Junior Olympic Team

[softball_chic_12]

I read about a girl from AZ that pitched amazing and is now headed to ASU and is on the Junior Olympic. After doing a little research I read that invitations were sent out to a number of girls and the girls contacted saying they were interested. And after workouts and stuff they will choose which will be on the Junior Olympic Team. But is there any other way to get them to notice you? Like would it be possible for you to contact them and tell them you're interested? or have them recommend a camp or something for you to go to and they will look at you there? I figured someone on this forum would be better informed about this stuff than I am.

 

[fastpitch]

Athletes head to Chula Vista for USA Softball Junior Women?s National Team tryouts | News | USA Softball

They selected 42 girls to try out. From that they pick 17 or 18 girls. To be selected to even try out it looks like you need to be seen at ASA national tournaments, get a recommendation from college coaches, high school coaches and ASA Junior olympic coaches. Most girls selected to try out are already committed to D1 schools.

"The 42 participants were selected by the USA Softball Women’s National Team Selection Committee from the USA Softball Junior National Team player pool. The player pool is made up of athletes that have been identified by WNTSC as an elite softball player in the appropriate age group. Athletes that are identified come from observations at the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Junior National Tournaments, recommendations from college coaches, high school coaches and ASA Junior Olympic (JO) Coaches.

To be eligible for selection to the 2010 USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team, athletes had to meet the ISF age requirements for the 18-Under event in Colombia and the 19-Under event in South Africa by having been born January 1, 1992, or later"

 

[starsnuffer]

Play for a good travel ball team that puts individual development and showcasing talent in front of scouts over trophies. Practice hard, play hard, never stop learning. Your sophomore year in HS, start sending out "skills dvds" to college coaches. The coach/manager of before mentioned travel ball team will have an email list for you to use to this end. You'll invite them to come see you at showcase tournaments. They will come, you will show them how good you are (during your warmup, behavior between games, and other times when you don't think they're looking, real play in actual games is inconsequential).

Here's a decent video of a college coach explaining it: Episode 95 – Recruiting Tips Panel From The NFCA Convention | The Fastpitch Softball Video TV Show

I realize that this is for college, not necessarily the junior olympic team, but in all reality it's the same group of people you'll be trying to impress. You won't "get them to notice you". You'll MAKE them notice you by how amazing you are and the people you know who can tell them about it.

-W