Advice on Recruiting & Teams (Not another stay or go...I promise)

Mangler II said:

Why would someone even recruit an 18U team
A. If a player is a realistic collegiate player, she'd already be committed or...you can figure out B.

Nowadays there's WAY more recruiting done at the 14U level than at the 16U OR 18U level...

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In my area most girls play 16U if you can't make an 18U showcase team or you don't want to play in college. However, most players do not play 2nd yr 14U instead they play up to 18U and most players verbal during their junior year. Very few players are committed before that, maybe if you are a stud pitcher but not the norm.

Mangler II said:

Why would someone even recruit an 18U team
A. If a player is a realistic collegiate player, she'd already be committed or...you can figure out B.

Nowadays there's WAY more recruiting done at the 14U level than at the 16U OR 18U level...

Click to expand...

Much of this is dependent on region and the type of school you think your DD will ultimately play for. Yes, many of the major D1s are currently looking at 2018s, 2019s, and even 2020s, but many D2 and D3 programs are currently looking at 2017s and maybe 2018s. We have played in 3 Northeast showcases this year and have seen a mixture of preferences. At one showcase in particular, nearly all the college coaches were watching the 18u games and didn't really bother with the 16u games at all. Again, D2 and D3 schools mostly. At that same showcase, 14u teams were not even participating. It was 16u and 18u only.

FWIW, two of my current hitting students are playing college ball this coming year but were not heavily recruited until the summer between their junior and senior years in high school. They did not commit to those schools until after their senior year in high school began.

njsoftballdad said:

I think there are quite a few realistic collegiate players that just finished 8th grade that are not yet committed. I'm not limiting the definition of realistic collegiate players to the top 25 programs (DD will not be playing for Alabama, FL, Oregon et al but I know she is a realistic collegiate player). I know the best talent in the country who are 2020's are verbally committed most likely but I am not counting DD in that pool.

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Yep. Very few in that pool. Maybe 15-20 2020 girls committed to P5 programs right now. Maybe another 10 to smaller D1 programs? That leaves a lot of uncommitted girls with D1 talent still out there.


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njsoftballdad said:

Thanks for the reply's. Sorry about the confusion. In our area everyone calls themselves 18U if they are playing in anything other than straight tournaments meaning not many showcases. The team my daughter is considering is made up of all 2020's but will not be playing in any 14U tournaments but all showcases and some 16U non-showcase tournaments with the goal of playing PGF nationals at the close of the season.

So I guess a better way to word my question is at this point/age is it essentially a "must" to join a showcase focused team if her goal is to play in college? She would benefit from a another full season of time behind the plate (and her other positions) before getting in front of college coaches and she would get that on the 14U A level team however this team will play in limited showcases. So if I'm not 100% certain that she is ready for prime time right now, would it be a big detriment to her future options if she didn't start her full focus on exposure and recruitment this year.

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Don't get wrapped up in attending "showcases". The key is if the team plays in tournaments with strong competition. You have as good a chance at getting a college to watch you at a PGF qualifier as any showcase. Realistically a college isn't going to be interested in your DD unless you've talked to them ahead of time anyway. It definitely happens, but don't rely on it.

As for playing up, put her where she can shine be it 14U or 16U. I wouldn't suggest 18U because their goals can be very different than a 14U player beginning the recruiting process. 18U teams commonly take weekends off for things such as prom and choose to play close to home because girls are committed or aren't planning on playing in college.

Your DD is in prime time for recruiting. Girls are committing when they're older, but they built those relationships over several months or years. Her options will be much more limited if you don't start until junior year. Regardless of which team you're on start attending college camps and contacting coaches to get them out to your games. Camps serve several purposes. You see where your DD stacks up, you can talk to the coaches and your DD can see a variety of campuses to learn what she wants in her dream school.

Advice on Recruiting & Teams (Not another stay or go...I promise)

Faced this same question with my 2019 DD this time last year and I can say that skipping the 2nd year of 14U probably was the best decision we could have made. She played on a team that was 3/4 2019 and the rest 2018 that entered 16U at PGF events and 18U at other showcases -
She is a pitcher and it was a needed learning season for her - she had been extremely successful playing 1st yr 14U and her schedule this season showed her where her weaknesses were so that she could make the necessary adjustments to move forward. She had guested a few times for her orgs 18U Gold team as well which allowed her to face a decent number of very good hitters which helped her figure out what worked at that level and what almost always got taken over the fence.
Point is that she would have never learned any of this playing a second year of 14U in our area because most of the talented kids move up - she would have had a much easier time in the circle against some weak offensive players and would have had a far greater leaning curve when she was forced to move up this coming season.
BTW - she still had a successful season even though her weaknesses were more apparent against better competition - she ended up being offered a spot on the Gold team -
Bottom line is that I guess it depends on the level of competition that exists at the various age levels where you play - 14U A ball in SoCal is vastly different from 14A ball in the Northeast - I say put her at the age group where she will have to work hardest to be successful -

ETA - I just looked at your screen name, so I assume you are in NJ (as I am) - if that is the case I would seriously look to play in the older division



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Michele1377 said:

Bottom line is that I guess it depends on the level of competition that exists at the various age levels where you play - 14U A ball in SoCal is vastly different from 14A ball in the Northeast - I say put her at the age group where she will have to work hardest to be successful -

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Great point.

I do believe the area you are in plays a big part in the decision. We are in the southeast and have been told by both high level travel coaches and college coaches to get into 14U and stay as long as you can. There are so many high level teams that play the best competition it is easier for us.

Some college coaches recruit 14U, but I still think 16U is "prime time" for recruiting, so I would try to find a team that is going to play 16U showcases and nationals. I would not make the jump to 18U. DD's team went to 18U PGF this summer and I bet there was 10-15% as many coaches as we saw the year before at 16U PGF.

Mangler II said:

Why would someone even recruit an 18U team
A. If a player is a realistic collegiate player, she'd already be committed or...you can figure out B.

Nowadays there's WAY more recruiting done at the 14U level than at the 16U OR 18U level...

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Many D1 teams are still recruiting at this age due to players not following through on their verbal commitment, players not being as developed as the ciaching staff thought they would be thus rescinding the offer, recruited player injuries that are career ending, players posting inappropriate content on docial media, etc. etc. Granted, they are not the top 25 teams in the country. Not to mention that D2 and D3`S ARE JUST STARTING THEIR RECRUITING PROCESS HOPING TO PICK UP THE GIRLS THAT PLAY AT THE UPPER LEVELS WANTING TO HAVE A CAREER THAT DEMANDS A VERY EXTREME CURRICULUM which many D1's will not accomodate., My DD is still getting offers from all three divisions even though she is going into her senior year in HS. Its never too late unless they are already in college and even then, I've heard of a butt load of local girls that have walked on, earned a spot on the team and received atletic money the following years.If they're good enough, theyll play somewhere if thats the dream. Period.

YOCOACH said:

Not necessarily. Many D1 teams are still recruiting at this age due to players not following through on their verbal commitment, players not being as developed as the ciaching staff thought they would be thus rescinding the offer, recruited player injuries that are career ending, players posting inappropriate content on docial media, etc. etc. Granted, they are not the top 25 teams in the country. Not to mention that D2 and D3`S ARE JUST STARTING THEIR RECRUITING PROCESS HOPING TO PICK UP THE GIRLS THAT PLAY AT THE UPPER LEVELS WANTING TO HAVE A CAREER THAT DEMANDS A VERY EXTREME CURRICULUM which many D1's will not accomodate., My DD is still getting offers from all three divisions even though she is going into her senior year in HS. Its never too late unless they are already in college and even then, I've heard of a butt load of local girls that have walked on, earned a spot on the team and received atletic money the following years.If they're good enough, theyll play somewhere if thats the dream. Period.

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My experience largely mirrors this. The only difference is I've seen plenty of D1 schools accommodate girls with demanding majors. I believe it's largely a myth that girls can't play D1 and put academics first. Perhaps at top 20 schools, but that's A small minority of D1.

I agree if a girl is good enough she can play in college. More importantly is learning the recruiting process and how to market themselves. There's lots of girls with the talent that never make it because they waited to be discovered.