While you may think that your son’s talent is the only thing that matters to college coaches, there are quite a few other considerations that go into the decision whether or not to recruit your son. You don’t want to make the big mistakes that can make it harder for your son to play baseball at the college level. We’re here to help. We have a separate article about how best to contact coaches but here are a few of the biggest general mistakes that parents make while their sons search for colleges.
1) Become the center of attention.
Don’t tell the coach about your college career or how much you shaped your son’s high school career. Let your son take the initiative.
2) Lose (or never have) an objective view of their son’s abilities.
Very few high school baseball players get to play Division I baseball. It is important that you and your son stay objective when it comes to assessing his abilities. You need to keep your mind open to other levels and paths if your son is not recruited by a D1 school. If your son wants to continue to play baseball in college, there are places for him. While other levels of college baseball don’t get the national exposure that Division I does, playing well at any level can provide your son with many of the same opportunities available to D1 players.
3) Subscribe to recruiting services assuming it will guarantee their son’s acceptance to his favorite school.
No service can guarantee that your son will be accepted by and play for his dream school. Some of these services are very expensive. You should learn all you can about what the recruiting service can do for you and what you can do yourself so that you can make informed decisions about them. Check out our ideas for saving money during the recruitment process by clicking here.
4) Pay significant amounts of money to go to every available showcase.
While some showcases can be beneficial, there are simpler and cheaper ways to get noticed. Talk to coaches and parents of college players to find out how your son’s favorite schools find their players.
5) Make important decisions without consulting their son.
Your son needs to be comfortable with where he is going to play college baseball and he should be instrumental in making this decision. Your son should take the lead on decisions about which events, showcases, and camps he will attend.
