Likelihood of getting recruited by Major D1?

[girliesmom]

So what do her academics look like? Is she concerned about getting a good education?

Her academics are okay. Good but not stellar. Course load is light but gets primarily As.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Very true, but if you look at all of the P5 schools some do not have softball programs and many will never make it to a regional, much less the WCWS. Success and income from the football program certainly does not translate to success on the softball field. But I guess some folks are enamored with playing softball for a school with a storied football program.

So true, man. You can imagine my horror the day DD told me she'd like to play for Alabama.

 

[riseball]

So true, man. You can imagine my horror the day DD told me she'd like to play for Alabama.

Much better than Colorado, Southern California, Clemson, Miami...

 

[girliesmom]

I also advise being very cautious about getting involved. If you do, make sure you know what the niece really wants first so you can advocate on her behalf. Her TB coach probably knows why the college coaches are moving on.

Last time I saw Jen was last summer. She told me that her dream was to play for Oklahoma or Michigan. I think she too is looking for a big name D1. If it were my kid, I would be sitting her down and explaining the realities of life to her and that the chances of her playing at that high of a caliber is admirable but not realistic. Her parents believe she walks on water and encourages her to pursue her dreams. I think that's setting her up to fail. It's one thing if she's incredible but she's currently above average but could become great with the right pitching coach.

 

[chinamigarden]

There is so much more to being a P5 D1 athlete than just playing time. I think our travel ball culture of 11 player rosters has given parents and players an expectation of playing time. There is nothing promised. A better girl might get recruited next year and you can go from playing to sitting very quickly. Does a player want to see if they can stack up against the very best players and teams or do they want to play a lot at a lower level? That is each player's decision. Expectation management is key. Go to the SEC school and give it a shot and then transfer if you are not happy. That is what I would suggest. Committing to play college ball is a not a 4 year prison sentence if you are not happy...

Thats a great point, Sierra Romera the National player of the year and 3 time finalist had to change positions her junior year because U of M found a better defensive shortstop.
No one is immune.

 

[Rambler34]

I can see the draw to the P5 schools. Look at the facilities around the SEC. These girls have everything they need and could want. I would think that the SEC's success on the football field over the past 10 years or so helped the schools financially and encouraged the investment. The successful Power 5 football schools that invest in their other programs can have solid top 25 softball teams. Alabama made that investment years ago. Auburn finally realized they needed to step it up and went out and spent the money to hire the best coach they could. Of course his son's connection to a certain travel org headed by an AU alum didn't hurt.

My DD was enamored with P5 schools just last year when she was told to come up a list of dream schools and then expand from there. Her top 5 were AU, UA, LSU, UGA, and Samford. Samford snuck in because she went to basketball camp there and liked the campus. I am glad she opened her eyes over the summer after meeting different coaches at a clinic and realized there are many other schools that can put solid teams on the field.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Last time I saw Jen was last summer. She told me that her dream was to play for Oklahoma or Michigan. I think she too is looking for a big name D1.

There's a huge difference between having a dream (e.g. riches, glory) and committing yourself to doing whatever it takes to make it come true. Dreaming is the easy part. Pursuing them is the hard part.

If it were my kid, I would be sitting her down and explaining the realities of life to her and that the chances of her playing at that high of a caliber is admirable but not realistic. Her parents believe she walks on water and encourages her to pursue her dreams. I think that's setting her up to fail. It's one thing if she's incredible but she's currently above average but could become great with the right pitching coach.

Reality is there is more than 1 path to "playing at that high caliber." If she really has the potential and just needs the right program as you suggest, she could walk on and prove herself -or- spend 1-2 years developing with a good pitching coach at a lower level program and transfer after establishing herself. These are just a couple of the various possibilities.

OTOH, does she know what she wants to do with the rest of her life after softball? If so, how does softball play into that?

 

[girliesmom]

There's a huge difference between having a dream (e.g. riches, glory) and committing yourself to doing whatever it takes to make it come true. Dreaming is the easy part. Pursuing them is the hard part.


Reality is there is more than 1 path to "playing at that high caliber." If she really has the potential and just needs the right program as you suggest, she could walk on and prove herself -or- spend 1-2 years developing with a good pitching coach at a lower level program and transfer after establishing herself. These are just a couple of the various possibilities.

OTOH, does she know what she wants to do with the rest of her life after softball? If so, how does softball play into that?

Jen is also a 3 sport athlete. Plays Volleyball and Field Hockey. Between those 2 sports, I honestly don't know how much time she practices or is committed to SB.

Walk-on is not an option. Sis's DH has said that they are looking for money. At least 50%. Not only are they looking for money, she must also start. So it's money AND start or she's going to keep looking. They / she are not interested in warming the bench. Honesly, the more I talk about it, the more ridiculous it sounds.

As for the rest of her life.... no clue. They can only see as far as 2020 - making Team USA. She wouldn't even have graduated from college yet.

 

[JAD]

Sister's dd, Jen, is a junior in HS and plays for one of the big name teams in CA. Team is a big name but coach is not a big name. Of the 16 girls on Jen's U18 team, only 4 have been committed. 2 of the 4 are to D1 schools. One a major D1 and the other mid to low major D1. The other 2 kids are committed to D3s.

Several marquee organizations have expanded the number of teams playing under the banner of the organization, and some have expanded to multiple states, in order to line the pockets of the owners of the organization. College coaches are not idiots...they realize this is happening and it is watering down the talent within the organizations to the point that just being on a team within the marquee organization no longer guarantees the "looks" from college coaches that it used to.

Jen is a good pitcher (she doesn't play any other positions nor bat), not phenomenal, but she's fast and she's got the height (6'4") and attracts a lot of initial attention. The reason I say initial attention is, for some reason or other, she has difficulty holding on to the attention of a coach. According to my sis, many coaches come out to watch Jen, over and over again. They talk to her coach on her big name team. Some ask Jen to call them, they speak a couple of times, but nothing further comes of it.

If this pitcher is 6'4" and is not getting a lot of looks from major D1 programs there is something wrong. Not sure what the problem is, but the fact that a lot of coaches have come to watch her play and walked away is not a good sign. Most top D1 player are recruited in the freshman and sophomore years, so the fact that this pitcher is a junior and is not had any serious interest from a D1 school should be a reality check.

 

[JAD]

Reality check coming. The top 1% of the top 10% of all softball players in the U.S. are recruited to the top 50 major D1 programs every year. Out of 550,000+ softball players across the country that means approximately 550 get recruited by the major D1's. So my question to you is, is she one of the top 550 players in the country? The next point I have to make, is if the program isn't in a major rebuilding year talent-wise, I would say the chances of her starting aren't very good at all if she's a Freshman. The caveat being unless she's either a stud pitcher, a stud catcher with a big bat or a SB player that either bats .600 or hits a homerun every third at bat. Obviously, this is a slight exaggeration, but not by much.

Not only do they want her to play for one of the top D1 teams in the country, they want her to START as a freshman....