LOTS of Coaches out recruiting at games!

[Orange Socks]

There is always a domino effect. Example: Mid major pitcher last minute decomitts before signing, goes up to P5 school. Now mid major needs to find a pitcher. Mid major gets a JUCO player, Juco now needs a pitcher, and so on and so forth. Every fall I look at rosters where I expect certain players to go and they never end up on the roster. Lots of reasons: Parents can't afford, boyfriend, too hard, demanding coach, school schedule becomes more important, fail a class, and get pregnant! The transfer portal might play a part in this too. There is always $$$ set aside for a player that was overlooked, but she will have to be really good...depending on the program.

Last week I had a meeting with a customer who had a new kid in charge of the procurement for their warehouse. As usual I get chit chattin', where ya from lines of questioning. He says Pearland. (You know I am gonna find a way to talk about softball) I say I know a bunch of softballers who came through there and start throwing out some names and then he says, his sister played there. I know her name and She played for an organization my DD played for but in the 16U division at the time. Fast slapper, OF who played a fall for a team in the Big12. But I never saw her on the spring roster. He told me because her tuition was being taken care of through the GI Bill she had to maintain a certain GPA. He said that the coaches weren't too concerned about that and softball was more important because that's why she is there. That's what her big brother told me. How much was true? Did she really just quit, because it was too difficult (I heard that coach was loco anyway) and just use that as an excuse? How many stories have you heard?, if I wouldn't have hurt my knee I could have been...The coach didn't like me....blah blah. Lots of reasons.

 

[CrazyNani]

I'm a relative newbie to this, but how do you spot a college coach? Are they walking around with radar guns and clipboards? Are they wearing their school's logos?
Also, what would these coaches expect to see from a 14-16 year old that could possibly predict where they'll be in 2 -3 years? We have girls that are really good one year with supportive parents, who then decide they prefer dance or volley ball the next year.

 

[ang2bmd]

I'm a relative newbie to this, but how do you spot a college coach? Are they walking around with radar guns and clipboards? Are they wearing their school's logos?
Also, what would these coaches expect to see from a 14-16 year old that could possibly predict where they'll be in 2 -3 years? We have girls that are really good one year with supportive parents, who then decide they prefer dance or volley ball the next year.

Yes they have their college gear on and are often carrying clip boards, folders etc. Radar guns are common. The kids they're watching at 14-16yrs old for the most part know exactly where they want to be in 2-3 yrs. There are lots of levels of softball being played. I'm talking about the absolute best teams in the country not local travel teams

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[docnsx01]

Yes they have their college gear on and are often carrying clip boards, folders etc. Radar guns are common. The kids they're watching at 14-16yrs old for the most part know exactly where they want to be in 2-3 yrs. There are lots of levels of softball being played. I'm talking about the absolute best teams in the country not local travel teams

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just be careful about the college gear lol. I was at a tourney with my younger daughter and was wearing a t-shirt and hat from university miami where my other child goes just minding my business and watching a game. the team recruiter asks the parent infant of me to move so I can see . he tells them " I am coach can't you see"after he leaves I tell them im a parent and there is no softball program at univ miami.. I would mostly look at the clipboard or folder portfolio that has all the teams printouts they have gathered..but mostly I would look at the bag they carried to see if embroidered or hast travel tags matching the school .. you will be an expert at it as time goes by..best of luck to your daughter

 

[_MIA_]

The coaches are the ones not yelling at umpires, not telling Suzy to keep her eye on the ball and not telling the person next to them that the coach is an idiot for not batting Suzy cleanup....in other words not annoying as he%*

 

[Orange Socks]

I'm a relative newbie to this, but how do you spot a college coach? Are they walking around with radar guns and clipboards? Are they wearing their school's logos?
Also, what would these coaches expect to see from a 14-16 year old that could possibly predict where they'll be in 2 -3 years? We have girls that are really good one year with supportive parents, who then decide they prefer dance or volley ball the next year.

The college coaches are pretty easily to spot in the wild. Usually wearing easily identifiable college gear and the of course the backpack.

We had a kid that was committed to Baylor and of course the dad wore his BU gear every weekend. From far away you might think he looked like Glenn Moore. Tall, same body type. He was approached by several team recruiting coordinators with team flyers in hand. Hey Coach Moore, here is our team flyer....Uh wait. Sorry 'bout that.

 

[Vertigo]

As a recruiting coordinator for our team, I’ve mistaken parents decked out in full school gear for a coach - especially if they are sitting behind the backstop (not sure why they sit there at a showcase). Typically it’s the backpack and clipboard that clue me in.

Had many coaches from all divisions at our showcase this week. Nice to be able to get the girls seen again!

 

[Shiloh]

Typically it’s the backpack and clipboard that clue me in.

Yep. Backpack + clipboard.
And they typically travel in packs.

For instance we had UCLA, Oregon, Cal, Indiana, Northwestern, and UCSD at one of our recent games checking out a couple of our 2022s and 2023s.

We've also had in the past Williams, Amherst, NYU, Pomona, VA Wesleyan, and Carnegie Mellon watch one of our games simultaneously. But they weren’t there when the D1s were there and visa versa. And if both groups were there at the same time they were looking at different players.

In other words, players get sorted pretty quickly, by the TB coaches. More talented players are recruited earlier; less talented players are recruited later. But ultimately there’s a place for everyone to play in college.

Quick funny story - one time I was getting gas between games and wound up chatting between the pumps with the head coach of a prominent TB team we had played the day before. He was very complimentary of my DDs pitching performance during that game and wound up taking down her contact info to pass along to college coaches since his pitchers were all already committed. It was super nice of him; I couldn’t believe my luck.

You never know where your lucky break might come from. Stay open-minded and flexible.

 

[Chris8]

just be careful about the college gear lol. I was at a tourney with my younger daughter and was wearing a t-shirt and hat from university miami where my other child goes just minding my business and watching a game. the team recruiter asks the parent infant of me to move so I can see . he tells them " I am coach can't you see"after he leaves I tell them im a parent and there is no softball program at univ miami.. I would mostly look at the clipboard or folder portfolio that has all the teams printouts they have gathered..but mostly I would look at the bag they carried to see if embroidered or hast travel tags matching the school .. you will be an expert at it as time goes by..best of luck to your daughter

THIS^^^^

When my DD was 12U our team took care of concessions and field work for a TC tournament here. These were two HS fields and away from the Main complexes. I happened to be wearing my Oregon State BASEBALL shirt and OSU National Championship hat ( BASEBALL). A mom on a team starts chatting me up and then asks what positions I'm looking for.........I didn't get it at first. Our 12U team was full....I told her I had a full team....she then asked why I was there scouting her DD's team. UMMMMM Maam....we're the field crew and concessions folks. She told me she thought I was from Oregon State......

So for fun after that we'd go take a flier from each team. You could feel the TENSION from parents who thought a college coach was watching.

Now we did have a couple coaches come and watch....some were in school colors and some weren't. We found out they were coaches because they chatted up our 12u girls who were busting their butts for the tournament.

 

[Schmick's Gloves]

just be careful about the college gear lol. I was at a tourney with my younger daughter and was wearing a t-shirt and hat from university miami where my other child goes just minding my business and watching a game. the team recruiter asks the parent infant of me to move so I can see . he tells them " I am coach can't you see"after he leaves I tell them im a parent and there is no softball program at univ miami.. I would mostly look at the clipboard or folder portfolio that has all the teams printouts they have gathered..but mostly I would look at the bag they carried to see if embroidered or hast travel tags matching the school .. you will be an expert at it as time goes by..best of luck to your daughter

They didn't know Miami doesn't play softball?
I am almost always wearing USC hat or shirt or something, never had that issue at softball events because everyone knows USC doesn't softball

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