Is it about bragging?

[Cannonball]

Another way to answer the OP is look at the NLI and verbals and then, check back a year or two later to see where those players are. Many are not where they signed. In fact, transfers have become another avenue in recruiting. Many coaches I know make sure that players know when they sign with another school, that they have a place to land if it doesn't work out.

 

[JAD]

The most important thing to me is the education, at the end of 4 years my DD will start a career that will last 40 years....

 

[djcarter1966]

I think it depends what your DD is playing for? Is she playing for a scholarship or is she playing for fun. If you use the money from the athletic scholarship and combine it with other money and get a debt free education from an Ivy league school or Duke or Vanderbilt or Rice or Berkley.... then just look at the scholarship as your student job, you can practice softball or go work fast food or work at the library or whatever. Practicing softball will probably be a bigger time suck and actually harder work but its up to them. That being said their are some awesome DIII school with great academic programs where you could play 4 years.

A friend of mines son was recruited by Standford and Notre Dame to play football but ended up picking Oklahoma, I did not say anything to him at the time but that is just not the way I would have went.

 

[riseball]

The most important thing to me is the education, at the end of 4 years my DD will start a career that will last 40 years....

If your DD has what it takes to be successful playing 4 years of college softball where she gets the degree is probably not going to make much difference. Some people learn what it takes to be successful and others regardless of educational pedigree never quite figure it out. The 4 year experience of a student-athlete is much different than that of the student-barista.

 

[CoogansBluff]

The most important thing to me is the education, at the end of 4 years my DD will start a career that will last 40 years....

True, but for sake of argument, if your daughter had the choice between being the #1 pitcher at Louisiana-LaFayette, where she might pitch in the WCWS, vs. a place like Georgetown, where you might never have a winning record, which would she take? Is it a bad choice to play softball at Mercer rather than attend UGA as merely a student? Is there enough education in the experience of varsity college softball that would make it wise to attend a school of lesser academic renown in order to get that experience?

 

[crd1998]

If your DD has what it takes to be successful playing 4 years of college softball where she gets the degree is probably not going to make much difference. Some people learn what it takes to be successful and others regardless of educational pedigree never quite figure it out. The 4 year experience of a student-athlete is much different than that of the student-barista.

I was a softball coach for several years. At tournaments I would hand out flyers to college coach's, their first thing was to scan down the list and ask what field of study the player with the high ACT score was looking at. Constantly I would tells the players that grades are #1 and softball comes second,if your grades are failing then you need to spend more time on schoolwork and less time at softball. Bottom line is that after college there are few options to make money at softball. A player needs to get a college degree they can support themselves with, not an degree in underwater basket weaving from their dream school to play softball at.

 

[riseball]

I was a softball coach for several years. At tournaments I would hand out flyers to college coach's, their first thing was to scan down the list and ask what field of study the player with the high ACT score was looking at. Constantly I would tells the players that grades are #1 and softball comes second,if your grades are failing then you need to spend more time on schoolwork and less time at softball. Bottom line is that after college there are few options to make money at softball. A player needs to get a college degree they can support themselves with, not an degree in underwater basket weaving from their dream school to play softball at.

Kind of at a loss as to why you quoted my post since the two were in no way related. Not quite sure what point you are trying to make?

 

[crd1998]

Kind of at a loss as to why you quoted my post since the two were in no way related. Not quite sure what point you are trying to make?

Did not mean to quote you,it was a general comment to the thread.

 

[BobInMadison]

When my DS was looking at colleges for rowing, I ran across an interesting phrase used by college rowing coaches. They talked about the "three legged stool" of recruiting.

For rowing, there is a way to calculate how good a rower is. There is a rowing machine, which they call an "erg", and the erg times can be compared.

So, for rowing, the 3-legged stool of recruiting was: grades, test scores, erg times.


For softball recruiting, I could imagine a 3-legged stool of grades, test scores, softball skills, and the softball skills can be broken down to other components.

Now, for scholarships, the grades and test scores are generally MORE important than the softball skills, unless this is a real superstar player.

For example, my DS rows at a D-3 school. He got a nice partial scholarship to the Milwaukee School of Engineering based on his ACT scores. Doesn't pay for everything, but the sum total of his scholarship money could buy a nice car. Far more important: at his college, students are accepted by their major when they apply as freshmen. So, he will learn a profession, mechanical engineering, that may put him nicely into the middle class.

DD #1 quit softball after her freshman year at HS, but with her grades and ACT scores she got a full academic scholarship to Wisconsin. She is hoping for a career in the health professions, which often pay well.

The softball skills can make a difference in getting accepted to a girl's dream school, making the softball team, and possibly a little extra athletic scholarship money to sweeten the pot.

 

[InsidePitch]

DD's current No 1 college choice only has Club softball like Duke before 2017. She told me a couple of years ago it's all about the school and if I can play softball there, that is a plus. She has the ACT/SAT scores to catch the attention of any school but I suspect a lot pass on her when they see the anticipated major....Pre-Med / Engineering. I don't think she would be happy anywhere just sitting the bench especially if it looked like there was no way off.