Do you have to play college baseball to go to MLB ?

Hi Peyton!

The most important thing for you to do, if you are considering going into professional sports, is to identify and prepare for a backup career if you encounter a sports career ending injury. Coaches like to get players who are smart on and off of the field.

To do that you need to get to know yourself and careers better:
- talk to your school counselor about talking interest and aptitude tests to identify appropriate career areas and arrange to visit and talk to graduates of your school who are working in those areas
- talk to the teachers of the subjects in which you are getting the best grades and see in which career areas they see you fitting and arrange to visit and talk to people working in those areas
- take advantage of coop, internship, shadowing, and volunteer programs which would enable you to visit and talk to people working in the appropriate career areas
- many athletes get their start at a community college, so you could learn much by talking to the alumni relations person at your local community college to arrange to visit and talk to graduates of that school working in your career areas.
- send thank you notes to those who help you.
- keep me posted as I would like to help further if I can.