So, my DD also has aspirations to play at the college level. She attend every highschool open gym/ workouts since the 7th grade leading up to first year of school ball as a freshman. The middle school didn't have a team.So travel filled up that space anyways. So last spring was her freshman season. Let's just say it was a total train wreck as far as coaching and coaching decisions or the lack there of. She was a upset she didn't make the varsity team which is understandable. She knew she worked and trained hard but in small towns its who you know etc. Coaching was based on who played the year before, whose parents he knew is what decided who made varsity and who didn't. So I went and watched some practices to see what the deal was and my mind was blown! Mind you this is a 2 hr practice with no hitting of any kind nor any positional work of any kind. Practice consisted of coach lining everyone who wasn't a defensive starter either as runners or outfielders. Then he hits popups and grounders to them for 2 hrs.No situational defense nor situational offense/hitting. Zero scrimmages between VARSITY and JV. Pitchers never threw a pitch in practice warmed there arms up then sat in the dugout for rest of practice.This went on the entire season Luckily the girls that played travel ball take lessons and so on were still seeing it. But the ones that didn't do any of the travel or lessons stats don't lie. The girls that "earned" a VARSITY letter. Five of the starters had 16 strikeouts or more a piece and sub .250 or lower batting averages. I was so put off by his lack of coaching ability after the VARSITY game I watched I didn't go to another one I knew i would've ended up saying something to him about it and ask why are these girls still starting because their poor play doesn't merit it. My DD was fed up with it and wanted to quit because of the coaching shortcomings and inconsistent way the he coached. She has a good softball IQ and would ask questions about why they would do certain things because it didn't make sense to her. Noone was crashing on bunt coverages, outfielders were told any ball hit in the grass goes all the way home no matter what. Infielders were told not to go out for cutoffs because it was a waste of time. All infield hit balls were to go straight to 1B no matter the situation. No double play ball attempts he said its just a chance to make an error. She said to him i have been taught and coached not to do it that way. . His answer to those questions were this isn't travel ball! That's not how we play highschool softball. She asked why not? So he decided he needed to berate her in front of her teammates Said all you travel ball players listen up keep your travel team gimmicks and plays on that team dont bring them here. You will do it like we coach it not the other way around this isn't your travel team get over it. I then contacted DD's recruiting coach and asked if not playing school ball would impact her chances of playing in college. Because she wanted to quit. She told us that in today's recruiting of fastpitch players that school ball is moot because of all the games they play, the videos, camps the measurable camps during the winter, late spring and summer season is all they need.. Recruiters aren't showing up at school ball games to watch players. She said they just don't have the time nor the means to travel around the country to school ball games. Unless you play at 5A / D1 highschool with a great program and D1 talent on it.With that being said she did say that you had better have a real good reason why you aren't playing for your school team Because not liking the coach or if your team is terrible is not a good enough reason to not play school ball. It's to have school pride win some ball games with whatever the roster allows you to and to have fun. Because you get players on the team that may have never played or dont play travel. They just want to play for their school and be a part of a team make some friends that they might not othereise associate with. Also to understand what your daughters skill level is very important . All college softball programs want the best athletes they can get who wouldn't. The smaller D2 schools the D3's NAIA's JUCO's get the athletes they want and need to have a successful winning program.. But they are looking for a different kind of player. They still want the best player/athlete they can get but a more well rounded STUDENT first ATHLETE second . A humble, likeable, coachable, team player.with a team first me second attitude.Who will play hard and compete to the very end regardless of the score or the situation in front of them. They want players who can play multiple positions if need be because she is worth more to that program than the girl who doesnt. Sorry for rambling school ball was terrible have a whole new staff for the upcoming season optimistic
. Most of the comments about HS ball not having value & no recruiting happens at the HS level just doesn't fit for most of the kids in my state. Many of the top players to come out of Iowa played HS ball. Paige Lowary won state titles for Dallas-Center Grimes. Amber Fiser won state titles for Benton Community. Kendyl Lindaman played for Ankeny High School. The list goes on & on. This doesn't even include the hundreds of kids that play D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO.
