- Oct 10, 2011
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DD plays in a top D2 program and is in her freshman year. As others have said here, as well as her college coach when we first met him, most freshman are not ready for college ball. For DD, she was not mentally ready but has grown fast in that area. The main difference as far as NCAA rules go for D1 and D2 is the number of games they can play, but they have the same rules as far as practices. DD starts most days with practice at 6 a.m. and later in the day she goes to weightlifting or batting practice. She only knows that at the moment, Sunday is her only day off for sure but she gets a day off during the week most of the time. They also have strict rules on what they can do socially 24 hours before any softball related activity. She told me that there's several times on her day off that they needed a catcher so she would fill in for them. A lot of times she'll try to get some extra practice in on her own.
I'm not gonna lie...she did not enjoy her fall semester feeling constantly mentally and physically beat down while trying to do well in classes. Several of her teammates quit. I'll never forget the first day we stepped on campus, a young lady introduced herself and after awhile she and DD started talking about softball. This girl had played one year and she told DD, quiting softball was the best decision she ever made and she now loves college. I wasn't too happy to hear this girl say this before we even got her moved in.
DD survived the fall and ended up on the Dean's list. She said she never felt stronger in her life and now could care less about the workouts. She absolutely loves her teammates and I'm sure has already made friends for life. But...when she came home for Christmas break, we were with two of her best friends from high school and they were talking about college. They both said that their fall was amazing and the best time of their life (they both got great grades also). I could see the look in DD's eyes when they said this and then she went on to talk about her fall.
One major issue a student may run into is if they want a social life. Well, softball was DD's social life but now has a really nice boyfriend that lives 4 hours away. I don't like that at all but the fact is, she's a teenager that wants to spend some time with him and not being able to come home on the weekends is tough for her.
DD got mostly academic money and even though she's never said she wanted to quit, she's hinted several times about if it's worth it especially not knowing if she'll see the field much this year. She does realize however, that she's paying very little for education and a lot of that has to do with her being on the team. I'm hoping the spring goes well enough that she sticks with it to be in a good position for next year. They've already hinted they may have more incentives for her to stay.
***Shout out to Greenmonsters for all the mental support he gave to me LOL!
I'm not gonna lie...she did not enjoy her fall semester feeling constantly mentally and physically beat down while trying to do well in classes. Several of her teammates quit. I'll never forget the first day we stepped on campus, a young lady introduced herself and after awhile she and DD started talking about softball. This girl had played one year and she told DD, quiting softball was the best decision she ever made and she now loves college. I wasn't too happy to hear this girl say this before we even got her moved in.
DD survived the fall and ended up on the Dean's list. She said she never felt stronger in her life and now could care less about the workouts. She absolutely loves her teammates and I'm sure has already made friends for life. But...when she came home for Christmas break, we were with two of her best friends from high school and they were talking about college. They both said that their fall was amazing and the best time of their life (they both got great grades also). I could see the look in DD's eyes when they said this and then she went on to talk about her fall.
One major issue a student may run into is if they want a social life. Well, softball was DD's social life but now has a really nice boyfriend that lives 4 hours away. I don't like that at all but the fact is, she's a teenager that wants to spend some time with him and not being able to come home on the weekends is tough for her.
DD got mostly academic money and even though she's never said she wanted to quit, she's hinted several times about if it's worth it especially not knowing if she'll see the field much this year. She does realize however, that she's paying very little for education and a lot of that has to do with her being on the team. I'm hoping the spring goes well enough that she sticks with it to be in a good position for next year. They've already hinted they may have more incentives for her to stay.
***Shout out to Greenmonsters for all the mental support he gave to me LOL!
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