Recruiting - What would you do again? What would you do differently?

[3'sDad]

Indiana: My DD's school peer group is going to be different than amny others, but here's what's been the norm for them:

These athletes (m&f) use their talent as a one up on the other 90% of the prospective students applying to these selective schools, which gives them a very distinct competitve advantage in matriculating to the Tier 1 academic schools.

One of DD's FH team mates as an underclassman just received her LL from the Big Green school in NH - the kid passed on a Big 10 track scholarship in pole vault to accept this LL....same thing happened with her past 2 FH captains - one passed on a Big 10 ride & the other just passed on a Patriot Legaue scholarship to become Quakers. DD's softball captain freshman year is now at Vanderbilt (no soft ball).

DD's hitting coach played Big 10 softball and played in the WCWS. She's back in grad school now - we haven't had the conversation to see if she thought it was worth it all.

I can say for a fact she is a great instructor and person. If her coach was at all instrumental in allowing her to blossom as a young adult, it ceratinly was worth it.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Thanks - great thread as we are starting the process as well. I had been wondering about early recruiting and how that meshes with the need for ACT/SAT scores, which don't happen until Fall (or even spring) of one's junior year. Has anyone had any experience with small, highly selective liberal arts colleges and what tuition and fees ultimately turn out to be? Many of these schools say that they don't offer any merit aid, and I keep hearing conflicting stories about D3 money otherwise.... say for example DD was fortunate enough to be admitted to a highly selective D3 - would we be looking at paying full freight minus any discount according to our FAFSA numbers? I think the possibility of student loans is definitely one to consider...? From those who have been there - was educational value a big consideration? Ultimate cost as it would relate to life after college?

Never let the sticker price be the reason you cross schools off your list. Just as you should have identified safety schools, reach schools, and good fit schools for academics, you also should safeties, reaches, and fits for cost, softball/sports, or any other criteria that may impact your decision making.

Run the FAFSA numbers and you may be surprised - high schools will often have FAFSA or fin aid workshops each fall and they are not limited to just seniors. Many of the top LA schools have the endowments to meet most of if not all your "demonstrated need". My 2 DDs to attend one of these schools for essentially the same as it would be for them to attend our in-state flagship university.

 

[slingnit]

Same- Send email after email with resume, introduction letter, and video. First contact was a shotgun blast to 200 schools. Then narrowed down by interest shown and which of those she was interested. Then any excuse to send an email, with video attached. Take early unofficial visits. Let daughter make decisions on which schools/camps to visit and ultimately which school she will play for.

Different- Not attend school camps with more than 20 attending, get lost in the mix very easily. Make sure to make contact phone with coaches. Early she had interest in many programs that she would have been very happy to attend but due to our lack of experience in the process she did not make calls to coaches, just emails. By the time we realized she should be calling these coaches it was too late, many had already used up their money for her class.

All and all I think we did a lot of things right and there is not much I would have done different. In the end she will be at her #1 choice and we just got back from her official visit. I say she is lucky, but I should say fortunate. She did put in the work and earned it so saying "lucky" takes away from her accomplishment. For those of you going thru the process, it is very stressful and there are many unknowns but enjoy it. Once it's done you and your dd will miss it! She will only go thru this once, let it be all about her. The attention the girls get, feeling like they are big deal,.... all of that. They put in all the work let them enjoy the reward.

 

[marriard]

My DD isn't at this age yet, but I have worked with a bunch of girls who are freshman in college now or are going into their senior HS year. I have seen quite a few things I didn't expect once you get past the whole top-50 or so programs.

1) There is college softball for almost everyone who is willing to play if that is important to your DD. Money help directly from softball - maybe not - but if you want to be 'on the team' there are opportunities. Walk-ons who are willing to work and be very team orientated are in demand even if playing time may not be.
2) There is good and bad softball in every division (D1-3, NAIA, JUCO, etc). The top D2&3 teams are probably very competitive up to around mid-D1 level.
3) Despite rumors to the contrary, D1 schools (and all other levels of college softball) are still signing High School Seniors due to need/decommits/injuries, etc. This makes sense when you hear stories of the number of players who don't make it through freshman year or quit as time goes by - that creates immediate gaps that a new sophomore recruit isn't going to help you with anytime soon.
4) Average pitchers are in massive demand. One of the local PC's has excellent college contacts and many colleges contact him to see if he has someone they can recruit. In AUGUST he was looking for 4 girls to put in front of teams (D1, NAIA, D3 and a JUCO) for THIS YEAR and I know TWO of those teams didn't fill spots they wanted to. While your top level pitcher is throwing 60+, has an ERA of 1.00 and has 25+ wins someone is throwing mid-50ish at best, has an ERA of 6+ and has 25+ losses. And someone has to throw BP.
5) Average catchers are not far behind in demand.
6) It is MUCH easier to get recruited in the 'year round sun' states. Just locally there has been a huge number of schools doing their spring games here in Florida and you see coaches turning up at local fields since it isn't as intense as during the season. We actually were playing a scrimmage (we are 12U) at a park where there was a college summer tourney happening and two of the teams and their coaches came over during a break to watch our game and support the girls which was a great experience all around.
7) If you have the choice, go where you have a chance to play. You have 4 years and then that is it.


And lastly of course - the education is more important than the softball (especially if you want to qualify for max-academic scholarship $$$). That said, even though it is now over 20 years since I played college basketball, many of my best friends are former teammates and coaching staff from that time and I have had many opportunities in life directly related to my time playing. Once you are there, take advantage of what is on offer.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

My son that went to U of Chicago, didn't play sports. (He said he didn't see how anyone could, with the classes he had.) But, here is what he told me, the differences between high schools in IL. were like night and day. He was at a small double A school. So, when he started going home with friends and seeing their high schools, he said they looked like community colleges. They offered classes in HS, that he could have only hoped to have had. So, we should have moved to a larger school district, I think.

 

[NoGolfTil2017]

Amy, how are the athletics at U of Chicago? I have a 10th grader who is very interested in the school (have not visited yet since we live on the East Coast). While she will have the GPA and SATs to be a qualified applicant (basing this upon 9th grade PSAT scores), so do most of the other applicants. If she showed interest in playing softball, would/could the coach pass along a plug for her? She is not a stud player, so I was wondering about the level of play. I know that the top notch DIII schools were not interested in my older kid, but some of the top LACs with so-so teams were quite interested.

 

[Cannonball]

I think I must be posting too much and so, can't remember what I have posted and not posted and don't want to bore anyone. We made some mistakes along the lines but none more than allowing one coaching staff to get too close to our dd. DD went to camps there and was pitted against their signed recruits. She held her own each and every time. She was the first one on an unofficial visit to try on their new uniforms that were being delivered as we sat there. DD wanted to go there anytime we were in area to see family. She had shirt after shirt. She had the team pictures from a couple of years with notes that she would fit in. We pretty much told all other teams she was headed here. Then, out of nowhere, the rug was pulled out from under her and after a tournament where she absolutely dominated the competition. Offer dropped to 25% and we still haven't figured it out. It broke her heart. Let me stress that, it broke her heart! The emails stopped coming. When she sent emails, they went unanswered.

Fortunately we rushed to get the word out to other schools and had a prominent D-I coach help us out with contacts. She received a lot of offers at D-I and D-II schools. She is very happy where she is and her coach is top notch. However, don't kid yourself, the hurt is still there. Make sure your child knows the predatory nature of recruitment. Man could I go on and on about this.

 

[3'sDad]

The big end of season college recruiting event "Festival" for field hockey is next weekend (yep Thanksgiving) in West Palm Beach. DD & I did the email blitz (as one woulf do for a college showcase in softball, with a "top 10" list provided to the club FH recruiting liason) for schools on her list. She's a junior, so she can get email from all schools.

The responses received to date range from: "Your on our watch list, have a safe flight and great tournament" from the larger schools to the follwoing from most the academic D III's:

1. Thank you for finding us!
2. How did you find us?
3. Why our school?
4. Why should you be one of our top recruits?
5. How can you help us as a student/athlete improve our program?

Please send us your transcript, current junior year class schedule, Festival Schedule & a link to your video.

We'll be there at Festival to watch you play.

No matter what happens, this is a great experience for the DD; one she'll always remember.

 

[Scl1991]

Amy, how are the athletics at U of Chicago? I have a 10th grader who is very interested in the school (have not visited yet since we live on the East Coast). While she will have the GPA and SATs to be a qualified applicant (basing this upon 9th grade PSAT scores), so do most of the other applicants. If she showed interest in playing softball, would/could the coach pass along a plug for her? She is not a stud player, so I was wondering about the level of play. I know that the top notch DIII schools were not interested in my older kid, but some of the top LACs with so-so teams were quite interested.

I would think that if you were heading to the University of Chicago, you wouldn't really care too much about the sports. Most definitely the education is first rate! My daughter had a teammate who was being "recruited" by them for softball. That coach really wanted her. She had excellent grades, excellent test scores, etc. Unfortunately, the coach there doesn't seem to have any pull in getting a potential athlete admitted or not.
I think it is like this at most DIIIs. In any case, this girl did not get admitted to the university. I don't know why – she was an excellent student. But it is very very competitive to get into the University of Chicago and as I understand it, the athletes still have to gain entrance on their own academic merit. I will say this – like your daughter, she is also not a stud athlete. She is just an excellent athlete but can definitely help any team out.