Cannonball
Ex "Expert"
- Feb 25, 2009
- 4,881
- 113
I had a busy weekend with people asking my opinions on things like schools to send emails to, teams to tryout out for and coaching in general. I wanted to post some stuff without betraying their trust but to address some of these questions. This was mostly for softball but it can apply to baseball.
If you are going to be a senior and you are just now trying to figure out where your child should attend, you are way behind in the recruiting process. When your player is a freshman, you should be thinking about schools and by the time they are a sophomore, they should have already filled out several school's "Recruit Me" web forms. Your player should have already made a few email contacts knowing that college coaches can't talk to them. The point is to dip the toe into the water. If you are waiting until your player's senior year, you have to consider JUCOs as a viable option. Of course they are actually a great option for many but for some somehow they look down on this. Personally I should have taken that route. It saves your parents some money, the competition is outstanding at many JUCOs and academically a player can get some of the mandatory classes out of the way.
Per tryouts, I had a parent talk to me about the tryout process since they have had their child play in the same program since she started playing. As simple as I could state it, that kid can play. You don't have any worries. Have her show up, do what she does and everything will take care of itself. If she doesn't make that well know team, you will have so many other options. At times, you have to weigh the benefits of increasing the level of play and there is a time when some players need to take that next step. It isn't all about playing with friends if that player has a very high level of ability and wants to play at an outstanding school.
This next one is tough. I saw a coach say to a player, "when was the last time you actually got a hit that mattered to this team." That was said loud enough that we all heard it. You might guess the player's reaction. This player is a hard charger and now I know why this player no longer loves the game. The young lady has been telling the parents what the coach has been saying to her and the parents have been in denial until this point. When this happened, they finally "got it." The mother was outraged and should have been. The dad simply said that the player will not be back and they walked off. Who does that to kids! I love the game and I hate it when some jerk takes a kid and destroys them little by little until they are beaten down. BTW, this player is a catcher and has played through so many injuries in the past for this team/coach. This year, this team has not played much and so for this coach to say that is even more unbelievable.
If you are going to be a senior and you are just now trying to figure out where your child should attend, you are way behind in the recruiting process. When your player is a freshman, you should be thinking about schools and by the time they are a sophomore, they should have already filled out several school's "Recruit Me" web forms. Your player should have already made a few email contacts knowing that college coaches can't talk to them. The point is to dip the toe into the water. If you are waiting until your player's senior year, you have to consider JUCOs as a viable option. Of course they are actually a great option for many but for some somehow they look down on this. Personally I should have taken that route. It saves your parents some money, the competition is outstanding at many JUCOs and academically a player can get some of the mandatory classes out of the way.
Per tryouts, I had a parent talk to me about the tryout process since they have had their child play in the same program since she started playing. As simple as I could state it, that kid can play. You don't have any worries. Have her show up, do what she does and everything will take care of itself. If she doesn't make that well know team, you will have so many other options. At times, you have to weigh the benefits of increasing the level of play and there is a time when some players need to take that next step. It isn't all about playing with friends if that player has a very high level of ability and wants to play at an outstanding school.
This next one is tough. I saw a coach say to a player, "when was the last time you actually got a hit that mattered to this team." That was said loud enough that we all heard it. You might guess the player's reaction. This player is a hard charger and now I know why this player no longer loves the game. The young lady has been telling the parents what the coach has been saying to her and the parents have been in denial until this point. When this happened, they finally "got it." The mother was outraged and should have been. The dad simply said that the player will not be back and they walked off. Who does that to kids! I love the game and I hate it when some jerk takes a kid and destroys them little by little until they are beaten down. BTW, this player is a catcher and has played through so many injuries in the past for this team/coach. This year, this team has not played much and so for this coach to say that is even more unbelievable.
