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Updates
With
the new Div. I academic changes going into effect in 2015 and the new Div. II recruiting
guidelines changes going into effect later this year, the college search has become
something you need to think about as soon as you enter high school. Please don’t
misunderstand. These changes haven’t equalized
recruiting; they’ve only made it more complex. Students who struggle with Math or Languages will
need to be on top of their grades from Day One of 9th Grade. The fact that you’ll need 10 core courses completed
before your senior year will make it harder to make up that D you got in Freshman
Algebra. If you don’t work hard in the classroom
for four years, your hard work on the field may not matter one bit.
And the D-II recruiting guidelines changes mean that some (and not necessarily a
lot) of D-II coaches will start looking at players after their sophomore year. However, parents should understand this doesn’t
necessarily mean a load of D-II scholarship offers for juniors. Many D-II’s have limited scholarship funding, and
most don’t know what players they’ll need or what money they’ll have until that
recruiting year roles around—e.g., until your senior year. Still, you will need to have grades in order,
videos available, test scores and so on if you think you might be a candidate
for early commitment to a D-II school.
And remember, you still can’t take an official visit until you’re a
senior, so all visits to all campuses prior to that will have to be at your
expense!
I’d be the first to admit I’m not a fan of these recruiting rule changes. But we have to make the best of it. My 2012 book will have more information, and
frankly, I think families will benefit from expert guidance now more than ever
before as they embark on this (sometimes insane) journey!
1/1/12 MAKING THE RIGHT RESOLUTIONS!
If
you’re hoping to start 2012 with renewed determination to reach your goal of finding
the right college team for you, that’s terrific. Here are a few things you
might “resolve” to do that will help you succeed!
1)
If you’re not conditioning regularly,
start
2)
Eat better. Make healthier choices.
3)
Practice more. Go to the cages two or three times a week.
Videotape your hitting and study your weaknesses. If you need help fielding, find an hour or
two a week you can take ground balls, fly balls, etc., with a friend/teammate.
4)
Study harder and get the best grades you can. It will pay off in so many ways.
5) Finally,
get real when it comes to the college search. Understand how it works and beat
out the competition, not because you
are the best player to ever come down the pike, but because you know what it
takes to get recruited!
11/30/11 GRATITUDE!
I
know life is tough for a lot of people these days. I can speak to that
directly. But while you’re worrying about how you’ll pay next summer’s travel
ball expenses or concerned that someone else’s player is getting recruited and
your player is not, take a minute or two to step outside yourself. Try to
identify the things to be thankful for as 2011 winds down. Be glad your
daughter is healthy enough to play sports.
Be glad she understands the importance of a college education and that
she works hard to keep her grades up. Say thanks to all the people who have
helped her get where she is today—coaches, teachers, mentors, friends…not to
mention her parents!
When you’re considering New Year’s resolutions at the end of the month,
consider rearranging your priorities.
Put her health and welfare and happiness—both short and long term—at the
top of your list. Put getting a college education ahead of finding a big name
team to recruit her. Look down the road and consider what a positive college
experience and a university degree will mean to her when she’s 25 and 35 and
45! (It wouldn’t hurt to think about
what it might mean to you in the event you need your children to support you in
your old age!)
Here’s another good New Year’s resolution…develop a softball budget…and stick
to it! Weigh the cost of two tournament
tee shirts against the price of my book.
Pack a healthy lunch instead of buying reheated, high fat concession
stand hot dogs. At a tournament, stay at
a lower priced hotel even if it means you can’t hang out with the other parents
every night (rehashing every pitch and swing and play of the day). And don’t buy that $350 bat just because it’s
pretty or because you believe it will make your player a hitter. Put that money away for her education—or at the
very least—for visits to colleges. Spend
wisely, and it will pay off down the road. Finally, resolve to put your
creative energy into a well-run college search, and that will pay off too!
These
days, I hear from a lot of parents that they can’t afford to get help or
guidance for their player’s college search. They cite the economy, job
concerns, home devaluation, etc., while insisting they’d like to get help, but
they don’t have the money. To that, 90%
of the time, I say “Horse Hockey!” I
watch these parents at tournaments. They
buy a $15 tee-shirt, hot dogs and nachos from the concession stands, and their
daughter is sporting a shiny, new $300 bat.
And yet, they can’t afford $35 for my book. I don’t expect every parent to want, need or
be able to afford my services—although $30 for a lengthy phone consultation to
make sure your player is on track is the best bargain around.
But
when a parent says, “Her travel coach promised he’d get her a scholarship,” my
knees begin to shake. This is a sure sign these people aren’t living in the
real world. YES, a few players will get scholarships because they are on highly visible, highly competitive travel teams.
But what about the other 80-90% players who are going to have to work
hard to be recruited? Without knowledge
of how recruiting works, without guidance to help you avoid the mistakes and
pitfalls that are common to the process, many families will find themselves at
the end of the player’s senior year with few, or even no, options.
Some
families really can’t afford help—and I’ve worked with a lot of them to make it
happen. But everyone can afford the book.
If your player is in the 10% who have that “magical” recruiting
experience, congratulations. The rest of
you might want to rethink that “Her coach will get her recruited” mindset
because by the time you find out that’s not going to happen, you could be so
far behind that it will be impossible to catch up. Recruiting can be brutal, competitive, harsh,
complex, and it’s almost never, ever fair.
But having the “insurance” of someone who knows the ropes backward and
forward can separate your player from the rest of the thousands of girls who
are out there “hoping something good will happen.”
10/7/11 FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH
In
my workshops and personal contacts with players and their families, I
constantly stress how challenging and demanding it is to play for a top D-l
program like Arizona or Tennessee.
Parents nod and smile, and I can see the little wheels in their heads
turning busily as they think to themselves, “No worries. My (Susie, Molly,
Teri, or Amber) is up to it. No matter how realistic a portrait I paint, they
still tend to believe they themselves would love that life. And since they would love it, obviously so
would their daughters.
A couple of weeks ago I emailed a friend of mine who coaches a competitive
travel ball program in Southern California and asked him how his daughter was
doing in school. She’s a freshman at a
top ten D-I program playing for a legendary coach. His reply didn’t surprise
me, but I sensed that he himself was a bit surprised. (And he’s probably one of
the few people out there who actually “gets” it.)
He essentially summed things up by saying that players (and I’ll add their
parents) had better really, really, really love the game of softball and really
be ready to be pushed to their limits if they think they want to play at a
school like X (where his daughter is playing—e.g., a big name team.) He went on
to say among other things that they don’t care if you’re sick, they don’t care
if you’re injured (except insofar as they want to know when you’ll be back),
and for the most part they don’t care if you’re “happy.” Being well, being healthy, being strong, being
happy…those things are the responsibility of the player herself. (Obviously, they don’t want unhappy players,
but it’s your job to take care of
your own business.)
Luckily, my friend’s daughter seems to be in her element and is managing as
well as can be expected of any freshman faced with this completely new level of
expectations. But frankly, most kids would rebel under these constraints. Not
because playing at this level is so hard, but because many kids—once they are
in college—realize that they want more balance, which usually means a little
less softball and a little more life. I’m not passing judgment on any of this—or anyone’s personal choice.
I just know that a lot of kids quit college teams after a year or even a
semester because they weren’t prepared for what would be expected of them.
I need to
remind families that there are different levels of competition and different
levels of expectation. While almost all
college coaches want to win—regardless of whether they’re at D-I, D-II, D-III or NAIA program—the
road to winning won’t be the same at all schools. So when you’re telling people
you’ll only consider a top D-I program (or your daughter should be playing at a
top D-I program), make sure you know what you’re really saying. Figure out what’s
right for your individual college
experience, and then figure out what
type of college team will best fit your long term goals!
9/20/11 WHAT THE COACHES ARE SAYING
I
spent the weekend at a big showcase tournament, and in talking to some of the
college coaches there, I was reminded of points that parents of ball players
may be overlooking—these days more than ever!
Coaches want to see kids who are in shape—not necessarily skinny, but
having good muscle mass. Conditioning may be the first thing to go when a busy
school and work life challenges players and families. Still, it’s such a HUGE part of college ball
that it’s worth it to try and find time to get a workout or a run in several
times a week. And it will pay off in
many ways.
I
also heard a lot about hitting. Several
coaches were grousing over kids who hit the ball, but don’t “hit it to hurt
it!” A hard hit ball goes through the
infield faster, causes more fielding errors and just looks better. So many kids
seem to be swinging as if they were anemic.
They may get a hit—technically speaking—but no one is going to be overly
impressed. Three crushed balls that get
caught will catch a coach’s eye a lot faster than three hits that simply
dropped in the right place! See ball…Hit
ball…HARD!
The third complaint (if that’s what you want to call it) that I heard from several coaches over the weekend had to do with unrealistic expectations on the part of both parents and players. Coaches can’t (and never will) see every recruit out there. They often won’t “look” for you unless they already know they’re interested, and they will almost never “see” someone they’re not looking for unless she’s killing the ball or throwing 65 mph…with movement! They also are working under tighter constraints financially than ever before. Travel budgets have been cut back and funding isn’t being increased at a lot of schools. This is contributing to the seeming “randomness” of recruiting. Players (and parents) who think they should be discovered magically or that coaches should come looking for them just because they’re good may be in for a long cold winter when it comes to their college search.
8-30-11 FALL
BALL MAY NOT BE A MAGIC
BULLET
It's
always harder to play travel ball in the fall, particularly if you are seniors who
need to visit colleges or who have to take
However, the hunt for the almighty dollar prompted every tournament promoter
and his or her son to try to "horn in" on the exposure tourney
trend. Someone is ALWAYS having a "showcase" or scouting
event. Some travel teams are playing more games in the fall than in the
summer. And some kids are missing school every week for one event or
another.
But no matter what ANY tournament director tells you, there's one great big
"catch" in all of this fall tournament planning. (And I
want you to pass this along to everyone you know, including your travel
coaches.)
This is FALL ball. That means colleges are IN SESSION.
Many have FALL (or non-traditional) seasons during which they practice
and often play, be it scrimmages, round robins, double headers or
tournaments. When does all this college FALL ball take
place? In the FALL... That means from late August or early Sept.
to early November, many coaches are tied up with their
Consideration #1: Even if a college coach WANTED to scout every
weekend in the fall, most of them could not. (And trust me, they don't
want to scout every weekend in the fall...they don't even like doing it in the
summer.)
Consideration #2 is financial and practical at the same time. Many
college coaches have players in for visits on weekends from Sept. to Nov.
And generally, they want to be on campus when they have recruits coming
in. They also are spending budget money to have recruits come in, and
many of them tell me that even if they did want to be out scouting every
weekend in the fall (and remember, they don't want to be out scouting every
weekend), they simply don't have that kind of travel money.
Consideration #3 is simple logic. If you survey all the colleges
East of Nevada, I'm betting the ranch you would find that the OVERWHELMING
majority of them would tell you this. "IF (and that's a big IF)
we travel in the fall to scout--e.g., if we have the money, the time, the
resources--we would probably go to
It’s also good to remember that on top of competing in fall ball or having
recruits in for visits, many of the D-II and NAIA schools will be having
prospects come in and work out with their teams rather than trying to see them
at a tournament.
One of the key issues parents often don't realize and travel coaches tend to
ignore is that by Oct., most of the bigger D-I schools have either gotten
commitments or are having their last few prospects visit while waiting for them
to commit. They'll go scout in the fall--sometimes for walk-on's or a
sudden, unexpected need--but mostly it's for kids from the new junior
class.
So what is the point of all of this? Don't go crazy. Be aware of the
practical considerations. There are no guarantees that seniors (particularly
those who have not done their homework--letters, videos, phone calls, etc.--by
that time) will get seen (or magically "discovered") at either one of
those (or at any other tournament for that matter.) So make
sure you (seniors) have done your homework. Remember, coaches may GO to
these tournaments, but if they don't look for YOU, chances are good you won't
be seen. And they won't look for you if you're not on their radar.
8-11-11 ARE YOU IN PANIC MODE
YET?
If
you are a 2012 graduate, certain things should be happening in your college
search right now. No, I’m not going to tell you what they are because they will
vary somewhat from player to player depending upon things like grades and test
scores, work that you’ve already done (or not done), your understanding of the realities of the college search process,
and most importantly, your parents ability to see the big picture and
willingness to learn what they need to do to help you reach your goal of
playing in college. I know—from 20 plus
years of experience as a recruiting consultant—that there are a lot of 2012
families feeling incredibly anxious right about now. And frankly, some of them
should be worried.
I
have been going to team tryouts here and there, and from listening to what the
parents are saying, they seem to fall into two categories. There is Group
A--those parents who clearly expect their player to be scouted,
recruited and given a scholarship simply because she's on Team A or Team
B. Theoretically, they have no real basis for believing this (because
honest travel coaches would never make such a promise), but believe it they do.
Then there is Group B--those parents who realize it's actually their
responsibility to manage their daughter's college search (at least to one
degree or another.)
Within these two major groups are two sub groups. In Group A, some of the
parents clearly feel they were let down or were likely to be let down by one
specific team or another. The consensus always seems to be that this
coach or that coach didn't "...do anything to get their kid a
scholarship." The second group within Group A was more optimistic--at
least in mid August—these parents, believing (hoping) that this coach
would help their daughter get her scholarship if only she could make his team.
Within the B Group--e.g., those who accept at least some responsibility for
their player finding a college to attend--again, there was one sub group who
was willing to go along with he travel coach who tells his players to
"Write (which the kids always take to mean e-mail) their top
10 or 15 schools and continue emailing them ad infinitum, in perpetuity, and
for all eternity, because just by doing that,
they would all get scholarships."
The other set of parents in Group B had the best working knowledge of the
process--many of them had my book, no surprise--but even among these parents
there was a sense of "What do we do now?" In other words, their
player had sent out letters and resumes and video links, but they don't seem to
quite get the point that this is only the beginning and that knowing what
schools to target and how to follow up is every bit as important as sending the
letters off in the first place.
If
you have a 2012 grad (or your parents do!), and you feel you aren’t where you
should be at this point in your college search, it might be a really good idea
to ask for some help or guidance. A
“road check” might be all it takes to get you moving forward towards your dream
destination!
8-1-11 SEE BALL…HIT BALL!
I
try not to repeat opinions, but sometimes great ones warrant a rerun. This IMHO has to do with hitting the ball. If
you watch freeze frames and slow motion graphics used in baseball or televised
softball games, you’ll almost always see that a player who just got a great
hit—sometimes off of a great pitch—had his or her head right on the bat
and ball at the moment of contact. This seems like an incredibly simple
notion. If you’re tracking the ball out of the pitcher’s hand and
following it to the point where it meets your powerful swing, something good is
going to happen most of the time.
When it comes to
recruiting, hitting “sells.” If
you’re an outstanding hitter, they’ll find a spot for you on their team. While the oft-heard adage, “You can’t hit
what you can’t see,” may be old and tired, keep in mind, it’s still the gospel
truth!
I
just came back from a week in
The key to a successful college search
is knowing how to beat the system. (In a
good way of course!) If you had a great
week in the Rocky Mountains, make the most of it by calling and emailing
coaches who saw you or requested more information. Follow up and ask what next steps you can
take with them. If you weren’t so lucky,
and you had a bad week or you just didn’t get seen (very possible for a lot of
kids), remember that there are 1150 colleges with teams out there, and all you
need to do is focus on the schools where you can succeed…where you can “wow”
the coaches—particularly if they missed you in Colorado.
If you come home and give up—as some players do—then you probably didn’t want
it that badly in the first place. If
you’re serious about playing in college,
however, whether you spent the last seven days being a star or being
disappointed, you’ll build on this experience and move forward more committed
than ever to finding the team and the school that are right for you! (By the way, if you’re a 2012 grad and you
didn’t come home from Colorado with a big offer from a big program—as you
expected you would—you might want to rethink your game plan!)
6-27-11 “A LOT OF COACHES ASKED ABOUT YOU…”
Often
when I'm talking to a player or her parents, I'll hear something to the effect
of, "Coach Bill (fill in your coach's name) told me/us that a lot of
coaches/several coaches/some coaches/or the coach from (fill in a name) was
talking to him about me/my kid...or was here to see me/her..."
This sounds like great news, and indeed, it may be. However, what happens
too frequently is that when I ask the player/parent, "So what was the
outcome?" they don't have an answer for me. I’m looking for the specific
message that coach sent--e.g., "We're definitely interested. Have her call
us." or "We like what we see and we're going to watch her some more,
perhaps contact her." In other words, WHO asked about you?
WHAT did he/she want to know? WHAT was said in the conversation?
"Was there a MESSAGE or OUTCOME of the conversation that was directed at
you the player?
Unfortunately, this is where many travel coaches go "vague."
Sometimes it's just because they didn't write anything down or they were
bombarded with coaches talking to them about a lot of kids. So the specific
intent of this particular coach's conversation was lost along the way.
And sometimes it happens because nothing CONCRETE took place. The college
coach may have mentioned your name because you wrote him/her, but the college
coach is actually more interested in someone else--or might be there to look at
someone on the other team. In other words, your NAME may have come up,
but it didn't signify anything.
It may also be that your travel coach asked the college coach what he/she was
looking for, and the coach said, "We still need a catcher and a 2nd
base." And your coach might have mentioned your name along with the
other catcher and his two 2nd basemen. So while your name was said,
there's nothing in that conversation to indicate direct interest. You
might want to follow up by sending a video, resume, etc. and mentioning that
your travel coach told you that the Univ of ___ was looking for a
catcher. However, there's no guarantee that anything will come of this.
Talk to your travel coach before any showcase tournaments and maybe even give
them a little "gift" of a small spiral bound notebook with a pencil
or pen attached. Ask your coach to jot down the names of college coaches who
express a serious interest or who ask about you so that you can follow up with
a call or an email. Ask your coach to ask that college coach for a card
that he can pass along to you.
Be respectful, but stress to your coach that in order for you to be as
proactive as possible, you need all the help and information you can get.
And that includes knowing what's real and what isn't. We all know your
travel coach works hard for you. But here's the bottom line. Recruiting
may not happen overnight. It might be two steps forward and one step back
with some schools. But it has to move forward or it's not going
anywhere. A college coach talking to someone about you is awesome.
But I can guarantee you unless something real, something solid comes out of
it--and that may only happen if you follow up--it's a pretty meaningless
conversation. That's why it's important that your travel coach get as
much info as possible whenever he or she talks to a college coach about you.
5-23-10 THINGS TO PONDER AS YOU WATCH THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
As
you watch the games on ESPN, you're bound to experience a lot of thoughts,
ranging from "Wow!!!!" to "Gee, I could do that." But I’d
like to interject a word of caution at this point. It's not as easy as it
looks. You need to pay attention to the "subtext" of the
game--e.g., the things the commentators say that would normally go in one ear
and out the other. If you listen, you'll hear that the work load of most
of these players at the very top of the collegiate game is substantial.
Also, their coaches are tough. They expect, if not demand, an
intense commitment to winning. This includes hours of conditioning--both
mental and physical--extra time working on skills and drills, and the
willingness to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve both team and personal
goals.
Being good is a gift, but it's not nearly enough. There are lots of good
players out there. Yes, you should celebrate your All-League achievements
in high school, and yes, you should be very proud of everything you've
accomplished so far in your softball career. But it's also wise to keep these
things in perspective. Ask yourself if you are truly the kind of player
who lives, eats, breathes, and sleeps softball? If softball is your life,
then you should definitely pursue the kind of championship team where that's a
given--whether it be at a D-I, D-II, NAIA or D-III program. (And if
softball isn't your whole life?
That's okay too! There is definitely a place for you in college
ball...just as long as you really love the game! There are all
sorts of programs out there; you simply need to find the one that’s right for
you.)
All college ball at all
levels of competition will demand more of you than you expect. And that's
a good thing. It's the only way you'll grow. You should want
to work hard, to get better, to set new goals for yourself because while making
a college team is the culmination of all your efforts so far, it’s also the
beginning of a new chapter in your
game.
In the meantime, however, try to keep a few things in mind. No matter how
good you are, there are other players out there who are just as accomplished.
And some of them may feel they're entitled to take a spot away from you on a
college team! So what should you do? You've got to have game! You've got to want
it! You've got to be willing to fight back and show some coach that you
deserve that spot more! And maybe most importantly, you've got to be smart
about it. Get cagey, get competitive. Understand how the process works,
and figure out how to make it work to your advantage!
When you watch the WCWS…notice that almost all of these athletes hit for power.
Even the slappers can drive the ball into the gap.
When you watch the WCWS…notice that many of the pitchers are big, strong girls.
Notice that most of them throw consistently over 60 mph. Yes, they might
throw a change-up at 53 or an off-speed at 58, but most of them can bring the
heat. At the same time, most of them don't rely on the heat...they add movement
and spin—great movement and spin…the kind of movement that ties batters up in
knots!
When you watch the WCWS…notice that everyone makes mistakes. Fielders
misplay balls, runners leave early or get caught between bases. The trick is to
get over it and move on. (It's also important not to assume that because a
batter strikes out or a fielder misplays a ball this means you're a better
athlete than she is.)
When you watch the WCWS…remember that getting there was the result of many
months (if not years) of preparation, both mental and physical. Getting there took
a lot of hard work during a very long season. And these young ladies had to go
to class, take exams, and do their laundry too!
So, what can you learn from this?
Lesson #1: If you're a slapper, learn to hit away. If you're a
"singles" hitter, turn those into doubles or double the number of
singles you do hit. Study hitting, study pitching, and learn to recognize
the rise ball and the curve ball before they reach the plate. Learn to go with
the outside pitch and to lay off the rise ball.
Lesson #2: Condition and strength train. I can't stress this enough...
You won't survive a 58-63 game season to make it into playoffs if you're out of
shape.
Lesson #3: Pitchers...use your pitching skills to your advantage. Learn to
recognize the kinds of hitters you can most effectively and consistently
challenge, and then look for the colleges that are recruiting those
kinds of players. I guarantee those coaches will want to hear from you!
Lesson #4: Develop study habits that will carry you through a long season of college
ball.
Lesson #5: Understand that sitting the bench isn't nearly as much fun as
playing--even if your team is on TV. (Maybe especially if your team is on TV!)
Lesson #6: Know that you can have a wonderfully rewarding, awesomely fun
college career...even if ESPN never visits your campus! It's all about
finding the school where your hard work and determination will be rewarded, and
where you can spend the better part of four years knowing everything you’ve
done until now and all the sacrifices you've made were worth it. The
memories you generate during those four years should be memories that last you
a lifetime!
High
school softball is wrapping up for many of you, and you should be looking
ahead—excitedly—to travel ball. Your skills should be sharp from playing and
practicing over the past few months, and your energy and enthusiasm should be
ramping up. Now is the time for juniors
to go over that important pre-summer recruiting checklist. Have registered with
the NCAA and NAIA? Do you understand exactly how the certification process
works and what you need to do along the way?
Have you sent your video link to 40-60 coaches who may well consider you
an impact player? (As opposed to writing
only the Top Twenty D-I schools in the country.) Have you made sure your travel coach
understands how serious you are about playing in college, and have you provided
him or her with your (accurate) cumulative GPA and your
If
you’re in the midst of high school softball—as many of you are—view this time
as a chance to get in shape for summer travel ball. If you like your high school coach and
teammates, and if you’re working hard to contribute to the team’s success, you
will reap all kinds of benefits that aren’t related to All-League. Maybe you struggle to hit slower pitching (or
change-ups) during the travel season.
High school teams often present slower pitching, and you can focus on
adjusting your timing and learning to wait on the slower pitches…something that
will help you immensely come summer! If
you need to sharpen your fielding skills, you may be able to convince your
coach or a teammate to stay after practice and work extra with you. Finally, daily softball practices should
remind you to pay attention to your college search and recruiting—particularly
if you are a junior. Now is the time to
get that video on YouTube, to get your letters and resumes out to colleges, and
to improve your
3-1-11 WHY “PEAKING” AT THE RIGHT TIME IS SO
IMPORTANT
There
are many variations on “peaking”—i.e., reaching that point where everything is
working for you and you can perform
at an optimum level. The problem is that you can’t always predict when you’ll
“peak” and it won’t always be at the same time as others. This applies to the
college search in spades. I see players
who reach their full high school potential as sophomores and who are often
considered young phenoms and prospects to be watched. Other players with
similar potential may be overlooked because they don’t max out their high
school potential until they are juniors or even seniors. It’s not fair, but it
can’t be helped.
Ironically,
the player who “peaks” later may—in the long run—have an advantage. She may be
more mature socially, academically and emotionally, and be better prepared to
choose the college that can meet all
of her needs—not just the athletic ones.
There
is another way in which “peaking” affects the college search. Year after year, I see players who were
passionate about the game at fourteen gradually begin to rearrange their
priorities with softball moving further and further down the list. There’s
nothing wrong with this. Life certainly has more important things in store for
most young women than playing softball until they’re sixty. But parents often reach the peak of their passion for the game just at the
time when their daughter’s need to have softball front and center is
diminishing.
Parents,
please try to stay in touch with your high school player during her college
search. If you don’t have regular family
meetings to see how she’s feeling
about everything, you may discover—after you’ve sent her off to college—that
she was just going through the motions or doing this because it mattered so
much to you. She may have wonderful softball memories, and she may still treasure
many aspects of the game. But she may have realized that it’s time for her to
focus on other things. This can be heartbreaking for mom and dad to hear, but
it’s definitely better to find this out sooner…rather than later.
2-1-11 REARRANGING YOUR RECRUITING PRIORITIES
The
uncertain economic situation in the U.S. is forcing the examination of spending
priorities on many different levels.
Colleges that aren’t raising costs and cutting funding are now few and
far between. Parents who have been counting on a full ride softball scholarship
to help them recoup all the money they have poured into travel ball (money that
might have paid for a college education if put into a savings account five or
ten years ago) are now often faced with a painful dilemma. Their player may be
offered a partial scholarship for athletics or academics, but they have nothing
set aside to cover the rest of her college costs.
I’m seeing players having to choose between attending the local junior college
(simply because it’s the only school they can afford) and accepting financial
aid from a college that might not be their top choice. Some athletes are giving
up softball altogether because their parents just can’t pay for it any more. I
had a lot of parents call me this fall in desperation because their player’s
college search hadn’t come to a magic, fairy-tale ending…the way their travel
coach promised them it would. (Or at least that’s what they thought he said!)
It’s quite possible to find a college and a team without traveling all over the
country with a high visibility gold or A team. But you have to know how to do
it, and you have to be willing to adjust your expectations. Most importantly,
you have to ask yourself as a family what really counts? Your answer should be the education. Getting
a college degree is an investment that will pay off for years and years to
come. Softball can definitely be a part of that. It just might not happen in
the way you thought it would!
1-1-11 THE RECRUITING GODS HELP THOSE WHO HELP
THEMSELVES!
If
the winter weather is keeping you off the softball field, put this indoor time
to good use. Remember, there are more would be college ball players who don’t find teams to recruit them than
there are those who do. Be a savvy
shopper. Don’t believe everything you
hear—particularly from coaches who promise to “get you recruited” simply by
showing up at a big summer or fall tournament—and don’t assume that every
parent who says, “Oh my daughter just went there and got seen and was offered a
big scholarship,” is telling it like it really
is.
Sure,
these things happen occasionally, but not nearly as often as parents and
coaches would have you think. Take charge of your own college search, educate
yourself, learn what is fact and what is fiction, and be the one who makes it
happen instead of the one who sits by the phone and waits…and waits…and waits!
11-1-10 PUT YOUR WINTER BREAK TO GOOD USE
With
fall ball wrapping up in almost all parts of the country, this is a good time
for families to take a deep breath and step back far enough from softball to
gain some perspective. If your daughter
is a senior, and she is moving toward successful completion of her college
search, congratulate her and yourselves for being smart enough to plan ahead and
lucky enough to have had that planning pay off.
If she’s a senior who is wallowing—not sure why it’s not happening or
where to go next—consider a 30 minute phone consultation with me. I can probably help you get to the root of
the problem and suggest what next steps to take.
If
you’re the parent of a junior, now is when you should all do a reality check.
Make sure you understand the recruiting process, (the negatives as well as the
positives), and that you’re fully prepared to do battle. Check your player’s
academic status—e.g., the classes she’s taking, her current, cumulative and
NCAA GPA along with scheduling the
While
you want to continue working out and staying in softball shape, you can also
use the winter to develop your introductory letter and a resume, and you can
start to identify the colleges you want to contact so you have time to get on
their radar before summer.
Consult
my book for more detailed help with your player’s college search, and if you
feel she’d benefit from a recruiting coach, (the same way she might have
benefited from a pitching or hitting coach), please get in touch. I get so
frustrated when I meet a parent who says, “I wish we had known sooner,” or “I
wished we’d taken advantage of your experience and knowledge back when.” Recruiting, like life, isn’t fair. But the player and her parents can do a ton to give her an advantage other
players might not have. Happy Holidays!
10-12-10 IT’S
NOT EASY BEING A TRAVEL BALL COACH
Undoubtedly,
there are some travel ball coaches around the country who make a living off of
softball. I know a few who actually make a decent living from their softball
facilities, lessons, and so on. But for the most part, coaching travel ball is
a volunteer effort, and one for which there may be little in the way of rewards—other
than perhaps winning a trophy now and then or helping a young athlete achieve
her dream of playing college softball.
Anyone
who gives up weekends and vacations to coach should be commended. It’s never as
easy as it seems, nor as simple as parents sitting in the stands would like to
believe. However, travel ball coaches should be aware that it’s all too easy to
become territorial and proprietary—usually to the detriment of your players.
Maybe it’s the result of no pay and too few thank you’s. Maybe it’s a side
effect of too many years of trying to prove something. But these days, I see an
ever increasing number of travel coaches who are deliberately—or
inadvertently—leading parents to believe that getting a college softball
scholarship is simply a matter of playing for their team. If I had five dollars for every parent who says to me
(some version of), “If only her coach had told us the truth about recruiting
from the beginning, things might have worked out better,” I could retire.
Honestly, day in and day out, I hear from parents who really believed it when
their daughter’s coach said he would get her recruited.
I will be the first to admit, that some of this is wishful thinking (on the
part of the parents), and/or the willingness to believe to be true that which
you know to be false because it’s easier for you. And to some extent, parents
who choose not to see the obvious deserve whatever happens to them, because
there really is no excuse for not educating yourself about the process. But too many families are not told by their
coaches (who should know better) that recruiting isn’t a piece of cake—unless
you’re the next Jenny Finch—and that there are aspects of the collegiate game
that most parents aren’t going to be happy to hear—e.g., 75% of kids won’t play
D-I, only about 55% of players get athletic-based aid, 90% of colleges are east
of Colorado, and so on.
Giving families this kind of information may be like throwing a bucket of cold
water at them. But if you don’t understand how to play the game, there’s no way
you’re going to win, and I would be eternally grateful to any travel coach who
can explain why he or she doesn’t educate the families of kids who want to
compete in college. Conversely, if these coaches don’t believe it’s their job to
oversee every aspect of a player’s college search, why they don’t at least
point the family towards a viable resource. (Yes, like my book.) If your coach does do everything he or she can to help you succeed, including
monitoring your grades and test scores, making sure you write schools in your
target zone, making sure you and your parents understand how recruiting really
works, introducing you to a lot of coaches at all levels of college
competition, and so on, then that coach is to be heartily congratulated and you
owe him or her a nice bottle of wine at the very least.
My caution to parents is this. To be on the safe side, don’t make it your
daughter’s coach’s responsibility to find her a college team. If you’re in charge from day one—even if
this goes against what your coach tells you—you’ll be sure you’ve done
everything in your power to find the best college—and softball team—for your
player! Remember, recruiting, like softball itself, is a team sport!
9-20-10 GETTING REAL MAKES IT EASIER TO
REALLY SUCCEED
This
past weekend I attended one of the best early fall tournaments in California Washington , Oregon Nevada
I was
also reminded of something else that parents—in particular—need to pay close
attention to when they are watching their athletes in action. This tournament
featured players with the potential to compete at all levels of college
softball, and it is critical that
families remember not all athletes are created—or developed—equally. This is not a comment on your player’s
ability, dedication, athleticism, work ethic and so on. However, the simple truth is that watching
the teams this weekend, I saw young ladies who crushed the ball off of even the
best pitchers they faced, and I saw young ladies who struggled to hit even the
weaker pitching. I saw players who knew
just where in the field to move and when, and I saw players who were a step
quicker, whose release was faster, and whose arms were stronger. I also saw players who would benefit from
serious conditioning and players who need to work on being better students of
the game.
The great
thing about college softball is that 75% of schools aren’t D-I, and even 70% of
D-I schools aren’t going to be in the top 50 rankings. So there are many different opportunities out
there. What parents need to understand
is that the sooner they recognize where their
player can really contribute, the sooner she will be recruited. It’s nice to
wish for UCLA or Arizona or Alabama or Tennessee. But if you put your daughter head to head
against the kids those schools actually are recruiting and she doesn’t quite
match up, don’t think less of her. Don’t
secretly feel you’ve somehow failed.
Just look for the schools that would be thrilled to know she’s
interested and move in their direction.
In the long run, she—and you—will be happier!
8-29-10 THE
NCAA GETS WISE…OR DOES IT?
During
the summer, the Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet
proposed legislation to stop early verbal offers of financial aid to
prospective student-athletes in all sports. Early athletic scholarship offers
would not be permissible before July 1 following the athlete’s junior
year. This part of a system-wide review
of recruiting, and major changes having to do with communication, visits,
evaluations and aid offers could be on the horizon.
While
I salute this move, I think everyone—including the NCAA committee—agrees that
even if the recommendation passes the required legislative hurdles and becomes
“law,” it will be a difficult rule to enforce completely. Recruiting of younger athletes will continue.
But it will have to be very clandestine, and in time, a few burned families may
serve as warning to others to let the buyer beware. Hopefully, at the very least, it would take
some of the pressure off of families during the college search.
It’s
also important to remember that this is an issue that affects NCAA D-I programs
almost exclusively. With 75% of all
softball teams being D-II, NAIA or D-
8-16-10 IT’S (ALMOST) NEVER TOO LATE
If
you are a 2011 graduate and you thought you would be almost done with your
college search by now, you’re not alone.
With all the hype about “early commitments” and the misinformation that
spreads through tournament bleachers like a Texas wildfire in August, it’s not
surprising that seniors and their parents would be shifting into panic mode
right about now. After all, some D-I schools (particularly the big names) are
truly done for 2011. They may not even
be looking for walk-on prospects. And
other D-I’s, while not finished, probably have short lists and are inviting
players for visits. If your heart is set
on a school or team you saw on ESPN, there’s a good chance you’re out of luck.
But, here’s the rub. Some of the smaller
D-I’s and most D-II and NAIA and D-
If
you’re sitting around wringing your hands and moaning at the unfairness of life
in general and recruiting in particular, you are definitely in trouble. But if you’re more determined than ever to
find a school that recognizes your worth as a player and a student, it most
certainly isn’t too late. You just need
to know where to look, what to do, and how to do it! Read my book, or send me an email, and I’ll
point you in the right direction.
7-13-10 NFCA HS ALL -AMERICANS
The
NFCA published its list of HS All Americans this week, and I have to say I was
a bit surprised. While there were a
number of players honored from Florida, Texas, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and
smaller states like North Carolina and Indiana, the list contained just one
player each from California, Washington, Oregon and Arizona. I’m not criticizing or pointing fingers, but
one would think that among the many strong high school teams in those four
Western states you could find more than four players total who met the criteria
for HS All-American. There were 32 high school players who made the
West Region first and second teams,
but out of those 32, only 4 apparently merited All-American recognition. It can’t be due to the fact that California
doesn’t hold a state championship for softball, because Arizona, Oregon and
Washington do.
I
believe high school coaches nominate their players for this award, so maybe
there are not enough coaches doing that in the West. Perhaps the standard set
by players from other states is much higher so that when it comes to choosing
All-Americans from the All-Region teams, the West loses. As I said, I’m not saying criticizing or
laying blame. It just seems a little
strange to me.
5-3-10 SUMMER’S
COMING—ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE
READY?
Summer
travel ball is only a few weeks away.
Colleges are wrapping up their seasons and coaches are starting to look
ahead to the tournaments they’ll be attending in June, July and August. One big
mistake WAY too many families make is
assuming that because their daughter is playing in that “major” event in Colorado New Jersey Florida Nevada
If you’re
experienced in this process and you really understand how recruiting works,
then you’ve no doubt done all the things you need to do to ensure your athlete
doesn’t waste these valuable opportunities for exposure. You won’t be relying on her coach to “get it
done”, you won’t have sent out letters to only the top fifteen or twenty D-I
programs in the country, and you won’t be counting on luck to make her dreams
of playing college ball come true. When
it comes to recruiting, no one likes to hear that it might take work, that it
might not be fair, and that there are no guarantees. I understand that. But in this instance, knowledge of the
process and realistic expectations coupled with a little expert guidance is
equivalent to being told ahead of time which horse is going to win the Kentucky
Derby or which six lotto numbers will come up in next week’s drawing. You can take it to the bank…if you know what
to do. But if you don’t, and if it
doesn’t happen the way you hope—at the risk of sounding a little testy—you have
no one to blame but yourself!
2-26-10
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A
SMALL FISH!
As
the 2010 spring season gets underway, I’m starting to check up on CSC alum to see how
they're doing. It's always terrific to see players I’ve worked with
succeeding at the collegiate level—regardless of whether it’s as a freshman or
as a senior. But I have to admit, there's something to be said for doing
well right out of the gate. And that often only happens when you truly
find your "Wow Factor" school—which for many, if not most players is
rarely the school they expect it to be. It's flattering to know that the
coach at a highly successful or bigger name program thinks enough of you to
offer a small scholarship or a walk on spot. But most of the players I
talk to feel it's more rewarding to go somewhere they can play and contribute
right away…as freshmen. There's a special pride that comes from knowing
you’re making this team better in your first year. This isn't to say you
should go to a program where you feel you won't be challenged. But most
kids find college harder--on and off the field--than they expect. Playing
for a school and a coach where you can start strong and only get better
increases the chances you’ll have four good years, rather than three…or two…or
one.
When
you’re looking at college teams, give some serious thought to more than just
the team’s ranking in the latest poll. Listen to what the coach tells you about
your expected role as a freshman. There’s nothing wrong with sitting the bench,
but I find very few players enjoy it. So
consider expanding your college search to include schools that might not be as
high visibility, but where you can make a difference and possibly earn the right
to start for four wonderful years.
1-7-10 GETTING THE NEW YEAR OFF TO A GOOD
START!
If
you are a high school junior—or the parent of one—January should be a time of
serious resolutions, not only made, but kept. If you have been living with your
head in the clouds assuming (or hoping) that the softball gods would just throw
a lightning bolt at you and your college search would be taken care of, now may
be the time to come back to earth. Getting recruited is more competitive every
year. Misinformation abounds. And while a few of those folks with their heads
inside the white, cottony stuff may get lucky and hear the rumble of thunder,
the sad truth is that for every one high school player who finds a college team
this year, there will be fifteen to twenty who do not. You can beat out the competition; it’s not
that hard. But it does take work. Right now, juniors should become their own
advocates. Get proactive on your behalf and don’t wait until this time next
year—when you can hear the band warming up Pomp & Circumstance for your
graduation march—to decide playing college softball is something you do…not
something that is done too you! (For
more information, or a guide for your journey, email me at cat@fastpitchrecruiting.com) Happy New Year!
11-17-09 AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME
For many reasons,
none of which I’ll go into here for seeming like a naysayer, softball’s
governing board has finally taken off the blinders and banned college players
from Gold level competition. (Why
not 18/A and 16/A at the same time is beyond all of us, but maybe that will
come next year.) There were other changes as well at this year’s annual ASA
convention, including moving the pitching rubber back to 43 feet for pretty
much every group over the age of fourteen. Bravo! The one move—almost certainly
at least partly motivated by all the new competing “national” tournaments--that
could be problematic for coaches is that Gold, 18/A and 16/A Nationals are now
going to be running at the same time.
Since colleges are
only permitted to have two scouts out simultaneously, this will force some
schools to forego at least one of these tournaments, or else they’ll have to try
to do double duty—part of the week at one, the rest at another. It will be
interesting to see how this all plays out, but it’s certainly going to affect a
number of travel teams who have relied almost solely on strong college players
to ensure them a top finish at Gold Nationals.
(I’m guessing the college kids won’t be that disappointed.) They have the 23/U division as well as
women’s fastpitch if they want to play, and they won’t have feel guilty for
showing up at the first Gold qualifier and taking a starting spot away from a
junior who may have worked her butt off all fall and winter hoping she’d keep
that starting spot. It should be a fun
summer!
10-15-09 THE FALL BALL DILEMMA
From
Labor Day to Thanksgiving, someone is
having a "showcase" event. There
is one giant (and oft ignored) problem
where these tournaments are concerned, however. This is FALL
ball. That means all schools—high school, middle school, college—are in session!!!!
Consideration #1: Even if a
college coach wanted to scout every
weekend in the fall, most of them could not. Besides, most coaches tell
me that even if they did want to be out scouting every weekend in the fall (and
they usually don't want to be out
scouting every weekend), they simply don't have that kind of travel money.
Consideration #2: Most college
teams have their own fall seasons which means coaches are busy planning and
running practices, team meetings, etc. Many schools are having recruits in for
visits between September and November, and coaches want to be on campus when
those recruits are there.
Consideration #3: You may not believe this, but if you survey
all the colleges east of Colorado, I'm betting the ranch you would find that
the overwhelming majority of them
would tell say, "IF we travel in the fall to scout, we would probably
go to one, maybe two, of the West
Coast tournaments.” On top of this, I'm guessing that many of the college coaches east of
the Mississippi who do travel would tell you they go to the Rising Stars
tourney in Florida. Many coaches--even at big D-I programs--will say, "We'll go out to Calif. once, then go
to Rising Stars and maybe another regional showcase, and then we're done for
the fall."
Consideration #4: It can be a bit of a crap shoot as to which tourneys
are going to be worth the money and time.
One of the key issues parents often don't realize and travel coaches
tend to ignore is that by Oct., most of the bigger D-I schools have either
gotten commitments or are having their last few prospects visit while waiting
for them to commit. They'll go scout in the fall--sometimes for walk-on's
or a sudden, unexpected need--but mostly it's for kids from the new
junior class. And if you're looking at juniors, you don't have to be
out every weekend. Your recruiting is important, but not urgent.
So what is the point of all of this? Counting on random discovery by a coach who’s
going to offer you a big scholarship just because you’re playing at five or six
fall ball tournaments is a little bit like assuming you’re going to win the
lottery just because you had a dream in which six numbers appeared. Sure it could
happen. But the odds are pretty good it
won’t. You need to understand how recruiting works in order to beat the
odds. And playing fall ball is only a
small part of the picture.
8-30-09 IF ONLY I’D KNOWN
One
of the hardest aspects of my job is dealing with families who have been led
down the primrose path—or who at least believe
they’ve been led down that flower-lined walkway. I get a lot of calls and emails in the fall
from parents whose demeanor ranges from apologetic, to angry, to
desperate. At some point in the
conversation, I hear some version of, “I wish I’d called you sooner.” Sometimes, it’s a relatively simple problem—e.g.,
they’ve been following the guidelines in my book and got stuck somewhere
because they didn’t want to ask a question.
In that case, a few words of advice will usually point them in the right
direction.
But a good percentage of the time, I’m dealing with parents who either were
either too trusting or too unrealistic and now their athlete is paying the
price. They tell me that their travel
coaches promised this, that and the other.
Whether it was actually said or not, what the parents heard was, “Play for my team, and we’ll
get your daughter recruited.” (The added
subtext being, “…with no work or expense on your part—beyond the $1000-$4000
you give us for the privilege of playing for our team.”)
Then suddenly,
she’s started her senior year and either nothing is happening or the little
that is happening isn’t what they envisioned.
I can often help these families, but only if they are willing to hear
the truth and willing to work with the reality of their player’s
situation—e.g., talent, visibility, grades, determination, commitment,
etc.
Lots of travel
coaches are volunteers who spend lots of time and money to help these kids
learn the valuable lessons softball has to offer. But all too many travel coaches simply don’t
have a broad-based understanding of how recruiting really works. They mean well but, they aren’t getting paid
enough—and don’t have the time—to conduct a thorough college search for each of
their players. I don’t blame them. It’s
a lot of work. Unfortunately, whether
they actually “create” the illusion that simply playing for Team X guarantees a
softball scholarship or parents buy into the illusion because it’s the easiest
thing to do, the bottom line is that it’s only true for maybe 10% of players. Everyone else has to work at the process. If
you’re not willing to do that, you’d better start buying lottery tickets. The payout is higher!
8-14-09 THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER
August
is a tough time for travel everyone but the just-graduated seniors. Most travel teams will hold tryouts for their
fall teams—and/or for next year’s summer teams.
It may be different in other parts of the country, but in Northern
California, almost all the teams that hold open tryouts schedule their tryouts
for the same days—often the same times.
The coaches know that talent tends to form a pyramid. The closer you go to the very top, the fewer
choices you have. So they’re all competing
to attract what they believe to be the best players.
Unfortunately, for parents and players, this can be a time of great confusion
and anxiety. Coaches promise that their
teams will be at the best/right tournaments on the best/most visible fields
with the most important college coaches watching them. They promise that everyone will play, that
all their kids get recruited, etc., etc., etc.
What’s a parent to do? Every
parent wants to know that his or her daughter will be a starter, that his or
her daughter will be promoted, that his or her daughter will excel. Of course, no matter what any travel coach
tells you, there’s simply no guarantee of anything. Even if your player makes the biggest name
team that gets only the best field assignments, that coach may—for one of ten
thousand reasons—decide not to play her when all the college coaches are
watching. Or your daughter may play, but
have the absolute worst game of her life (usually because there’s just too much
pressure on her.)
The only way you can have any control
over what happens to your athlete is to understand how recruiting works, to
accept the realities, and to have a very smart and up-to-date road map of the
process. There’s lots of ways to get there. You just have to know how to find them.
The one thing I will tell parents every August—based on twenty years of
experience—is, “If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is.” Be very, very grounded and understand that you and your athlete need to be in charge of her college search.
8-3-09 NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS AREN’T WHAT THEY
USED TO BE
I spent
four days at ASA 18/U Nationals, and times sure have changed. The last time I went to 18/U Nationals, there
were probably over 200 coaches there.
That was before Gold of course, but from what I hear college coach
attendance is down at virtually all national tournaments these days. There are a number of reasons; however, it
still is a disappointment for families with 2010 graduates who are assuming
because the team goes to a national
tournament that will guarantee recruitment.
More coaches go to 16/U Nationals than ever before—but it’s still a
relatively small percentage of the 1100 head coaches out there. And,
it’s mostly Div. I coaches looking at 2011 and 2012 graduates.
I think most college coaches try to get as much bang for their buck as they
can. If possible, they try to spend five
to six days in Colorado at the end of June where they have three different
tournaments to choose from. The rest of
their scouting is often limited to couple of days here and there—perhaps Vegas,
perhaps Rising Stars or New Jersey, perhaps Champions Cup. Contrary to what many families believe, most
coaches don’t spend every weekend of their entire summer and fall on the
scouting trail. They can’t afford to,
and it’s just too exhausting.
If you are a 2010
graduate and you’re now faced with relying on “fall ball” to make it happen,
you’re going to really have to “work” the system—e.g., letters, videos, phone
calls, etc., and you’re going to have to hope that the coach at the school
that’s right for you plans to be out there at the same time you are. There may be tournaments running from Labor
Day until Thanksgiving, but you need to understand that most college coaches
are tied up with their own teams during the fall, and generally, they will only
go out to a couple of tournaments during that time. Being a great player only counts if someone
sees you being great! Find out what you
can do to ensure you’re not left standing alone in this game of musical chairs
that we call college recruiting!
Parents of college bound softball players need to understand how the process
works, and you cannot leave things in the hands of a travel ball coach or a well-meaning
parent in the stands. Late summer into
fall my phone rings off the hook with harried moms and dads whose mantra is,
“If only I’d known…” or “But her coached promised…” or “Well, everyone said my daughter was a great
player, so we just assumed…”
Is it too late for
2010 grads? Not necessarily, unless your
expectations are extremely unrealistic.
If you’re hoping a Pac-10 school will swoop down and offer you a full
ride, you’re probably in for some disappointment. If playing softball in college is your
goal—for the love of the game—there are still plenty of opportunities out
there—e.g., teams looking for players.
In a few months, you might not be so lucky. But if you start now, you can—to a great
extent—catch up.
Nonetheless, mom and
dad have to have a back-up plan. It
might be the community college; it might be loans; it might be your daughter
working while going to school part time if all else fails. But you need to remember it’s the education that’s important. Softball might help you pay for some of that,
but the chances are good it won’t pay for all of it. If you’ve assumed it would simply be handed
to your athlete, you may want to rethink this approach and start considering
the alternatives. If she’s lucky, she’ll
find a great college and a great college team that wants her. If she’s very
lucky, she might get some aid from the school or the team. If she’s incredibly
lucky, she had parents who were able to plan ahead and who are committed to her
education…one way or the other!
First
of all, KUDO’s to Southwest Airlines for now allowing pets in carry-ons. In a day when most airlines are charging to
check your first piece of luggage, Southwest Airlines not only doesn’t
charge for luggage, but they now allow pets in the cabins. Yes, you pay, but it’s worth it if you have
to travel with your best friend.
On a more serious
note…summer travel ball is well under way, and theoretically, thousands of
young athletes are having a ball. Well…maybe.
After only a couple of tournaments, I’m already hearing parents arguing,
complaining, looking tense and irritable, and in general, not seeming to enjoy
watching their daughters out on the fields.
Of course, not all the daughters are having fun either. It’s a shame that the desperate pursuit of
what is mistakenly believed to be the Holy Grail—e.g., a scholarship of some
sort—causes so much misery. Even parents
who are educated about the process and who seem to understand the “realities” of
recruiting have a hard time not stressing out.
Parents and players who have no awareness of the big picture may suffer
unbearably as they rail against the unfairness of it all.
It’s tough to
watch. I see terrific young ladies who
are accomplished on and off the field turn into unhappy, fearful and sometimes
resentful players who are convinced their lives will end if they don’t get a
scholarship to a big name school. I see
moms and dads who really do love their daughters become bitter and disappointed
because a college coach is asking about another player on the team. It’s not hard to understand why this happens
because the softball world is full of hype, full of false promises, and
sometimes full of itself. It’s a
game! It should be a fun, educational,
challenging and rewarding game, but too often when reality meets fantasy, it
stops being all of those things.
At this time of
year, I strongly encourage parents and players alike (and a few coaches too) to
step back, take a deep breath, and try to remember why you’re here. It’s fine to want to play in college. It’s fine to hope for some scholarship
money. But the primary reason to be doing
all of this is because it’s
After
much debate, some of it heated, it looks like the NCAA will allow the Div. I
softball coaches to reclaim their fall scouting period. (This decision will be finalized later this
year.) Basically, D-I will revert to the old schedule—e.g., D-I coaches may
scout from August 1 to the day before Thanksgiving. Then they get their winter break until New
Year’s Day. (D-II,
So…now that they’ve
changed it back, how much will recruiting improve? Realistically? Very little.
What most travel coaches won’t tell you is that the majority of D-I
college coaches don’t want to be out
scouting for seven weekends in the fall…and in fact, they won’t do it. Their college schedules prohibit this. Their travel budgets—in most cases—prohibit
this. It does give them a little more
leeway in terms of when they choose to travel to scout, but I guarantee you
won’t see the same D-I coach at seven fall events.
As for how much it
helps the kids? Some families will now
be spending seven or eight fall weekends on the road, and the kids will be
missing classes at school, missing school activities, and having to take the
No
one knows better than I how tough times are.
But from my perspective, this isn’t the time to say, “We can’t afford to
pay attention to our daughter’s college search.
We’ve got to worry about unemployment!”
Now before you holler that being unemployed IS far more significant than
finding a college for your daughter, let me explain. It’s a safe bet you will direct a lot of
creative and constructive energy towards finding another job. You’ll network, send out resumes, make phone
calls, even consult experts who can help point you towards prospective
employers. My questions is—can you say
the same for your daughter’s college search?
Or will you tell her she’ll just have to throw a no-hitter against last
year’s National Champions or hit a home run off of that UCLA-bound pitcher when
her team is in
Hey, if she can do
it—that’s awesome! But what if that’s
just a little too much pressure? Or what if her team won’t be in Colorado or
Florida? Or what if they will, but it rains…or they’re on a field that’s three
miles from the nearest college coach? Do
you have a back-up plan? Will her travel
coach tell her what to write, to whom, and how to carry on an intelligent
conversation when it counts? Will he
make sure you truly understand the “facts of life” about recruiting—e.g., 75%
of all kids will go to D-II, NAIA or D-
Over
the past month, I’ve done a series of clinics in
Ask any family—and
I will gladly give you names—who’s attended one of my workshops, and you’ll be
told how valuable, educational, informative and even entertaining it was. They may also tell you they had their eyes
opened, and they may say how glad they are that their daughter heard this
information because she wasn’t listening to them. You will
not hear that they were led on, put in a choke hold and asked for money, or
in anyway coerced into doing something they didn’t want to do. They weren’t “recruited” for business, for
another travel team, or for any other nefarious purpose.
Yet time and time
again, I hear directly from parents that they were told, “Don’t bother
going.” Some have even said their travel
coach “forbade” them to attend. And when
you’ve just handed a check to some guy for $3000 and he’s promised he’ll get
your player a full ride to a big D-I school, you’d have to be nuts to go
against his edict, wouldn’t you?
Of course, I don’t totally blame travel coaches. Many are well-intentioned, but lack knowledge
themselves, and some will always make the effort to get their families
educated, but the families themselves refuse to participate. They’d rather mow the lawn, go to the mall,
or rent a movie than hear that their player may not be getting that full ride
or that they need to arm themselves for battle when it comes to the college
search process. It’s just easier to live
in la-la land. I think it’s fair to say
that no travel coach will refund your $1500, $2500, $3500, $4500 if you player
doesn’t get recruited. They’ll shake their heads and say it’s too bad, but it’s
not their fault. And in truth, it’s
not. The coach can only be blamed for
not offering his families the chance to be educated, to learn the truth about
recruiting, the chance to be empowered so they could make recruiting work for
them.
Parents, I know how easy it is to get caught up in your own hopes and
expectations. And untangling your
genuine concern for your daughter’s welfare and happiness from your dreams of
glory can be tougher then getting kudzu out of a Georgia forest. But ten years from now, you’ll be happier—and
you’ll have a better relationship with your grown-up daughter—if you’ve truly given her every opportunity to
succeed by taking the time to learn all you can about the college search
process. Knowledge really is power!
1-1-09
RECRUITING IS REALLY BEING HURT BY THE @#$% ECONOMY!
With the economy
continuing to struggle, many softball families are being forced to make some
tough choices. Do you buy that $250 bat
or have 50 copies of her video made? Do
you stay with the smaller, local travel team that may not offer as much
exposure, but which costs less, or do you try to raise $3500 to play on the
bigger name team that promises you all their kids get scholarships?
It can be very discouraging
when you hear someone say, “All the schools are done recruiting for 2010. They’re looking at sophomores now.” If you’re a 2010 grad who is still working to
get her letters and videos out, this can ruin your day. But is
it really too late for you???? It may be if your only interest is in
telling people you play for a Pac-10 school or an
Yes, the Pac-10 schools or
The smart family will seek
out the most reliable resources, arm themselves with the right tools, and learn
how to get the competitive edge when it comes to their athlete’s college
search! This race rarely goes to the
fastest (or even the best.) More often
than not, it goes to the most committed.
If your dream is to play in college, you just need to know how to make
it happen. The player putting on a
uniform at a small Div.
© Collegiate
Softball Connection 2012