The Process: The Player's Perspective Part 1 (The Decision)

      The recruiting process for high school baseball players is one of the most mentally draining obstacles they will deal with in their career for the average high school player. For the top tier players the process becomes much easier as they will have coaches coming to them, and for the players who don't have a strong desire to play the game, college baseball is an after thought. For the average high school players who truly wants to continue to play the game at the next level, dealing with the recruiting process is not easy. When players ask me for advice about playing college baseball I tell them to ask themselves a few questions first. How bad do you want to play? Are you willing to leave Florida? What do you plan on majoring in? Are you ok with a small school? The answers to those questions can often put things in perspective for the player.

        The first question, how bad do you want to play, is usually quickly answered with "real bad". So before moving on from there I explain to them what being a college baseball player really means. When most high school players think of college baseball they see all the excitement, the fans cheering, the hype videos, and glory of going to Omaha. College baseball requires a lot more than that. As a college baseball player you will spend at least 4-5 days a week in the fall training most of the day. The typical day consisting of; morning conditioning, class from 9-12ish, practice or 4 on 1's from 2-4, and weightlifting sometime in the evening. That doesn't include things like study hall, and homework. Then when the season comes in the spring you get busy; playing 55-60 games in 3 months, plus playoffs, being on the field in some capacity 6 days a week, weight training 2-3 times a week, plus travel and class. As you can see being a college baseball player is a full time job and requires a very high level of commitment. So when the player tells me they truly want to play college baseball I then ask them the next question.

    Are you willing to leave Florida? This is a tough question for these players in the Orlando area, most of which have spent most if not all of their lives here. One of the biggest attractions of living in Florida is the weather, we usually have about 30-45 "cold days" a year. This is a big draw and is one of the reasons there is so much talent here, we play year round. Players have the opportunity to continuously get better at the game. So when they have a school from upstate New York offering them a spot on the team, it becomes a tough question to answer. Most college freshman go through a homesick phase, but it becomes amplified when the student is hundreds of miles away from home and has no time to make a trip back. There has to be a high level of commitment to leave the state and go north.

       The 3rd question helps determine where they can go that will benefit them. Knowing the major that the player wants to study is very important, while college baseball is an amazing experience it does no good for the player if they get a degree that they can't use. Something to note is that some schools have degree under the same field, for example if the student plans to continue their education with a post graduate degree their undergrad degree just needs to be in a relative field. Most colleges and universities carry the basic set of majors that can lead to almost any secondary degree. This is something that definitely needs to be looked into before committing to a school.

    The final question will really help answer the first. Many players want to go to the big school, whether it's for the people, the football, the experience, it doesn't matter. They just like the idea of going to a place like University of Florida, they a big school college experience. For some players that is more important than baseball, which is their choice. Some players find themselves in a tough spot, they want to play baseball, but really want to go to a big school. The problem is many of the players that play at those big schools are the top players in the country. For the average high school player, I suggest doing their best to find a place to play travel somewhere experience what it is like to play college baseball stick it out for at least a year and if you don't enjoy it there is nothing wrong with hanging up the spikes and transferring to a big school to be a student.

    These tips are just ideas that I believe help the players figure things out. For most high school players this decision is a major fork in the road that can shape their lives in the future. It is a decision that should be made by the player and the player only, obviously it is very important that the parent is there to talk him through it, but in the end the decision belongs to the player. College baseball is one of the best things I experienced and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but it was also very difficult.

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