What are some requirements for college softball?

Hi everybody. When I mentioned she was concerned about HS affecting her grades, I just meant that so MANY girls around her talks about struggling in school because of HS ball while in the season. Some of her friends have 5 day a week practice, and some have 6, so I see where it could happen. As I've alluded to in other forums, I have a real NERD on my hands. I asked her about the "academic load" while playing in college, and she said I'm a freshman in high school and college coaches want STUDENT athletes, that what I want to be able to present FIRST. What can a parent say to that? Grades and school is her first priority for herself and uses her time wisely to study and do homework. Its almost 45 minutes after she gets out of school that we / I can pick her up after work. After the locker run and end of day chit chats, she grabs a seat on a bence by the parking lot and starts homework. On the two days of TB team practice, she works on homework in the car on the way to practice and back home. (If she has that much) Her TB team has a demanding spring/summer schedule from Florida, Vegas, OKC, Sparkler, CA, Utah and all through CO. The fall only has a few until the weather turns cold.
I was telling someone else in another forum (offseason training for pitchers) about the training she does. You can read more if you want, but here is just a snip from that post. {We have access to a field and we have a our entire basement devoted to her workout. Very big basement. Full distance pitching / batting cage. Elliptical, dumbbells, medicine balls, jump ropes, weighted sleds and resistance bands etc. We have a large rubbermaid bucket with about 60 softballs in it. She is in the basement 2/3 times a week in season, 4 times off season, team practice 2 times a week, and pitching lessons once a week. Ugh. Frequent visit to her Dr./physical therapist says she is doing everything right. She turns on the stereo for her warm ups and cranks the ABBA cd. Yes, EVERYTIME. Before games, its on the Ipod. Whatever works I guess. Her practices are almost exactly the same as her game warmups. She does a few sprints, jumping jacks and pushups. Does 25 squats with a 12 pound medice ball {mb}. (guess who gets to carry that thing to games) then she does The Finch Windmill as directed. Full bucket of wrist only snaps. 25 mb squats. Full bucket of forearm and wrist snaps. 50 mb squats. Full bucket of knee drill throws. 2 minutes of jump rope. Full bucket of walk thru's. Always 3 buckets full pitching, sometimes 4, and just before spring tourneys, a 5th bucket just for endurance. 25 mb squats between each bucket. Once she is done, she spends A LOT of time static strectching and does a light 5 minute "walk" on the eliptical. Then she has a full shoulder and arm ice wrap that she puts on and gets her stuff ready for school. All homework is done and checked before pitching. Thats mom and dad rules. Then she hits the shower. Actual arm workouts in the off season are 15 light wgts, 10 med wgts, 5 heavy, 10 med, 15 light-- bent over rows, military presses, lunges, roman chairs for back and planks. The Finch Windmill has really paid for itself. She is able to play at second year 14U, but now plays at 18UA level.} She catches for several pitchers after her pitching lessons and does a lot of live batting practice at differant times. She just wants to concentrate on her training and school for college possibilities.

" And so many of the girls said they have so much trouble keeping up in school and their grades dropped like crazy. Not ALL, but alot."

If she has trouble keeping her grades up in high school and competing in any type of athletics, how do you think she will fare when she goes to college?

My advice to you, is when she starts going on campus visits/looking more into schools, take a step back and remove softball from the equation. If, by some chance your dd gets hurt and can't compete any more, would she still be in love with the school she chose? Many people get caught up in wanting to go to the school who has the best softball program or won't accept the average to good ones. Find the school that is right for her. As much as I hate to say it, you have 4 years of college softball and then you are thrown into the real world. Chose wisely. Don't settle.

Your daughter doesn't sound like she's an average girl who would struggle, however. If there is a will, there is a way. I play HS ball. I go to one three hour long practice, then drive to help out with the little kids, then I went to another practice of my own. By the time I get home to eat, I've spent eight hours behind a desk and six hours on the ball field. I'll eat and shower, then start on the homework which usually takes an hour plus. There have been days when I run on five hours of sleep. There is no better life skills than the ones taught when playing school ball and doing other activities. I'm not your average student, I'm in dual credit and advanced placement classes. I took gifted education, I know my stuff. If you really want to play softball, you find a way to make it work.

How long does it take her to warm up before a game? In HS ball, you often have about an hour to get everything together around here. Not by our choice, but by when the athletic director will let you leave.

Lots of awesome, awesome information already given here. Attitude - YES, can be a factor, but more of one that would tip the scales in your favor if there is a tie with DD and another player. I've heard D1 coaches say they will take pure talent over good attitude because you can't teach/coach a gun for an arm.

Hitting is HUGE. (maybe not so much for pitchers though - but being able to hit well only makes you that much more valuable) Many coaches will find the best hitting players then piece together a defense from there. Not the other way around (find strongest gloves, then piece together batting line-up).

Your DD sounds like she already has the mentality necessary for making it at the next level. Many people are very talented, but are not driven (they ride only on their physical ability and never push themselves or dig deep). Those players are in for a rude awakening when they get to a level where other players are as talented as them. It's something I struggle with daily coaching high school aged kids. There are some that are more talented than others I've seen, but they simply AREN'T making the choices necessary in high school to prepare them for college. They are satisfied with being the best on their team or conference even though they can get better.

I also feel that high school coaches who only tell these types of players how great they are doing do NOT do these players any favors. They really need someone to be honest with them - Yes, you are great at this BUT here are some things you could really get better at. OR you can take your currently awesome defensive skills even higher and make you elite of the elite if you could do this...

Anyway - thing is, DRIVEN players can accomplish sooooo much (often more than most people think they can) when they have goals.

Hey Amanda. You are right, I don't think she would struggle with HS ball and grades. I don't tell her this, but I think a factor in her not playing HS ball is a little bit of selfishness. Since she wouldn't be playing for HER high school, its not a big deal to her. As far as her pregame warmups, its slightly abbreviated from her daily pitching workout warmups, but fastpaced. She arrives early to get her "extra" parts done, then when its team time, she can join them and finish warmups with them and her catcher.

hrhurbert - She (and us) is doing exactly that, taking softball out of the equation for potential colleges. School is in fact first priority for her. Without mom and dad pushing. In my previous post I said it was OTHER girls around her having problems with their grades, not her. I'm telling you, I have a "nerd". She would quit softball before she let it hurt her grades. But with the comment about "how do I think she will do in college?" Thats what she is doing, figuring it all out. She is 14 and 2 weeks as a freshman. She just took notice of what the other girls around her were saying and didn't want to take a chance while she still had a choice as a high school freshman. I'm sure it would be very differant if her HS had a team. She has a self-made demanding schedule - alot like you Amanda - and she is doing it, so I can't complain.

To the orginial OP - I hope that you got some good info. The easiest answer is to watch college games, in person is better than on TV, then judge for yourself what is needed. One thing that wasn't mentioned was a bit of luck. I know some very good players who did not get picked up by D1 schools, and it had nothing to do with their ability.

To Changeupskill - one thing about playing HS ball is that it proves to a college that you can handle both academics and extracurriculars. It is tough - my DD's team is 5 nights a week, for about 4 hours a night. It is tough - no doubt about it. It eliminates having a job, and really dampens other social life. Usually, my DD's grades are better in season than out, actually.

When you go to apply to college, it will be important to show extracurriculars, volunteering, athletics, as well as academics. HS ball in of itself doesn't really prove a whole lot to college coaching staffs. My DD has played the 1st 3 years, but is seriously considering taking her senior year off to work and have fun. Her future college coach is fine with it.

There are many (athletic) measurable stats that a college coach looks at. An example might be height, weight, home to first time, stolen bases, home runs, RBI’s, batting average and more depending on position. A D1 pitching prospect needs to heave velocity 63+ where a D3 pitcher may need to be 55+.
One of the other threads had it right in that coaches are also looking for grades. Best advice for any young student athlete is to stay on top of the grades.

John -

seeing this is your first, so welcome to the forum. I have no doubt we could all learn from what you do.

I disagree a little bit on the 63+ for Division I pitching prospects. This past year, there were 290 NCAA Division I teams. Those teams lower down in the RPI aren't loaded with a staff of 63+ MPH pitchers. I would say that many of those teams don't have anyone on staff who consistently throws 60 for a whole game. This is just to make a point that you shouldn't consider your daughter's chance at playing Division I softball shot just because she doesn't throw 63+.

Agree with last post. Been to many college camps and NFCA.org.camps/ They post the results. Out of 60 of the best pitchers in the state, only one broke 60. So it would be interesting where all these pitchers are?