Recruiting question

[Acatchersmom]

I agree w/ you, that they should at least respond. I realize I'm not a college coach, and I know they get literally hundreds of emails per week, even daily at some places, and can't answer them all. Maybe they haven't even gone through all their emails yet. But if you personally ask a kid to come to your camp (not talking mass emails, but a specific request to come), I think you should follow up when asked. It takes some courage for young kids to come up and talk with coaches after camps, or to call them, and sometimes coaches don't have the same courage to talk to kids.

I was talking w/ a father last weekend whose daughter recently verballed to an ACC school. She's a pitcher. Her dream school was in the SEC. The SEC school was contacting her almost daily for weeks and suddenly stopped communicating. They suddenly wouldn't answer texts. The father was somewhat forgiving, saying, 'Great coach, but no people skills.' Fact that she found another top school made things all right, but when I hear these stories, I'm amazed.

That said, this coach might eventually respond. As Maxx said, give it a little more time. Coaches are inundated w/ emails.

Thank you. We will see!! I would love even if she wrote back and said not interested and here's why!!! I know they get a lot of emails but this isn't the highest level school (softball wise). It was more of a great fit academically and the location. The new HC comes from a higher division school so that's why we went there. We know the program is on a verge of a turn around. Oh well. Moving on lol


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[JAD]

I agree w/ you, that they should at least respond. I realize I'm not a college coach, and I know they get literally hundreds of emails per week, even daily at some places, and can't answer them all. Maybe they haven't even gone through all their emails yet. But if you personally ask a kid to come to your camp (not talking mass emails, but a specific request to come), I think you should follow up when asked. It takes some courage for young kids to come up and talk with coaches after camps, or to call them, and sometimes coaches don't have the same courage to talk to kids.

Sidebar: College coaches are not allowed to initiate direct contact with a player until Sept 1st of her junior year in high school. A lot of softball recruiting occurs before that time, so do not be offended if coaches do not respond. Correspondence can be through TB, HS or private coaches. Players are able to call the coaches, so the work around is the college coach tell a players TB coach to have "Mary" call me at 6pm....then when "Mary" calls they answer. Players are also able to send emails, letters, text messages and voicemails.

 

[JAD]

With that said, if you're a 2017 grad, you may be attending a camp where the staff has completed their recruiting for 2017. And they will never admit that. They will always say they are still looking. And the thing is, they may be done recruiting for that class, but it's always good to keep tabs on kids in case something unexpected happens down the road with a commitment or a current player.

We used goldfastpitch to keep up with which players were verballed where, and tried to make educated decisions on what positions schools may be looking to fill. It helped us know where to focus our time and efforts. We did not see a reason to attend the camp of a team that already had a player in my DD's position for her graduation year. DD is a pitcher, so it is a little more cut and dry than it would be for a fielder.

 

[JAD]

Thank you. Poker face - I like that. She definitely let her feeling known on this school. We need to be a little less cool I guess lol. We are realistic about money. I know she will not get a full ride. I just tell her for a private school she would have to get enough money to get it down to a state school price between academics and athletic lol. I guess I will have her email them videos once in a while but definitely backing off a bit. Sad really - it would have been a good fit

In a perfect scenario your DD will receive multiple offers and since some may be partials, a "poker face" will help you play one offer against another in an attempt to get the maximum scholarship value from the school your DD would most like to attend.

 

[iMlearning]

The recruiting process is so frustrating, but you've gotten some good advice here. DD's former #1 choice's coach had been texting and talking to her frequently, and was so enthusiastic when he saw her. All of the sudden he stopped returning texts, and when she called, he said it just wasn't a good time. That was pretty much the end of it with that coach. He wouldn't respond to anything.
I decided to do a very small experiment with DD involving coaches that had never replied. All we did in the email subject line, was put her year etc... but then put Regarding Clinics. 4 out of 5 responded mentioning whether or not they had a clinic and when. 3 of the 5 looked at her profile that was attached. It's a small sampling, but I wish I would have done it earlier in her recruiting to the schools she was interested in.

 

[Greenmonsters]

We definitely started the process late too. But in reality I don't know if she was ready sooner. But one thing is for sure my DD works harder than most kids - we are in the North East. A lot of kids take a break from now till January- she never stops. Hitting lessons, team prax, team conditioning twice a week plus catching sessions and hitting the gym to lift. She has the right mindset and keeps her head down on the books. I couldn't be more proud. She's not locked into what division she wants to play at just finding the right fit. In hindsight we should have started building relationships sooner but that's water under the bridge now.


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From a college softball perspective, probably the biggest (and perhaps only!) advantage to being located in the Northeast is the sheer number of schools in the region. There are many good potential academic-athletic fits, particularly if you don't eliminate D3 schools from consideration.

It's not too late unless DD had her heart set on playing for a D1 power. Continue working hard (on and off the field), reaching out and exploring options, and have patience - it will work out in due time.

Good luck and enjoy the journey!

 

[CoogansBluff]

Sidebar: College coaches are not allowed to initiate direct contact with a player until Sept 1st of her junior year in high school. A lot of softball recruiting occurs before that time, so do not be offended if coaches do not respond. Correspondence can be through TB, HS or private coaches. Players are able to call the coaches, so the work around is the college coach tell a players TB coach to have "Mary" call me at 6pm....then when "Mary" calls they answer. Players are also able to send emails, letters, text messages and voicemails.

All correct.

In OP's case, it's a 2017, so she should be eligible for email responses. But yes, there are many communication barriers.

 

[Acatchersmom]

Thank you everyone. Not sure how much I am enjoying the journey so far lol. We are definitely not ruling out D3s. She actually met with a very good d3 coach recently who made it quite obvious he wants her but she doesn't have SAT/ACT scores yet (taking both in Dec) so hard to move forward there. We are going to another D3 this weekend and a two D2s in December. Keeping all doors open. I can't thank you all enough for this place to vent !!!


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[Acatchersmom]

We used goldfastpitch to keep up with which players were verballed where, and tried to make educated decisions on what positions schools may be looking to fill. It helped us know where to focus our time and efforts. We did not see a reason to attend the camp of a team that already had a player in my DD's position for her graduation year. DD is a pitcher, so it is a little more cut and dry than it would be for a fielder.

How accurate do you think that verbal list is? I do look at it


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[CoogansBluff]

How accurate do you think that verbal list is? I do look at it

I assume that those listed are very accurate, but there are quite a few omissions. At my DD's #1 choice, I know of 3-4 verbals who are not listed, but most are.

I'd also think that some coaches want their verbals up there, and some don't. If you've got all your commits from a particular class, especially the current one, then it's nice to have them up. If you're still compiling, I'd think it could work against you. Just guessing though.