Help -tough choices!

[shannz]

My daughter has been pitching (she is the #1 according to the coach) on a 18 Gold Team that has qualified for Nationals twice and she is a now a Junior. We recently went to a pitching clinic and got talking to a top ranked 16 gold team. The 16 Gold Team has been ranked in the top 25 in the country with 4 signed to D1 schools. The coach claims that she has a better chance at 16U at the right tournaments and because of their name. 18 Gold has 5 pitchers three younger vs two on the 16 U team. She is currently being scouted heavily by four D2 coaches all around the US. Should we try for D1 or is it really to late? She throws 64 and has some could off speed stuff. What do you think? And she does have a 4.0 for grades.
Shannz

 

[Sparky Guy]

Fabricated???

 

[David Carter]

With 5 pitchers on the Gold team what kind of circle time is she getting or expecting to get? does she play other positions or is she strictly looking to pitch? On the other hand how many pitchers does not tell the whole story if she is #1 she should be getting over a third of the time and all the pressure games, unless a college coach is at the tourney scouting one of her pitching teammates. If she is currently being scouted by 4 DII teams I would at least start seeing what DD thinks about those school are they offering a major she is interested in, what is the environment like remember getting a college education should be her number one goal and sometimes a nice DII school with a great academic program might be a better fit especially if she might be able to get some academic money as well.

I would just be leery of jumping from being the #1 pitcher on a 18 Gold team for a maybe shot at a 16U slot. As an uncommitted junior #1 pitcher on a 18U Gold team I wold think you would be the coaches number one priority to try and get committed, assuming the the coaching staff has some good contacts and works to get girls scholarships.

 

[T.J.]

I would look down the road a bit...where does she want to be after College graduation, and what school will give her the best opportunity to accomplish that? Find out what type of school she wants to actually go to (large, small, city life, close to home, far away, etc.), what she wants to major and/or minor, etc. and what schools provide her wishes. There are some great DII schools that will give her a great education & a great athletic experience too. If you're not getting any hits from DI schools then you might need to do some leg work yourself; don't just rely on your TB team. Send a video & resume to some DI coaches asking for a visit either here or there. Contact your guidance at HS and the HS coach and have them help you get some exposure and possible interviews; that's their job to do this for you! Also, don't forget to look at possible academic scholoarships too (schools give out way more academic scholarships than athletic scholarships).

Being #1 out of 5 on an 18Gold seems more impressive than a #1 out of 2 on a 16Gold. If she is pitching a lot and leading them to Nationals I don't see what's broken here.

Just my thoughts.