Public school team strength (So Cal)

[Rick M]

I have nothing to add to the SoCal discussion (it’s 75 degrees in the northeast today!!), but we have similar fluctuations in softball strength from school to school over the years.

In DD’s case, she’s got a strong group of players around her. They all started playing together in 8U and had some early success, and they’ve all been playing travel ever since. I imagine it’s pretty common for talent to go in waves like that. A group of strong lacrosse players in elementary school now will draw the best athletes away from softball in six years.

Luckily for DD, all the cool girls in her grade play softball


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[jdint]

Recruiting?

 

[radness]

Does it matter when one or two teams are really good, when the league of teams they play in are less than average, even beginners?

People get all excited
'we won league'
Against a majority of players who are out there because they are picking a sport to fulfill a physical education requirement for two years.
Aka- its p.e. class.

 

[JOHNN]

I think it has to do with the coach at the school but also how players fall into the school district their address is assigned to. Not sure how it is in SoCal, but here in Louisiana, HS sports only go up to 5A. Where I'm at, one of the top 5A schools for softball has a HS coach that heads a softball org that is pretty top notch. So girls that want to play for this HS, pretty much always play for this org and they try to get in as early as possible. It helps tremendously bc they have been molded with the coaches style of play and they are pretty much all familiar with each other from playing together for so many years.

Another thing that might factor into the disparity out there could be really talented girls just not playing HS ball. I've heard of a lot of girls around the country not playing HS ball if the coach at their school isn't real good. Its unfortunate bc I think there's a pretty big sense of pride associated with representing your school on the field, but some players (and parents these days) just aren't programmed that way. I'm pretty sure there are disparities like this all over the country with the amount of kids playing travel ball rising exponentially over the years.

 

[ANNASDAD]

I’m definitely no help with your So Cal question as I’m a little ways away from you!

But I can definitely feel your pain on the private school numbers situation and a tiny pool to pull from!

 

[Shiloh]

Recruiting?

100%

Here in Norcal there are local businesses which 'sponsor' HS athletes, helping offset the cost of nearby private schools. It's all very hush-hush, but it happens.

 

[Schmick's Gloves]

First thing is coach. A coach who has ties to the strong travel teams in the area. It's no shock that the larger private schools are all coached by some of the biggest travel organizations coaches but many of the top public school coaches are travel ball coaches as well. Los Alamitos is full of Firecracker coaches, Great Oak is Mercado coaches, Gahr is Ohana Tiger coaches.....Norco-Firecrackers, Roosevelt-Firecrackers, Grand Terrace-Explosion and so on and so on.
Next you need to be in an area of So Cal that supports softball and is affluent enough to have travel players near by. The Inland Empire is king of softball now, have been for about 20 years since they took that crown from Orange County, but from Santa Barbara to San Diego you are going to have pockets of travel player density as well as areas where the females have other interests.
You will also need a school/athletic department that is wiling to play loose with the transfers. Corona/Norco School District allows students to pick which of the 5 schools they want to go to no matter where they live in the Corona/Norco/Eastvale area. So it isn't shocking that a lot of the best girls in those towns pick Norco....though Roosevelt and Santiago have strong programs as well now. Norco also seems to have players from other towns and cities as well, their starting pitcher the last few years was from Ontario which isn't even in the same county and I'm sure there are several on the team there this season from elsewhere. But as a proponent for school choice, I have no issue with that.
And lastly, is the school willing to work with the local travel organizations. Look and see who is playing/practicing on the schools fields when HS ball is not in season. If the local Public School doesn't have travel teams practicing their every weekend, they may not look towards supporting softball and likely don't have a strong program.

The last real season of Prep Softball, 2019, Norco won the D1 title, their head coach coaches a Firecrackers team, they're in a region that is softball crazy and their school administration supports its athletics. Norco's opponent in the D1 title game was Great Oak. Great Oak is in Temecula, another Inland Empire town that had great softball programs from park and rec through travel. Great Oak was coached by Dave Mercado of Athletics Mercado, he has since stepped down and another 18U Mercado coach has stepped in. Los Alamitos was one of the top public teams not in the D1 title game, they are so tied to the Firecrackers that I wouldn't be surprised if Tony Rico wasn't a booster for that HS's program.
I only really paid attention to D1 but the formula likely goes down to the lower divisions as well and the best public schools have travel coaches, travel players and an administration that puts competitive athletics on top.

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[JumboJack]

I’m definitely no help with your So Cal question as I’m a little ways away from you!

But I can definitely feel your pain on the private school numbers situation and a tiny pool to pull from!

While it’s tough putting together a competitive team at my DD’s school I find it crazy that her team can run rule a public school that has 2500 kids to draw from.

I think it has to do with the ability for the TB stars to pick and choose their school (to a degree). For instance, there are more than 6 different public HS’s less than 10 minutes from our house. It’s like that everywhere in SoCal. It only takes some creativity as far as enrolling goes to get your kid at the school they want to attend (and the coach wants )


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[Eric F]

My DD's HS has 3500 students, and every year has around 60-70 students show up at tryouts. One would think that there is plenty of talent from a pool like that. A large majority of the ones that show up for tryouts have never played the game at all. My DD's freshman year, we had 2 players with significant TB experience, and 3 more with 1-2 seasons of TB. Last year (soph), we added 1 more experienced TB player, but lost one of the newer TB players. This year, we will be down to 2 experienced TB players, a and bunch of girls who have only played HS and/or rec. We are praying for a magical unicorn freshman P to show up. Her school hasn't won more than 4 league games in over 10 years, and is languishing at the lower end of a weaker division.

Meanwhile, the best team in our league got moved up to Div 1 after winning the Div 3 championship. Their school has good TB players that don't even make the varsity team. I know of a few players on their team that are not in the school's district, but have transferred to the school just to be part of the softball program. This team curb-stomps all except one team in our league (a strong Div 3 team).

As weak as my DD's team is, there are 2 others that are significantly worse, and we always beat them by double-digits.

A big factor for many of the lower-level programs in our league is that many of the talented TB-experienced players in the area often choose to go to private schools. My DD's TB team, which is based in the same city as her HS, is about half private school. None of the other public school girls go to the same HS as my DD.

 

[Quigs10]

While it’s tough putting together a competitive team at my DD’s school I find it crazy that her team can run rule a public school that has 2500 kids to draw from.

I think it has to do with the ability for the TB stars to pick and choose their school (to a degree). For instance, there are more than 6 different public HS’s less than 10 minutes from our house. It’s like that everywhere in SoCal. It only takes some creativity as far as enrolling goes to get your kid at the school they want to attend (and the coach wants )


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YEP!

Perfect example is my public school I teach at (used to coach baseball and football). Our demographics have changed dramatically past 10 years and also our longtime softball coach of 20 years was "let go" or not rehired for whatever reason. The players and families that have known him from local TB team and maybe have had older daughters in the program were pissed and all the top players quit as a sort of protest for him getting let go.

The program would usually be in top 3 of league and make playoffs and be decent to pretty good. But, the past two years with all the players leaving, lost almost EVERY damn game and have girls that have literally NEVER played before. That's how quickly a program can collapse.