In the baseball recruiting process, timing is everything! Unlike other sports, baseball happens in the spring, and what parents and players need to realize is that baseball players don’t have senior year to start the recruiting process. The most important recruiting year is starting in spring of sophomore through the junior year (including the summer of junior year).
Our son Ben came to us at the end of his sophomore summer season and told us that he wanted to try and take a stab at playing ball in college. Unbeknownst to us, this decision came just at the right time. It allowed all three of us to start researching the recruiting process and start asking questions that would lead us in the right direction. To start things off, the two biggest tools Ben needed were a skills video and attendance at camps, clinics and showcases.
Of course there are many other elements to the baseball recruiting process: grades, SAT/ACT scores, ball skills, stats, and communicating with coaches top the list. But one of the first steps we took was signing Ben up for a baseball showcase so that he could get an opportunity to see what he was up against, and see if he wanted to continue heading down the recruiting path.
Here’s how the calendar breaks down (at least up here in the northeast):
Sophomore year –
Fall – fall ball season (travel or rec)
Spring – high school season
Summer – travel season
Junior year –
Fall – fall ball season (travel)
Spring – high school season
Summer – travel season
Senior year –
Fall – fall ball season (last opportunity)
Spring – high school season (college coaches have selected their recruits)
This bolded timeline is critical. Time and again, we encountered parents and players who waited until the end of the junior year to say, “Yeah. I think I want to play baseball in college.” Certainly, there have been a few players who, despite waiting until their senior year to begin the process, have had the opportunity to play college ball … but they are very few. And there are those who have successfully navigated walk-on tryouts in their freshman year of college and have been selected to join the team roster as well. But it’s a gamble.
There’s no harm in starting the baseball recruiting process early. It allows you to grow as a player, see the competition, play at a higher level and start establishing relationships with coaches. Starting early also gives a player the opportunity to improve his grades and end up with a higher overall GPA, which can not only help when applying for general admission to a college, but also help in acquiring academic grant money once you’ve been selected to a college baseball program. Remember, people rarely regret the things they do – it’s what you didn’t do that you end up regretting, so don’t miss out on an opportunity by waiting too long to get started.
