WWYD if you knew your D3 recruit would receive an "invitation to tryout" in year 1+

YOCOACH said:

A case could be made for any of the schools that have top SB programs that we perennially see in the WCWS: Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Arizona, Florida State, Auburn, Michigan and Georgia. So maybe the top 5-7% if you include the other programs that are trying very hard to reach this pinnacle either for the first time or get back to former glory such Arizona State and UCLA.

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How does having better softball players affect the time and effort girls put into studying? The NCAA governs the amount of time they can practice so a girl at Alabama or Iowa State have the same amount of time for studying. Just because they aren't as good doesn't mean they aren't working just as hard off the field. Are you saying girls at top 20 schools can't manage their time as well as girls at other D1's?

I think what many do not realize is that as a student athlete, especially at a big D1 you have academic resources that are not available to regular students, at least not without substantial extra cost. Across the board the education you get as a student athlete at a given institution is beyond what is afforded regular students.

riseball said:

I think what many do not realize is that as a student athlete, especially at a big D1 you have academic resources that are not available to regular students, at least not without substantial extra cost. Across the board the education you get as a student athlete at a given institution is beyond what is afforded regular students.

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yeah, it's very much in the program's best interests to support their players academically as much as possible.
Especially those players who are receiving a % of tuition from academic scholarship money.

From what I've heard from DI players, the amount and times you "study" is pretty regimented and monitored by the coaching staff.

MNDad said:

How does having better softball players affect the time and effort girls put into studying? The NCAA governs the amount of time they can practice so a girl at Alabama or Iowa State have the same amount of time for studying. Just because they aren't as good doesn't mean they aren't working just as hard off the field. Are you saying girls at top 20 schools can't manage their time as well as girls at other D1's?

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No. As I said twice before, all I can tell you is about the one pitcher from our area that will be in her 5th year at the local U to finish her major which is engineering. With that said, I find it interesting that the top 20 schools will promote the number of times these top 20 athletes made honor roll but make it difficult to find their majors. Granted, I only looked and searched 5 of their sites but I still haven't found a list of their majors. However, if I remember correctly from the WCWS posting them, many were communications, business administration, and several other assorted fairly generic majors thrown in with the oddball nurse, engineer, etc. etc. They also post stats on their student athlete graduation rate and many of them are around the 70% mark if they take 4 classes per Semester although that's taking in the entire athletic program so it may not be really fair to bring that up. When I was in college many moons ago, 4 classes equaled 12 hours which put you on the path to a 5 year degree. So, the question remains, is that for 4 years or 5? The other question that needs to be asked is if it"s 4 years, does that include those Student athletes that have the high demanding majors or are they part of the 30% that didn't graduate on time.

Whether the NCAA regulates practice time or not, you and I both know that there are always ways around that. Just look at the recruiting fiasco that's happening as we speak.

ETA: Please do no take this as my disparaging ANY college or colleges. I am trying to find out information for my TB players. If my perceptions or information is inaccurate, please let me know. By the same token, we are after all, talking about the same top 20 SB schools. Many of us have heard a lot of stories about the coach saying, "If you want want to play ball here, then these are the 5 topics you will be majoring in; communications, business administration, underwater basket weaving, etc. etc.' These are legitimate questions and concerns for many that want to try and play at that level. Admittedly, I have several D1 athletes but none that could compete at that level. Like I said before, I only have one example to go by.

Regardless of division, it is very difficult for a softball player to have certain majors, more so because of physical schedule conflicts (see list below) than the time necessary to complete the work (such as engineering). Being a softball player may also limit the opportunity to study abroad for a semester at some D1 and D2 schools if playing time and athletic scholarship retention are important.

My list of majors w/ potential schedule conflicts for softball players would include the following:
Physical sciences (lab sessions)
Nursing (practical experience)
Teaching (student teaching requirements)
Theater/Performing Arts (productions/performances)

Others that fall into this category???

I will also note that while major D1 schools may provide extensive resources to help their student athletes stay on top of things academically, their experience is not the same as the students who do not miss a double digit number of classes due to travel for softball. And, for some coaches, "on top of things academically" may mean simply doing well enough to stay academically eligible to play softball.

Unsolicited editorial comment: DFP is a softball board and most here have DD's who aspire to play in college so that's what we talk about. However, its a huge mistake IMO if the least the same amount of time and effort that goes into selecting softball programs isn't expended looking at schools from an academic standpoint. Rant over, sorry.

YOCOACH said:

No. As I said twice before, all I can tell you is about the one pitcher from our area that will be in her 5th year at the local U to finish her major which is engineering. With that said, I find it interesting that the top 20 schools will promote the number of times these top 20 athletes made honor roll but make it difficult to find their majors. Granted, I only looked and searched 5 of their sites but I still haven't found a list of their majors. However, if I remember correctly from the WCWS posting them, many were communications, business administration, and several other assorted fairly generic majors thrown in with the oddball nurse, engineer, etc. etc. They also post stats on their student athlete graduation rate and many of them are around the 70% mark if they take 4 classes per Semester although that's taking in the entire athletic program so it may not be really fair to bring that up. When I was in college many moons ago, 4 classes equaled 12 hours which put you on the path to a 5 year degree. So, the question remains, is that for 4 years or 5? The other question that needs to be asked is if it"s 4 years, does that include those Student athletes that have the high demanding majors or are they part of the 30% that didn't graduate on time.

Whether the NCAA regulates practice time or not, you and I both know that there are always ways around that. Just look at the recruiting fiasco that's happening as we speak.

ETA: Please do no take this as my disparaging ANY college or colleges. I am trying to find out information for my TB players. If my perceptions or information is inaccurate, please let me know. By the same token, we are after all, talking about the same top 20 SB schools. Many of us have heard a lot of stories about the coach saying, "If you want want to play ball here, then these are the 5 topics you will be majoring in; communications, business administration, underwater basket weaving, etc. etc.' These are legitimate questions and concerns for many that want to try and play at that level. Admittedly, I have several D1 athletes but none that could compete at that level. Like I said before, I only have one example to go by.

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Gotcha. I misunderstood where you were going with that earlier.

Greenmonsters said:

Regardless of division, it is very difficult for a softball player to have certain majors, more so because of physical schedule conflicts (see list below) than the time necessary to complete the work (such as engineering). Being a softball player may also limit the opportunity to study abroad for a semester at some D1 and D2 schools if playing time and athletic scholarship retention are important.

My list of majors w/ potential schedule conflicts for softball players would include the following:
Physical sciences (lab sessions)
Nursing (practical experience)
Teaching (student teaching requirements)
Theater/Performing Arts (productions/performances)

Others that fall into this category???

I will also note that while major D1 schools may provide extensive resources to help their student athletes stay on top of things academically, their experience is not the same as the students who do not miss a double digit number of classes due to travel for softball. And, for some coaches, "on top of things academically" may mean simply doing well enough to stay academically eligible to play softball.

Unsolicited editorial comment: DFP is a softball board and most here have DD's who aspire to play in college so that's what we talk about. However, its a huge mistake IMO if the least the same amount of time and effort that goes into selecting softball programs isn't expended looking at schools from an academic standpoint. Rant over, sorry.

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While I agree with the overall sentiment and points you made...especially the final one, I'd like to add several caveats if I may due to my experiences throughout the recruiting process and offers made. DD has decided to go into nursing as many know. Because of this, we were looking mostly at D2 and D3's. The one Mid-level D1 school that made an offer, which DD turned down, told her she needed to change her major. Of course, this is the same Coach who flat out said,"I don't like walk-ons. I refuse to watch them and I certainly don't want them on my team although I'm required to have tryouts for them." I thought to myself, "What kind of dumb-a $$, at this level of play, doesn't want to find the best 9 to put on the field unless he was lazy during the recruiting process and doesn't want his "chosen" players shown up?!"

2 out of the 4 D2's that made an offer told her the same thing. The other 2 coaches worked very closely with the nursing program, as well as other programs and told DD that she is there for an education first and SB would run an "extremely close" second. Also, the 2 school coaches that made academics a priority offered extensive resources for study and tutoring. Not that the other 2 wouldn't make it available, just that it was never mentioned.

All of the D3's courting her told her they work with all of the various academic programs and she is there for an education first. This is more than likely due to them not being able to offer Athletic money and really don't have much of a choice although there are some ways around it that no one talks about because if they did, the program could get in trouble from my understanding. Again, these colleges also offered resources for tutoring and study support.

So depending upon the school coach and division, the overall generalization as to " Regardless of the division," I would slightly have to disagree with. I am also saying that "academic resources not available to regular students," as Riseball put's it, is not limited by division but more than likely colleges.

Also, I would add Engineering to your list of conflicting majors simply because of the computer lab time involved. Yes it has become easier over the years to make up this time or take it on the road due to technology advancements but I would still add it to the list simply because of the overall time demands involved.

ETA: Sorry if this seems a bit nit-picky, but that's the electrician in me. If I fail in even one small aspect of my job, it could cause an electrical fire which in turn could actually kill people so I'm extremely meticulous and it carries on throughout my entire lifestyle.

YOCOACH said:

While I agree with the overall sentiment and points you made...especially the final one, I'd like to add several caveats if I may due to my experiences throughout the recruiting process and offers made. DD has decided to go into nursing as many know. Because of this, we were looking mostly at D2 and D3's. The one Mid-level D1 school that made an offer, which DD turned down, told her she needed to change her major. Of course, this is the same Coach who flat out said,"I don't like walk-ons. I refuse to watch them and I certainly don't want them on my team although I'm required to have tryouts for them." I thought to myself, "What kind of dumb-a $$, at this level of play, doesn't want to find the best 9 to put on the field unless he was lazy during the recruiting process and doesn't want his "chosen" players shown up?!"

2 out of the 4 D2's that made an offer told her the same thing. The other 2 coaches worked very closely with the nursing program, as well as other programs and told DD that she is there for an education first and SB would run an "extremely close" second. Also, the 2 school coaches that made academics a priority offered extensive resources for study and tutoring.

All of the D3's courting her told her they work with all of the various academic programs and she is there for an education first. This is more than likely due to them not being able to offer Athletic money and really don't have much of a choice although there are some ways around that no one talks about because if they did, the program could get in trouble from my understanding. Again, these colleges also offered resources for tutoring and study support.

So depending upon the school coach and division, the overall generalization as to " Regardless of the division," I would slightly have to disagree with. I am also saying that "academic resources not available to regular students," as Riseball put's it, is not limited by division but more than likely colleges.

Also, I would add Engineering to your list of conflicting majors simply because of the computer lab time involved. Yes it has become easier over the years to make up this time or take it on the road due to technology advancements but I would still add it to the list simply because of the overall time demands involved.

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Good points, all. IMO/IME, the most difficult challenge facing most college students, especially student athletes, is learning to manage their time!

Greenmonsters said:

Good points, all. IMO/IME, the most difficult challenge facing most college students, especially student athletes, is learning to manage their time!

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Absolutely Agree!

Greenmonsters said:

Good points, all. IMO/IME, the most difficult challenge facing most college students, especially student athletes, is learning to manage their time!

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There is an app for that! It becomes much easier once they start to adult and prioritize what is truly important. Getting them to that point is the challenge and can at times be frustrating.