You’ve been told “get good grades” your whole life, but why is it important to get good grades? Here iswhat your Grades say about who you are.
The first thing College Coaches ask your high school coach or travel ball coach is “How are his grades?” Coaches use your grades, good or bad, to determine what type of player you are going to be on and off the field while in their program. They tell a coach about characteristics such as reliability, commitment, persistence and mental toughness as well as potential eligibility issues, discipline issues and limited financial aid outside of an athletic scholarship.
Good grades tell a college coach two things. First, good grades tell a coach you take pride in more aspects of your life then just baseball. Second, it tells them they will never have to worry about you. Inversely, having poor grades tell coaches three things. First, it hurts you financially both in terms of scholarships and in terms of academic money.Second, it tells college coaches you only care about baseball. And lastly, it raises red flags to potential discipline issues. Coaches invest a lot in the recruiting process because their jobs rely on it, and they try to utilize grades to determine THE MOST about what kind of player they are bringing into their program.
Good Grades
Having good grades, shows a coach you will take pride in anything put in front of you whether it’s on the field, in the classroom, in the weight room or even raking your position after practice. Good grades directly instills reliability in a coach.Coaches know that the most successful players in their programs are going to be the ones that can prioritize each part of their lives and be successful at each. College Coaches take a lot of pride in their programs and they want to know that the players they bring in are going to have the same sense of pride in more than just baseball.
Having good grades, tells a coach you will never have to worry about you in the program. Coaches correlate good grades with responsibility, leadership, taking initiative and not having to worry about you in extracurricular settings. In my time as a player or coach, I can’t remember a teammate or player who got good grades who wasn’t any of the above. Coaches want student-athletes they can trust implicitly. The more student-athletes with good grades on the team, the less the players the coaching staff has to worry about.
Poor Grades
On the flip side of this, poor grades limit you financially. A coach may love the way you play baseball, but he will not spend significant money on you if your grades are poor, nor will you be able to receive financial aid to make school more affordable. You are a risk to him. If you can’t focus on your grades and make those important, you are going to battle eligibility issues. If you can’t stay eligible in the classroom, the money you are given goes to waste because you won’t be on the field come spring. Let me tell you, the biggest headache to coaches are players who battle eligibility issues. Coaches know there are thousands of players out there who have your level of ability AND good grades. Why take a chance on a player who only prioritizes one?
Secondly, poor grades tell a coach all you care about is baseball. Baseball is only half of a coach’s job. The other half is developing and teaching you to be a better human and preparing you for the real world after baseball. Every coach I have met during my time in baseball, as a player and coach, prides themselves on the team GPA. If you can’t maintain good grades and only care about performance on the field, then the coach will think you don’t care about aspects of being a student-athletewhich are important to him and the program’s success.
Lastly, poor grades will raise red flags for potential discipline issues. Poor grades don’t always correlate with discipline issues because there are students who try their hardest and just don’t grasp concepts like others. 9 times out of 10 the players who have poor grades are not engaged in the classroom or take much pride in their schoolwork. The playerswho are constantly in coach’s office or getting in trouble in the classroomare the ones who do not prioritize grades. They are playing baseball for one reason, and they are not concerned with anything else. This causes a trickle-down effect. When in class, they are not engaged with the teacher’s curriculum and do not pay attention which causes discipline issues. The teacher emails the coach about your lack of attention in class and now you’re in trouble with the teacher and the coach. Coach’s will get tired of this and just dismiss you from the program because you are more of a liability then an asset. Grades can to 1 of two things for you as a student-athlete. Open Doors or Close Doors.