Skipping Tryouts This Year

[Vertigo]

And... if she uses softball to get the attention of the college/coaches... and it's only academic money, she can still choose to not play softball but use softball to get into the college.

Sports get people to the front of the line.

I do agree that being a recruited athlete will help gain acceptance at top academic schools - but those kids also have the high GPA’s. Every high academic coach I approached as a recruiting coordinator wouldn’t even consider the player unless they had a certain GPA and some even a high SAT/ACT score.

 

[Vertigo]

So much pressure nowadays on these young kids, whether they are going to play ball in college or not. Kind of feel bad for them..

It is insane right now. Especially when “safety-schools” aren’t safety schools anymore.

 

[coachdennis]

The other thing to consider is that say in a year or two she decides softball isn’t her thing. That higher GPA will still be the thing that will help her more when applying to college at every college.

BINGO....When you look at the data females at all levels of youth and collegiate competition have a very high rate of dropping out of sports or changing schools.
Finding the right situation / team or school for the right reasons should be the priority. Even then the ladies may chose to go a different pathway and almost 5 out of 10 do...
People also need to keep in mind one does not have to go to college to be successful or happy. As Mike Rowe says "they can learn a learn a Skill"...

 

[_MIA_]

It is insane right now. Especially when “safety-schools” aren’t safety schools anymore.

Some perspective probably needs to be introduced in many cases..

 

[radness]

One of the reasons academic athletes in college Drop is because they are unable to facilitate the time schedule and commitment to it.

Which learning to facilitate a time schedule and commitment to it can start early much before College.

 

[KrisHur]

If she has any intention of playing in college she needs to learn how to balance academics and sports. Spring HS season is always a time of great stress for my DD as the HS schedule is relentless and she takes a lot of AP and Honors classes. But she knows she needs to learn how to balance them so she an play in college. This means she misses the occasional practice to study for finals or big unit exams but otherwise will be studying until 9-10 at night. Being a high-academic student athlete is tough stuff!

 

[Vertigo]

If she has any intention of playing in college she needs to learn how to balance academics and sports. Spring HS season is always a time of great stress for my DD as the HS schedule is relentless and she takes a lot of AP and Honors classes. But she knows she needs to learn how to balance them so she an play in college. This means she misses the occasional practice to study for finals or big unit exams but otherwise will be studying until 9-10 at night. Being a high-academic student athlete is tough stuff!

Probably one of the reasons why the NESCAC conference doesn’t have a fall season. They did last year to make up for missing time during COVID but are reverting back to no team practices again this fall.

 

[Orange Socks]

Sounds to me as though if she can't handle HS academics and Fall TB, it would be near impossible to handle the rigors of playing in college. Let's make this easy, quit TB altogether, focus on academics and only playing HS ball.

 

[_MIA_]

Sounds to me as though if she can't handle HS academics and Fall TB, it would be near impossible to handle the rigors of playing in college. Let's make this easy, quit TB altogether, focus on academics and only playing HS ball.

I might be reading into this a bit but from the OP, it sounds like the Dad is more worried about the kid not "wowing" anybody in tryouts...

 

[Orange Socks]

I might be reading into this a bit but from the OP, it sounds like the Dad is more worried about the kid not "wowing" anybody in tryouts...

At this age group, coaches know who should be showing up to their tryouts, and these players have already been vetted. Best thing to do, is to reach out to the teams they are interested in, and schedule a private workout. Most especially pitchers. Do NOT wait until tryouts. The coach will indicate whether or not she will be a good fit for the team. If not, no need to waste your time at tryouts for that team.