high school fall sport interferes with fall showcases

[55dad]

wow, your dd must be playing slow pitch softball then. No speed and agility required in fast pitch softball? I take it back, even in beer league slow pitch softball, you have to have some speed and agility. Running off the field to get to your beer, because your up to bat next, can take a lot of speed & agility, you might have to dodge a ump and jump over some bats laying on the ground and get around some players standing in front of the cooler. Usually it is the other way around, a lot of really good athletes in other sports, don't have the agility to play softball and softball players are decent at the other sports.

Perhaps I didn't word that well. Soccer immediately comes to mind as a sport that generally requires speed and agility just to play at a reasonably high level. I absolutely agree with you that a lot of athletes don't have the required skills to play softball at a high level but I do believe that a good athlete can be tought to play softball well. How many HS coaches take the time to truly teach and develop girls? If there is a pool of skilled travel ball players who play year around available a high school coach can be kind of lazy when it comes to developing players. How many of our top travel organizations really allow the girls the time to truly dedicate themselves to their other sports? Not too many.

Football is a HS driven sport that naturally allows players to play sports in the off-season and HS football coaches generally encourage it. Yes there are some 7 on 7 leagues and football players train year around, but a lot of those boys can easily play basketball and baseball without it having much of an impact on football.

In my state we had a girl leave the state high school softball championship when a rain delay happened so she could get on a plane to go play for her travel team. Really? Are we really allowing girls to be well rounded athletes?

 

[learning]

The fact that this question is being asked with regard to a 2018 does not bode well for the player. Most 2018's and their parents have this figured out by now. If coaches are not already expected at these showcases, you are way behind the power curve. If college softball is truly what she wants, you need to get very serious, very quickly.

I am not sure I understand this. What have 2018s and their parents figured out by now, and what does 'getting serious' mean? That she should quit her fall sport? I agree with 29dad that coaches say they love multi-sport athletes. This is definitely a contradiction. My daughter is not a benchwarmer for her other sport - she excels in both, but yes softball is her preferred sport and the one she plays travel ball for.

We realize that she needs to contact the coaches before showcases. These are October/November showcases - we are not planning to go to the showcases without first contacting coaches - - she was planning to contact them in the next couple of weeks - is that too late? When she contacts a coach that she's going to a showcase, the D1 coaches can't respond anyway yet, right?

This is a difficult situation - I can't see having her miss a playoff game for the HS team - that does not seem fair at all to that team. She's a key player, not just someone who they wouldn't really care if she wasn't there.

Would it be OK for her to contact the coaches, tell them she'll be at x showcases but that her field hockey team (which she is offensive MVP for) will be playing and so she won't know her exact availability until closer to the showcase date and she will keep them posted?

Our hope would be to get her to the showcase as soon as possible but she might have to miss part of it.

 

[riseball]

Interesting topic. My default position is that riseball and MNDad are always right, but there is a bit of a disconnect with what APPEARS to be reality (girls who are serious about playing D1 softball are usually one sport athletes) and what the D1 coaches say (they SAY that they like to recruit mutli sport athletes). These two propositions can't both be true, can they??

Seems odd to me that nearly every male D1 athlete you ever hear about almost always played three sports in high school. But for some reason, softball is apparently so unique that playing other sports is frowned upon. I don't get it.

This is half right in that it has been twisted to sound as though softball coaches actively seek out multi-sport athletes. The truth is that they recruit kids with strong softball skills and some level of athletic ability. One of the traits of an athlete is that they may be involved in multiple sports. But to state that coaches actively seek out multi-sport athletes is disingenuous. If you can add value to their program they could care less how you got to that point. But to suggest that softball coaches like to recruit multi-sport athletes is akin to saying basketball coaches like tall kids. Plenty of tall kids are terrible at hoops. Playing multiple sports does not mean you can do anything between the lines.

If you have the goods and contribute value to a program you will get recruited. All the other stuff is just a nice back story. When my DD was recruited all they cared about was what she could do in the circle. They did not know that from age 12 she only played softball, she skipped playing HS ball her Freshman year because the coaching was awful, and that she played for a small TB team. They only found out when she filled out her bio sheet for the media guide.

 

[riseball]

I am not sure I understand this. What have 2018s and their parents figured out by now, and what does 'getting serious' mean? That she should quit her fall sport? I agree with 29dad that coaches say they love multi-sport athletes. This is definitely a contradiction. My daughter is not a benchwarmer for her other sport - she excels in both, but yes softball is her preferred sport and the one she plays travel ball for.

We realize that she needs to contact the coaches before showcases. These are October/November showcases - we are not planning to go to the showcases without first contacting coaches - - she was planning to contact them in the next couple of weeks - is that too late? When she contacts a coach that she's going to a showcase, the D1 coaches can't respond anyway yet, right?

This is a difficult situation - I can't see having her miss a playoff game for the HS team - that does not seem fair at all to that team. She's a key player, not just someone who they wouldn't really care if she wasn't there.

Would it be OK for her to contact the coaches, tell them she'll be at x showcases but that her field hockey team (which she is offensive MVP for) will be playing and so she won't know her exact availability until closer to the showcase date and she will keep them posted?

Our hope would be to get her to the showcase as soon as possible but she might have to miss part of it.

Most 2018's players and parents are well into the process and working it very hard. It sounds as though you are just getting started. If she has not already established relationships with multiple college coaches, been to several camps, and emailing coaches about the upcoming Fall showcases, I will not say it is too late. But she better start making those things happen today. The clock is ticking and she needs to make some decisions about what is really important, creating high school memories or playing college ball.

 

[learning]

Thanks. I'm sure we in fact are behind in many ways - you are right. She's done some things but probably not at the level she should have by now. Camps is the area most lacking thus far with the exception of a couple of 'group' camps before a showcase that she went to. She does have one college camp in October she'll be going to. We plan to target more camps this fall (to the extent possible) and winter. I know college ball is more important to her - I didn't realize until now what a conflict the fall HS sport would be for showcases.

 

[riseball]

Thanks. I'm sure we in fact are behind in many ways - you are right. She's done some things but probably not at the level she should have by now. Camps is the area most lacking thus far with the exception of a couple of 'group' camps before a showcase that she went to. She does have one college camp in October she'll be going to. We plan to target more camps this fall (to the extent possible) and winter. I know college ball is more important to her - I didn't realize until now what a conflict the fall HS sport would be for showcases.

I tell my players and parents they only have 1 shot at getting this right. Sit down with her put together a detailed plan and then stick to it. If it is truly what she wants do not let anything get in the way. Best of luck!

 

[InsidePitch]

I am not sure I understand this. What have 2018s and their parents figured out by now, and what does 'getting serious' mean? That she should quit her fall sport? I agree with 29dad that coaches say they love multi-sport athletes. This is definitely a contradiction. My daughter is not a benchwarmer for her other sport - she excels in both, but yes softball is her preferred sport and the one she plays travel ball for.

This is me and Riseball having this same conversation last year. He was right and I was....incorrect. I bought the theory that College coaches wanted well rounded....they want kids that stroke the ball and stand out at their camp. IF your DD can play FH and stand out in camp and I'm not talking top ten but top 2 or 3. There is nothing wrong with playing multiple sports and playing further at the level you drop in at but if D1 is the goal that would be my focus. DD is a 2017 so this is all fresh in my mind.

 

[55dad]

This is me and Riseball having this same conversation last year. He was right and I was....incorrect. I bought the theory that College coaches wanted well rounded....they want kids that stroke the ball and stand out at their camp. IF your DD can play FH and stand out in camp and I'm not talking top ten but top 2 or 3. There is nothing wrong with playing multiple sports and playing further at the level you drop in at but if D1 is the goal that would be my focus. DD is a 2017 so this is all fresh in my mind.

I appreciate all the anecdotal opinions but the experience of a few players and parents does not necessarily equate to fact. From my discussions with others it seems like every recruit has a different experience. The summer before your junior season is not too late. Every coach recruits differently. There are tips and guidelines that help maximize a player's chances to be actively recruited. However, these techniques are not the gospel according to college softball recruiting.

 

[riseball]

I appreciate all the anecdotal opinions but the experience of a few players and parents does not necessarily equate to fact. From my discussions with others it seems like every recruit has a different experience. The summer before your junior season is not too late. Every coach recruits differently. There are tips and guidelines that help maximize a player's chances to be actively recruited. However, these techniques are not the gospel according to college softball recruiting.

I do not think anyone said it is too late. But I am sure you agree that a 2018 getting started now is definitely late to the party. You want to have as many opportunities as possible. With every recruit that verbals there is one less spot, less money, and less opportunity. If you wait you will most likely still get recruited. But with 4 years typically costing well in excess of $100K, missing out on an opportunity a eventually getting just 10% less ($10,000) makes for one expensive field hockey game, band concert, homecoming dance, etc. Not saying you should not do those things. But if you do, you better have a handle on what is important.

 

[InsidePitch]

It is all anecdotal but a number of schools have indicated they have no more money for 17's. The earlier your DD gets in the better chance she has of getting some of the pie. And just because the NCAA says they can have 12 scholarships not all are fully funded. I know of 1 conference that limits the number to something much less.