Just numbers

[sportinus]

As I read the posts on this site, I see that we all feel our DD is college material. As I was thinking about this, I wondered how many Colleges/Universities/... play softball, I found several sites and think the total is roughly 1600 schools. So if we assume each school has a team of 16 and we assume 25% will move on and get added each year, that leaves us 4 * 1600 = 6400 spots for our DDs. So if we break it down by level;
D1 286 * 4 = 1144 new players
D2 264 * 4 = 1056
D3 392 * 4 = 1568
NAIA 24 * 4 = 96
NJCAA 470 * 4 = 1880


It would seem to me that most of the girls who keep playing til college should be able to play college ball at some level. But when we start to expect a scholarships the numbers do not look so good. Here I will do the math with schools times a quarter of the possible scholarships. Please remember that D1 schools have 12 scholarships, D2 I think has 7, D3 has none, and the other schools about 34. This scholarships are spread across players meaning you usually only get partials and I am assuming all give scholarships
D1 286 * 3 = 858 scholarships to be spread among new girls and existing team members
D2 264 * 2 = 128 scholarships to be spread among new girls and existing team members
D3 392 * 0 = 0 I think they offer tuition assistance
NAIA 24 * 2.5 = 60 scholarships to be spread among new girls and existing team members
NJCAA 470 * 6 = 2820 scholarships to be spread among new girls and existing team members

So 6400 spots 3866 scholarships to be spread. These numbers are rough estimates

 

[CoogansBluff]

Good stuff. Two points - Most teams have more freshmen and sophomores than juniors and seniors because of attrition. So instead of four-in, four-out, perhaps it's more like five-in, three-out. Another thing that works in the favor of those who really want to play college ball is that colleges don't sign the best players. They sign the best players who are willing to play. Some qualified players would rather be students than student-athletes. All of that, along w/ what you posted, does suggest that college ball at some level is realistic for many who play travel ball through high school.

Along w/ the stats you presented, I'd be curious to know the number of high school seniors playing travel ball this year.

 

[dropball1]

I would say that most HS Juniors and Seniors that are going to play at the College level have already been recruited by now certainly in the DI space and I'm sure there's evidence that other organizations e.g. DII, DIII, NAIA and NJCCA are recruiting earlier.

Ultimate College Boards tries to keep up with DI recruiting/commits, there are a number of 2015's and a few 2016's posted

Verbal Commitments/Signees by Team -

 

[GOINGDEEP]

From my most recent experience, I'd guess ( without numerical facts to present ) that 9/10 seniors who "want" to play at the college level have been offered the opportunity. The only thing that separates the future college athletes is the amount of financial aid they get. Some I know got the bare minimum athletic aid, some got partial, some full. A few are playing only through acedemic awards, but theyre playing.

 

[JAD]

Scholarship question.....if a school "waives" the out-of-state tuition for a softball player, and the player pays the in-state tuition rate is that considered a scholarship? There can be a BIG disparity between the in-state and out-of-state tuition rates and I was just wondering how that was counted.