1. College Baseball Doesn’t Pay

Contrary to popular belief, it is unlikely that your kid will receive a full ride scholarship for playing baseball. Colleges have very little money allotted for baseball scholarships. D3 schools do not even give athletic scholarships. D2 and D1 schools have a limited amount of scholarship money that must be divided between the entire roster. Most teams would rather split that money into a lot of small scholarships, because if they concentrated it in full rides they would only have enough to recruit about 11 players.

This makes full rides extremely rare. If your kid is able to get a baseball scholarship, odds are it will be closer to 30%. When you’re shelling out $50,000 for tuition, 30% doesn’t help that much. Your kid’s best bet to receiving a full ride is to shoot for an academic scholarship.

2. An Elite Team ≠ Elite Development

Playing for a fancy travel ball team does not always mean good instruction. The mechanics of pitching and hitting are intricate, so it is essential that you find someone who knows what they’re talking about. Otherwise, your kid’s travel ball coach may do more harm than good. 

If you can afford it, hire a coach with a good reputation. Want a cheaper option? Follow accounts like mine (Coach RAC) on social media.

Here are some other accounts worth following for excellent coaching:

@Coach Bougie

@Coach DR

@Swings with Jenk

@Coach Cam - Smarter Baseball

@Bobby O’Neill

3. Stop Coaching from the Stands

Yelling your coaching advice is making your kid a worse baseball player. You may know exactly what they need to hear. You may have the best advice on the planet. It is still counter productive to shout that advice from the stands. This is especially true when they are in high-pressure situations, like while batting or pitching.

In the middle of a game, the most important component to success is how a player handles pressure. There's enough pressure in a game without your voice. I've seen many kids scared of failing on the field because they feel that failure would let their parents down. Your goal as a parent should be to lower the pressure on your kid, not increase it. When players are scared to fail, they rarely play to their full potential.

If you really have some good advice, write it down. Wait until after the game, when they are not in the heat of the moment. Set aside some time later to share your advice, then give them time to work on it and practice.