https://www.fullcountsoftball.com/2014/12/24/coaches-speak-travel-ball-curriculum-1224/ has great advice from a variety of college coaches to players, parents and coaches.
The last day of the NFCA Convention held on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014 in Las Vegas included a very interesting and informative three-hour "Travel Ball Curriculum" panel with college coaches at every level.
The coaches panel included:
Tim Walton (Florida)
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
Randy Simkins (Dixie State, DII)
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport, DIII)
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist, NAIA)
Darci Brownell (Sierra College, CAL JC)
Joe Yegge (Kirkwood CC, JUCO DII)
Kevin Shelton, the head of the Texas Glory organization, was honored as the Travel Ball Coach of the Year during the convention and was the moderator for the panel. He did a great job in asking questions relevant to the interaction between club players and coaches and college coaches.
Kevin Shelton moderated the Travel Ball Curriculum panel also took notes of what the speakers said and below are the summarized answers to Kevin's questions.
He explains, "Each coach had an opportunity to offer their thoughts. It is important to note that the questions were not answered in the same order and coaches were not redundant so if a point of view had been expressed by every coach, it may not have been explicitly reiterated, but it does not mean they did not share a point of view. It was a free flow of ideas - try to read it in the context that it is provided - and, primarily, is new information for those who need it and amplifying info for the more experienced coaches."
Here are the some of the questions with the summarized answers:
5 things I wish I could communicate directly to every travel ball PLAYER...
Tim Walton (Florida)
Your freshman year of HS matters - take care of your grades
Social Media Matters - be careful
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
D1 Schools have 12 scholarships - not everyone is on a full ride
There are lots of other places to get aid - look for it
Study hard - good grades optimizes your options for athletic scholarships
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
Go See watch college Games - All levels
Find a good fit - intersection of your needs, abilities and program fit
Avoid the generic email
Randy Simkins (Dixie State)
50/10/5
It's the Kids job to communicate
Teach the kids how to play the game
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport)
Find a good fit
Visit lots of schools
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist)
Don't Forget the non D1 Schools - there are lots levels out there
Look for an academic fit
Darci Brownell (Sierra College)
Respect the game
Joe Yegge (Kirkwood CC)
Good Students can play JUCO too
Be an athlete - play other sports
5 things I wish I could communicate directly to every travel ball PARENT...
Tim Walton (Florida)
Parents, we are watching you
Let the kids play - take the pressure off them
Role players are a priority
Understand what you can afford - there are not a lot of full scholarships
Understand what an offer means
What are kids goals
Can your athlete handle the school work
Understand how a scholarship works - semester to semester, year to year
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Education kids on how to make a call to a college coach - have a plan. One word answers are not optimal
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
The way your athlete communicates to you matters - we are watching
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport)
Schools are in the process of eliminating - don't give us a reason to eliminate you
We want to see athletes fail - and how they react after they fail
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist)
NAIA has no recruiting rules so the coaches can talk to athletes and parents at any time
We'll go anywhere we need to, to see recruit athletes.
Joe Yegge (Kirkwood CC)
Watch your spend on camps/clinics. Consider choices carefully
5 things I would like to tell every CLUB COACH...
Tim Walton (Florida)
Trust and relationship between club coach and college coach matters
A response to an email does not mean we are recruiting a kid
College Coaches want to provide a good experience
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Know the game and recruiting rules
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
Let the kids choose their school - avoid steering them
Follow up with your kids when they go off to college - stay interested in your kids
Understand NCAA rules
Be honest with kids and us
Randy Simkins (Dixie State)
Teach your athletes "why" so they can take ownership of their actions in the game - NO Robots
Let catchers run
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport)
There is a big gap between travel ball, high school and college
Practice more - work on your skills
Continue to get better yourself
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist)
Help your kids evaluate all levels of college ball
Watch all level of ball so you know what each level looks like
Darci Brownell (Sierra College)
Don't forget about Cal JC
There is a place for every athlete
We keep getting robots - let your athletes think for themselves and think the game
Athletes are arriving in college unprepared... how are they unprepared?
Tim Walton (Florida)
Need to understand Arm Care
Life skills are lacking
Poor base runners and bunters
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Athletes don't know what it means to work hard
Athletes don't know what it means to practice
They struggle to coach themselves
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
Instincts are lacking
Don't understand game management
Club coaches need to do a better job teaching the game
Randy Simkins (Dixie State)
Teach them how to fail and how to recover
Teach them how to be a role player
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport)
Not ready for academic load
Be ready to seek help with studies
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist)
Time management
Darci Brownell (Sierra College)
Understand the pace of practice
Time management is a challenge
Arm Care
Joe Yegge (Kirkwood CC)
Not ready for practice
Like skills
Courtesy & Manners
How do we decide which showcases/tournaments to attend?
Tim Walton (Florida)
We go where our players are
Seek the best teams against the best teams
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
We'll go where ever the kids we are recruiting go
Advice on recruiting videos...
Tim Walton (Florida)
We can find a player on video
Keep it short
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Keep them short
Used to eliminate athletes
Can find athletes via video
The last day of the NFCA Convention held on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014 in Las Vegas included a very interesting and informative three-hour "Travel Ball Curriculum" panel with college coaches at every level.
The coaches panel included:
Tim Walton (Florida)
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
Randy Simkins (Dixie State, DII)
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport, DIII)
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist, NAIA)
Darci Brownell (Sierra College, CAL JC)
Joe Yegge (Kirkwood CC, JUCO DII)
Kevin Shelton, the head of the Texas Glory organization, was honored as the Travel Ball Coach of the Year during the convention and was the moderator for the panel. He did a great job in asking questions relevant to the interaction between club players and coaches and college coaches.
Kevin Shelton moderated the Travel Ball Curriculum panel also took notes of what the speakers said and below are the summarized answers to Kevin's questions.
He explains, "Each coach had an opportunity to offer their thoughts. It is important to note that the questions were not answered in the same order and coaches were not redundant so if a point of view had been expressed by every coach, it may not have been explicitly reiterated, but it does not mean they did not share a point of view. It was a free flow of ideas - try to read it in the context that it is provided - and, primarily, is new information for those who need it and amplifying info for the more experienced coaches."
Here are the some of the questions with the summarized answers:
5 things I wish I could communicate directly to every travel ball PLAYER...
Tim Walton (Florida)
Your freshman year of HS matters - take care of your grades
Social Media Matters - be careful
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
D1 Schools have 12 scholarships - not everyone is on a full ride
There are lots of other places to get aid - look for it
Study hard - good grades optimizes your options for athletic scholarships
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
Go See watch college Games - All levels
Find a good fit - intersection of your needs, abilities and program fit
Avoid the generic email
Randy Simkins (Dixie State)
50/10/5
It's the Kids job to communicate
Teach the kids how to play the game
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport)
Find a good fit
Visit lots of schools
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist)
Don't Forget the non D1 Schools - there are lots levels out there
Look for an academic fit
Darci Brownell (Sierra College)
Respect the game
Joe Yegge (Kirkwood CC)
Good Students can play JUCO too
Be an athlete - play other sports
5 things I wish I could communicate directly to every travel ball PARENT...
Tim Walton (Florida)
Parents, we are watching you
Let the kids play - take the pressure off them
Role players are a priority
Understand what you can afford - there are not a lot of full scholarships
Understand what an offer means
What are kids goals
Can your athlete handle the school work
Understand how a scholarship works - semester to semester, year to year
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Education kids on how to make a call to a college coach - have a plan. One word answers are not optimal
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
The way your athlete communicates to you matters - we are watching
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport)
Schools are in the process of eliminating - don't give us a reason to eliminate you
We want to see athletes fail - and how they react after they fail
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist)
NAIA has no recruiting rules so the coaches can talk to athletes and parents at any time
We'll go anywhere we need to, to see recruit athletes.
Joe Yegge (Kirkwood CC)
Watch your spend on camps/clinics. Consider choices carefully
5 things I would like to tell every CLUB COACH...
Tim Walton (Florida)
Trust and relationship between club coach and college coach matters
A response to an email does not mean we are recruiting a kid
College Coaches want to provide a good experience
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Know the game and recruiting rules
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
Let the kids choose their school - avoid steering them
Follow up with your kids when they go off to college - stay interested in your kids
Understand NCAA rules
Be honest with kids and us
Randy Simkins (Dixie State)
Teach your athletes "why" so they can take ownership of their actions in the game - NO Robots
Let catchers run
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport)
There is a big gap between travel ball, high school and college
Practice more - work on your skills
Continue to get better yourself
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist)
Help your kids evaluate all levels of college ball
Watch all level of ball so you know what each level looks like
Darci Brownell (Sierra College)
Don't forget about Cal JC
There is a place for every athlete
We keep getting robots - let your athletes think for themselves and think the game
Athletes are arriving in college unprepared... how are they unprepared?
Tim Walton (Florida)
Need to understand Arm Care
Life skills are lacking
Poor base runners and bunters
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Athletes don't know what it means to work hard
Athletes don't know what it means to practice
They struggle to coach themselves
Larissa Anderson (Hofstra)
Instincts are lacking
Don't understand game management
Club coaches need to do a better job teaching the game
Randy Simkins (Dixie State)
Teach them how to fail and how to recover
Teach them how to be a role player
Keith Parr (Christopher Newport)
Not ready for academic load
Be ready to seek help with studies
Pat Reardon (Central Methodist)
Time management
Darci Brownell (Sierra College)
Understand the pace of practice
Time management is a challenge
Arm Care
Joe Yegge (Kirkwood CC)
Not ready for practice
Like skills
Courtesy & Manners
How do we decide which showcases/tournaments to attend?
Tim Walton (Florida)
We go where our players are
Seek the best teams against the best teams
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
We'll go where ever the kids we are recruiting go
Advice on recruiting videos...
Tim Walton (Florida)
We can find a player on video
Keep it short
Jen McIntyre (UConn)
Keep them short
Used to eliminate athletes
Can find athletes via video
