recruitment vs. scholarship

[coach james]

Is there a proper protocol to getting colleges to notice a kid that isn't on a "showcase" team?
I heard a rumor today from a parent... she says to me " I heard that all the scholarship money for 2015 is already gone for a specific big 10 school" ... could this be true? Anyone with dd's in college now or who are currently looking at potential athletic money please help. Thanks, James

 

[GOINGDEEP]

In "theory" the money could be used up. But amounts are not bound until the NLI and Offer of Financial Aid are signed. So in reality the money is still available.

 

[coach james]

Is it possible for a freshman to sign a letter of intent?

 

[GOINGDEEP]

No sir........

 

[RubberBiscuit]

CJ -

DD here was on a team last year that had extreme in-fighting between the coaches DDs and played crappy and dissolved before nationals.

I was so pissed as i was hoping for big exposure last year.

Well on our own we found some "productive" camps and exposure events in fall/winter and low and behold opportunities have come to my DD.

The trick is to get to events that have this true potential and avoid those that are just money grabs.

I wish i could say i knew how to sift out the goodies but a friend that his DD got an early scholarship on that just knew which ones were the ones to go to. We got lucky that way.

 

[dropball1]

There have been some large recruiting classes in the '11's, '12's and '13's

I would suggest that a prospective player/family looks on the rosters at their targeted school(s) to see how many players will be graduating the year before your DD would be a college freshman. Have the Coaches been adding more players in recent years than have been graduating? Will give an idea of how many slots the Coach/school may be working with to fill for a particular recruiting class. Also if not a major or mid major school, is the schools softball program fully funded? D I's have 12 athletic scholarships to award or slice and dice, D II's have 7.2 athletic scholarships, and D III's do not have athletic scholarship monies.

Rosters at some D1 schools are now running in the high teens to the mid 20's.

 

[18GoldDad]

There have been some large recruiting classes in the '11's, '12's and '13's

I would suggest that a prospective player/family looks on the rosters at their targeted school(s) to see how many players will be graduating the year before your DD would be a college freshman. Have the Coaches been adding more players in recent years than have been graduating? Will give an idea of how many slots the Coach/school may be working with to fill for a particular recruiting class. Also if not a major or mid major school, is the schools softball program fully funded? D I's have 12 athletic scholarships to award or slice and dice, D II's have 7.2 athletic scholarships, and D III's do not have athletic scholarship monies.

Rosters at some D1 schools are now running in the high teens to the mid 20's.

DB1,

Great Info for those just starting or not familiar with scholarship allotments, roster size and being fully funded. When we did our research all three of those elements were considered. I'm not a fan over a roster over 20. I would like to see 16-18, no more than 20.

 

[18GoldDad]

Is there a proper protocol to getting colleges to notice a kid that isn't on a "showcase" team?
I heard a rumor today from a parent... she says to me " I heard that all the scholarship money for 2015 is already gone for a specific big 10 school" ... could this be true? Anyone with dd's in college now or who are currently looking at potential athletic money please help. Thanks, James

James,

The parent is partially correct. Most of the big time conferences (PAC 12,BIG 10, SEC and BIG 12) have almost finished with the class of 2015 and have begun to make offers to 2016's. As GD mentioned, the money hasn't actually been spent but the school has made an offer and they're counting this towards their scholarship total. However, if one of these schools were to come across a can't miss "Diamond in the Rough" studette they would somehow find the money for that player.

Not every player is going to get the opportunity to play for the top teams in the country, get her on the best team possible. If a player is on a none showcase team or plays for an independent or a lesser know organization that young lady and her family are going to have to work hard and get her name out to the schools. After going through the process I can tell you that besides my DD performing that Emails and video were KEY.

 

[coach james]

As a parent/ coach of a solid B team. What should I do for my dd and my team to get them some more exposure to some schools / coaches. Honestly, Im not working with any D1 prospects... but most of them could play D2 and might could be a superstar on a D3 roster if their grades are up to par. Besides the normal tb schedule, is there a protocol to getting them some decent exposure? Or am I limited to cheesy you tube videos or expensive camps that are probably just looking to turn a profit...

 

[Cannonball]

Real fast, we heard this all the time for dd's grad year. However, NLI signing day, dd got a call from a Big 10 school asking her to look at their offer before she signed with the school she had committed to. Schools have a ranking of recruits and often find out that some of those verbals go elsewhere. Then, they scramble down that list.