|
Home
Feedback
©2006 oldschoolsportsparenting.com
Q: "How can parents tell
if their kid is a blue-chip athlete? Our son made his college baseball
team, but it was with little or no help from his high school coaches or
athletic director. Had we known that he had college-level talent, we might
have sought help from other sources to try to get him some scholarship
money."
A: Congratulations to you and your
son! Making a college team in any sport is a great accomplishment. You
should be very proud.
It’s tough for parents to be objective
about their kids’ talents and abilities. But there are some tell-tale ways
to identify above-average athletic skills.
Probably the most common sign is that he’ll
constantly be challenging himself to get better and play tougher
competition. And each time he moves up to a higher level of competition,
he’ll find a way to be a standout player – no matter what sport or team he
plays on.
Sports will come naturally to him. He will
want to play against older, bigger, better, more mature kids. He will
practice hard so he can compete successfully against them. And then he will
excel against them. The cycle will continue until he peaks and cannot excel
anymore.
Obviously, your son fit this pattern,
because despite what you’ve said was "little or no help" from his coach or
AD, he made a college team on his own. If his college offers baseball
scholarships, perhaps he’ll have a chance to earn one after a year of solid
performance. (Just an FYI – full scholarships for baseball are extremely
rare. If your son gets any money at all, it is likely to be a partial
scholarship.)
If the school plays non-scholarship ball,
your son could possibly catch the eye of a school that does offer
scholarships – maybe by performing against that school in an
out-of-conference game. Stranger things have happened. I know a young man
who got offered partial scholarship money by a baseball coach who saw him
play Legion ball in the summer. The kid was actually playing Division III
(non-scholarship) football at the time!
Finally, if your son never gets a
scholarship – what’s the worst thing that can happen? His college sports
experience will enrich his life and yours beyond measure.
Home Feedback
|