Where to go from here

Roothog66
Just let Vitello know he is interested .   Keep it simple with a thank you and follow up with a summer schedule and find out what PG , Mickey Mantle events etc... He or player will be at .   Don't know where or who your son plays with but I see this RC all the time around D/FW area in summer and fall during MSL league .   Best of luck .

Another attention grabber is have your son hand write a personal note of thanks for the experience/opportunity to HC & RC.  Some have said on this forum that is not the way to go about it, but one thing I can just about guarantee, is that those hand written notes are opened + read.  Why?  Because no one else is doing it.

Hi all.  First time poster, but have been lurking for a while.  I also have a 2018 who will be attending his first prospect camp this Saturday, and like roothog I am sending him mainly just for the experience.  I'm not really expecting him to get on anyone's radar, just want him to find out where he needs to improve and what colleges are looking for.  Is Freshman year too early to start actively promoting yourself?  I've read about Sophmore and up doing so, but the lad hasn't played an inning of Varsity High School ball yet.  Would actively promoting your 14 year old as a college prospect come across as a little presumptious?  Don't get me wrong, I think the lad is a pretty good ball player, but I'm his dad.I'm supposed to think that.

Shooter.....go to the camp with him...and watch how he compares to the sophomores and juniors that are there.  In order for a D1 to seriously consider a sophomore (2017) I would say that he's got to be in the top 5% of all available kids...meaning mid-upper 80's FB...a sub 6.8 60...and a great bat...preferably LH.   It's never to early to get your name out....just make sure you have a true measure of the other kids who are doing the same thing.  You don't want to promote him too heavily if he's 5'3 and weighs 110...the coaches won't have any interest.  Now if he's 6'0 170 as a 2018....then of course they'll look at what you send and listen to what you have to say.....Just too many variables to give you a definite yes or now....

Roothog...sent you a PM/Dialog

Thanks Buckeye.  He's a catcher, about 5'10" and 165 lbs. Has always been one of the top 2 or 3 players on his teams, but has never played at an elite national level.  I guess I'll see how he looks compared to the other kids Saturday.

At first, it can be intimidating. My son is 6' 3" / 185, but when we first walked in, it just felt like every kid there was 6' 6" / 250. Once things got rolling, though, he was fine. Have fun with it.

You've got to start somewhere.  I think I've told this story before...but it's worth telling again. 

 

My son and another player who were both from a very good 13U travel team (summer before freshman year) went to a camp a D1 here in Ohio.  They were both SS/MIF...and my son also pitched.  They were small....5'2, 100 on a good day.  They were so excited to go.  We got there the night before and were the first 2 kids into the stadium the next morning.  They were thrilled...walked to the registration table themselves and then stood right against the railing looking at the field.  Pretty soon, the other kids started to show up....from EVERY major HS in Ohio....and these guys were big...including some seniors who were being recruited by MAJOR colleges.  Next thing I know, the boys aren't by the railing....they are standing as far away from the other kids as they can get...backs against a wall....with a look on their faces that said "oh crap, what are we doing here"....lol.   Long story short...a coach who was an assistant at an SEC D1 took them aside while they were warming up....talked to them for at least 10 minutes....and seemed to take a liking to them.  He ran the IF portion of the camp...and didn't hesitate to put them at SS even when the "big boys" were batting.  They both had a heckuva day....even though they were 2 years younger than any other kid there.  I had 3 or 4 coaches come up to me afterwards and tell me how impressed he was that 8th graders held their own against those kids.  Those two talked about that camp for weeks.  From that day on, my son walked into showcases like he owned the place....never hesitated to jump to the front of the line for drills and really did a nice job talking to coaches.  Would he have done that if he hadn't had such a great "first showcase"....I have no idea...but it worked out.  I guess my point is...yes, it may seem like it's "too early"...but if the kid isn't afraid...I think it will be a help in the long run to get to a showcase as early as you can.

Well, he went to the camp Saturday.  I think there was only 1 other Freshman there, and the lad seemed to be a little intimidated.  I feel he did allright for a 14 year old Freshman.  His pop times were 2.4 and 2.5 seconds.  Not great at all, but he has a few years to improve on it.  He ran a pretty slow 60 yard dash, 7.4 seconds if I recall.  He did well behind the plate, letting nothing by him, and he was a split second from getting a runner at second on his only live throw down opportunity. The only thing that really disappointed me was his hitting.  He just seemed to be overwhelmed by the speed of the pitchers he faced.  Both of the guys he faced in his 2 at bats were older and threw hard, harder than anything he's ever seen before in a live at bat.  He K'd twice, but fouled off a couple in both at bats and went down swinging.  Showed good strike zone discipline and didn't swing at junk out of the strike zone, but just didn't show the bat speed I've seen from him before.

I think I accomplished what I wanted to by having him attend this showcase.  He is now familiar with the process, knows where he needs improvement, and hopefully won't be as intimidated when he goes to the next one in a couple of years.  Also, I think it should be mentioned that this camp was at a school which has one of the top Division 1 programs in the country.  Overall, a good day.

It's a start.  And that's a good thing.

 

If he was "feeling" a bit stressed that would have tightened up his arms a little, preventing him from swinging freely; thereby decreasing his swing speed.  When he sees better pitching as he ages it will become easier.

 

He knows more of what to expect now and that's a good thing.

 

My advice to him would be to work hard on his shortcomings over the winter.  They all have some.

 

 

What you wrote could have been written about one of my boys, almost exactly, when he was in 8th grade.  You will see him get quicker, stronger and smarter during the process right before your eyes.  I think it was a good thing he went + now has a benchmark of where he'll need to be in order to garner high level interest.  Keep him working at getting 1% better each day.  Best of luck to him + you during the journey!

The results you mentioned were almost exactly what most people would have expected for a player his age thrown into that type of situation.....I don't think he could have hurt himself in the eyes of coaches, as they're not there recruiting freshman in most cases anyway.   Nothing hurt by getting a start...and feeling out how things are going to go.  Expect a fairly significant improvement the next time as he likely won't be nearly as nervous

Thanks for the replies guys.  Honestly, I'm just ready to settle in and watch him play ball for the next 4 years.  What happens after that is what happens.  I don't want to stress out too hard worrying about the future.