It's not what you know, it's WHO the coaches know.

[WI Dad]

Right and I have so based upon what I have seen here in OK my kid would have to go play TB in another state if she wanted to go to 99% of the schools on the West or East Coast..which is obviously an option but also brings in other factors which may outweigh the connection advantage. You live in TX..TB scene isn't the same most everywhere else. Most TB orgs in the country are set up to service schools in the region..

I've seen high level teams from Oklahoma at tournanments with coahces from both those coasts there recruiting kids

 

[Strike2]

People are terrible at identifying talent.
Even the MLB takes 2-3 years after the draft to determine if a player has enough tools to make it to the big leagues. And they have unlimited resources.

Because while it's easy to see who the superstars are and who doesn't belong on the field, in the vast middle ground it is hard to distinguish one player from another. And there are *a lot* of players in that hole....my DD was certainly one.

So coaches rely on their existing relationships, and what has worked in the past to help them navigate the morass. The exception are national-level teams with a history of producing top talent, like the Corona Angels.

Direct and persistent communication, and $$$ attendance at their camps is the only way around the relationship-driven gatekeeping. Even then, no guarantee.

I don't think the jump to college softball, even D1, is as big as the jump from anywhere to MLB. To your point, it isn't the physical tools that are hard to identify. It's whether someone has the mental ability, the commitment, and can keep from getting injured along the way. One guy I know worked through the minors only to suffer a career-ending knee injury at the beginning of his first MLB season.

Spotting a talented athlete / softball player is easy. It's that jump from HS to college and immature / toxic personalities that burn coaches. A kid goes from living at home with their parents containing their worst impulses to gaining some freedom and making poor choices. They don't study enough, they socialize too much, and some discover that being hundreds of miles from home sucks. Sometimes, that best behavior at the camps and visits is a smokescreen that hides an immature work ethic that will dodge workouts and any serious effort to adjust to the college game. Perhaps they also have a talent for making everyone hate them. The personality defects that the coach couldn't see or ignored when they saw that swing arrive center-stage. In that context, it's easy to understand why so many fail to graduate playing for the team that offered that first scholarship.

 

[_MIA_]

I've seen high level teams from Oklahoma at tournanments with coahces from both those coasts there recruiting kids

Even though the post from me you quoted did make it sound like that I didn't think a kid playing TB in OK could play ball there, the point I was trying to address (poorly in that post I admit) was that if you want to go to schools outside the region, you will more than likely need to make all the connections yourself..which is fine.

 

[radness]

you will more than likely need to make all the connections yourself..which is fine.

 

[WI Dad]

Even though the post from me you quoted did make it sound like that I didn't think a kid playing TB in OK could play ball there, the point I was trying to address (poorly in that post I admit) was that if you want to go to schools outside the region, you will more than likely need to make all the connections yourself..which is fine.

I guess sometimes we read and not let our minds see the bigger picture.


Anyway on this subject about "it's about who the coach is", and there standing in the softball community, my dd played for some "high" level teams, things I know to be true

at camps jersey matters
field placement matters a ton, some college coaches dont leave those main fields, dd was on 2 different teams in successive years that went to 2 of the same larger showcases and the field placement and the college coaches at said locations was night and day
some college coaches will take kid number 14 from team 1 over kid number 1 from team 2
it has been rumored coach from high level team 1 can call certain coaches and get a kid an offer, don't get me wrong when this happens player is what coaches says before coach puts his/her rep on the line

In my expirence it really does matter who you play for, what tournaments they are playing, and there field placement, yes outliers happen from team 2 but guess what happens when they do, a majority of time they then get moved from team 2 over to team 1 as that is what the college coach wants, I have seen in one instance a kid refuse and college (P5) was okay with that, I guess each situation is different.

There is a trade off playing for 'national level" teams, the ones that do it right showcase games kid might only see 2 at bats (the right ones bat everyone and rotate players)
there might be some heartache involved on national teams (most of those kids on the bench can start on a high percentage of other teams)
have to know when to hold em and fold em
the politics can be real at times

Not all teams who say they are national teams are truly national teams, and the coaches don't have all the connections they like to act like they do have. It hurts my heart seeing parents go all in on some of those organizations when I know from experience that organization really plays a more regional schedule and that coach really doesn't have that pull they like to walk around and puff there chest out like they do.

Sorry went on a little rant here lol

 

[_MIA_]

I guess sometimes we read and not let our minds see the bigger picture.


Anyway on this subject about "it's about who the coach is", and there standing in the softball community, my dd played for some "high" level teams, things I know to be true

at camps jersey matters
field placement matters a ton, some college coaches dont leave those main fields, dd was on 2 different teams in successive years that went to 2 of the same larger showcases and the field placement and the college coaches at said locations was night and day
some college coaches will take kid number 14 from team 1 over kid number 1 from team 2
it has been rumored coach from high level team 1 can call certain coaches and get a kid an offer, don't get me wrong when this happens player is what coaches says before coach puts his/her rep on the line

In my expirence it really does matter who you play for, what tournaments they are playing, and there field placement, yes outliers happen from team 2 but guess what happens when they do, a majority of time they then get moved from team 2 over to team 1 as that is what the college coach wants, I have seen in one instance a kid refuse and college (P5) was okay with that, I guess each situation is different.

There is a trade off playing for 'national level" teams, the ones that do it right showcase games kid might only see 2 at bats (the right ones bat everyone and rotate players)
there might be some heartache involved on national teams (most of those kids on the bench can start on a high percentage of other teams)
have to know when to hold em and fold em
the politics can be real at times

Not all teams who say they are national teams are truly national teams, and the coaches don't have all the connections they like to act like they do have. It hurts my heart seeing parents go all in on some of those organizations when I know from experience that organization really plays a more regional schedule and that coach really doesn't have that pull they like to walk around and puff there chest out like they do.

Sorry went on a little rant here lol

Don't disagree with much of this...again I was only addressing the College Coach to TB Coach/org head connection thing as it was laid out in the OP. Playing good competition on the right fields and having an org which is highly regarded is important. However what I was saying is that even if an Org has this going for them, if an Org's history shows they put kids in Regional schools (for whatever reason..could be all the kids just want to go to school in that region) that is going to inherently limit the sort of reach the TB Coaches/Org heads have in terms of contacts outside of their region. Those contacts have to be fostered in some way and while there are obviously other ways of doing it, I would think sending kids to programs is probably a main way that it happens.

 

[radness]

What is the % of players that go D1 vs. Private D3 D2?

Must be a substanial difference in spots available on college rosters.

D1 hopeful players may have to be more selective on what events they attend.

Around so cal
TCS & PGF get the same college attention.

But
Usa preps does not get the D1 crowd...atleast not noticeably.

 

[Lemond]

it has been rumored coach from high level team 1 can call certain coaches and get a kid an offer, don't get me wrong when this happens player is what coaches says before coach puts his/her rep on the line

At a coaching clinic about 3 yrs ago, three D1 P5 coaches all agreed that they will give every coach one opportunity to consider a prospect they are promoting. If that prospect is of a caliber that was worth their time, they get another chance. If not, they go to the spam folder for eternity.

 

[Orange Socks]

At a coaching clinic about 3 yrs ago, three D1 P5 coaches all agreed that they will give every coach one opportunity to consider a prospect they are promoting. If that prospect is of a caliber that was worth their time, they get another chance. If not, they go to the spam folder for eternity.

Fool me once...you know the rest of the story.

I was speaking with an Asst coach (passed away recently) and he said that almost ALL coaches have any no idea who is a good fit for their program. Sounds like he's been fooled a few times. This is what I mean, when I have said some players "trick" their way onto teams. You know those head scratcher kids that you wonder how they got verballed to certain programs?

 

[WI Dad]

At a coaching clinic about 3 yrs ago, three D1 P5 coaches all agreed that they will give every coach one opportunity to consider a prospect they are promoting. If that prospect is of a caliber that was worth their time, they get another chance. If not, they go to the spam folder for eternity.

I kind of cut that off the ending is that the travel coach can get kids offers without college coach even seeing them play