Wondering what initiated the contact....

PSD,
Congrats to your son on getting noticed, and for having a good HS season. You've probably heard this one...'Someone's Always Watching' (SAW). Who? Hard to tell, and it's really not that important in the grand scheme of things. Some of the bigger D1 programs cast a pretty wide net, and they start earlier than you'd think. They can get info on players from the HS coach, scouts, and alums, just to name a few. They also get lists from showcases and tournaments, even ones that haven't yet occurred. The important thing is that he's on somebody's radar, and he's got plenty of time to work with. He's also in a great area to garner attention. Keep us posted on his progress.

Its very possible that the opposing coaches that he played against sent the information to the college programs. Whenever I see a kid that I believe is very talented I make sure someone knows about him. I get numerous questionaires each year asking who the top players in our area are. Good luck

Dont wonder.
Just react.
Get movin' on filling out those questionaires.
And my advice would be to fill them all out and send them all back, regardless of how interested you are in the particular school. Coaches network with one another and you never know who might refer you from one program to another.
There doesnt really seem to be an exact science as to how this recruiting ride runs, but I am glad its starting for your son.
Keep working hard,...and best of luck!

Another way a players name gets circulated is on questionairres. There is usually a section that says something like:

Who are the top three players in your league:
Who are the top >>>>>>>>???
Who knows how it might be worded.
The point is, as they are gathering information on one player, they hope to get info on another based on what the potentional recruit thinks of a peer.

This is how sometimes you might receive questionnaires to your home rather than the high school, because someone that knows you might have reccommeded you, and provided your personal info.

Coaches/scouts have many ways of finding out about players---they may have been at one of his games to see another player and your son had a great game and they liked what they saw

It sounds trite but it is very true---you never know who is watching---the old man in the lounge chair down the right field line smoking that cigar may look like someones grandfather but he may be an alumni from some school and still has conenctions and a relationship with them

PSD,
There have been a lot of scouts at league games and he was also in a very high profile tournament where I'm sure there were scouts in attendance for the championship game. I've seen some of the kids from the team they beat in the championship game and those kids were plenty good enough to get scouts coming to see them. He also had a couple high profile kids on his team that scouts would have shown up to see. He can hit. They see that.

like the advice given above...don't wonder...just react...my son had a great season...all league honors all county honors...but we are in nowhere kansas,,,who would ever see him here?...guess what he has been invited to a white sox tryout and is begining to get some mail...like everyone says...someone is always watching!...good luck

To those that say "Don't wonder what happened --- just react". I disagree strongly. I say it is VERY important to understand what happens in the recruiting process so that you and others that follow in your footstep can be more informed and do the right things! Based on the information provided by ProudSoCalDad we can deduct that exposure can be something other that showcases and camps. For instance this information could be very helpful to those fearing they cannot afford to spend thousands on showcases. It's true we can be totally ignorant of what happend during our son's recruiting ride and allow luck, scams and "whatever" to guide us and we MIGHT have a good ending ----- or we can understand the process and become informed and proactive doing those things that need to be done and avoiding the pitfalls and scams in the process and drastically improve our odds. There is no doubt in my mind that the better you understand the whole process the better your son's chances of a successful recruiting experience.
Fungo

Understanding the whole process would be wonderful, if possible.

From our experience, I dont see how it is possible to understand all the ins and outs, twists, turns, and back flips that this ride has taken us during our experience.

There are somethings that I do know for a fact that did help my son get the exposure he needed. I have listed those in a previous thread about " recruiting on a peanut butter budget ". We know where those leads came from because many times we were the ones specifically searching them out.

But sometimes things happened or we got contacted by people that we had no clue how/what sparked their interest.
Not a clue.
If their interest progressed ( such as they invited son for a campus visit ) my son would call them and ask them how interested they really were and then we made a decision to go or not.

MANY times, I believe it is simply word of mouth. One coach sees a player and networks with other coaches and scouts. One coach may be looking for an infielder, while another is looking for a 3rd baseman. I think it is a fair assessment to say that the scouts help each other out and pass on information back and forth from one another. These network lines of communication do indeed cross over state lines and different regions also.
Trying to track down the chain of events as to who talked to who, who saw who where and then referred player x to coach A, B, C is not only too time consuming, but next to impossible.

And then of course there are those lists,....lists that players get on that invite them to every baseball event under the moon. That's when I believe it is important to get informed and ask specific questions before attending and especially before paying! The HSBBW has become a great resource to talk to other parents and players who have been there-done that.

I agree FUNGO,...it is important to be informed and proactive doing those things that need to be done to avoid the pitfalls and scams in the process.

But if someone initially sends you a free prospect questionnaire,....I think the time one spends filling it out is much better time spent, then spending time wondering why they sent it to you.
I believe the reason why they sent it is an obvious one,...they are apparantly interested.
To what degree? That's a question probably worth asking specifically about if they contact you a second time.

In the beginning of the process,...my advice would be fill it out,...mail it,...and get back on the field.

Good post shortstopmom. I do have one question.

quote:

I think it is a fair assessment to say that the scouts help each other out and pass on information back and forth from one another. These network lines of communication do indeed cross over state lines and different regions also.

I always felt the same way as you but pro scouts I've asked say --- "NO". I'm not sure I believe them but they insist. These scouts travel together and I see them hanging out and talking all the time. I know their information and their opinions are their livelihood. I often wondered if one of their buddies is somewhere else and didn't see Player "A" touch 98 on the radar gun if they call him up and "pass it on" what they saw? They say to share their information with their competitor (other pro teams) would hurt their own cause.

College coaches want to protect "their" recruits so they try to "hide" them but other than that they do help promote players to other coaches and programs that aren't their direct competitors. They have told me this.

Another thing we should consider in trying to understand the recruiting process is accuratly evaluating the "level" of interest shown by a coach. A simple questionaire or a camp invite (both low level interest) could be generated by something as insignificant as just playing for a good high school team or a good summer team or having a person mention your name. However to receieve a phone call from the coach or receive a recruiting visit requires more than just being on a roster. The player's talent has to be verified by some sort of "process". The talent verification process can be accomplished in a number of ways but it has to be enough to prompt the college coach to move forward with his recruiting efforts. I polled every coach that recruited my son in order to understand what happend on his ride. Who said what and where did you hear about him or see him. What other players did you recruit and so forth. They all talked about how they did their job and how it all happened with my son. Very interesting.
Fungo

I can attest to the fact that college coaches talk to each other---obviously they won't give info on a player they want but between coaching friends if they can't use the kid they will talk to others--my son got his college deal because of this situation

FUNGO,

quote:

They say to share their information with their competitor (other pro teams) would hurt their own cause.

I will defer to you when it comes to talking about pro scouts.
My knowledge at that level is new and little.
In a professional atmosphere, the above sounds like reasonable common sense. I will happily take your word for it.

I was not referring to the pro level in my post, but rather DI colleges and across.
I think we agree that coaches do help promote players to other coaches and programs. It has been our experience that there are DI programs who will refer a player to a JUCO, NAIA, DIII, or DII program. Perhaps that player isnt the caliber they are looking for, but they feel the player can make a solid contribution to another program. Or perhaps they want a player to develop more and will suggest a JUCO for them to go play at so that they can track their progress. If the player does well, they might open a spot for him on next year's roster.
We personally have also seen DII programs who's rosters were full at the time with catchers, yet they referred a highschool prospect catcher to another program who had an opening. Their selfless act to get this player placed was quite commendable, imho. Good people, doing good things!!

quote:

Another thing we should consider in trying to understand the recruiting process is accuratly evaluating the " level " of interest shown by a coach. A simple questionaire or a camp invite (both low level interest) could be generated by something as insignificant as just playing for a good high school team or a good summer team or having a person mention your name.

Exactly,.....and based on what ProudSocalDad described above in his post........:

quote:

My son is finishing up his HS Sophomore year and had a pretty decent first year as a starting varsity infielder in a tough SoCal league. To date, he has never participated in any camps, invitationals, showcases, etc.

quote:

Toward the end of his baseball this year, we started getting questionnaires and letters from a number of D1 baseball programs.

.....the contact to me sounded like entry level interest,..thus that is where my suggestion of " dont wonder, just react " came from.

I remember my son receiving his first questionaires as well,.....and we like Osage10 are located out in the middle-of-nowhere Kansas. We scratched our heads and wondered how, who, what, and why for about a half a nano second.
For those of us, who dont live in a baseball meca, there really wasnt time to stop and figure things out,...we just had to react and react swiftly.
They sent questionaires, son filled them out.
They called, he called them back.
They asked questions, son answered them.
They asked for schedules, he gave them to them.

In the meantime he busted his rump on the field and went knocking on doors. If a door opened, he went in. If a door closed, he knocked again, only louder. ( & perhaps this is the perfect spot/time to start asking " why ". )

I'll be the first to admit, we may not be the best example of a well planned out process, but it worked. The HSBBW was a wonderful resource, and it was a pure blessing to have Lady Luck show up when she did, because there is an element of that too that is needed in all of this.
I have talked to many parents and it seems that we all have a different story of how our sons got from level A to level B. No matter how much we prepare, plan, and try to figure it out, the twists and turns are different for everyone.

The one thing I made sure of as a parent, was that we made time to remember to be humble ( there is always bigger, faster, stronger out there ), we watched the competition, and we definitely took the time to be grateful,......
but we decided early on to spend little time wondering why & more time on the field working hard. That way, the recruiters would be the ones wondering " why not? ".

Great to see you posting more often FUNGO. It is such a pleasure.

I have been through the whole recruiting process - twice.

That has included everything - and everywhere - with as early a start as you could possibly have.

From showcases - to really good summer/fall teams - and just about everything in between.

8 years - and I still do not have a single clue about how it works.

I kid you not.

Good luck!

Shortstop Mom;

This reminds me of the story regarding a phone call from an agent in Kansas City.

This was the year 1998 and we had the best group of players for the Area Code Games. This was the year of Josh Beckett, Jamie Shields. Jason Kubel,
Chris Duncan, Ryan Garko, Cody Ross, Rob Bowen,
Anthony Reyes, Darrell Rasner, Hank Blalock, Scott Heard, Carlos Quentin, Phil Wilson, Joey Garthwaite.

The agent recommended that I place Albert Pujols
in the games without a tryout.

No pro scout recommended Albert, however I trusted this agent. Albert played for the Royals team.

During the 17 years of the AC games, Scott Boros,
IMG, Arn Tellam and other agents often made recommendations and I listened.

Do not question the mailed letter, however question the college coach when you complete your "work out". "What did his eyes see"? and "what did his eyes not see"? Watch the coach - COACH.

Study and evaluate.

Bob Williams