A question for parents of D1 Pitchers

[angispeds]

Thanks for this. We were at the Legacy and Alliance Championship. Made note of coaches watching. A couple of those coaches have since sent an email for a camp. Any feel how important it would be to attend as it’s not an insignificant commitment to get to these?

If these are schools at the top of her list it’s definitely worth the time and expense to go. If they are not then a courtesy email back thanking them and asking to continue to receive information as well as sending a copy of her schedule may retain/build interest if they’re considerations. If they’re absolutely nothing she’d be interested in them an email thanking them for the invitation still wouldn’t hurt you never know who might be taking a job elsewhere that will remember when the time comes


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hillhouse]

So, from my experience(s) this is how things work, for the most part... Sorry for the length.

I often get a good chuckle out of hearing someone say their daughter was invited to a camp at XYZ university. I feel like saying "Yea, 500 other kids got the same invite!" But, it's important to know there's multiple kinds of camps, and attending them does help your odds of the coaches coming to your games. First thing's first:

1. Every college softball office has a huge white board with several columns: 2024, 2025, 2026, etc. with names written down. These are players they are interested in. When a player commits to another school, her name is simply erased from the white board and the focus then goes on to the next person listed.

2. There's multiple kinds of college camps.
A. There's the open ones that are sometimes just money grabs the coaches are getting.

B. Camps that are open but, they are genuinely being used to evaluate a player. Keep in mind, camps are the only time a coach is allowed to work with a particular player. Even when a player goes on an official visit to the school, there is no softball on that trip for the recruit. They are there to just hang out, meet the team, see the town, etc. They are not allowed to do workouts. So, camps are the loophole in the system. It allows the coaches to work with the player and see how they are to work with. It also gives the recruit a chance to see the coach in action, to see if they click together, etc. I used to believe camps were all like type A (money grabs) but not all of them are. That loophole where camps are where players can interact with the coach can be very insightful for both parties.

C. "secret camps". There are rules and regulations to camps such as, they have to be advertised somewhere for a particular amount of time. But, if you're Oklahoma and you have 6 recruits you're after in a big time way.... then that camp is advertised somewhere that nobody will see it or find it. It might be buried somewhere for the minimum amount of time and only those 6 recruits will be told how to find it and where to look. These camps happen ALL THE TIME. Obviously it's done in a very shady way, yet all the rules are followed. So, there's a lot of sneaky things like that, backroom dealings for recruits (and transfers). It's so sneaky and shady that you'd almost think Hunter Biden designed it. LOLOLOLOL Sorry, couldn't resist.

If you're a recruit that the school is interested in, and especially if you've been to the school's camp(s), then the coaches usually make a big effort to send someone to your games. It might not be the head coach but, someone will be there. Also, if you go to the 18u PGF Nationals, you will see most of the coaches there watching the players who've already committed to them. They go to show support. But, much of it starts with attending a camp. When a kid goes to the camp, the coaches evaluate and try to use a crystal ball to see how good that player will be by the time she gets to them. Then they try to figure out if they will make her even better when she's at the school. But at that initial camp, the player can work with the coach, ask questions, etc. The coach will also be doing the same thing. Once you've impressed them at the camp, they will probably ask for your schedule so they can be at some of your events.

Also, it's worth noting... I've known coaches who will scratch a kid off their list if they see them disrespectful to their parents. There's a popular story of a well known D1 coach who wasn't wearing her college gear, was incognito in a way, and noticed the kid didn't say thank you or seem grateful when her parents bought her drinks at the concession stand. Also, I know coaches that will cross names off when they see Daddy carrying her bag out to the car. You may think that seems petty, but many of these coaches want their athletes to be respectful and responsible for their own stuff. Many times these little things add up to a bigger picture with these coaches.

This is what I tell my students to do: Figure out what they wanna do for work. Then figure out how far from home you're willing to go. There's no point in sending your schedule and such to U of Hawaii if you don't wanna be that far from home!! So, once you figure out what you wanna do and how far you wanna be, you figure out which schools offer that program that is inside your travel radius. Making sure those schools have a softball program, then you target those schools for camps and info. I really don't know of a better system than that. Jordy Bahl knew she didn't want to be longer than a day's drive home when she picked Oklahoma. And now she's 35 miles from home. So, that's how I re

excellent post, thank you. Also girls should consider the cost of the university. Or chat with parents about that.

That's a good point unc. I made the arrogant assumption we were talking about a kid who was on a scholarship. Full scholarship. To assume that is to assume a lot, I apologize. School costs are a huge factor!! And then remember there's in state and out of state differences with prices.

Now days with NIL monies, a school may not even have to use scholarship money for an instate recruit. Years ago, and it may have changed since then, but Texas was one of the cheapest instate schools around. It might behoove Mike White to not even use a scholarship on an instate kid if the tuition is $10k. That's chump change for a booster who would probably just pay that on behalf of the kid, which is how Oklahoma continues to reload each year. Their 12 scholarships are gone, then the boosters will pick up the tuition of their Transfer portal kids as part of their NIL package.

 

[TwoPitcherFam]

DD had some good phone convo’s yesterday and a couple of invites to visit in next week or two. One basically said they do their offers in person and expect It. My question is this-> how much time is generally given to respond to an offer? These are mid-majors. Trying to figure out how close to make these 2 visits to be able to weigh both if they crystallize.

 

[angispeds]

DD had some good phone convo’s yesterday and a couple of invites to visit in next week or two. One basically said they do their offers in person and expect It. My question is this-> how much time is generally given to respond to an offer? These are mid-majors. Trying to figure out how close to make these 2 visits to be able to weigh both if they crystallize.

It was our experience that coaches know that players have multiple visits lined up and expect that they may have to wait at least a few weeks. That being said if it’s her dream school and the offer is right it’s fine to commit immediately and cancel your other visits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vertigo]

It was our experience that coaches know that players have multiple visits lined up and expect that they may have to wait at least a few weeks. That being said if it’s her dream school and the offer is right it’s fine to commit immediately and cancel your other visits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree with this - but also depends where the recruit is on the list. They will wait for a top recruit a little longer than they will for someone who is further down on the list.

 

[BT3100]

DD had some good phone convo’s yesterday and a couple of invites to visit in next week or two. One basically said they do their offers in person and expect It. My question is this-> how much time is generally given to respond to an offer? These are mid-majors. Trying to figure out how close to make these 2 visits to be able to weigh both if they crystallize.

DD had 2 offers second week of September her junior year. Had official visits set up at 2 schools 2nd week of October. The first two schools were willing to wait as she communicated with them.

 

[TwoPitcherFam]

DD had 2 offers second week of September her junior year. Had official visits set up at 2 schools 2nd week of October. The first two schools were willing to wait as she communicated with them.

This is helpful. Thanks. Is It better to tell a school who gives you an offer what schools you are waiting to visit or maybe just the conference?

 

[BT3100]

This is helpful. Thanks. Is It better to tell a school who gives you an offer what schools you are waiting to visit or maybe just the conference?

Yes DD told them. It's can't hurt to stir up some competition. But of course doing so gracefully

 

[RADcatcher]

Agree with this - but also depends where the recruit is on the list. They will wait for a top recruit a little longer than they will for someone who is further down on the list.

Agree.

To add to this~
Generally in every situation there are other players they will be considering at the same time. They do not have to be upfront about that and may never let you know.
Colleges may not give a specific time frame of when they need an answer because they *almost *always have other prospects they are pursuing.
If they do give a time frame they are either pushing the player to make a decision now to finalize their roster goal. But beyond that it's because they have another player they are wanting to make an offer to for the exact same reason. (College wants first option player to make a decision and if they don't accept, they don't want to lose the number two option)

 

[Rolling Hard]

Agree.

To add to this~
Generally in every situation there are other players they will be considering at the same time. They do not have to be upfront about that and may never let you know.
Colleges may not give a specific time frame of when they need an answer because they *almost *always have other prospects they are pursuing.
If they do give a time frame they are either pushing the player to make a decision now to finalize their roster goal. But beyond that it's because they have another player they are wanting to make an offer to for the exact same reason. (College wants first option player to make a decision and if they don't accept, they don't want to lose the number two option)

So what is the players/parents acceptable and smartest response to an offer. How do you say, "We are weighing all are options", without offending the coaching staff. After all, you did email them that you would honored and privileged to attend UCXX.