With Joey's return to baseball this last week it has been a whirlwind of emotions. To see him back on the mound and be back in the fold of coaches, baseball parents, and the big R... Recruitment ! It reminded me of all the emotions we are all dealing with in regards to our kids making it to the next level.
With Joey's first appearance back came the calls and text with regards to college coaches and their request for information and visits. At one point my kids were at the dinner table doing homework and Savannah was blasting Joey for not returning a text to a particular coach of a large school. He was unsure what to say and she was mad that he had not responded. It reminded me of the two different paths both my athletes are enduring.
Joey had mentioned something he was reading about you're either an anomaly with your size and ability or an anomaly with your work ethic. It was great how he saw himself as both. There is no doubt that both my kids have been gifted the ability to stand out on paper with some height and ability no doubt by our old mailman or someone however they do both have some pretty impressive work ethics when it comes to their crafts. Even still, Sav's journey has been quite different from her brothers.
With the passing of September 1st I have had numerous conversations with parents whose child has been disappointed with the recruitment process or lack thereof. The truth is I think with travel ball and all the effort we all have been putting into our kids we are also a little disappointed. This is more true in the softball world than in baseball and here is why. With baseball I think it's pretty commonplace for coaches to be out at events and to chat up parents and you have a better idea of where your child ranks in their book as well as against their peers. With softball it is almost a muted silence their entire career until that Jr year. Then you are left to fill that void from the previous years with what you assume will happen. This is where the fall out happens.
Our house has a pitcher and a hitter. Two very different recruited positions. One of them is very easy to measure as you have a radar gun, a 6'5 frame and left handed. Boom, you can fit those into a box and it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out a lot of people are ok with taking a chance on him early. Then you have the power hitter whose numbers appear to shoot off the charts but there are still so many questions. Will this play at the next level, what is the competition level these numbers are put up against. Things like that. Then you can add the void of silence with regards to recruitment conversations prior to that Sept 1 of the jr year. It's hard to see your child worry but you also understand that it is all part of the growth.
The process is stressful, it is part of our children's journey. I think most of us wish it was over but I wonder if we may also miss this part of our life. An old boss of mine once told me to not to find out the birth of my kids until our child was born. He explained to me, a young soon to be father that most of life's good surprises are behind us. Christmas , birthday gifts and what not. All we are left with as adults are bad surprises like illness or death. I was always happy that we waited to find out if we were having a boy or a girl as that moment of suspense and excitement when they were each born was so overwhelming I'm not entirely sure I will experience that again. However here we are, the suspense of what school my child will go to and what they will do there has me bursting at the seams but I feel like this outlet is how I get it out.
My point of this blog? No child's recruitment is the same. Not even in the same house. You are not alone, our children are not alone. The more we communicate as parents and explain our process the better we are to each other and more helpful we are to each other. Understand that if your child is not getting the attention that you may think they deserve there is a better plan for them waiting to come. Patience is so hard and yet so important!
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