Step 1: Personal Self Evaluation

This is the hardest part of the process, but by far the most important one. Wanting to play college baseball is one thing, the process to get there is another. You need to ask yourself the following questions.

 

How bad do I want this?  Be honest with yourself. This is a VERY grueling process with ups and downs. There will be times where you feel you are getting nowhere, times when it seems like you have gotten all but ‘no’ from any school you’ve contacted, and times where it seems like it ‘may not happen’. You will need that drive to push through those down times and remind yourself that you WANT this, you want to play at the next level. If you don’t think you want it bad enough to push through the tough times, then perhaps this isn’t for you. This isn’t to deter you, but you have to understand that this is something that requires a full commitment.

 

Where am I at right now?  It is never easy to look internally and truly evaluate ourselves, but it needs to happen. Where are you at academically? Athletically? Personally? Truly looking at where you are in those areas could save a lot of heartbreak. If you are close to finishing your time with Babe Ruth and still haven’t played in the higher tiers, perhaps your focus shouldn’t be about making the step to college, but rather moving up the ranks within the league here. If you are struggling in the classroom in high school, perhaps we should focus on increasing our grades there before we worry about where we are going to play in college. If you are just not mentally prepared to put forth the extra work it takes to get to the next level, perhaps we let ourselves figure out what we want before committing to something that requires a lot of work. Be honest with yourself.

The goal here isn’t to make it seem like you shouldn’t, it is to have you truly understand what is going to be required of you as you move forward through this process. If after those questions you are ready, then let’s get going!

 

Step 2: Starting Point

Look back at the ‘5 Keys to finding the right fit’. Step 2 has you really dive into those 5 things.

 You will take those 5 Keys and rank them in order of importance to you and your family. The most important being number 1, least important being number 5. This will get you starting to think about what is most important to you.

Just like you don’t want to waste your time looking at a school that doesn’t have the program you want, a college coach doesn’t want to put effort into a recruit who has no intentions of playing there. You are not going to upset a coach if you are upfront at the beginning that you are not interested because their program or school doesn’t meet a need of yours, they understand.

This will also help with narrowing down your searches for programs. There are a TON of programs to choose from, knowing your 5 Keys and where they rank for you and your family will help with your search.

 

Step 3: The Big Step

This is the largest of the steps and a very crucial one. Please click the "College Interest Form" so you can notify the college recruitment staff that you are interested in speaking with them about college baseball opportunities.

• Start researching schools that meet your 5 Keys. You may have to compromise on some, but you should have 2 or 3 areas that are ‘non-negotiable’. We want to have lots of options, but sometimes too many options is just as bad as too little.

• Create a FieldLevel account and join the Calgary Babe Ruth roster. This is a very important part of the recruiting process as thousands of coaches use this as a place to look at players/recruits. Get on there as soon as you can and keep it updated regularly.

• PLAYERS: You will have to start promoting yourself so that you get the eyes of coaches on you. Take a look through social media or FieldLevel to see what kinds of videos (we will talk more about video in Step 4) or posts they are putting out to promote themselves. There are a TON of recruiting services out there that oftentimes have some good free resources for you to use. Check them out. The more information you have the better you will feel when making your final decision.

  *If ever you are going to purchase a service, or are being asked to pay for service, feel free to reach out and I will answer any questions/provide my opinion to help you make the best decision for your family.*

• PARENTS: This is a great time to start figuring out the logistics of your budget and distance for school. It is also important to note;

  • Most athletic scholarships are not going to alleviate a ton of the financial burden, but they will help.

  • Depending on your athlete’s grades in high school, there is academic money available to apply for, but there will still be some costs.

  • One thing that is mandatory in order to get a visa for school in the US is indicating and representing that you are able to financially support one full year of academics.

  • In Canadian schools, baseball is almost always pay-to-play.

  • Having an idea of where your family will be comfortable financially will help with the final decision on where your athlete will continue their baseball journey!

 

Step 4: Video & Metrics

Once you’ve started to get your list of potential schools together, you’ve made your account, you’ve joined the Calgary Babe Ruth roster, then you are ready to start getting what you need to update it.

Videos are the new way of recruiting and most coaches won’t even pursue a player if there aren’t videos or a location for videos attached in the email. Here are the kinds of videos they generally want to see.

• Hitting from different angles: Showing you hitting from the side, from the view of the picther, from the view of the catcher. They want to see multiple swings in a row. DO NOT EDIT JUST THE BEST. They are looking at your whole process.

• Pitching; The most important one you want to show is from side/behind where you can see your full motion and the flight of the ball to the catcher. This allows them to see location, movement, and your mechanics.

• Fielding OF/INF; Coaches want to see the way you field the ball. Start the video before contact is made so they can see your whole approach to the ball. You will want to show a sequence of plays including the throw. Don’t worry about showing where the throw goes, emphasis is more on the mechanics.

  • INF: Show you taking a ground ball right at you, to your left, to your right, and a slow roller throwing on the run.

  • OF: Show you tracking a fly ball to your right, to your left, coming in, and a dropstep fly ball to your left and right. You will also want to get a video of you playing a ball on the ground to your left and right.

• Game Footage; These are great, but the mechanics videos are much more helpful in coaches determining if you are a fit for their program. If you have caught some good moments from games of course add them to your account.

 

Metrics are another important piece to the recruiting puzzle to help promote yourself. Though they don’t always tell the full story, it can help coaches have at least a starting point of what they are to expect from a player. It is important to note that unfortunately some coaches ONLY look at the metric numbers and may pass on you simply because you don’t meet a standard they have.

• 60 Yard Dash Time - How fast you run 60 yards.

• Exit Velocity in MPH - How fast the ball is coming off the bat after contact.

• Throwing Velocity in MPH - How fast the ball is traveling across the diamond or from the Outfield.

• Pop Time - How quickly a catcher can get the ball to 2nd base, from glove-to-glove.

• Pitching Velocity in MPH - The velocity of each pitch the pitcher throws. Fastball being the most important.

Once again, make sure you are updating your account regularly!

 

Step 5: Reaching Out

Now that you have done all the front load work, you are ready to start reaching out to coaches. This is an exciting step, but also nerve racking! Coaches receive a lot of emails from prospective recruits, don’t be shy about sending follow up emails if you haven’t heard back (you still may end up not hearing anything, and that is okay!). Here are some tips for a more successful email;

• Always address the email to someone. Look for a Recruiting Coordinator if they have one, if not email the head coach. You can put both of them on it if you would like, but the order should be Recruitment Coordinator first (if there is one), Head coach second. Some teams may only have one person’s email available, if that is the case send it to them.

• Make sure you get right to the point. The more they have to read, the less likely they are to follow up. Let them know who you are, where you’re from, why you’re emailing, and where to find your info. Also, double check you have the correct school and person.

• Include videos or a link to your FieldLevel. Most of the info about you should be in there so, like a resume, highlight a couple things that need clarification and show them where to find the rest.

• Include something about the school. They understand that you are going to have some general parts to your email, but you should show that you’ve actually done your research (remember Step 2??) and you’re actually sending emails to schools you are interested in.

• Lastly, double check that all your info is correct, make sure you are addressing the correct school and/or person, and then send it off! It helps to email in groups of ten so that you can keep track.

One Final thing to remember - You represent not only yourself, but BRC. If a coach talks to you, be respectful and reply, even if it’s a tough conversation. If you are about to commit, reach out to those other coaches who you didn’t pick and let them know. You are your own brand, make it a good one.

With these 5 steps you should be in a good spot to start finding some success. Know that each process is different and not everyone has the same experience. You could find yourself sending out 300 emails, get around 50 replies, get 3 interested phone calls, 2 visits, 1 offer. You get out of this what you put in. Be positive, be patient, and be genuine.