Too late for class of 2020

[slugger3]

A big "THANK YOU" to all of the fast pitch parents sharing their DD's experience with recruitment, scholarships and playing college ball!

 

[JJS]

Where in the world did you come up with 3-5% for D1 softball? That's not even close. While I agree with your overall point about not counting on a full ride, your figures and examples are well off It s NOT common practice to to take a large group of freshman knowing only a few will pan out. It happens at some of the top 20 schools and all schools understand not every girl will stick around through their senior year, but most don't make a practice of committing kids with the intention of dropping them.

Schools "are not allowed to use all their allotted scholarships"? Do you mean that many smaller schools CHOOSE not to use their full allotment? If a team doesn't use all their scholarships it's coming from their institution, unless the school is on probation.

I was also not only talking D1, but I do see that the person I originally responded to was. My overall point was that so many parents are counting on not paying for school, and I think that is dangerous for your dd's futures.

 

[let it be fun]

A big "THANK YOU" to all of the fast pitch parents sharing their DD's experience with recruitment, scholarships and playing college ball!

Thought I would post some anecdotal info on girls I know. I am no expert but I have coached every level from Coach pitch to 18A. Feel free to disagree and tell me I am full of it because it is probably true. Every experience is different.

First off, I could grab 11 of your DDs and guarantee you that they could all play in college if you let them be on my team. I would be telling the truth. There is a college out there where any girl can play regardless of ability. I would find your DD that school.

Money for college in softball is not great. This is not football or basketball. Some girls get 100% but most don't. This is not necessarily based on talent or ability. A girl can get 100% paid for in JUCO or NAIA and might not be able to walk on at another school. Academic scholarships can be better than softball scholarships.

Recruiting services might be great for your kid or they might be a waste of money. Your kid can play on a local travel team and never leave the state for a tourney and get a 100% D1 scholly. Your kid can play on a team that travels around the country and plays only the best PGF and Gold tourneys and she might not get a sniff from the teams she wants to play for and may get a preferred walk on offer. There is no recipe and no guarantees.

Some anecdotal stories about girls I have coached and girls my DDs have played with.

Player #1: Pitcher who was the #11 and 3rd or 4th pitcher on a 12A I coached and sat a lot in bracket. Left the team and went to another team. Has been very successful as a HS and 14/16/18A pitcher and will pitch for a D1 team next year. We blew that one at 12U.

Player #2: pitcher who played with DD1 starting at 10U. Was all state, Ms Softball everything in HS, played for a good travel team that played regionally and would travel outside the region maybe once a summer. Turned down offers from SEC BIG 12 and other teams and currently playing for a D1 mid-major in her hometown.

Player #3: C/1B was all state all everything in HS with DD1. Played on a good travel team that mainly stayed in the region. Currently playing for her dream school a perennial power SEC school in the state she grew up in.

Player #4: C/3B good solid player who has played on decent travel teams that play primarily in their region but 1-2 tourneys outside the region. Played with both my DDs. Went to a USSSA nationals, got noticed by a coach, and will go to an NAIA school for free next year. Probably not in the top 7 players on her very good travel team this year and will go to college for free.

Player #5: 1B. Travel coach told her she was not D1 material. She played on a reasonably good travel team that played in the best tourneys they could qualify for so they did do some serious traveling outside the region. Former travel coach told her she was D1 and took her to a mid-major camp fall of her senior year and she was offered on the spot. Currently a D1 player at that school she camped at who has lettered for three years on a team that has beaten SEC, B1G, and BIG 12 nationally ranked teams while she has been there.

Player #6: 2B/OF decent player who worked hard. Played on a very good HS team and a decent travel team that hardly ever left the state. Got two years of school for free at an in-state community college.

Player #7: middle infield. Played on a solid 12A I coached. Left the team for a very serious 14U that only played in the best PGF and Gold tourneys and flew all around the country. Moved up to 18U the next year. Committed to a D1 top 25 team after her freshman year in HS.

Player #8: 1B all conference all metro, all state all everything in HS softball. Played for a solid travel club. Recruited by several "premier" travel clubs and turned them down to stay with her travel team. Currently playing for her dream D1 school in her home state

Player #9: all area HS player with very good speed and power. Plays ona very good travel team with multiple Top 25 ranked D1 commits. Plans to play for a very highly academically ranked private D3 school and will get over $30,000 a year in academic scharships.

Player #10: good player on a very good 14A travel team. Dad put her on a premier showcase team that travelled the country playing the best PGF and Gold tourneys. Currently playing for an Ivy League school

Not trying to send a message or make a statement other than there is a different route for every kid.

 

[abrisley]

Please contact me if interested in assistance in the recruiting process...aaronbrisleycsa@gmail.com and visit our website at www.collegiatesportsadvocate.com


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jquick823]

D2 or D3 schools would NOT be competitive in the power five conferences. They might win a few fall scrmmages, but that's a far cry from being competitive over a full conference schedule. Mid major conferences, sure. SEC, Pac 12 or Big 12. No way.

I should have said compete in D1 and left out tougher.

 

[marriard]

To the original poster... It will not be too late in 2019 for a 2020... and in some cases it wont be too late in the summer of 2020 for a 2020.

Especially if they are a pitcher or a catcher.. but other positions as well.

We had D1 coaches trying to find Seniors or possible JUCO players in JULY 2015 for the season being played now. Recruiting some girl in 8th grade isn't going to help you if you have a hole at SS THIS YEAR or your pitchers are awful or your best player decided to quit the team just because or your CF blew her knee out or... You will be fired well before the 2020's are in college. An available senior who can play can have some really solid options.

Maybe it makes a difference if you are on one of the top ASA/PGF 14U teams and want to sign early for the teams we see at the WCWS every year, but even then if you are ACTUALLY good enough, your senior year in HS may not be too late. I look at Florida State's current roster and I know at least three of their current team were committed as HS Seniors to other programs but somehow FSU was able to find money and spots for them during their senior seasons and onto the team.

Hell, think of EVERY JUCO transfer out there. Most transfers to 4 year schools happen in a 3 month window for the FOLLOWING season. Most of them involve some level of scholarship money or assistance in navigating the schools admissions to advantage.

 

[JAD]

Progressive scholarships are very common in softball. A player may be offered 25% her freshman season, 50% her sophomore year, 75% her junior year, and 100% her senior year. What parents need to understand is that the increase in scholarship percentages is also indicative of the level of attrition the coaching staff expects. If a school has 12 scholarships and allocates them at 3 per class at the percentages listed they can carry 12 freshmen, 6 sophomores, 4 juniors and 3 seniors. That would be a roster of 25 players.

 

[Rooster98]

You are very much mistaken if you think that schools are giving 25% scholarships for softball(excluding flame throwing pitchers). With incoming freshman classes between 5-15 players the math just doesn't add up. 5% scholarship is more realistic for athletic. The rest is academic. Word to the wise: Don't underfund those 5-7-9 education accounts so that you can travel across the country and watch Sally play softball. Only do the travel if you can still afford to fund the accounts. Otherwise little Sally might not be able to afford to accept the scholarship that she is offered.

I can tell you this from my experience.....I have coached from tee ball to now 18A. I got six out of my 12 committed to some level of degree at anywhere from Juco to D2. I have no D1 recruits on my team currenlty. My catcher was offered on the spot 75% athletic and 25% academic if her ACT and GPA and class rank was high enough. She actually picked a D3 school for academics and guess what will be at 100% on academics. Most d1 coaches I talk with and I do talk with a lot say progressive scholarships is the way it goes these days and they wish they didn't have to play the 2020-2021 recruiting game. They want NCAA to act. Now my other catcher is also playing at a JUCO. She has tuition and fees paid for. Her JUCO feeds into several D1 programs. In talking with the D1 coaches they actually will grab more players from a JUCO for the last two years as they can deal with losing 25% to a freshman knowing she won't be aroung her junior and senior year. Once coach said he had a 75% drop rate. Now I don't know if that would be the coaches fault or the players not wanting to play the game anymore. College recruiting is a joke. Starts way too early and parents put way to much money into it trying to get thier kid a full ride when full rides are few are far between. And at 14U most parents think their kid will be playing at Florida, Oregon, Washington, UCLA. All pipe dreams. Very few ever make it this far....and if you do. Be prepared for a redshirt.

 

[teammom2]

Thank you all for the information and reassurance. I keep thinking the time between now and college is the same amount of time from 10U-14U. Thinking of building a 14U team by looking at an 8yr old seems crazy. I understand that that's apples to oranges and the development of players is different from age to age. My point is, SO MUCH can change in that amount of time from the player to the programs.

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

My DD 3 is class of 2020 as well. We haven't started the recruitment process for a lot of reasons, one of them being I'm hardly ever in town to help her out. Also she isn't a big stud blowing away much older girls --- yet. She tends to improve quite a bit, and to get better than girls who have been playing longer and used to be better. We have no idea how good she will get.

Same boat here. Good player and pitcher, but with her recent injury and now overcoming that we put some things on the back burner.