No I in Team but Player Wants a Scholarship

[SoftSocDad]

Assuming he knocks his degree out in 4 years, if he wants, he could easily work his way back into competitive soccer by his mid-20s.

 

[Lozza]

What competitive soccer though? If he wants to play real competitive soccer, he wouldn't be going to college he'd be going to Europe. Or he'd already be there.

I grew up with boys who were England by their 15th birthday because of their soccer skills. College for soccer players should not be the goal, because if they're at college they are not the best soccer players in America.

 

[Sparky Guy]

No question I think everyone should do what they want to do. But, I don't get it. There are a ton of kids out there that would love to be in that position, and to throw it away seems...........pointless.

I've seen girls waste scholarships in various ways. Watched a girl who set all kinds of state records pitching. She got to college and lost her mind. She had 3 fails and 3 incompletes her first semester. She was told to leave the school. Saw another one hit the party trail and get hooked on crack at a top academic institution her first semester. Got clean and a chance at another school and blew that. Know of another one who had nearly a full ride who called up the coach 5 days before she was due to report telling the coach she decided not go to college. The BF was a year younger and still home. Watched others leave the daughter's college team for various reasons. Some with scholarship money several without. That's why you'll see 20 on a college roster. There are always a few who give it up. It pains you to see a top athlete give up on something.

 

[starsnuffer]

Many of the best collegiate softball players do so on academic scholarships, not athletic scholarships. If your daughter does not already have a 4.3 GPA, great SAT scores, and a host of extracurricular activities. . . you might want to address that before telling her she won't get a scholarship because she doesn't keep her chin down whilst fielding ground balls.

-W

 

[LAdad]

To get back to the original point (loyalty): There are thousands of softball players out there, even if you limit yourself to 18U gold players. Suppose you were a college coach with 4 open slots for next year. How are you even going to start picking among those thousands of players? Many coaches narrow it down by assuming that the teams do a good job of evaluating players. If there are a few teams they have good relations with, they are likely to look at those teams again. Or else they hang out at a showcase's main field, assuming that the organizers picked the best teams. That's just a matter of playing the odds: good teams have a larger percentage of great players than lesser teams.

If you want to play in college, and you're not on one of those teams, you simply have a much harder time getting a coach's attention. You can stay loyal, and if you're really good you can get your team to a higher level, but by the time your team does well at the nationals, you're a year further down the road. Or you can try to get on one of those teams, which is exactly what the college coaches expect: the top TB teams evaluate and pick the best players.

Sure, a college coach prefers good softball players who are also "nice" kids (loyal, polite, hardworking, and what not), but given the difficulty of selecting good softball players in the first place, how is he going to evaluate that? The best he can do is take the TB coach's word for it. So if your TB coach doesn't like you or doesn't think enough of you to give you playing time, you may as well find another team.

 

[LAdad]

To add to my preceding post: As the soccer story illustrates, even more important than playing on a team that attracts the college coaches, is playing on a team that you (meaning, your DD) likes. Once that is achieved, loyalty will come naturally.

 

[softball_chic_12]

As much as softball is a team sport, it can also be an indvidual sport. A pitcher and can throw horribly and her team could still win because her team has her back and communicate well. But I heard that colleges think it's great to see that, but that's not really gonna help their team. They want someone who can bat, or pitch, or play their postition well. I could be wrong. So please don't quote me on that. But that's what I heard. And I think it makes sense. Because obviously they will want someone who is also willing to work with other to achieve the goal: to win.

 

[FPMark]

When college coaches are scouting for tallent, they don't look so much for team accomplishments as individual accomplishments. They are not trying to find a 'team' they are looking at individuals. They do want players that have a good attitude, but that will never replace talent unless it is so bad they feal it could be a disruption to their team. But mainly they are looking for consistant, dedicated, confident competitors who they feal can play at a higher level.

 

[PEPPERS]

A quote from Bret Fare after a tough loss.

Bret Farve

It is easy to point blames at this one or that one for a loss, but you must play for yourself first which ultimately helps the team, I always wanted to be the best and I ask myself are you willing to do what it takes to be the best. To say a coach or another player is at fault for a loss is being a coward, you as a player must look in the mirror and ask, what could I have done to make the team better. You need to not worry about the other players or coaches concentrate on giving your best effort.

 

[InsidePitch]

DD1 was not into sports. She liked drama, dance and voice. She is graduating Cum Laud this summer with a 4.5gpa. While visiting schools they started talking academic money to us with out us bringing it up. She has been offered significant money from a couple of schools on her list. Very Cool.

DD2 plays on an TB softball and BB team but has better grades. Having seen how quick they were to give the academic money I'm putting more stock in that for DD2.