Everyone’s journey to college baseball takes a different path. Keep Playing Baseball was created to help you find yours. It all starts with a plan, and you’ve come to the right place to create yours!
When we talk to high school recruits about playing college baseball, we ask them 3 things:
- Raise your hand if you want to play college baseball.
- Keep it up if you know what needs to be done to get recruited to play college baseball.
- Keep it up if you have a personalized plan for how you are going to get recruited to play college baseball.
After nearly every hand goes up for question 1, we watch as nearly every hand goes down by question 3. If you are in the same situation, we’re here to help you understand what it takes to get recruited, and come up with a personal plan for giving yourself the best chance to play at the next level.
Many high school ballplayers make the mistake of thinking if they aren’t contacted by college coaches or don’t have money to attend expensive showcases or play for expensive travel ball teams that they have no chance of playing in college. This is simply not true. While there are no guarantees, there’s a lot you can do to increase your chances of playing at the next level. That’s what this website is about: helping you get free access to the information and resources you need to successfully navigate the college baseball recruiting process and find a place to play at the next level, even if you’re on a tight budget.
We provide the information, you put in the work!
If you have $0 to spend on the recruiting process, we still believe you can get recruited and play college baseball if you’re willing to work hard and put in the time. At KPB, we’ve created a system for collecting and sharing information from those who know college baseball and recruiting best– college coaches and players! We organize this information into written articles, podcast episodes, educational videos, and more, all designed to help you through the 10 step college search and recruiting process below.
- Learn about college baseball
- Learn about the college baseball recruiting process
- Create a personalized recruiting plan
- Prepare for contact and exposure (with college coaches)
- Contact coaches and seek exposure
- Ongoing communication with interested college coaches
- Preparing for campus visits and visiting schools
- Comparing offers and options
- Making a commitment
- Managing post-commitment responsibilities and showing up prepared
By breaking the recruiting process into more manageable parts and creating action steps, you’ll have a road map to college baseball that tells you what to do, when to do it, and how to do it the right way!
Important Facts
Playing college baseball is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Baseball players around the country get to experience the fun, excitement, challenges, and camaraderie that come with playing on college teams. Current and former players shared their knowledge and advice with us so that you can have a chance to have the same opportunities that they did.
“When you play college baseball, you get on a team with 40 different individuals, and you have to bond as one. You make, pretty much, 40 brothers on the team, and you can stay connected with each one of those guys for the rest of your life. If you need anything or you need somebody to talk to, you always have those 40 guys that you bonded with.” – JUCO Pitcher, Louisiana
You don’t have to be a stud to play college baseball.
While the best players on big name teams get heavily recruited by college and pro teams, they are not the only players who can play at the next level. There are over 1,600 different college baseball programs across more than 6 levels for players who are willing to work hard both on and off the field. Most of the players sharing their experiences here were not recruited early or approached by pro scouts, but they were still able to make their dreams come true. Read more to find out if you have what it takes to play at the next level by clicking here.
You need to know about the NCAA and other governing bodies.
To play any college sport, you need to know about the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), or your local community college association. These organizations determine who can play and what rules athletes must follow while in school. You can find them at www.ncaa.org, www.naia.org, and www.njcaa.org. Colleges list which organization that they work with on their team or athletic department websites. No matter what anyone tells you (even us), these organizations (NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA) are always the ultimate sources for rules and guidelines so you should always check with them before making important decisions. Never guess what you need to do to be eligible to play.
It’s best to start planning early.
To be a college athlete, you have to follow the NCAA or NAIA rules to be “eligible” to play. That means you have to take specific, approved classes and tests while you are still in high school. The classes and grades required to be eligible may differ depending on what college you choose, so you should start planning early so you don’t make mistakes in choosing classes that limit your choices later. Because college baseball is so competitive, you’ll be more likely to play if you have the grades and skills that will help you qualify for more than one or two schools. Read more about eligibility from NCAA or NAIA.
Athletic scholarships aren’t the only way to pay.
While you and your parents may hope that you will get a baseball scholarship, there aren’t that many to go around. Unlike head-count scholarship sports like football, which give all scholarship players a “full-ride,” baseball uses the equivalency scholarship system. This means that most players who are lucky enough to get a scholarship are likely only having a percentage of their school costs paid for. You don’t want to give up on your dream because you can’t get a “full ride.” We’ll help you learn about other ways to pay for college. Read more about paying for school here.
How This Website Can Help You
- Get honest, accurate player-to-player information on every aspect of the recruiting process, from academics to campus visits.
- We have nothing to sell you. You’ll find straight talk without the sales pitch on every page.
- We’ve organized what you need to do into year-by-year pages, checklists, and a 10-step recruiting road map to help you stay on track.
- We’ve included important resources to help you improve your skills and knowledge of the game.
- Players who have “been there” are here to help you Keep Playing Baseball.
For more information on the best way to use the website to help you make it to college baseball, click here!
