Question for parents or players

This was a decision that I faced a couple of years ago when I was trying to decide amongst the college programs.

First off, I believe that a player needs to look himself in the mirror and not ask, but tell himself what he wants out of his college experience. After that the decision should begin to be more clear cut. By this, I mean that after looking at yourself in the mirror, you know that you either aspire to play professionally beyond college, or not. You know that you have the desire to accept the challenge of competing day in and day out for playing time and the risk that you might now play right away, but be playing for a winner, as opposed to not having that desire. Also, you have to be prepared to possibly sacrifice winning for immediate playing time. It was this that put me over the top in my decision to accept the challenge of being told "we cannot promise you or anyone for that matter playing time when you get here...the best nine players will play here." I knew that if I was given the same chances between the lines as the other guys, that I would find a way to keep getting run back out there. It was a risk, but at the same time, I was not prepared to turn down a chance to play at a winning program in return for "being the man" at a program that had no vision of making it to Omaha. I told myself that if I went to the school that I chose and couldn't cut it there, that at least I would have the peace of mind that I play for a great team and accept the fact that the game might have passed me by.

I'm currently on the road and it has been a long day, so I apologize if my reply sounds a little scatter brained, but the gist of it is, I have always loved to test myself against the best. It is something that keeps me from second guessing things that my team and I accomplish and it is something that allows me to continue to grow as a baseball player.

Like I said though, my path and my decision may not be for everyone, just like my path wasn't the same as others before me. It is important that you as a player know what you want out of the game and go and get it. It is okay if a player wants to go and "be the man", trust me, I have friends who right away their freshman year were Friday and Saturday guys and they had a blast and have gone on to pro careers and had great success. The catch with them was, they were not satisfied with just being the man at their school, they wanted to take their early playing time and be the man, period.

 

Great post Woody, couldn't think of any other way of saying that any better!

 

I personally believe in going to the school that is the right fit and a large part of that "fit" equation is playing time. With that said, I believe most players would rather be on the field playing than sitting for a couple of years waiting for their chance so I go with playing time as the biggest factor though it varys from player to player. Lets face it, college practices are a lot of hard work and sacrafice, so there are very few kids that are happy on the bench. Those that are will easily find their fit. Also remember that Championships aren't guaranteed. You could sit for two years and then when your time comes, your chosen team never gets a shot at a championship, OR, you could sit for two years and then get recruited over. On the other hand, if you opt for the early playing time, you might just be good enough to lead your team to a Championship.

 

Answer!

BEST EDUCATION

PLAYING TIME

SIZE/TRADITION/LEVEL