Softball Crisis in 2025?

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Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
"The unfortunate thing is I believe the college coaches have learned to like the ballooned rosters.. no extra money expenditures, just athletes willingly sharing smaller slices of the scholly pie."

I have a theory on this and how Softball TB and College Ball work together knowingly or unknowingly. Why is TB sooooo expensive? Think about it. It is beneficial for colleges to have and keep TB be very costly. Then only the upper middle class and higher can really participate. Parent are used to doling out $20,000 a year for softball. So, if Jenny gets an offer to play for a top 100 softball program, then her parents (and her) are so excited, and they don't mind that it is a 25% offer. They have the money to gladly pay for the other 75%. It would be very difficult for a lower income family to pay for TB and therefore they cannot get scholarship money. I don't have the answers. Maybe the big Orgs. should scholarship more lower income players but I know that opens up another can of worms. Same with ballooned rosters. Some TB orgs. prepare players/parents to except balloon rosters. Just saw a 14U team with 24 players. You never know when 15 players are going to get injured. I would not want my DD to be on a roster of 35 and only 20 travels. What do the other 15 do? Field maintenance?
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
Am seeing a few more redshirt freshmen… I think. Wife noticed a few teams that had several last spring.

That will probably be the next &#&#@* thing.

Dd should be done in 4. Not sure she or her parents would want anything different. Idk about grad school and softball at the same time, I think I’d like to see her focused on career at that point, but of course that would not be up to me.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,409
113
Texas
I knew a girl that got Redshirted at UT Tyler fall of freshman year. Bye Bye. Quit softball and transferred to UT as a NARP. I am sure many of the kids in the portal were faced with this same situation.
 
May 16, 2016
946
93
But doesn't players entering the portal (moving up, down or sideways) create openings elsewhere?
It would, but now you have 5th years looking to get a year of Grad school paid for by softball, consuming a spot that should have been filled by an incoming freshman.
 
May 27, 2022
412
63
It would, but now you have 5th years looking to get a year of Grad school paid for by softball, consuming a spot that should have been filled by an incoming freshman.

It is an case by case status. My daughter got injured her freshman year half way through the season. Next year, less than half a season due to covid. She will be playing her 'fifth' season this year and only really getting 4 seasons' worth of games.

I can see both sides of the discussion, but when the NCAA cancelled the season due to covid, they made the rule that players could get it back. Can't really blame the kids for taking advantage of that.

Also, keep in mind that scholarships are a year by year allocation. Just cuz you don't get much this year doesn't mean you won't get more next year.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
Most of a class. It is optional for players to take the extra year.
At my daughter's college the 5th year had a very small impact. Most of the athletes left when they graduated. The only ones that played the 5th year were those enrolled in longer degrees such as Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy. And several of them didn't play the 5th year either.

The biggest impact from Covid was during the 2021 season. There was a group of brand new freshman as well as the freshman from 2020 that didn't actually get to see a full season. Traditionally less than half of the freshmen play after their first year is over. For that year, nearly all of them came back.
 
May 7, 2015
842
93
SoCal
But doesn't players entering the portal (moving up, down or sideways) create openings elsewhere?
Yes.. But I think it pushes the timeline for HS back as it takes more time to juggle the players compared to having a pretty fixed roster and playing hungry hungry hippo on Sept 1 fighting for recruits.

That's why I said its going to be more and more common to commit later Jr or early Sr year.
 
May 7, 2015
842
93
SoCal
I saw a kid going to her 3rd school in 3 years. TTech, UT, now Houston.
DD has a team mate with an older sister that started at ole miss, then to houston, now in portal since 3/30... So much movement its crazy. I'd say it's more common than not to hit the portal, at least from the 2018 to 2021 that were part of DD's org..
 

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