Thread: Things no one told me...

...about playing softball in college.

I could (and SHOULD) contact coaches of schools I was interested in instead of waiting for them to "discover" me.

My high school coaches could put in a good word for me on my behalf. My coach did tell me he'd talk to anyone I wanted, but I didn't know what he meant or how much he really could have done to help me out.

Coaches DO look at grades and attitude (I found this out myself when I talked to one of the coaches recruiting me and was thankful I was doing well with both).

That I would work out more playing DI softball than I did running high school track.

That everyone on the team would work out on their own every day even though we already did a team workout.

That I would be pushed, physically, much further than I would have ever thought of pushing myself.

That I would feel "uncomfortable" in my own position even though I had been playing the game since I was 9 - there was so much to learn in college.

That you shouldn't wait until your senior year to take your entrance exams. Luckily I went to a "prep" school and I was advised to take my SAT fall of my junior year right after I finished a PSAT prep course and took the PSAT. Took the SAT once and never had to take the SAT again. But I see LOTS of high school athletes not even prepare for it and not even take it their junior year and then I see them completely STRESSED out their senior year because they have coaches talking to them but still don't have a qualifying test score...talk about pressure going into the test because now you're running out of time and you NEED a good score. Less pressure when you take it as a junior - at least once to get an idea of where you stand and how much prep you should do before attempting to take it again.

Of course, there is more but these are just basics....

Lori, I think sluggers just means that everyone's college softball career ends sooner or later (and not always when you expect it or as planned).

Some things some of the players who were incoming freshman with me needed to hear...

You're not God's gift to softball

No one cares if you were invited to the Olympics tryouts, if you're not outperforming the other person in your position, you're not going to play

No one OWES you anything. If you're a walk on trying to prove yourself, you have to do just that. Don't grumble about not getting as many chances as a scholarship player, make the most of the chances you DO get. Give them a reason to want to see what you can do again.

You're not the only one who is not used to sitting on the bench. Everyone on the team has been a starter their whold life. Don't feel sorry for yourself because you're on the bench. There are 7/8/9 more of us right here with you in the exact same situation. The ones working hard to change that situation will get out of it faster than the ones crying about being in that situation.
It's very possible that you will feel pressure to perform on a daily basis (not only in pressure game situations) because the coach chose you to be on the team over x-amount of other girls who all want your spot very badly.

If I think of more, I'll be back.

Originally Posted by Mark H

If they want you, they will be happy to get an email from you every couple of weeks about accomplishments, schedules etc. If they don't want you, they may like you and recommend you to someone else. If they don't want you and don't like you what do you care what they think about your emails.

Well put, ITA