<p>I am looking for a little direction, I am currently a Junior in High school and I am a baseball player. I have not even played my junior year as of yet. I have recently just returned from an "Unofficial" visit with a D1 College. Long story short, I was offered a baseball scholarship of 51% to include Room & Board along with a meal card. I realize that baseball scholarships are hard to come by. I am only 16 years old and have never been away from home. My dilemma is, do I jump on this great offer or do I wait until after my junior year and hope for others???</p>
<p>Midwest: There are a few baseball parents on here who can & will offer advice…best of luck.</p>
<p>Midwestyankee,</p>
<p>Congrats on the offer. That is great! I think it takes a lot of maturity to question a 51% scholarship as a first semester junior in high school. Are you a position player or pitcher? Have you really thought about what YOU want out of your 4 years…and talked it over with your parents? I would start there. I coached a young man a few years ago who committed to a D1 school a few weeks ago. He is also a high school junior, and he is very excited as it is his dream school.</p>
<p>You should also understand that if you get an offer at this point in time, the chances are pretty good that you will receive more offers. I’ve councelled others on this topic, and it usually comes down to this question…is this your dream school? Does this school have everything that you are looking for in terms of baseball, academics and financial considerations. </p>
<p>I have a son playing D1 baseball right now. It is a lot of work, and you truly have to love it…but every school is different If this is not your dream school, then I think you need to politely thank the coach for the offer and suggest that you are new to the process and you want to understand all options before committing. If he is a good coach, he will keep some type of offer open and ask that you get back to him in the future. Then I would start to research all the schools that specifically interest you, and contact their coaches about their summer showcase schedule and recruitment camps. </p>
<p>It is very difficult to turn down D1 offers, but in the end it is about your future. My son walked away from a couple D1 offers to pursue another D1 school that was a better overall academic fit. It was not any easy thing to do, but in his mind his major was the most important thing to him. Some of his former travel teammates wanted to be drafted, so they pursued the best baseball programs (SEC/ACC/PAC10). Again, it is what is most important to you. Once you figure out what is most important to you, then it gets alot easier.</p>
<p>Good luck, and feel free to PM me. Good luck!</p>