So I'm heading into my sophomore season in High School, and I'm most likely taking over the starting role on varsity. I'm a catcher and a very good defensive player, with a solid bat. I was just wondering for anybody who might know anything about it, once you get to the process of getting into college, how would you go about playing college ball? Do they hold open tryouts, or? I'm from New England, so recruiting and scouting isn't exactly great.
Random Dude
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You are still a sophmore so you have lots of time, but by the end of junior year you want to be preparing for recruiting season in your senior year. I see you mentioned your skills. But there are other things involved in the recruiting process.
1) You want to go to college? Get good grades! The best schools only take guys with good grades! A strong GPA and SAT scores will do well for you.
2) Play a position suited for your size. Based on your size coaches may want you to change to a position more suited for you, so make sure you fit the postion you are playing. Since you are a catcher, are you a fairly big guy? If not, start getting bigger or change to a position for smaller players like 2nd base. You don't have to hit the weights like crazy 'til senior year or college, but you may want to start getting familiar with working out often to gain muscle and size before you get there. Size is a plus for catchers (give you more body to block the ball). It may also give you a leg up on others.
3) As far as skill at the game goes, all i can say is defense! defense! defense! As a catcher, most recruiters (from college to the pros) will be looking for the best/most polished defensive catchers they can find. As a catcher you want to be a leader on the field, make sure you are always talking on the field. Coaches want to see a catcher that's in control of the defense. The most important thing to work on is your footwork and blocking. You will also want to work on quick pop times on your throws to 2nd base and 3rd base. Once you get that down, work on your smarts behind the plate. Start watching videos on youtube or tv for tips on how to work the batter and give good pitch selections for your pitchers based on their strengths. You can never have enough defense, and don't get lazy with it any time! Even if nobody is on base. You never know who is watching!
4) Start working on little things. Once you start getting the defense down, start working on that bat and running. A good defensive catcher with a good bat is rare, if you throw in good speed it's almost unheard of! Guys like Joe Mauer don't grow on trees! Power is a more desired trait for a catcher than contact as they often hit lower in the order anyways. But if you can field great and hit in the middle of the order with some speed you will get the best schools (as long as your grades hold up).
5) The last thing and a pretty important one. Don't be a jerk, make your teammates and coaches like you. Recruiters will often talk to coaches and sometimes teammates about you. And you don't want them talking to someone who is gonna say you're a jerk and a selfish player. I know sometimes during recruiting season players can get caught up on impressing and making themselves look good, but don't lose sight of your teammates, it will come back to bite you.
Sorry, I guess I kinda strayed off the actual topic of your question. lol
Recruiting:
As far as joining college teams. You will want to get offers from school teams and sign a commitment that guarantees your spot rather than going to an open tryout. You said you are from New England? What you should do is join a recruiting website, you can probably find some if you search on google. On these websites you can fill out all your information almost like a resume, then coaches all around the country can see it and try to contact you. I don't believe they can contact you officially until your senior or junior year, I'm not quite sure about the rules. But if you really work hard on your game and skills, the coaches will travel to watch you.
You will likely have to go to school out of state if you want a good team. There are some good schools in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. But you would want a scholarship so you don't have to pay the extra out of state tuition and fees.
I strongly urge you start getting yourself out there and get recruited! It may be tougher because of your location, but that just means you have to be that much better which is always a good thing.
I don't advise open tryouts because I believe you have to enroll in the school first before the tryout and you don't want to go somewhere you may not like if your aren't guaranteed a spot on the team. I have listed a recruiting website I used to use in the section below.
Teddy S
Hey,
The key thing with college recruiting is exposure. You want to be able to get your talents in front of as many college coaches as possible. In this day and age a lot of players opt to create a highlight video and send them to college coaches. The best thing to do though is create a highlight video and upload it to a college recruiting website. A great new website that just launched is www.twillsrecruiting.com. Make sure to put yourself out there as much as possible. Also, make sure you have good grades!!
Chris
They do hold open tryouts, but it's more difficult that way. They're far more selective, they only give you a couple hours to prove yourself, and you rarely get a starting job if you even make the team out of an open tryout. Your best bet is to get recruited.
You seem pretty good and if you're starting on varsity as a sophomore then you have a lot of time. I suggest looking into colleges that you may want to play for, and then when the season comes around maybe call up some scouts and basically tell them that you're looking to be recruited to play for their school. They'll come watch your games and if you play well they'll come back. As the college decision process comes around you may get some letters offering scholarships/etc.
Thats what I did anyway. Last spring I asked a college to recruit me and I wound up having a first team all county level season and I got a scholarship to play baseball for their school. If you get the scholarship, then you're on the team and you don't have to do the open tryout.
Colleges look for tools in baseball players, unless you're that freak 5-tool guy (Alex Rodriguez, Mike Trout, etc) that can do everything. Make sure you have a particular or a couple particular tools that you do incredibly well. Whether it's hit for power, have a cannon for an arm behind the plate, great speed, or something. You need a tool like that. I know some kids that didn't get recruited or got cut from the open tryout even though they were very good all around baseball players, because they weren't freakishly good and they didn't really have a particular tool that they did well. It's better to be really slow with a ridiculously strong arm and some pop rather than decent speed and an average arm and average power, even though the second option may seem better all-round. Just a little tip I've learned since I've been here.