realistically playing 2 div I sports?

vicimus said:

Great feedback. So, the #1 college criteria is the school's program in her major. #2 Is playing div I sport for the college. Some combination of academic and athletic scholarships would be double-bonus points.

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Opinions will vary, but I think academics are the primary concern. But that is me. If a person is capable of playing a sport in college, that is a bonus. If a person is capable of getting a scholarship, that is a double bonus. There are some men's basketball and football athletes who make their school decision based on the scholarship because their primary focus is eventually playing in the NBA or NFL. We have a family friend facing that type of decision right now. That opportunity is extremely rare for male athletes and even rarer for female athletes. Therefore I think students should focus on academics first and go from there.

My DD is in a different situation. She will not be receiving any type of athletic scholarship. However, she will qualify for academic scholarships at the schools she is considering. And some significant $ in some cases. She currently has her decision narrowed down to 3 schools. Their tuition amounts are dramatically different, but her academic scholarship options more or less equalize those three options, thus eliminating cost as a significant deciding factor. She has received interest from the coaches at all 3 programs, so softball seems as though it will work itself out (fingers crossed...). So her decision is basically coming down to 2 things; 1) what is the better academic option for the field she is choosing (all 3 offer programs that will help)? 2) what campus does she most see herself spending the next 4 years at?

GRADES! GRADES! GRADES!
This is the path to scholarship $$. If I had a nickel for every time I heard:
"My DD is a gifted athlete, looking for a full ride....."
I would be living in an ivory palace with those nickels.

Focus instead on grades and academics as this sets up her future. D1-D2-or D3
whichever fits her best for her intended major. I know a D3 athlete who plays both softball and
Field Hockey as there is no athletic $$ involved. A partial athletic scholarship
for softball would negate her chances of playing another varsity sport. Common sense dictates that
a coach who invests in 4 years of one sport will not tolerate an injury etc incurred during another sport.

As a scholarship athlete, she is 'owned' by the sport which pays for her partial education.

marriard said:

It isn't as rare as people make out especially in track & field, but if there is a cross over in seasons one takes priority (generally the one providing the scholarship).

Outside of track that you have to be a bit of an ultra-athlete to keep up with those dedicated to their sport. Some names come to mind - Della-Donne played volleyball and basketball. Jamis Winston played Football and Baseball (but gave up baseball). A lot of footballers play basketball once the football season is over but generally on the bench (Tony Gonzalez and Charlie Ward are the last two I can think of with a large role at a high D1 though there are many others).

Injuries often force athletes to help out but mainly again - bench time (I was there for basketball but I practiced a few weeks and even played 4 plays in a game on the football team and dressed for a volleyball game due to injuries). To play NCAA sports you have to be eligible - so when something happens (rash of injuries, suspensions, academic ineligibles, etc) you can't just go out and get anyone. So where does the football or basketball coach go first - to the pool of other eligible athletes at the college playing other sports.


The biggest two sport athletes - volleyball and beach volleyball. It is rare where all the players on the beach volleyball team an not also on the indoor volleyball team. I know many people think it is the same sport - but it really isn't just as softball isn't baseball even though there are clearly skills the same between the sports.

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Actually, I think there was a girl who played both div I field hockey and ice hockey (Michigan?) recently. Her softball coach actually was surprised by her speed and arm strength which I told him was due to field hockey. In general, she gets a lot more conditioning by playing field hockey (both indoor and outdoor) than the rest of her softball team.

Although field hockey and softball are different primary seasons, there is the problem with div I schools playing fall ball including her 1st choice.

Thanks for the feedback though!

djcarter1966 said:

Most states don't allow HS kids to play club softball during the season. Even if some do almost all club softball teams go dark March thru May for HS ball anyway, in other words there are not many tournament to play and only if your state allows might there be a weekend practice or two. Also like you are mentioning problems usually come in when club teams want a bigger commitment as you go up in level.

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Unfortunately, since she started school a year early (she'll be 14 in Jan), she's the only one on her 14U club softball team that's in high school, so her club team will be practicing 2-3 times per week and playing many spring tournaments (mostly out of state), which is why I told her that her club team is the priority over her high school team, especially since they don't have have a JV softball team and their varsity team just got bumped down to the B conference last year.

She pitched 3 years for the same school at the middle school level (even more of a joke than high school ball) and the high school coach said she couldn't wait to get her, so hopefully, she will not have an issue with her missing 2 out of the 5 high school practices per week for her club team.

If your DD is lucky or skilled enough to acquire a DI scholarship in a sport. Let's say softball scholarship do you think they will allow her to play field hockey on a non-scholarship. Also most sports in college require a year round commitment. I know my DD's softball team does. Get through high school first playing 2 sports along with maintaining good grades and see how that goes.
High school sports comes first before club sports.

FP26 said:

Opinions will vary, but I think academics are the primary concern. But that is me. If a person is capable of playing a sport in college, that is a bonus. If a person is capable of getting a scholarship, that is a double bonus. There are some men's basketball and football athletes who make their school decision based on the scholarship because their primary focus is eventually playing in the NBA or NFL. We have a family friend facing that type of decision right now. That opportunity is extremely rare for male athletes and even rarer for female athletes. Therefore I think students should focus on academics first and go from there.

My DD is in a different situation. She will not be receiving any type of athletic scholarship. However, she will qualify for academic scholarships at the schools she is considering. And some significant $ in some cases. She currently has her decision narrowed down to 3 schools. Their tuition amounts are dramatically different, but her academic scholarship options more or less equalize those three options, thus eliminating cost as a significant deciding factor. She has received interest from the coaches at all 3 programs, so softball seems as though it will work itself out (fingers crossed...). So her decision is basically coming down to 2 things; 1) what is the better academic option for the field she is choosing (all 3 offer programs that will help)? 2) what campus does she most see herself spending the next 4 years at?

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Agreed. Which is why we're paying for prep school, since the 6th grade. Even if she got zero scholarships, her #1 college tuition is literally half of what we've been paying for prep school. My assertion is that if she ALSO wants to play a div I sport at her #1 college, then she will have a much greater chance of playing softball (div I top 200) than field hockey (div I top 5); hopefully, she will come to that realization herself this year.

Coach JV said:

GRADES! GRADES! GRADES!
This is the path to scholarship $$. If I had a nickel for every time I heard:
"My DD is a gifted athlete, looking for a full ride....."
I would be living in an ivory palace with those nickels.

Focus instead on grades and academics as this sets up her future. D1-D2-or D3
whichever fits her best for her intended major. I know a D3 athlete who plays both softball and
Field Hockey as there is no athletic $$ involved. A partial athletic scholarship
for softball would negate her chances of playing another varsity sport. Common sense dictates that
a coach who invests in 4 years of one sport will not tolerate an injury etc incurred during another sport.

As a scholarship athlete, she is 'owned' by the sport which pays for her partial education.

Click to expand...

Academics absolutely come 1st which is why her #1 college criteria is her major and why she has been going to a private prep school since 6th grade. That's a given.

However, when it comes to scholarships, coaches have a fixed pot of money, and if they can spread it over 2 players (partial scholarships) rather than 1 player (full scholarship), wouldn't that be a plus? At least that's what I've heard from some.

Wouldn't she be *owned* by the school--not the sport?

rdbass said:

If your DD is lucky or skilled enough to acquire a DI scholarship in a sport. Let's say softball scholarship do you think they will allow her to play field hockey on a non-scholarship. Also most sports in college require a year round commitment. I know my DD's softball team does. Get through high school first playing 2 sports along with maintaining good grades and see how that goes.
High school sports comes first before club sports.

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Actually, the scenario I was really wondering about was one where DD gets a partial academic scholarship plus partial softball plus partial field hockey. Is that possible or even probable? Obviously, if DD gets a scholarship in only 1 sport then that would negate the other sport.

Again, high school ball is a joke around here for both softball and field hockey, so if anything she would continue with both club teams.

vicimus said:

Actually, the scenario I was really wondering about was one where DD gets a partial academic scholarship plus partial softball plus partial field hockey. Is that possible or even probable? Obviously, if DD gets a scholarship in only 1 sport then that would negate the other sport.

Again, high school ball is a joke around here for both softball and field hockey, so if anything she would continue with both club teams.

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That's an interesting question, but one I honestly don't know the answer to. Can one athlete get multiple athletic scholarships from the same university in different sports? Hmmm... In the example I offered originally, that young lady was offered a partial athletic and some academic $ from the D1 school The D3 is not permitted to offer athletic, but she was offered significant academic $. So much so that her overall cost would be similar for both. For her it ultimately comes down to if she wants to play 1 sport or 2. If she goes to the D1, she will only be permitted to play softball. If she goes to the D3, she can play both. She has been struggling with this decision for several weeks now and I am curious myself what she will decide. She is a great young woman and will be an asset to either program she selects. I wish you and her the best of luck moving forward. Hopefully you get the answers you are looking for.

You’re not going to find a HS coach that’s ok with her missing two practices a week for club ball. It wouldn’t make her very popular with her teammates that she thinks she’s too good for them either. For 99% of the population HS sports in season come before club sports in or out of season.

There’s only a small handful of kids who played two D1 sports with a significant role on both teams. I’ve seen a couple of soccer players serve as pinch runners on the softball team, but only their senior year after their soccer careers were over. What you’ll generally see from kids playing multiple high level club sports is they end up at a D2 or D3 playing only one sport.

To put it as bluntly as I can, you’re a fool if a scholarship is the main goal. The odds of coming anywhere close to breaking even on what you’re spending on softball and field hockey are next to zero. Spreading herself between multiple sports without becoming the best she can at one puts an athletic scholarship even more out of reach.

If D1 is the goal, pick a sport to do competitively at the highest level and the other to do more for fun. Focus on academics for the scholarship.

Don’t believe any parent when they tell you their kid got a full ride for softball. That means they’re either just talking about tuition, using a combination of athletic, academic and need based money as their full ride, including student loans or outright lying. The parent who’s kid actually received a full ride is less likely to tell everyone about it.

Best of luck to your DD. She has a lot of tough choices ahead of her.