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Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
While there are certainly plenty of cases where a scholarship will draw a player to a school that might not been one of their primary targets, for many of them, that's pretty much the goal - get softball to pay for college. There are also plenty cases where kids pick out-of-state schools because of a specific academic program...and they also play softball for that school.

As for North Dakota...My friend's DD at ND isn't a college athlete. She chose ND for reasons unrelated to being offered a spot on a team or an athletic scholarship. Only 1 of her 2 sisters stayed in So Cal for college, as well.

Sure IF all the So Cal girls stayed local, they would have top-level teams very year. However, life doesn't work that way. The reality you seem unable to accept is that some people - quite a lot, actually - have a preference to go to college besides where they grew up. It's a fact. Deal with it. Besides, there aren't enough roster spots available in So Cal for all the talented players in the area.

I agree with Eric F. In fact, the entire line of logic seems faulty to me. As people mature, they develop different interests and reasons for doing things. My nephew decided that he wanted to go to college in Pa (He attended Penn State, which is my alma mater, so I was pretty happy with his choice :)). But before he graduated he knew that he wanted to move out of state for his professional career. He now lives in North Carolina and is doing very well for himself. My daughter is attending a college in PA (private school), but also intends to move out of state after graduation. Personally, I have family members scattered all over the country. If the "staying local" premise was true, it should work that way even beyond college, but it clearly doesn't.
 

J.Galt

Banned
Feb 8, 2019
135
28
UCI, Pepperdine, USC start programs and that's 3 more D1 programs keeping another 70 girls home.

I understand kids going to school in other states because they want to focus their studies and extra activities in what those other states have to offer. If you live in Mississippi and want to climb mountains, you leave Mississippi because there are no mountains there. Want to study culinary and hospitality, you go to UNLV.
These girls want to play softball, the best place for softball in the country is Southern California.
Bring all the best coaches from So Cal home to So Cal and keep all of the best players from So Cal in So Cal at So Cal schools and then stack the national championships up with all of these girls playing at home for their towns and families instead of representing other states and their schools when those states had nothing to do with developing the talent
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
UCI, Pepperdine, USC start programs and that's 3 more D1 programs keeping another 70 girls home.

I understand kids going to school in other states because they want to focus their studies and extra activities in what those other states have to offer. If you live in Mississippi and want to climb mountains, you leave Mississippi because there are no mountains there. Want to study culinary and hospitality, you go to UNLV.
These girls want to play softball, the best place for softball in the country is Southern California.
Bring all the best coaches from So Cal home to So Cal and keep all of the best players from So Cal in So Cal at So Cal schools and then stack the national championships up with all of these girls playing at home for their towns and families instead of representing other states and their schools when those states had nothing to do with developing the talent

You're completely missing - or unwilling to admit - the fact that a whole lot of these girls don't WANT to stay local. Not even So Cal softball girls.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
UCI, Pepperdine, USC start programs and that's 3 more D1 programs keeping another 70 girls home.

I understand kids going to school in other states because they want to focus their studies and extra activities in what those other states have to offer. If you live in Mississippi and want to climb mountains, you leave Mississippi because there are no mountains there. Want to study culinary and hospitality, you go to UNLV.
These girls want to play softball, the best place for softball in the country is Southern California.
Bring all the best coaches from So Cal home to So Cal and keep all of the best players from So Cal in So Cal at So Cal schools and then stack the national championships up with all of these girls playing at home for their towns and families instead of representing other states and their schools when those states had nothing to do with developing the talent

I realize there are some schools in Cali that don't have programs. I do not know their reasoning for that, so I cannot make an educated comment. But there are other California players that have chosen to play elsewhere anyway. DD's favorite player is Amanda Lorenz. She's a Cali girl but plays at UF. Even if the schools you have listed had programs, I think she would be at UF anyway. Personally I don't see it as a problem, so it doesn't need to be corrected. Free choice is a good thing.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
The California girls at North Dakota went there because the school had a team and a local pool void of talent.
Those girls decided that a scholarship to play out of state is better than paying to hope to walk on instate.
It's the same all across the country, coaches and players from California fill the rosters and staffs everywhere. Meanwhile, schools in California get away with not fielding programs, they say it's because of lack of interest or not enough interest. If all of the California coaches and players stayed in California, those schools would have the interest and ability to immediately field contending teams.

Simply being from California doesn’t mean a player is a stud. For several years North Dakota had a roster full of California kids that was still void of talent. UND softball isn’t, or wasn’t, fully funded so they weren’t all there for the scholarships.

It could have been anything that lured them to Grand Forks. It’s a nice sized city that’s home to an Air Force base yet it still has that small town feel. They have a great nursing program and one of the top aviation programs in the country. If a kid is a hockey fan, there’s no place better to be than “the Ralph” to watch a game. Many kids just want to get away and who knows what they might find appealing about a campus. I’m sure some are there solely for the softball, but it certainly isn’t all of them.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
It could have been anything that lured them to Grand Forks. It’s a nice sized city that’s home to an Air Force base yet it still has that small town feel. They have a great nursing program and one of the top aviation programs in the country. If a kid is a hockey fan, there’s no place better to be than “the Ralph” to watch a game. Many kids just want to get away and who knows what they might find appealing about a campus. I’m sure some are there solely for the softball, but it certainly isn’t all of them.

This (bold) is one of the reasons why my friend's DD chose the school.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
This (bold) is one of the reasons why my friend's DD chose the school.

I remember another post where people thought it was silly to pick a school based on if they had a football team. With how hard student athletes work any type of recreation they're passionate about is important. Unless it's boys. Boys are a big no-no.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
I remember another post where people thought it was silly to pick a school based on if they had a football team. With how hard student athletes work any type of recreation they're passionate about is important. Unless it's boys. Boys are a big no-no.

That was actually a factor in DD's decision. Ultimately she chose a school without a football team because all of the other factors outweighed it. But it was a criteria on the initial list she created. Her high school is consistently around very late in the state playoffs, with multiple state championships, so football has been a very important recreational activity for her over the years.
 
Feb 17, 2015
318
18
USA
UCI, Pepperdine, USC start programs and that's 3 more D1 programs keeping another 70 girls home.

I understand kids going to school in other states because they want to focus their studies and extra activities in what those other states have to offer. If you live in Mississippi and want to climb mountains, you leave Mississippi because there are no mountains there. Want to study culinary and hospitality, you go to UNLV.
These girls want to play softball, the best place for softball in the country is Southern California.
Bring all the best coaches from So Cal home to So Cal and keep all of the best players from So Cal in So Cal at So Cal schools and then stack the national championships up with all of these girls playing at home for their towns and families instead of representing other states and their schools when those states had nothing to do with developing the talent

Hey man, I get you So Cal is great. I grew up in Chula Vista. Other than the weather my home state is not a great place. Over populated, high taxes, horrible politics, etc. I get that 20 years ago California was a hotbed for softball. The great year round weather kind of helped that out. Once softball started to become more mainstream the rest of the country has started to catch up. The southeast is now a hot bed for softball and states like Georgia, Florida and Texas have caught up. The Midwest and east coast have started to produce some good players too. States like Oklahoma and Iowa are not far behind. In my opinion the premier softball conference has been the SEC over the last 10 years. I looked at all 13 rosters in the SEC. The players of non California states was 293 to 46 Cali girls. Georgia, Florida and Alabama are hotbeds for great players. But you also have to realize that a lot of this is due to colleges recruiting in their geographical areas and the recruiting ties they have with area travel teams. Arkansas led with 10 Cali players but most had 5 or less on rosters of 20+ players. Alabama and Kentucky have 0 Cali players. The Pac 12 is dominated by Cali players and hasn't showed up since 2011.
The fact that Cali produces a lot of players could also be translated to the population of the state. Overall Softball has taken off and there are good players from all over. There appears to be a lot of players from Cali on rosters all over but when you're the most populated state with great weather that's to be expected. The PAC 12 hasn't shown up in the WCS in the last 8 years and will be challenged going forward with players dominating college softball from states other than California
 
Last edited:

J.Galt

Banned
Feb 8, 2019
135
28
I realize there are some schools in Cali that don't have programs. I do not know their reasoning for that, so I cannot make an educated comment. But there are other California players that have chosen to play elsewhere anyway. DD's favorite player is Amanda Lorenz. She's a Cali girl but plays at UF. Even if the schools you have listed had programs, I think she would be at UF anyway. Personally I don't see it as a problem, so it doesn't need to be corrected. Free choice is a good thing.
The coach at Florida would also come home to So Cal and take the helm at one of the So Cal schools, let Florida field a team of all Florida girls and Florida coaches
 

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