Softball Organizations - USSSA, PGF, etc...

[Top_Notch]

PGF and Dave Betcher Lets Play 4 U will be the most competitive in the area. Those teams that play a schedule like will have girls looking to go to college. There's really only a handful of orgs that can compete at that level. That's not to say one can't get recruited playing USSSA of NFA, but it'll be easier (and still won't be easy) playing PGF. If your team is not playing such a schedule, it may be time to move to a team that does.

 

[Ksphenom]

X2 on Topgun tournaments through the USAES for Midwest as Strike2 posted. Top SEC and Big XII's were checking out talent this Fall. Didn't even want to type that out for fear they're probably going to raise entry fee's....

 

[Gambler Bob]

There are lots of good tournaments put on by Topgun through the USAES sanction in the midwest. You may have trouble finding a team that ONLY plays PGF. With the PGF shutdown in CA this summer, the Tournament USA Nationals had teams from all over the country. I believe DIV 1/2 are still restricted in their ability to attend events because of Covid until at least April.

As others mentioned, for the vast majority, the emphasis should be getting on the coach's radar at specific schools of interest. Further, you need to be realistic about what level your DD can compete at. For JUCO and smaller colleges, it's completely reasonable to get recruited while on a team that plays in USSSA tournaments.

Did Top Gun move all their tournaments to PGF for this upcoming year? I see about 10 Top Gun tournaments that are listed on the PGF website. I thought I heard something about a merger between PGF and Top Gun a month or two ago. Not sure if all Top Gun tournaments are ran through PGF or just some of them. Regardless, Top Gun does run some good tournaments.

 

[mudrunner]

We are in Illinois as well. DD’s 18u team plays in mostly USSSA and USA softball tournaments. She is currently in the middle of the recruiting process being a junior. I don’t think it’s as much about what tournament sanctions you play as much as it is making contact with the college coaches. DD has plenty of friends moving on to play college ball that never played a single PGF game. DD attended a Rise softball camp that takes skills videos and measurables and posts that info and sends it to college coaches. She has actually gotten quite a bit of interest from it. It might be worth looking into since they usually have several camps in Illinois each year. For DD it has been a good place to start.

 

[BT3100]

Another idea is look at the current commits for the school your DD is looking at. Look at the schedules these commits travel teams play. College coaches want to see kids competing against other players at the level that they will see in college.
In our area USSSA is a step above REC. Having a kid dominate in those tournaments really doesn't say much. Put the same player in top level tournaments and then you will know. Dot Richardson was speaking to a group of parents at a camp a few years back and a parent asked her how they would know if their kid was good enough to play at the level Liberty was competing. Dot said "come watch us play, you'll know if your daughter is good enough".
That's the lense they view PSAs through. Can they compete at our level. You'll never know unless you face talent that is close to what they will see in college.

 

[Capone]

Has anyone tried those recruiting services, like NSR or anything? Just wondering if at 15 and just starting if those help or not. I imagine it's $$ and that you can probably do the videos, contacting, marketing, etc. on your own as well.
In addition to PGF, Alliance is new and will be interesting to see how that works.

 

[sluggers]

I don’t think it’s as much about what tournament sanctions you play as much as it is making contact with the college coaches.

Exactly.

 

[texasheat]

Another idea is look at the current commits for the school your DD is looking at.

Where would you find that information?

 

[texasheat]

My DD just signed with a very nice NAIA school. We reached out to the coach through Field Level. He watched her videos we posted there and then came to some friendlies to watcher play. We also had offers from other NAIA (and a D2) schools that never saw her play in person.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Curious, do you have a free account or premium?

 

[Top_Notch]

Has anyone tried those recruiting services, like NSR or anything? Just wondering if at 15 and just starting if those help or not. I imagine it's $$ and that you can probably do the videos, contacting, marketing, etc. on your own as well.
In addition to PGF, Alliance is new and will be interesting to see how that works.

DD uses NCSA. It has a ton of consolidated information on schools. It comes with our dues as being part of the org. we joined. We use it practically daily. It has been instrumental in helping to select potential colleges (as well as a bunch of google-fu). DD is 15 too, and now is the time to get started with the process.