radness
Possibilities & Opportunities!
- Dec 13, 2019
- 7,270
- 113
✔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!