Play for big-name program, or no?

[Jojo]

When my DD played 18u she had a choice to play for some big name teams/organizations but instead of dealing with some of the girls and coaches she didn't care for she chose a no-name team with great girls and good coaches.

If she'd chosen the big name teams would she had been seen by bigger schools? Probably, but she wasn't really into that, she was into getting a good education and playing softball where she felt comfortable.

Another kid that was interested in being seen by a big school and getting noticed went to a big-name team, and was noticed and offered a scholarship. As soon as she got the offer she quit the team and came to play with my DD's team. She caught quite a bit of flack for that, "using" the team to get noticed, "abandoning the team", etc.

I guess everyone has to decide what is in their own best interest.

 

[RichK]

Coogan, I like what you are thinking. Here's the biggest factor you need to consider. Your "little team that could" head coach must not only be field-coaching and instructing at a level equal to the marquee teams, he also must be willing AND ABLE to network, make connections, get your team into the right events, etc. etc. as those better-known teams. Yes, play well and beat bigger teams and your team will get noticed and respected. And yes parents must be responsible for owning their DDs recruiting. But you need a pretty dynamic head coach to pull it all together and make it really work. I've seen it happen. I've also seen teams come up short...it's a high hill to climb.

Hope it all works out for you. Good luck.

 

[JAD]

If your DD has the talent she can get recruited without being a part of a marquee organization. But it will take a lot of hard work and a little luck never hurts! Go to camps and do an aggressive phone/email/postcard/letter campaign requesting a college coach come watch your DD play. I would estimate that you will have to work 3X as hard if you are part of a 2nd tier organization and 5X as hard if you are an independent team. Recruiting starts in 2nd year 14U for top players, and will be in full swing by 16U. Some schools, especially those with high academic standards, will wait until 16U/18U to start recruiting.

Here is a quick list of some of the advantages of a marquee team:
1) Marquee teams get into the good showcases.
2) Marquee teams will get preferential time slots, field locations, and opponents at the showcases.
3) Marquee teams have a coach or someone in the organization who has prior relationships with the college coaches.
4) Marquee teams are perceived to play tougher schedules.
5) College coaches like to recruit from teams they are familiar with.
6) College coaches do not have as much "egg on their face" when a recruit does not pan out from a marquee organization.

 

[JAD]

One downside to playing for a marquee team, some are always looking to make "upgrades" to their roster. They will carry 14-16 players while most teams carry 12-14, and it is not uncommon for a new player to show up at practices for a "private workout", so you are always worried about keeping your spot. They may not cut a player, but when someone is suddenly spending more time on the pine than in the grass most leave on their own accord.

 

[CatchersDad97]

JAD and Knightsb are spot on....

My daughter is a 2016 C/3B we are going through exactly what's being discussed here. She has always played on the best local teams since she was 6 yrs old but the problem was her teams could never get in the big showcases where there are college coaches from all over the country attending. Yes, she got some attention from some local colleges at ASA States but there are very few top schools going to watch most of the so called showcases around the country and they are pretty much a total waste of time if you're looking to get recruited by a non local D1 school. You would be surprised how many great players get overlooked or never even seen by the better programs because they simply don't have the time and resources to take a weekend off to go to some average showcase to watch one kid unless they know she is a proven outright stud. It just doesn't work that way.

Finally, last fall we made the jump and joined up with a nationally known org that can get into pretty much any tournament in the country. The team practices 8 hrs round trip away from us and she's not even on one of their best teams but she's now getting seen and the word is starting to spread. She has a list of schools she would like to go to both for softball and academics and she emails them her schedule and constantly updates them. She lets the main org coach know what schools she's interested in and because he is so well connected he can find out very quickly if they have any need for a 2016 C/3B. If they don't and it's not one of the top schools on her list she removes them. Why waste time on a school that has no need for you? She just got her 1st full ride offer (academic and athletic money) from a small D1 school this past weekend on an unofficial visit after they had just seen her in a big showcase. She also got a school camp invite from one of the top teams on her list after they came and watched her in at least 3 games at the same tourney. She also ran into her dream U coach, that has no money left for 2016s, but is willing to help her in any way she can in finding the right program for her. If it weren't for us leaving for this org it is highly unlikely she would be getting the attention she is now starting to get, even though her last 3 teams, including 14u, could probably beat the team she's on now.

So yes, if your daughter has what it takes it will make a HUGE difference as to whether she gets seen by the best schools out there.

As for contact with the coaches, she can email, text and even call any of the coaches she wants to but they can't respond back to email or text yet and she can only talk to them if they answer the phone, they can not call you back. Parents can also call them but they can't call you. The way it works is they have to have your daughters number in their contacts so they know who is calling or they are not going to answer. A lot of times the tb coach will need to find out a good time for the player to call the college coach because they are so busy recruiting and running camps this time of year.

Once they decide they may want a young player they will usually schedule an unofficial visit to their campus where they can talk to the player and parents about anything they want to. That's how you see these verbal commits from the younger kids.

As for camps, most of these are a total waste of time as well unless you've been specifically invited by a school and you have confirmed either by phone or through your tb coach they are truly interested and have a need for your daughter. Most are simply money making events where they are mainly looking at the girls they invited and not the ones they got your kids name off of an email list or the ones who signed up unsolicited.

The best camps to go to are:

The recruiting camps where there are a number of coaches from different schools running them, hopefully at least a few are from schools on your daughter's list, that have a decent coach to player ratio.

College camps where your daughter has been specifically invited after seeing her play somewhere else.

OnDeck camps run by the Allisters. You will likely have to go to a "tryout" camp first and then get invited to come back to a national camp where there will be LOTS of college coaches attending because they know if the Allisters invited them to a national camp there are only going to be good players attending.

Is all of this fair? Heck no but it is what it is. You have to learn how to play the game by their rules. Like I said, I know a number of kids that have little to no interest from colleges right now that are better than a lot of kids I know that have already verbally committed. The difference? They aren't on the right teams with the right contacts and they simply aren't being seen.

Be realistic, however. There are lots of parents out there that think their kid is ready for the big time when they are not, either because of talent or desire to do what it takes to make it at the next level. If your daughter is marginal on talent and doesn't have a true desire to put in the work that is required to play at a high level, stop throwing your money down the toilet just because YOU want her to. I'm constantly comparing my daughter to the best I can find to try and figure out where she realistically stands. The way we see it there's not much reason to get her in a top 25-50 program if she's simply going to be riding the pine come game day. She's very bright and has great grades and I'd much rather see her playing in every game for a middle of the road team while getting a great education than sitting and not getting the education she could have otherwise gotten. Softball is for another 6 years, education is forever. Softball is simply a fun means of obtaining a great education that we wouldn't otherwise be able to afford.

As for JAD's last post, if your kid is not up to the task of working to "keep her spot", working towards getting recruited to play at a high level is probably asking too much anyway. Working to keep your spot or beating someone out of theirs is a big part of life in general and one of the many reasons we want our kids to play sports to begin with.

 

[CoogansBluff]

This has been good thread. I appreciate all the answers.