year there was a post on a HS coach's role in recruiting. You might be able to find some helpful opinions there.

I had an '05 and personally never felt like it was the coach's responsibility to initiate anything. Our coach would if asked, however think about the time it would take for a coach to be the one to initiate things for all of his seniors. We had ten seniors on our team. There's no way he would have had time to do this properly for all kids - recruiting involves a tremendous amount of time. I do think it's the coach's role to return calls and give fair and objective opinions when asked by parents and colleges.

I think it's great that your coach wants to be involved. However, I think you shouldn't depend on him to do the job. You and son make calls and communicate while knowing he's there to help in any way he can. Some colleges prefer to talk to HS coach and others don't. They'll make this decision themselves. You and son need to start the processes.

Good luck and continue with the exposure and communication. Things will happen.
Last edited by lafmom
D dbg_fan1,000+ posts
quote:
My feeling is if I sit around and wait for our coach to call the colleges he is interested in it will be to late.

Bingo! You could not be more correct. Encourage your son to start contacting the coaches of schools that he is interested in attending. Have you seen the timeline or read the articles about the college search? Somewhere on here are same sample letters. I couldn't find them.
quote:
The coach thinks PG is a money trap.
I'd advise you to ignore this opinion. I can't speak specifically to PG, we did not attend PG event. IMO showcases offer the most bang for the buck in player exposure, and PG is generally regarded as the best in the baseball showcase business. Our family testimony centers on the Stanford Camp as the showcase that provided the most national exposure for our son. His performance there created significant interest from many schools. His future college coach recruited him after seeing him at this camp. Without the showcase forum, my son would not likely be attending the school is in. No need to attend several showcases. Just make sure you attend the right ones. PG can help with that. Smile

Also consider attending camps held at the 'favorite' colleges. You can learn a lot there. If you can start the relationship (letters & phone calls), it is wise to have active contact with the coaches in advance of the camp.

quote:
My son has sent letter and emails to the school he is interested in.
School or schools? Just 1 school is a pretty small market. I hope that is a typo. Cast a wider net. We started by targeting conferences, then schools within the conference. Ended up not mattering. The school our son attends was never on out list!

Best of luck to you & your son. Be proactive and together 'own' the process. If you rely on HS & college coaches to lead you through this cycle you may end up very disappointed.
Last edited by dbg_fan
Dad04Dad045,000+ posts
quote:
I guess my feeling from the coach is he wants to handle the schools, but he has not contacted the any. I just don't want to intfere or step where I shouldn't.
.

Sometimes we don't get everything we want, coaches included. He'll get over it. Take ownership of your sons baseball career. Do what is best for him, not your coach. Be your childs parent. It is getting late. Players are being recruited.
Last edited by Dad04
TPMTPMHSBaseballweb Member since 2003
Niner's parent,
If you have been reading for the past two weeks, you will see that most of us give advice on being proactive. Unless your coach has a specific relationship with any college coach, it is not his place to make any contact with anyone. Despite what he says, I wouldn't rely on anyone.
You live in the state of Iowa, the home of PG, who probably knows more college coaches than your son's HS coach does. They have to be pretty well known there. Your coach has a negative opinion of them, but again, if you read
over this website carefully, you will see that many players have had much success attending their showcases and tournaments. You can always give them a call.
Best of luck, follow the advice given freely on this website.
A AParent1,000+ posts
I would never wait around for the coach to make the first contact. Too many parents have been let down by what they thought the coach could do for them.

Playing summer baseball in Iowa puts you at a disadvantage to begin with, don't compound it. It is your sons future, tell him to take the bull by the horns.

I am from Iowa myself. I would be really cautious about taking recruiting advise from any coach from this area who feels Perfect Game is a money trap.

Good luck in your remaining season.
B baseballmom
Agree with all who advise being pro-active.

Another tidbit... when visiting college websites, look for "recruiting" or "prospective athletes"...Go on & fill out the questionaires, or have them send one to your son to complete. I wouldn't wait for a coach to do this...Keep a copy for your records for follow-up.
We also created a "bio sheet" on our son to send out. Examples of "introductory Letter", "bio sheet", etc. are under Recruiting Tab here on hsbbweb.
PG is the best for showcasing...Jerry, Andy, or Jim Arp will be glad to help you. They are in your backyard!
Good luck & go get 'um.
FungoFungoHighly Regarded and Beloved Old Timer
Niner's parent,
Good questions and good responses. I like what Dad04 says:
quote:
Do what is best for him, not your coach.
.

Some (not all) high school and summer coaches, showcase promoters, recruiting services, and even instructors will try to "claim" ownership of the better players. Your son could be their "feather in the cap"....their poster child. Uninformed parents are desperately looking for help from anyone. When the high school coach says, "Trust your son's future with me", I guess these parents hand over their child and wait on the offers to start coming in. My son's high school coach said those very words to me but I had already found the HSBBW and knew there were numerous avenues for exposure. I asked him about showcases and his response was the same as yours...”It’s a waste of money”. By the time my son was a junior in high school I'm sure I knew much more about recruiting than his high school coach.
Fungo
P PioneerDad100+ posts
The coach says showcases are a waste of money. You can replace the wasted money.

He also says you should leave everything to him. But you say he hasn't done anything. How do you replace the wasted time?

Be proactive, but be selective with showcases, too. It doesn't do much good to showcase the fact the you can be struck out by the best pitchers in the country. Any help the coach provides is just bonus.

Good luck!
Baseball25Baseball2510+ posts
Niner
Showcases are one of many tools that you and your son can use to help him get him playing college ball and a good education. What the others have said about being proactive is right on point. You not the coach must take the initiative. The coach is simply a supporting cast member in this play. You and your son must decide what schools are a good fit for him,acadmically, baseball wise and financially. then you must take steps to get your son some exposure to these schools. If that means showcases, or getting video to the coaches or going to their summer camps or all the foregoing, you do it. the first place to start is with your son and determine what he wants to study then check for schools with baseball programs where your son will most likely fit. Then get your son exposed to those schools. Talk with the coach do your homework on their program so you and your son can make an informed decision.
G ghouse100+ posts
Your high school coaches role should be to assist and help out in your recruiting process in any way possible within reason.

I sometimes tell parents that a high school coach is no more responsible for the recruiting process than teachers are for SAT preparation. Most coaches are wonderful people, but they often have to teach a class, grade papers and take care of their own families, and they often don't have time to research and call 50 schools for families especially if they have several players on their team that are interested in playing in college.

Your coach should do at least the following...
1 - help you evaluate your talent as it may apply to different levels of college if he is so capable.
2 - Pass along any mail that is addressed to you
3 - Pass along your name to any college coaches calling that are looking for players
4 - Fill out inquiry forms as possible
5 - Write you a recommendation that outlines your baseball skills and your traits as a human being
6 - Make follow-up calls to specific coaches you have already spoken to and expressed interest in.
7 - Make recommendations as to who can possibly help you if he cannot.

I have met families that have known their coach would be of no assistance and either accepted that or bypassed him completely and asked other coaches in their league to possibly help them. Many people think that the coach is responsible for recruiting and that the family is a part of it. In reality the familiy is responsible for recruiting and the coach should be part of it.

You will find varying levels of help from different coaches. The biggest problem most people run into is assuming their coach will help or will take care of everyting rather than communicating with them and finding out what role they can and/or will play in your recruitment.

Dave G
http://www.varsityedge.com
R RickStep100+ posts
Niner's mom,

There's always so much confusion with college recruiting for everyone - it's not just you. I think there are two (main) reasons for this:

1. The NCAA has strict rules when it comes to college coaches talking about recruiting.

2. There is a 50-50 mix out there of people who give advice and know what they're talking about when it comes to recruiting...and those that don't. This creates suspicion about everything the family in a recruiting situation hears. And the 50-50 probably applies to high school coaches too.

I would be wary of someone telling you that PG is a money trap. It seems to me that amateur baseball has turned into a showcasing world. Not many programs have the budget to get out to iowa, or anywhere else for that matter, to see a highschool game. From what I hear, almost all of the programs have come to rely on showcases as the main avenue to recruit...and there are alot of good ones out there. Actually, alot of the guys that run them post here and have logos on the hsbaseballweb (PG, Collegeselect, ect).

I just got back from a PG showcase in Atlanta where I met multiple scouting directors, scouts everywhere, and you couldn't throw a rock and not hit a college coach. These events are really where it all starts.

Also, I had a conversation the other day with a guy who has a son that was a first rounder a few years back. He was talking about how he would give advice to some other parents who had sons that played and they would say "Well, guys like Tony Gwynn never went to showcases and they made it." And he had a good response which was "Yeah, there are guys that make it that never went to showcases, but 1. that was a different time and 2. Maybe they signed for less money or could have gone to a better school if they had more exposure." Exposure is the key...a showcase's function is not to get your son a scholarship or drafted in the first round. The showcase's job is to provide exposure to as many people who can make those things happen.

Rick

Side Note: I have a bunch of interviews with college coaches that I can't use because of the NCAA rules, but there is one thing that they all say...and that is they want players interested in their programs to contact them as early as possible.
sgvbaseballsgvbaseball100+ posts
To be proactive is the key. I instructed all our players to e-mail and call the schools they were interested in and make follow up calls. Once a school know you are interested they will make the effort to find out about you. We played in a tournament over the 4th of July weekend with many colleges in the stands. The players on our team e-mailed each school that attended to thank them for coming and they were interested. We got a positive response from the colleges. So far three'06 players have comitted and a few more will very soon.
Last edited by sgvbaseball
B baseballmom
Possibly. But camps are primarily a way to gererate funds for the program.
Depending on the school, & subsequently the number of participants, kids may or may not receive enough (even adequate) instruction. Some camps are "cattle calls!"(re: UT camps typically are several hundred kids! Roll Eyes) On the other hand, Stanford recruits mostly from their camps...so... it depends on which school, which camp, & what you are looking to achieve. If your son is really only interested in that school, then it may be good. As far as "is the school actually interested"...only the recruiting co-ordinator can answer that...but I'd say he's interested in funding the program, more than likely.
Not familiar with "showcase camps". Showcase would indicate others schools would be sending recruiters...You might want to get clarification on this... Ask specifically which schools have committed to attend, etc. Then, if your kid is interested in that school, he could contact them directly to advise them of his attendance at that camp, his contact info, & begin a dialog with that specific school...Coaches do like it when kids show an active interest in their program.

My son attende Only 1 winter pitcher camp as a freshman (14). A&M...He loved it, mostly due to first "exposure to college field & players taking BP. He visited a little with a player, who was a friend & got "some basic instruct"...
Hope this helps...
Last edited by baseballmom

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