What's Next ?

Well high school tryouts are in full swing and cuts are beginning to be made. If you don't make the team, what happens now? Well the world does not end boys. High School tryouts are a very tough time for coaches especially here in the northeast. Most coaches get 5-10 days to evaluate players and most time it's in a gymnasium setting and the players get limited time to impress. If the varsity coach has not seen the player since the year before, alot may have changed and it's up to the player to show their skills.

Some coaches are teachers in the system and may have limited experience as a coach or even with baseball in general and sometimes, you just don't have a good tryout. This does not mean you should give up and the dream is over. Quite the contrary. It's time to work harder to prepare for your summer season. Find a spring sport that will help you condition for the summer (track), and keep in mind what your goal is, playing baseball. Spend time hitting in a cage, using an indoor facility and throwing as much as you can (long toss). It's during the summer season that you'll have the opportunity to enhance your skills. Be 100% ready for that season.

For those of you that have made it, congratulations ! Now there is more work to get done. If your goal is to play at the collegiate level, your time studying becomes more important. Practice and games will take up much of your time and when you get home you'll be tired and school work will take a back seat to rest, eating and social networking. get it done. Spend some time talking with your parents about what your goals are and let them know, that in order to become a college athlete, you must register with the NCAA Eligibility Clearinghouse,  http://www.eligibilitycenter.org/ . When you go to the site, it will step you through the registration process and will provide alot of information for you and your parents. There is a cost involved so keep mom and dad close by. What this site does, is it stores all of your information, grades, test scores etc that the colleges can look at to see what kind of student you are and whether you are taking the right classes to be able to compete at the next level. Spend some time on the website www.hsbaseballweb.com/eve/forums . Read and ask questions. It is a wealth of information contributed by people who have been through this before.

Now that school baseball is in full tilt, it's also time to make sure you have a place to play in the summer and to register for any showcases and/or camps that you may want to attend. These events fill up quickly and getting a spot is very competitive. Sites like http://www.perfectgame.org/ have had their showcase schedule out for 2 months already and registration forms can be found there. The first weekend of showcases is usually right at the beginning of June before your summer season gets started. It is important to get to one of these events since college coaches often attend these, in the hopes of finding a few players who will be on their summer radar who may not have been prior to the event. The Sunshine Northeast, and Sunshine East events are two in particular and again, they are not free. A few other solid showcases are Selectfest, Blue Chip and Baseball Factory. Information and links can be found at http://hsbaseballweb.com/showcase/showcase_table.htm . Again, spend some time on these sites, there is so much information found here. Pass all this on to mom and dad as well. They will want to be as informed as possible because not being informed could cost them thousands of dollars in bad decisions.

If you have questions, drop and email to allbaseball247@gmail.com. Keep working hard.