Some recruiting advice....

[JAD]

My DD is now a freshman in high school and we are about to start the recruiting process. It can be a little overwhelming, so I wanted to give out two pieces of advice to any parents who are about to embark on a similar path with their DD.....

1) Order a copy of Cathy Aradi's book and read it cover to cover. If nothing else the list of colleges, coaches and contact information in the back of the book is worth the $$$.

Book Information

2) When you and your DD sit down to make a list of the schools she is interested in attending, start with the Forbes or US News lists of top colleges, not the ESPN Top 25......

America's Top Colleges List - Forbes

National University Rankings | Top National Universities | US News Best Colleges

 

[GOINGDEEP]

The Top Party Schools 2012: Newsweek/College Prowler List

Just make sure she doesn't slide this list in the mix.

 

[Scl1991]

Good advice. A kid should aim high ademically and let softball get them a better education than they would have gotten on grades alone.

I would add to not be afraid to cast a wide net- a High school freshman should not limit themselves, athletically or academically, so early. They should cast that net wide, contact those coaches, and let the process play itself out.

 

[slingnit]

After every season be sure to update your coaches info, so many coaching changes every year. And when emailing coaches CC all assistants. They do a lot of the leg work and scouting before passing on info to the head coach.

 

[kenb63]

Good advice above.

As a freshman we had DD make five lists; her top 10 schools at D1, D2, D3, NAIA and JuCos. That was very enlightening for her as she realized there were more options beyond nationally ranked D1 programs.

She also was asked to make an inventory of what she wanted in a school; academic programs, size, distance, location, religious affiliation, etc. DD went for ESU's (Enormous State Universities) within a fairly close radius to our home.

She was then tasked with emailing coaches to introduce herself, apprising them of her schedule, keeping them updated on a frequent basis on her progress and asking for more info about their various schools and programs. These emails were proofed for egregious errors (the worst potentially being a mismatch between school and coach) but left in a teenage voice. Coaches have told me letters that are too slick generally set off their BS detector.

There was much squealing and jumping when the first letters arrived with fliers about schools and softball camps. I had to explain that we could not go to every winter camp between Colorado and Indiana but we did sit down and make choices about which ones to attend. I'm a big fan of camps.

 

[tmolina]

The Top Party Schools 2012: Newsweek/College Prowler List

Just make sure she doesn't slide this list in the mix.

I din't see any PAC-12 schools in the party school list, maybe they are getting serious about winning a national championship this year!!