Continuing an athletic career after the high school level would seem like the sole aspiration for the senior athletes competing in the Valley Oak League. Yet, year after year only a select few continue their athletic careers into the collegiate level, making college athletics seem like a long shot.
Although that is hardly the case, an overwhelming amount of athletes find their final VOL at-bats being the end of their careers. Parents do not know the deadlines for the recruiting process; they do not know where to get financial assistance information and sometimes don’t even know where to start the process.
The Manteca Baseball Softball Academy will be hosting an informative meeting directed by Aspire Sports Development founder Rob Bruno, helping to guide parents and athletes through the rigorous path to becoming a collegiate athlete.
Bruno’s organization has helped over 300 student-athletes reach their dreams of playing collegiately on a scholarship and has several long-standing relationships with “every college baseball program west of the Mississippi River”.
“The first thing that I am going to teach the parents and players to do is to be proactive,” Bruno said. “They cannot expect the coaches to come to them; they have to go to the coaches. The No. 1 thing that they have to do as younger players is take care of their business in the classroom. The first think a college coach is going to ask me is what his GPA is and what are the SATs. Then they ask is he a character kid.
“If all those things are great and he can play a little bit, then we have to find out how to make sure those coaches are interested in that player.”
The program will go over different methods for acquiring financial assistance, funding that athletes may not know about, and different selective opportunities for each different type of athlete looking to continue their career.
With so many promising careers culminating with their high school years, athletes in this area have to take advantage of the opportunity to find out what they can do if they want to play at the next level.
“I just don’t think that the kids around here know all that is available to them,” MBSA founder Greg Wilson said. “Obviously, everyone is not capable of playing at the D-I level, but there are plenty of kids that are capable of going on to the next level. Delta, Chabot, San Francisco City; those schools are comparable to the D-II level, so playing for these programs is not a slight at all.
“There are a lot of Division II and III programs that will pay you to come play baseball.”
The MBSA meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct. 6 from 7-8 p.m. at the MBSA facilities. Bruno will likely hold a 30-minute speaking session, followed by a question-answer session allowing parents and players to direct questions to Bruno related to their personal situations.
For more information or pre-registration, please contact Greg Wilson at (209) 482-5702, or email info@thembsa.com before Oct. 6.
Although that is hardly the case, an overwhelming amount of athletes find their final VOL at-bats being the end of their careers. Parents do not know the deadlines for the recruiting process; they do not know where to get financial assistance information and sometimes don’t even know where to start the process.
The Manteca Baseball Softball Academy will be hosting an informative meeting directed by Aspire Sports Development founder Rob Bruno, helping to guide parents and athletes through the rigorous path to becoming a collegiate athlete.
Bruno’s organization has helped over 300 student-athletes reach their dreams of playing collegiately on a scholarship and has several long-standing relationships with “every college baseball program west of the Mississippi River”.
“The first thing that I am going to teach the parents and players to do is to be proactive,” Bruno said. “They cannot expect the coaches to come to them; they have to go to the coaches. The No. 1 thing that they have to do as younger players is take care of their business in the classroom. The first think a college coach is going to ask me is what his GPA is and what are the SATs. Then they ask is he a character kid.
“If all those things are great and he can play a little bit, then we have to find out how to make sure those coaches are interested in that player.”
The program will go over different methods for acquiring financial assistance, funding that athletes may not know about, and different selective opportunities for each different type of athlete looking to continue their career.
With so many promising careers culminating with their high school years, athletes in this area have to take advantage of the opportunity to find out what they can do if they want to play at the next level.
“I just don’t think that the kids around here know all that is available to them,” MBSA founder Greg Wilson said. “Obviously, everyone is not capable of playing at the D-I level, but there are plenty of kids that are capable of going on to the next level. Delta, Chabot, San Francisco City; those schools are comparable to the D-II level, so playing for these programs is not a slight at all.
“There are a lot of Division II and III programs that will pay you to come play baseball.”
The MBSA meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct. 6 from 7-8 p.m. at the MBSA facilities. Bruno will likely hold a 30-minute speaking session, followed by a question-answer session allowing parents and players to direct questions to Bruno related to their personal situations.
For more information or pre-registration, please contact Greg Wilson at (209) 482-5702, or email info@thembsa.com before Oct. 6.
