Kicking off the New Year!

The New Year is now upon us. That brings up the question as to what can be done from a development and recruiting standpoint prior to the start of your spring season. 

There are a couple of things that should be part of your plan regardless of geography or graduating class.

First and foremost, continue building upon your offseason strength and conditioning plan. Hopefully a solid foundation has already been laid out throughout your offseason. Depending upon geographic location, it may be time to already have begun incorporating your throwing and/or hitting program into your offseason routine. In warm weather states such as Florida, high school arm care conditioning programs can begin on January 8th, and the first official practice date is January 22nd. In colder weather regions such as New Jersey, the first practice date for P/C is March 11th, with the first team practice beginning on March 14th. 

This brings us to the recruitment part of what can be accomplished prior to the start of your spring season. Individual college prospect camps and travel organization tryouts/showcases.

Let’s discuss the first component: college prospect camps. Many schools, regardless of region are hosting their final prospect camps/showcases in January before their own spring season gets underway. From a D1 standpoint, this is their last chance to see you play in person until the recruiting calendar opens up for in-person off campus evaluations beginning on March 1st. And the reality is EVERY D1 school will be playing on Friday March 1st. Mid week in person evaluations are much more realistic from a D1 school once their own season is underway post March 1st. D2/D3/NAIA/JUCO can make in-person evaluations at anytime during the year. Keep in mind that for many schools there are budgetary concerns that factor in with regard to recruiting and making off campus trips to evaluate a player. Some things to consider with regard to attending a January/Early Spring college prospect camp: 

1- For those players that have a true interest in a particular university, attending a prospect camp at that institution is a great way to get the proper sets of eyes on you. It is also a great way to see the campus. Many camps will incorporate a campus tour as well.

2- If the prospect camp requires out-of-area travel on you and your families part, this may be the only way a staff can evaluate you and decide whether they need to follow up in your spring season with an off campus game evaluation.

The second component of this process is attending travel organizations tryouts for their upcoming summer teams. In warm weather locations, many organizations hold these tryouts in January before the high school practice schedule starts. In colder weather regions some organizations may have had their tryouts in the Fall due to the impending weather. Others may hold their tryouts in larger indoor facilities. A couple of things to keep in mind with regard to these travel organizations tryouts.

1. The tryouts are for the age appropriate upcoming summer teams. These tryouts are generally run with a pro style format that will include the 60-yard dash/INF fungo from the SS position, usually around 6-7 groundballs placed directly at the player, to the glove side, backhand side, and a slow roller, with all throws being made to 1B. The OF’s will be placed in RF and will be hit fly balls and groundballs, making 3-4 throws to 3B and Homeplate. Catchers will make 4-5 throws to 2B. Live BP for all position and two-way players as well. Pitchers will generally throw a 15-20 pitch bullpen. Some organizations may incorporate a live game as well, while others will work strictly off the above mentioned workout format.

2. The tryout process has evolved over the years to incorporating a showcase type setting as well for some organizations. This type format incorporates having college coaches in attendance. As mentioned above and in previous posts, D1 coaches cannot attend in accordance with the off campus recruiting/evaluation calendar. That being said, it’s a great opportunity to be evaluated by all other levels of colleges and universities. For a player in their senior year still looking for a landing spot, this may provide a great recruitment opportunity. There is no substitute for an in person evaluation. Especially when a college coach can have direct communication with you immediately after watching and evaluating your play. For seniors, where time is of the essence, this is potentially a tremendous opportunity to find a collegiate home. For those in their junior year and younger, it’s also a quality opportunity to showcase yourself in front of college coaches. Keep in mind two things: (1) this may open up a recruitment opportunity at a school you were not entirely familiar with. You may hit it off with a coach that you did not know prior to and learn about what their school has to offer academically and athletically. (2) You never know where a coach will wind up in a year or two. That JUCO coach you may meet at a tryout your sophomore year, may move to a 4 year school the following year that you have interest in and the foundation of a relationship has already been established.

There’s still a lot of productive, quality time, between now and the beginning of your spring season. The above is a guideline of some things that you can do to get physically and recruitment ready as your offseason winds down. 

Happy New Year and best of luck!