And then there's the other aspect of it all. You have those coaches that are big fish in small ponds because 1) they don't feel the need to go to nationals in order to 2) get their players recruited to play at the college level, 3) coach for the love of the game, 4) only want to help their players reach their full potential and 5) see them achieve their dreams of playing college ball at their dream schools. Let's face it, few players, compared to the number of players in a particular area are going to move on to play P5 Major D1. Most of my past players have found and played for their dream school within a 3 hour drive of home. The players I have now, with the exception of 1, are all looking at staying within a 4 hour drive and a majority are looking at staying within a 1 1/2 hour drive. Why? Because we have 5 major D1 schools within that 4 hour drive radius, approximately 18 mid-major D1's, 25+ D2's and a slew of D3's. The other one is looking to go to a particular Major D1 that's in South Bend. She doesn't care if she plays for them are not; she's going and has the grades and ACT scores to do it.
I used to chase the nationals circuit until I realized that I was spending my parent's money needlessly. I didn't feel the need for my team to place in the top 25 and have bragging rights and most of the coaches and parents of those top 25 teams that are on here, don't feel the need to mention it either unless it's to make a very specific point. Once I realized that my ego didn't need stroking, I quit the chase. Now my team fees are $800 for the year with 1 fundraiser and we play 11-12 tournaments, get 2 new uniforms, batpacks, catchers' bags and helmets every year. Also, I realized there was no reason to run all over the country to have my players recruited. I currently have 23 past players, girls I've worked with in hitting or taught and worked with catching playing in college. Total, I've had over 40+ in a 20 year career and can easily see another 15-20 go play within the next 4 years. So, can someone explain to me why I should make my team fees $2500, make my parents spend thousands in travel and hotel costs to have their daughters play in the top showcases across the country only to play for a college within a 3-4 hour drive from home?
Oh...I'm also one of those coaches that is now on my 4th organization or team in 4 years. Why? Because the one I was with for 8 years folded. The next one was a 10U team that was moving up and I preferred to stay with the team but the organization wanted me to stay down and take another 10U team so I moved on. The following year, after a successful season, I had several players leave and was unable to fill the spots due to the President of the organization giving the go ahead to 4 other coaches to try and start their own 14U teams from a very limited/tiny talent pool. So I ended up taking that team to another organization and combining with them. Now they moved up to 16U and I took a new 14U team. So I wouldn't put too much stock in that "statistic" either. Some of us move on from team to team or organizations simply because we have no choice if we want to continue to coach and teach the game.
I used to chase the nationals circuit until I realized that I was spending my parent's money needlessly. I didn't feel the need for my team to place in the top 25 and have bragging rights and most of the coaches and parents of those top 25 teams that are on here, don't feel the need to mention it either unless it's to make a very specific point. Once I realized that my ego didn't need stroking, I quit the chase. Now my team fees are $800 for the year with 1 fundraiser and we play 11-12 tournaments, get 2 new uniforms, batpacks, catchers' bags and helmets every year. Also, I realized there was no reason to run all over the country to have my players recruited. I currently have 23 past players, girls I've worked with in hitting or taught and worked with catching playing in college. Total, I've had over 40+ in a 20 year career and can easily see another 15-20 go play within the next 4 years. So, can someone explain to me why I should make my team fees $2500, make my parents spend thousands in travel and hotel costs to have their daughters play in the top showcases across the country only to play for a college within a 3-4 hour drive from home?
Oh...I'm also one of those coaches that is now on my 4th organization or team in 4 years. Why? Because the one I was with for 8 years folded. The next one was a 10U team that was moving up and I preferred to stay with the team but the organization wanted me to stay down and take another 10U team so I moved on. The following year, after a successful season, I had several players leave and was unable to fill the spots due to the President of the organization giving the go ahead to 4 other coaches to try and start their own 14U teams from a very limited/tiny talent pool. So I ended up taking that team to another organization and combining with them. Now they moved up to 16U and I took a new 14U team. So I wouldn't put too much stock in that "statistic" either. Some of us move on from team to team or organizations simply because we have no choice if we want to continue to coach and teach the game.
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