Politics in high school softball suck!

Pitching to bad hitters is fun. Even Roger Federer, once the undisputed tennis champion of the world, said that he prefered "straight sets crushing" to a close match.

Sitting isn't fun, and makes evenings very difficult on the innocent mom when the player comes home

Country Boy said:

Sorry if I'm so slow. But what bad habits can a pitcher pick up by pitching to bad hitters?

This just goes against everything I have ever learned about pitching. Everything I have learned says you have to do it to get better. I can think of a lot of things to do to challenge a pitcher that is overmatched with the hitters, but sitting, that just seems wrong.

Not trying to be difficult. I would just like to know what I am missing.

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There is a difference between throwing strikes and pitching. If all you have to do is throw strikes to win because the batters can't hit, when playing a team that has hitters that make a pitcher pay for any mistakes that pitcher is unprepared.

Don't get me wrong. I agree that circle time is very important for pitcher development but they have to face appropriate level competition to advance.

Pdiddy said:

thank you....and LOL, you never know about that....THS is my alma mater too and still has some really good players...but my daughter goes to Lee's Summit High School....but Paige Parker would could have started varsity as a 7th grader and is committed to the University of Oklahoma and will be the next K Ricketts for them starting in 2015....she is on another level and easily the top player in the state and probably the midwest...

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LOL, it's a small, small world! I'm a fan of local softball in general, but I do especially root for THS and also PHHS where DD will go. You're right with what I meant; I wasn't trying to put down the rest of the team at all. It's just that Paige is beyond the normal "good," she is that whole other level that I have only seen on television and at the WCWS.

Pdiddy said:

The pitcher / 3 hole hitter she was referring to didn't win it all by herself, she had help obviously....but I think they would all agree they wouldn't have won it without her is what I think she meant and that the talent level of that kid doesn't come around very offen....

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The bad thing about this forum is that, with as big as it is, many of us know players that are legitimately studs and bound for D1. Those players are the exception to the rule in almost every case. They are once in a lifetime players. Most parents think they are their DD.

Most freshmen TB players have D1 scholarship dreams. The reality of it is that few truly have the talent. Before you rail on me for being ignorant, let's do the math.

There are 283 D1 schools offering softball with at most 12 scholarships/ school for a maximum total of 3,396 scholarships. If you assume that the scholarships are divided amongst 4 classes, that leaves approximately 849 scholarships open each year. (Doesn't account for redshirts or dropouts, but it's close). There are 1.3 Million ASA players. Add in NSA and USSSA. Probably an easy 1.5M total softball players. Let's assume only 2% are graduating seniors. That's 30000 players. 849 scholarships. Even really, really good players will not receive a scholarship.

Clearly, there are D2 schools and JC's that offer scholarships. But few girls dream of those schools. Most dream of FL, ALA, AZ, UCLA, MI, OK, etc. For the vast, vast, majority (Nearly 99%), it's not going to happen.

If 2% of the 1.5M are seniors, I think it is probably safe to assume 10% are 15yr old freshmen. That is 150,000 players nation wide that will be competing for 849 scholarships in the class of 2016. Odds aren't getting any better, are they?

These are the things I know as a HS coach. While I am sure this will not happen to anyone on here, some of the incoming softball class of 2016 freshmen won't even play TB next year. Some won't play HS softball past next year. Some will be pregnant before they get a drivers license. Some will drink themselves out of the sport. Some will not maintain eligibility. A few will not live to their 18th birthday. Very few will truly draw any interest from a D1 coach. These are the facts that apply to the 99%.

You can argue that I am not supporting your daughter's dream. You'd be right. That's your job. My job, as with any educator, is to prepare your DD for the future. If that includes softball, great! But let's work to make sure it doesn't include alcohol, bad grades, death or babies in the next couple years. That's my dream for your DD.

With all that in mind, if you want to argue your DD is not playing due to politics or an ignorant HS Coach, have at it. Whatever it takes to make yourself feel better.

Countryboy , I agree with you. I let my dd dream of a D1 school, I know that it would be like winning the powerball lottery. But here is the deal, that maybe it is all right to dream big. A child with out a dream, has no hope, has no will to work hard, has no goals. Are there parents that look at their DDs with rose colored, yes, you and I know them. This sport takes a lot of work and those that don't put the time in it will slowly disappear from the sport. Just remember those 15yo's still have a dream, not like us old guys, our dream now is not to piss our pants on a 2hour drive on the bus going to a HS game.

If 2% of the 1.5M are seniors, I think it is probably safe to assume 10% are 15yr old freshmen. That is 150,000 players nation wide that will be competing for 849 scholarships in the class of 2016. Odds aren't getting any better, are they?

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She's one in a million... !!!! What about giving the real deal on size CountryBoy? How does that ratio reduce the field ??? How many 5'8"er's would you guess? Thats also explains why there is not alot of D1 coaching jobs

Thx for your post I always thought the chances as a walk on might be the really big dreams :{))

CountryBoy makes good points, although I think his math might paint a picture that's too pessimistic.

There are 12 scholarships available, but they are spread among more than 12 players. I just checked six D-1 rosters at random, and they averaged 18 players.

Also, because of attrition, an average freshman class is probably closer to 6 players. So I’d estimate there are closer to 1,700 roster spots available in D-1 each year.

Meanwhile, there are 185,000 high school softball players nationwide. How many are seniors? Maybe half? If so, we're down to 92,500. How many of those seniors are travel players? Would you say half? If so, we're down to 41,250 travel ball players who are seniors on high school teams. Those 41,250 are vying for 1,700 D-1 roster spots.

That would mean 1 in 24 travel ball players who are HS seniors would make D-1 rosters.

Is that too optimistic?

I'll add that I'm not a parent who expects my DD to play D-1. Been around sports both high school and college long enough to know how rare that is.

LeftiesDad said:

There is a difference between throwing strikes and pitching. If all you have to do is throw strikes to win because the batters can't hit, when playing a team that has hitters that make a pitcher pay for any mistakes that pitcher is unprepared.

Don't get me wrong. I agree that circle time is very important for pitcher development but they have to face appropriate level competition to advance.

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We play/practice TB 8 months out of the year, and school ball 2.5 months of the year, so your "appropriate level of competition" should come during the TB season......school ball is an opportunity for my DD to represent her school, play with her friends/classmates, show some school spirit, and play some softball. During 'feeder ball' my DD and all her teammates loved wearing their jerseys to school on game day. High School ball is also a great opportunity to work on new pitches, because chances are good a "hanger" will not be hit 275 ft into the woods in the outfield!

Couple of HS horror stories:

HS Junior was verballed to play at DI top 25 team and was the top pitcher in the state. College coach says he will be in town and would be at their Saturday doubleheader. Long story short HS coach did not play her for whatever reason, heard he was a jerk and liked to leteveryone know he was the boss. Her Senior year she decided not to play HS ball at all. They lost out on their chance to take state, but she got her point across. This girl is now currently a Jr playing DI ball and has won over 40 games in the past 2 seasons.

2nd My daughter is verballed to play on a top 10 DI team. She started exactly 3 varsity games in 2 1/4 yrs, but has been very successful in TB. HS coach is very old fashioned and runs a successful HS program but he does not like the fact that TB coaches are the contact to the recruits and HS ball doesn't have the pull it did years ago. HS coach told my dd she was not a DI player and no one was looking at her her. She came home, wrote "I am a DI player" on the mirror in her room so she would see it every day. This past year she transfered to a rival school. She could not play this school season but to her it was worth it.

The fact is there are some really good HS coaches, some that are just put into the position without having a clue, and some that the game has passed them by.

Don't forget that a lot of kids who excel at "one thing" (softball in this case) are often overachievers and good at multiple things. There are many awesome softball players who decide they want degrees in things other then early childhood development and pass on playing ball for D1 schools, thus opening up more opportunities for less talented players.

-W