First week of college practice

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May 27, 2022
412
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Thanks for the feed back. They put everything in their phone calendar and are generally good at time management, but they are just overwhelmed.

I found out one of their friends quit…a girl they knew before college. This seemed to be very discouraging for them, but they said they won’t quit. They worked a long time to get here and they are going to see it through.

They had easy practices on Sat & Sun and went to a friends parents house to eat, so they said they feel better physically.

As some suspected, they aren’t eating and sleeping enough. I told them no later than 10:00pm the nights before 6:00 am work outs…told them to turn the phones off and just lay down and close your eyes. We’ll see if they do it.

Also learned one daughter hates the food in the cafeteria and isn’t getting enough nutrients. She went to Walmart and got some stuff for her fridge that she can eat, but I told her to get with the nutritionist and buy the frozen meals they offer and store in the freezer at the field house. I’m hoping this helps.

Hopefully they have a better week…they have a scrimmage on Sunday and one dd is going to start at pitcher, so that is something to look forward to.

again, thanks!

What level are they? I believe that NCAA is a lot more rigid on limiting the number of contact hours than NAIA.

Glad they are getting better. I know my daughter just doesn't do much besides softball and studies. If the expectations are to have a lot of free time - this isn't the way to do it. But keep the big picture in mind - 4 years of dedication to studies and softball for 40 years of professional reward. Hope they keep getting better with it!
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
Thanks for the feed back. They put everything in their phone calendar and are generally good at time management, but they are just overwhelmed.

I found out one of their friends quit…a girl they knew before college. This seemed to be very discouraging for them, but they said they won’t quit. They worked a long time to get here and they are going to see it through.

They had easy practices on Sat & Sun and went to a friends parents house to eat, so they said they feel better physically.

As some suspected, they aren’t eating and sleeping enough. I told them no later than 10:00pm the nights before 6:00 am work outs…told them to turn the phones off and just lay down and close your eyes. We’ll see if they do it.

Also learned one daughter hates the food in the cafeteria and isn’t getting enough nutrients. She went to Walmart and got some stuff for her fridge that she can eat, but I told her to get with the nutritionist and buy the frozen meals they offer and store in the freezer at the field house. I’m hoping this helps.

Hopefully they have a better week…they have a scrimmage on Sunday and one dd is going to start at pitcher, so that is something to look forward to.

again, thanks!
Excellent. Great first steps. They can do this.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Make sure they sleep. For the short time I played ball in college I treated sleep as something which was getting in the way of me becoming Ozzie Smith and Theodore von Karman..I ended up being Ozzie Osborne and Theodore Kaczynski…
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
When people say "No one tells you....how hard it is, how demanding it is, how physical it is, how, how, how..." I would say they haven't been listening. Each program will be different, but just about all of them are difficult. Players don't need to be motivated, they need to be disciplined in everything they do, or they will flush out. I posted a thread a while back titled, so you think you are prepared to play college ball? or something like that. I think families don't want to believe what other people are telling them. I have NEVER heard from a parent or player that college ball was fun or easy. DD is threatening to come down with a injury so she doesn't have to go on a 10 hour away game bus ride in the spring.

DD is a Senior and she is the last remaining player from her recruiting class and is the only one that has 3 years of experience on her team. She would hear players complain how tough practices are, and DD looks around and says huh? Thankfully, DD's TB team prepared her for a tough practice schedule. M,T,W-3 hours a day, then Weekends when no tourneys. That was tough! DD's TB coach sent lots of kids to colleges and learned what the coaches wanted from the players over the years. They practiced base running every practice, now I know why.

Some programs do not respect the players time. Players are told to show up an hour early for warmups, then the coaches show up for their 3 hour practices, and then they gotta stay another 1 hour after practice. If you are a P or C, then you have additional Bullpens, many times between classes. This is a D3 schedule.

You can do all the planning and due diligence on the college team that your DD commits to and totally believe this is the place. Coaches are awesome, players are great, schedule is perfect. But then DD gets a call 6 days after she commits from the coach telling her he is leaving. Or when you realize the coaches that you commit to are not the same coaches on campus (Jekyll and Hyde). How about when the college switches conference? Now all the away games are a flight away instead a few hours of drive time. Be flexible and resilient.

Anything that is worth it, is worth working for right? When DD graduates, I'll ask her, Was it worth it? Any regrets? I'll let y'all know what she says in May as long as she makes it through!
 
Dec 15, 2018
809
93
CT
To offer another perspective, it can be both hard AND fun.

I would not have gone through hours of practice / lifting / field maintenance / travel / conditioning / studying in van rides (sometimes on the floor of the van because it was so crowded) / tarp duty at 4am in the cold drizzle, all for essentially zero playing time for a full four years, on a team that in our best year was 20-31, if it wasn't absolutely the most fun I've ever had.

And, in case you're thinking, yeah, that was 25 years ago, it's different now...my nephew (who is on a much better team than I ever was, at an equally demanding academic program) told me the exact same thing - he is having the best time.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
Let me add: DD likes to play in games, but does not love practice. She told me once, dad I have come this far, why would I quit now. She is naturally stubborn.

As for scheduling, once she gets the syllabus for each class, she enters exams, projects, etc on a spread sheet to help her keep organized. She is way better than me.

One girl on the team(former P5 player), is not on the fall roster. I heard that she failed an engineering class in the spring, and I believe she wants to focus on her academics for the fall. 30 kids on the roster as of today with 12 new players. DD's freshman year only 17 on the roster.
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
"DD is a Senior and she is the last remaining player from her recruiting class and is the only one that has 3 years of experience on her team."

"Some programs do not respect the players time. Players are told to show up an hour early for warmups, then the coaches show up for their 3 hour practices, and then they gotta stay another 1 hour after practice. "


This ^^^^^^^ is wrong. Coaches with that low of a retention rate and that cheat the practice rules suck. And their program probably sucks too. Just guessing.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
"DD is a Senior and she is the last remaining player from her recruiting class and is the only one that has 3 years of experience on her team."

"Some programs do not respect the players time. Players are told to show up an hour early for warmups, then the coaches show up for their 3 hour practices, and then they gotta stay another 1 hour after practice. "


This ^^^^^^^ is wrong. Coaches with that low of a retention rate and that cheat the practice rules suck. And their program probably sucks too. Just guessing.
This program recently transitioned from D3 to D2. Former D3 National Champs and came close this year as a D2. You can probably figure out the team. I know several players who used to play there. I would never recommend a player go there.
 

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