Seeing college softball differently

[blazerdad]

At a college run camp we were told don't spend the money on this and don't be George Lucas. Make one at home and don't slice and dice it. If DD punts one it happens. If the video is spliced together they think she's punted a lot of them. Keep them around 3 minutes and include them in emails as a link so they can watch right away. These were schools that do not offer athletic money.

This is how my DD got recruited by a D1 and several DII schools. Simple video on YouTube linked in emails. I think the professional videos are overdone and if I were a college coach, I would get turned off by it.

 

[Atlantabell]

Since my DD started her Freshman year at a D3 college 2 weeks ago, this topic resonates with me.

I fully agree that if a girl wants to play at college, there is plenty of opportunities.

And certainly, any girl that goes through steps 1-11 should have significant interest.
And that plan is almost certainly the road to take if the desire is to play at D1.

But the travel ball industry and the private instruction industry sells to parents based upon the lure of scholarships.
And the reality is 40-50% of the women playing softball at 4 year colleges play for no athletic money.

My experience did not follow the plan...

DD played Rec Ball starting at 10
DD began pitching training at 11 (once a week group session)
DD first travel team at 13 (14U B level team)
4 year Varsity HS player
4 year 18U travel player (3 years at A ball, last summer played Gold just to try and keep sharp)

DD was recruited by about a dozen D3 colleges and 5-6 D2 schools.
Most of the D2 schools did not offer the academic programs she wanted. (This is an important issue, matching the softball with the degree)
Almost all of the interest was recieved from her skills video made in the spring of her Junior year in HS.
Only two schools on the list became interested after seeing her play in showcases as their first contact.

All in all, it would have been better to invest some our softball funding in more SAT prep and HS tutoring.

My recommendations would be to...

Play as cheaply as possible (Local Rec leagues generally have modest fundrasing and costs)

Get some economical personal training (Pitching for pitchers, Hitting for everyone)

Play HS ball. It's generally free (or minimal fundrasing). Play hard, do your best, get some press, get some awards.

Make a professional skills video, put it on line and send it to every college you might have interest in.

Play travel as a guest. In my expereince, guest players almost always get on the field.
( My DD sat the bench in her 1st year of 18U travel as a fully paid rostered player and a guest player played over her in 2 tournaments.
Needless to say we were gone at the end of the summer)

Paying to go to clinics held by the colleges you are interested in is always money well spent.
(Ultimately for my DD, 3 of these clinics ended up to be private workouts after the public session was over)


My DD is playing for her D3 school.
However, she would have gotten the same academic scholarship package regardless.

Every player's experience is different. My daughter is going into her Senior year playing DI at a school that would not have seen nor recruited her had she not been playing Gold level ball and if she had not been at a nationally recognized summer tournament where the coach saw her. Funny thing is, the school is 4 hours away from us and we live on the East Coast.

I agree, there is a place for every player to play if she really wants to and really commits the work and time to developing her game and to her athletic ability AND she has the academics to back it up. Yes, some athletes get recruited strictly via a video, but I don't believe staying local and just posting a video online gives players all the options they may want or need. You have to know what the player and her family want. In our area, if you stay local and play local, you get five or six local schools who MAY be interested in you. BUT, the larger schools will still go elsewhere to recruit.

In the long run, the family has to decide what their daughter wants, what they want and can afford, and the best way to get that. Here's my opinion:

1. At the younger ages ( 10 and 12) play on a good team, learn sound fundamentals, and learn to love the game.
2. At 14 U, start to travel and start thinking about playing in college. Get on a team with a good reputation and a good regional schedule with some national events sprinkled in. As a freshman, start contacting schools via e-mail to show interest. Focus on strong academics.
3. At 16 U, 18 U travel to quality showcases that are regional and national. Get on a team that has a good reputation and that can get into good showcases. Focus on strong academics. Continue to write college coaches on a regular basis and start narrowing down your choices. Play high school ball. Post your video online. As Inside Pitch said, it does not have to be professionally done.

One thing I think HAS to be said is that when a family commits to a travel team, they should not view the money spent on softball as an "investment" that will pay off later with a college scholarship. They should view it as something their daughter wants to do that will help her grow athletically and personally. They should view it also as an opportunity to give her options when she wants to go to college. That's what they are spending the money for. The scholarship carrot is like any other dream. It should motivate and inspire, but it shouldn't be viewed as a win/loss situation. As athletes aspire for that dream, they often find that the alternative they earn is better and more suitable for them in the long run.

My daughter looks back on her travel ball years as a time of developing her game, many friendships and amazing memories she will never forget. Getting to play at a school she loves was the result of her hard work on the field and in the classroom. She had options and that was the best thing of all because she got to chose the one that was best for her. Travel ball was what got her in the right place at the right time. The money we spent on travel ball was an investment in HER.

 

[redhotcoach]

r (even through it may be the college of farming in the middle of iowa, she can play college ball).

hey! Not cool!

Our weather keeps up, Iowa will be the next Arizona.

 

[bcnuke33]

This obviously has to be a bogus thread, as our high school coach tells our girls there are very few spots to play college ball and only the greatest players get those spots........even going as far as telling couple of girls maybe you should think about a community college to try to play at. But, then again he has only seen one of his girls in his 14 years of coaching play college ball and of course it was his daughter. We now know that it isn't the high school coaches responsibility but you would think they would at least try to point kids and parents in the right direction. Now onto the better part of post. DD expressed interest in playing college level after her sophomore year. After endless hours of hard work and sending emails and video, and playing as often as possible, DD had multiple d3 offers, three d2 offers, and one d1 offer. Also invited to walk on at several other schools. We also had 2 NAIA signees, a d3 signee, and a couple of jr college signees. DD, after playing for said coach her sr year, decided that pharmacy school was her better option (gotta' love a coach that can make a child hate the game they live for). Point being, a lot of opportunities out there. I personally thank the members of this forum in educating me on how to get my DD to the point of receiving them......

 

[Michael N]

In the Boise area there are no 8U TB teams . Move up to 10U and I believe there are 2-3 Boise based teams . Expand the area to the entire Treasure Valley (Boise , Meridian , Kuna , Nampa , Caldwell) and some of the smaller outlying areas and you might up that number to 6 or 7 . The bulk of the girls in this area get their first taste of TB at 12U . There are no tournaments in our area broken down by A , B or Gold classifications so sometimes you play very good teams and sometimes you play All Star rec teams . We still have plenty of girls go on to play college ball at all different levels so I would have to say that getting them into TB at an early age is not any indicator of future college play . As a matter of fact I would say that performance prior to a girl turning 15 or 16 may not even be a real indicator of future prowess as a softball player due to the disparity in size , dexterity and emotional maturity in the 11-14 YO age group .

All that being said , if there would have been a TB team for my DD to play on at 10U I would have gladly skipped straight to TB just because of the better coaching and players . LL in our area is generally pretty sad with most teams being comprised of an infield and a few girls hidden in the OF . If you have any girls that can pitch you are extremely fortunate which generally makes most games a long drawn out painful experience for nearly everyone involved .

 

[GOINGDEEP]

^^^^^^ Always interesting to hear how things are done in other parts of the country.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

One thing I think HAS to be said is that when a family commits to a travel team, they should not view the money spent on softball as an "investment" that will pay off later with a college scholarship. They should view it as something their daughter wants to do that will help her grow athletically and personally. They should view it also as an opportunity to give her options when she wants to go to college. That's what they are spending the money for. The scholarship carrot is like any other dream. It should motivate and inspire, but it shouldn't be viewed as a win/loss situation. As athletes aspire for that dream, they often find that the alternative they earn is better and more suitable for them in the long run.

My daughter looks back on her travel ball years as a time of developing her game, many friendships and amazing memories she will never forget. Getting to play at a school she loves was the result of her hard work on the field and in the classroom. She had options and that was the best thing of all because she got to chose the one that was best for her. Travel ball was what got her in the right place at the right time. The money we spent on travel ball was an investment in HER.

I really liked these words.

 

[glf0845]

Play HS ball. It's generally free (or minimal fundrasing). Play hard, do your best, get some press, get some awards.

This obviously has to be a bogus thread, as our high school coach tells our girls there are very few spots to play college ball and only the greatest players get those spots........even going as far as telling couple of girls maybe you should think about a community college to try to play at. But, then again he has only seen one of his girls in his 14 years of coaching play college ball and of course it was his daughter. We now know that it isn't the high school coaches responsibility but you would think they would at least try to point kids and parents in the right direction. Now onto the better part of post. DD expressed interest in playing college level after her sophomore year. After endless hours of hard work and sending emails and video, and playing as often as possible, DD had multiple d3 offers, three d2 offers, and one d1 offer. Also invited to walk on at several other schools. We also had 2 NAIA signees, a d3 signee, and a couple of jr college signees. DD, after playing for said coach her sr year, decided that pharmacy school was her better option (gotta' love a coach that can make a child hate the game they live for). Point being, a lot of opportunities out there. I personally thank the members of this forum in educating me on how to get my DD to the point of receiving them......

High school ball is very important. When college coaches look at a player profile they expect to see high school accolades. If you don't make all league they are going to wonder why. They are also going to look at Maxprep stats. Also, it is a good indicator on time management. Do the athletes grades suffer in season. Are they captains? High school coaches normally have little to do with the recruiting process but the high school season does. My DD's future college coach never did speak with her high school coach but did look at her Maxprep stats.

 

[BB875]

GD, this is great advice. My DD has verbally accepted a great offer from a DII school and she will sign in November. Your formula makes sense to me. Up until about a year ago, I also felt an athletic scholarship came few and far between. I have talked to many folks at showcase events and Gold level tourneys (Triple Crown). My conclusion is that there really is a place for everyone. If a kid is active in her search, she will get a lot of looks.

One thing I am finding out is that many of the "showcase" tourneys are all hype. However, in the mid-west, go to St. Louis at the end of October, that one is the real deal. But, make sure DD has contacted coaches beforehand.

A catcher from our town and a good friend of my DD is playing JUCO this fall and never played one inning of HS softball. She played local TB, and attended the college's camps. Her folks told me 1/2 of her schooling is paid. Not bad for what I consider a different path...

That farming school in the middle of Iowa is usually called Iowa State University...lol

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Play HS ball. It's generally free (or minimal fundrasing). Play hard, do your best, get some press, get some awards.



High school ball is very important. When college coaches look at a player profile they expect to see high school accolades. If you don't make all league they are going to wonder why. They are also going to look at Maxprep stats. Also, it is a good indicator on time management. Do the athletes grades suffer in season. Are they captains? High school coaches normally have little to do with the recruiting process but the high school season does. My DD's future college coach never did speak with her high school coach but did look at her Maxprep stats.

The awards are a nice touch. Almost every college player bio has the HS awards listed. I include them in the emails I send to college coaches. I also send the link for my daughters stats in Maxpreps. We played 50 games this season in HS ball, it should give them a good game by game indicator of her skills.

Now, Maxpreps is not regulated. I've seen some stuff in MP that just couldn't be possible. I go strictly by the official HS book, if I disagree with a stat I talk it over with the coach and let him make the final decision. ( my kid and the others ) His wife does the book, and let's just say she never played baseball/softball so her "stats" sometimes need to be corrected. ( if it hurts a players stats or not, because they are useless if they are wrong )