At what age should college exposure begin?

[Izzy's Dad]

My 13 year old (7th grade) daughter is a pitcher. I had posted a while back that we were going thru some tough times with her team. The team had moved to 1st year 14UA ball, and at the end of the fall season, the coaches actively recruited 2 (or 3) 2nd year, bigger, faster pitchers. They will be moving to 16UA in the fall. Basically, was told daughter would not pitch.

We changed pitching coaches who pitched D1, and she has "fixed" my daughters pitching in 2 months.

We decided to move to a different team. It is a team of 6 core girls, and from the many practices so far, they have completed the roster with real talent. There is a 12U, two 14U, and a 16U team. As it turns out, this organization had a team a couple years ago that was 18U (Gold, I think) that was ranked 9th in the nation in ASA, and took 17th at the Colorado Fireworks. They want to build these teams to do this again. The head of the organozation (the one who coached the high ranking team) has made the statement that 1) He will take the girls he has and make them high ranking teams and not actively look for replacements, and 2) He will choose only "select" tournaments for the proper exposure.

This person who is in charge has alot of connections with many D1/D2 coaches. He is even good friends with the coach my daughter dreams of playing for. He has daughters who currently play college ball, and has produced D1 talent (mainly on hitting) as he teaches hitting. As a matter of fact, the D1 school my daughter wants to attend, has some of his girls on it, and one of their best hitters is a freshman, produced by this guy.

This is alot for us to take in, and I assume by the statement that we will play in only "select" tournaments picked by the head of the organization, that they will be exposure tournaments. So, is my daughters age too early for this?

*Sorry for the rambling, just had to get the facts out there, as we left one team that was moving so fast (16U for a 13 year old pitcher!!!).

 

[Mark H]

Assuming a girl is playing at a level she is competitively ready for and mature enough to deal with in terms of dugout talk, there is no harm in playing top tournaments. So what if there are college coaches there? Just play the game. Get Aradi's book and start studying. You should be able to lean on your coach's experience given his resume.

 

[sluggers]

You're looking at this bass-ackwards. If your DD isn't a good softball player, it doesn't matter what kind of connections the coach has. She won't play in college. (Getting a scholarship if your child is good is simply marketing.)

So, the focus should be on what will make her the best player she can become. The question is whether this organization will make your DD the best player she can become. You need to be looking at what kind of training your DD will get from the organization.

Your DD's age is the make or break year for a lot of girls in sports. Most girls have stopped growing and they have their adult body (and the mind of a 2 year old, but that is another story). You are going to find out pretty quick if she can play softball at a high level.

I don't know how to sugar coat this, so I'll just say it: If your DD can't handle the competition at this level, then she should forget about playing in college. "Handling the competition" means that when she loses or fails, she works harder. If she doesn't work harder but instead loses interest in softball when she fails, then it is time to scale back and put her on a less competitive team and forget about college softball.

 

[mudbug]

To answer the question directly, exposure starts are 14U. H.S freshmen are usually the older kids on the 14U teams. College coaches start looking at them at 14. Better teams will play the Junior Showcases, etc.

College coaches have contacts with the coaches of well-known , nationally competitive organizations that have been around a while. They have their favorite "feeder" organizations that produce girls who have the characteristics they like. They begin showing interest and asking about girls when they are 14 yr old freshmen. They keep their eyes on these girls for 2 yrs, and they will try to get them to commit when they are Juniors.

 

[Mark H]

All the above is true except the upper level D1's are asking and getting commitments before that.

 

[calgofo]

All the above is true except the upper level D1's are asking and getting commitments before that.

True. If the trend continues, I think they may start verbaling coming out of t-ball.

 

[Mark H]

I think the Finch-Daigle kids are getting offers during the third trimester.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I heard Candrea complain about this recently. He said that he was full for the current HS seniors and juniors.

 

[ifubuildit]

If one college coach does it then they will all do it. Nature of the beast. Until the NCAA eliminates this practice it will continue. Then when that happens it will be done under the table with a wink to the parents of said prospect.