Interesting recruiting

[Sftballdad1]

So i went to pick my dd up from softball camp and came in when major D1 coach was telling the girls about recruiting. He said that most major D1schools have a list on girls by the time they are in 7 and 8 grade. Unfortunately he did say! He said that some major D1 schools make verbal offers to girls that age but not this university. The youngest they have ever done was 9th grade. He also said that if you don't play TB then best of luck, prolly not gonna happen. He also said that if you are a junior or senior and you don't have a verbal offer from a D1 school then it probably isn't gonna happen from a D1 school. Very likely from other school, but not a D1.

I found that very enlightening but somewhat sad that we are doing verbal offers to a 7th grader. Wow!

 

[MsDinosaur]

LOL, we picked up our rising 8th grade DD from a major D1 softball camp today and she started telling us that the camp next week for the older girls was going to have a lot of recruiters there and could she go? "They're recruiting 8th graders now," she said, "It's not too soon to try to get noticed." We said, "No. You're busy next week and you've already gone to their camp this week. You can go to that camp next year when you're 14."

As of today, she's all gung ho to go play D1 ball. --And while I don't want to rain on her parade, I'm trying to tell her it's not all fluffy bunnies, Disneyland and the WCWS. ;-)

 

[marriard]

. He also said that if you are a junior or senior and you don't have a verbal offer from a D1 school then it probably isn't gonna happen from a D1 school. Very likely from other school, but not a D1.

I found that very enlightening but somewhat sad that we are doing verbal offers to a 7th grader. Wow!

This is a mostly a load of BS with maybe the exception of the very top D1 softball programs who have no issue getting access to the top talent. Multiple girls locally here in Sth Florida ended up with D1 offers here as seniors and I know of several D1 schools STILL looking for players for this upcoming season. Verbals get broken all the time and are not exactly binding. A lot of programs are just hoping you will stop being recruited or stop trying to be recruited if you make a commitment and then they can make a 'real' decision at their leisure.

Also with softball being an 12-scholarshop equivalency sport very few teams are giving out any full scholarships - so what is the commitment actually for? Details to be determined later...

The travel ball comment is true.

 

[Scl1991]

The coach wasn't completely off. I think majors are probably done with even juniors by now and many big schools are already on to sophomores and freshman. A lot of mid-majors are probably also done with juniors. Other D-1s are still looking. High academic scholls will go on well into senior year. That said, needs will evolve over three or four years after closing down recruiting. And as commits get earlier and earlier, and things get closer to signing time, I think we will start seeing more openings, in previously "done" schools. I think girls should never give up until they hear a firm no, and never shut the door or burn bridges. You never know.

 

[Sftballdad1]

LOL, we picked up our rising 8th grade DD from a major D1 softball camp today and she started telling us that the camp next week for the older girls was going to have a lot of recruiters there and could she go? "They're recruiting 8th graders now," she said, "It's not too soon to try to get noticed." We said, "No. You're busy next week and you've already gone to their camp this week. You can go to that camp next year when you're 14."

As of today, she's all gung ho to go play D1 ball. --And while I don't want to rain on her parade, I'm trying to tell her it's not all fluffy bunnies, Disneyland and the WCWS. ;-)

It was the same camp. Small world!

 

[BaldNBeautiful]

Yeah I think the coach's comments border on insane.
Consider how many BFFs, boy friends, Travel teams and career choices most MS girls will go through before they even make it to senior year.
A verbal offer would be about as serious as would a verbal commitment from the player. Maybe one or two out of a hundred.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

We have to remember camps are a cash cow for the colleges. And they have figured out "just what to say" to keep you on the hook and writing those checks!! I agree most large D1's have a list of 7-9th graders, but out of the 100,000+ players.........that list is very very small.

I've seen the trend change just around here at all levels of college camps. Use to be the camp was mostly 10-12 graders, now they split into two camps on separate dates. Like an 8-12 grade and 8th grade and under. At $250 to $400 a pop, they are raking in the dough.

That's why they make a point to tell all that recruiting is earlier and earlier ( which is true for a small % ) because they can squeeze 4-5 years of $250-400 a pop out of ya.

I saw the "magic" first hand last summer. DD got an invitation to a D1 camp, maybe 100 girls. One girl ( 16? ) was just sad to watch, softball was just foreign to her as the moon. Last few minutes of the last day I was helping remove some equipment from the fields. I overheard the HC tell this girl what she needed to work on and that she saw some potential in her. And also she would like to see her come back to the fall camp $300. ( I tried not to fall out right there, this girl had no future in softball at ANY college level ) I thought of Jerry Maguire "show me the money"!!

 

[PGSAKen]

I sent my DD to the 14 and up camp Ms Dinosaur. She will be in the eight grade and has been fond of that coaching staff.

I was happy they alowed her to bump up to the older recruiting camp. She has been playing 16-18u ball at 12 yold tho so shes comfortable and contributes at that level meaning shell be fine in that camp.

And they have 60 colleges represented in that camp and offers get made in that camp. They are a major D1 top ten program after all!

 

[slingnit]

A lot depends on your skill sets. Pitchers are ALWAYS in demend! FSU is still looking for a 14. Catchers with big sticks are pretty much the same. That stud player that can kill the ball, like Chamberlain, will find a spot at any point of recruiting. Or the SS phenom that also has a great stick.

I think the players that are in trouble late in recruiting and want to play BIG DI ball are the girls that are pretty good at their position and pretty good at the plate. And I mean pretty good by Gold/PGF standards. If they haven't been playing in tournaments that have exposd them they are in trouble. Most of the larger DI programs aren't taking chances late in the recruiting process. They do not make top offers on the spot to unproven kids. That being said there a tons of smaller DI programs that go after the "pretty good" players. That is their bread and butter and those girls do very well in those respective confernces.

 

[Indiana]

I agree with everyone's comments. While I agree the camps are making money for the individual programs, I don't begrudge them that. Here in Colorado, the athletic director at CU just got let go because he wasn't meeting the department's financial goals, which are in the 10s of millions of dollars per year. Compared to that, the camp money seems like pocket change.

Recruiting seems to be incredibly stressful for the coaches - everyone is trying to get their hands on the best players that they possibly can. Given that, I can understand why they are trying to encourage 7th and 8th graders to jump in the pool. The earlier they can identify potential talent the better; they can get an eye on these girls before the pool shrinks due to diverging interests. Talk up a 7th grader who is a natural athlete at camp, and maybe she keeps her focus on softball, rather than some other sport or interest. Even better, now you have her interested in your school and she will develop her talents with your program in mind.

Granted, I still think it is all crazy and I think the NCAA needs to somehow curtail the madness, but I can understand how we've gotten to this point.