A couple of great websites that I look at often to keep track of which players are committing to what colleges are PG Crosschecker and College Baseball Insider. Check these sites out to see if any of your senior competitors have committed or who has committed to the college you are interested in.
Many baseball student-athletes and families ask the question, “What camps or showcases should I attend over the summer?” and “What is going to give me the best exposure?”
In order to attain the most exposure for your recruiting over the summer here is what you should do:
1. Play with a competitive summer team. Send your summer schedule to any college coach you are communicating with or are interested in. Also remember, this is one of the most important times to be improving your game.
3. Attend college camps. A college coach needs to evaluate you in person. This is the easiest way to accomplish this. Attend camps for colleges that you have been communicating the most with. Also, this helps you see the campus and talk with the coaches personally. Make sure you contact coaches prior (introduce/re-familiarize/let them know you will be there) to and after (to ask for personal feedback).
4. Attend one to two showcase events. The most effective showcases are ones in which you know what coaches are attending. If you do not know what coaches are attending, it is likely not worth attending, but it may be good to understand more about who you are competing against. It also gives you an understanding of what a showcase is like. Make sure you contact coaches prior (introduce/re-familiarize/let them know you will be there) to and after (to ask for personal feedback).
5. Continue to communicate with your top colleges at least monthly. Ask each coach, “What is the best way for you to evaluate me?”
BEWARE:
Do not go in to any camp or showcase with the idea that you are going to be “discovered.” Go to a camp with the idea that you can gain knowledge about what that coaches are teaching.
I was recently reading an article on Rounding Third – How To Play Baseball At The Next Level, a great baseball blog, and found a study from a parent in California. If your son plays baseball in California please click on the link above to read the article named ”A Numbers Game” to learn about the limited opportunities for collegiate baseball in California.
I attended the American Baseball Coaches Association Convention in San Diego the first weekend of January and learned a lot from college coaches. Many people attended – travel coaches, high school coaches, but mainly college baseball coaches. It was a great way to learn from all of these coaches, but the biggest thing I took from that weekend was that COLLEGE COACHES WANT TO HEAR FROM THE STUDENT-ATHLETES FIRST.
These coaches do not have all the time in the world to go out and meet every student-athlete they want. Time and time again these coaches said I want to hear from the student-athlete first before I take the time to go see a game or reach out to them. Many of the coaches have a second, maybe third, job to supplement their income and they also have families that require their time. Keep these things in mind the next time you ask, “Why have I not heard from this coach?”
A large part of recruiting is making sure you connect with the coaching staff. Finding the right fit means that you feel comfortable becoming part of an athletic family. Reflecting the importance of this change is a relatively new, but emerging trend on a coaching staff; the “Life Coach.”
Georgia Tech team Chaplain Derrick Moore is a great example of how this new role is affecting recruiting. The former NAIA player and NFL running back has quickly earned a reputation in the SEC as one of the best recruiters int he land. Several recent commits have sighted both Moore’s personality and his Christian faith as major reasons why they felt Georgia Tech was the right school.
Of course it can be easy to form a relationship with a coach that is going to great lengths to recruit a blue chip athlete. That is why its so important for every potential recruit to take the time to contact and visit as many schools as possible. The more schools in the mix, the better the chance of finding a coach like Derrick Moore.
I talk with a lot of baseball student-athletes and ask a pretty simple question, but receive a lot of the same answers:
“Have you seen this program, that you are interested in, play yet?”
Unfortunately, an overwhelming answer to that question is NO.
The fall baseball season is wrapping up, but the good news is colleges are starting to set their schedules for the spring of 2009 season. What does this mean to you? You need to start thinking about visiting your top colleges and watching a game at the same time. I say this now because when the season begins you will be playing, too. Times are busy right now without baseball, how will you manage to find time when you are playing at the same time?
Remember, you are not just visiting to watch the game. Here are just a few things you should be accomplishing as well:
Start scheduling and managing your time now, NOT LATER.
Almost every recruit dreams of the day they will be playing under the brightest lights possible with the world watching on network TV. However, not every recruit gets the chance to perform at the highest competitive level. For some potential recruits this news can be devastating. They have spent their entire lives working to be an elite athlete and now they are being told that they essentially aren’t good enough to compete at the highest level.
Some athletes keep waiting by the phone for a call that never comes and are deprived of the chance to continue playing the sport they love and miss out on the chance to receive any scholarship. Some keep waiting because they are naive to the process, but others keep waiting simply because of pride. However, if the majority of these athletes took the time to really investigate the different levels of collegiate athletics I think their attitude would quickly pull a 180 degree turn. Take for instance Naples’ High Senior tailback Greg Pratt, who took the time to visit some smaller schools and had his eyes opened. The Naples Daily News sat down to get his take after visiting Liberty in the Division formerly known as D 1-AA.
“I talked to some NFL scouts and they told me you don’t have to go to a big school to get looked at,” Pratt said. “The (Liberty) coaches said I have a good chance of playing.”
Pratt even has several BCS schools offering him scholarships, but because he took the time to investigate things a little further, he now has one more option on the table. That is why I always encourage athletes to take as many visits as possible so they can make an informed decision and find the right fit!
In every sport an athlete must condition and strength train. How you perform this activity is just as important. If you are a baseball player, would you go for a long distant run? Baseball consists of explosive movements that are short to moderate. So why would you go on a three mile run? Endurance can be established with long sprints.
Now that baseball players are in the off season it is important to establish a strong base for the upcoming season. A player must “report to camp” in top physical condition in order to compete at the highest level.
A baseball workout must contain some key ingredients. 1) Work on your baseball skills such as hitting, fielding and throwing. 2) Strength train in the weight room. 3) Conditioning by running poles, base running and long sprints. 4) There must be a proper warm up and cool down routine. 5) There must be a proper core (your core is you’re your knees to chest) routine.
How do you get the mental edge in your game? How do you think and act like a champion? Are you born a leader or is it developed over time? Having the right thoughts during practice, competition and in your life is a critical part of “winning that college scholarship”.
A credible source for learning “Championship Thinking” is Jim Meier. He was an interval part of the Oregon State University Baseball Team who won back to back NCAA Championships in 2006 and 2007. Jim’s weekly internet show has guests who are the “who’s who” of the baseball world. Next weeks guest (Oct. 29) is none other then Paul Mainieri, head baseball coach at LSU.
“Developing…Mind, Heart, Spirit”
When I was in 7th Grade, my basketball team was terrible. I mean, we were horrendous – if one of us ever made a shot from outside the paint, it was like “Jordan over Ehlo”. Needless to say, we were win-less until the last game of the season.
Yes, we actually won a game. And I tell you, it was glorious. We were all jumping up and down, shouting at the top of our lungs as if we had just won the NBA title.
This wasn’t professional basketball, and we weren’t the best team in the world – it was 7th grade, and we just won one game.
But boy, did it feel good.
Lately, I’ve been talking to a slew of kids who are dead-set on one thing — playing at the Div. I level. For some of them, it might happen. For others, probably not. Very few student athletes get the opportunity to play at the top collegiate level — for basketball, only 0.9% of high schools players will get the chance to play Div. I.
But let’s look at my 7th grade basketball team. I harp that sports improve your health, confidence, self-esteem, teamwork, etc. But let’s face it — winning feels good. And guess what — winning feels good at any level!
For example, take these community college athletes in various Iowa community colleges. From the article in the Des Moines Register:
Eight of the 14 schools in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference have a team or teams that are ranked nationally.That’s not surprising. Iowa Central won the 2007 women’s cross country championship and was second in men’s cross country. Iowa Western finished second each of the last two seasons in women’s soccer and won the volleyball national title in 2006.
Now, when the Iowa Central women’s cross country team won the championship last year, do you think they sulked that it wasn’t a “higher” or “better” championship? Don’t be ludicrous! They were like my 7th grade basketball team — screaming, jumping around like madmen.
It’s not just Div. I that gets to take the spoils. Div. II, Div. III, NAIA, NJCAA and NCCAA schools all have the ability to experience the thrill of victory, too.
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