I've often wondered if College Coaches care about team jumpers....

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

Its something I’ve thought about however in full disclosure, Im paranoid with things like that. Not healthy.

DD had to move up to 14u this year and team decided to stay down. She’s decided to give school sports a go as well as commit to Softball fully and this new team has an excellent coaching staff and quite a bit of talent. Really wanting this to be the spot until she graduates, most of that however is outside of my control.

 

[bmakj]

jumping teams a lot is a lot different than changing jobs (and even for jobs, there could be reasons, such as company went out of business, downsized, had to make geographic move for spouse's job, etc.)

TB is a one season at a time commitment really. we have only ever left one team after the fall (coach became complete arsehole once they started losing). we have left teams for birth year reasons twice now, playing time once, and just not right fit for a variety of reasons once. and just in case it becomes important, I have kept a running diary of the reasons (multiple in some cases) we left each team, just in case DD changes her mind and wants to play college ball (right not not a priority for her) and a coach ever asked. she is finally joining a team that is composed of only her birth year, and we are all hoping the merry go around has finally stopped.

 

[Vertigo]

Interestingly enough, my dd’s first call with her future college coach included asking the question as to why she had left her previous team (coach saw the team listed on her profile). Not sure where that question was leading but when dd told the coach that her current team was dissolving as they were graduating 8 seniors the coach said that she definitely understood moving to a new team in that instance.

 

[Strike2]

I don't think that moving teams for good and explainable reasons is any sort of disqualifier, but a good player on the same good team for a number of years as a teenager signals stability and consistency.

Coaches at all levels are looking for talent, but the better coaches and programs don't have trouble finding that, so they can be more selective. I've seen talented but difficult kids play themselves onto the fringes of travel ball and, eventually, they can't find a team. Even DD's HC has passed on good players because of problems he was aware of, or those that ACs or players told him about. It's not unreasonable to believe that college coaches are any different. Unlike travel where you can cut someone with no consequence, bringing a cancer to your college team is potentially a waste of scarce scholarship resources.

 

[FP26]

Last year during the team's Florida trip I had a chance to speak with DD's coach. She mentioned that she heard I was a travel coach and started asking me some questions. Among other things I talked about how we managed our team. She was impressed with the low turnover level and stated that team hopping is a pet peeve of hers. She went on to say that there was a recent recruit she was interested in that she removed from her list because of some things she had heard, including team hopping. I cannot say it is a common concern among college coaches, and I am sure most would still take the most talented players they can get. But I also wouldn't say it is never considered.

A general rule to consider is that college recruiting isn't a matter of climbing the list as much as it is a battle of attrition. With the exception of the top 1%, there is a great deal of overlap with talent. In many cases the coach is looking for a reason to cross people off the list in order to narrow the search. My advice is to always try to avoid activity that would get your name crossed off.

 

[GoRight]

I'm happy to hear this! I always suspected that it didn't matter but after seeing that message I began to wonder. Good feedback!

Trust me. It doesn’t matter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[clarity]

I'd be more concerned about a HS change than a travel team change.

 

[Nimrod]

Some college coaches are the reason for team hopping. My DD is a former college commit whose coach advised her to find a new team and helped set it up. This was between seasons, btw. Not a mid-season jump.

 

[BT3100]

Good conversation
Seems like more coaches care than I thought

 

[radness]

Asking why did you leave your last team..should have a short answer!

Different than asking how many travel teams have you been on.

This question
When putting together your daughter's softball resume with her biography to send to colleges,
*will you include every travel team she has been on?
Even if it was only for a month?