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This portion of the Web site is
designed to provide information to college-bound softball players, their
parents,
and coaches. Every other month, we'll look at recruiting-related issues and try
to answer questions you might have
about collegiate softball. If you’d like
to review archived articles click here.
PREPARING--PHYSICALLY
I like to run this column right before summer
ball starts, since most of my readers (2009 grads in particular) are gearing up
for summer and really getting into your college search. As a reminder, here are
some things you should do before and during the summer:
1) Get
your NCAA Eligibility Center Certification Process started. Register, and
then have your high school send a 6th semester transcript to the EC when
June grades are posted. Then be sure
your
2) If you
haven't already done this, get your video shot/edited/copied, and start mailing
it out...this is important regardless of whether or not your team attends
tournaments where a lot of coaches scout.
3) Send
out lots of letters/resumes and videos to colleges. Keep track of everyone
who gets a video so you can follow up if you don't hear back from them by the
end of summer.
4) Over the summer, if you have questions about what you may or may not do at tournaments
in terms of talking to coaches, recruiting legalities, etc., please refer
to your NCAA handbook, to my book, Preparing
to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level, or you can email me. Parents, be
sure you understand when and under what conditions you may talk to
coaches. (It's a good idea before summer starts to visit the NCAA web page to
check on any recruiting or academic guideline changes.)
Here are some things players should keep in mind
as you are playing travel ball:
1) You
never know who's watching you. Some coaches
may watch you during warm-ups, particularly if you play a position like
outfield where you may see limited action. So you need to be on your toes from
the moment you get out of the car. Even if you're hot, tired, grumpy, had a
fight with your boyfriend, pulled your quad muscle, haven't been doing well at
the plate, etc.... "Put on a happy face." Coaches want players who
can be positive under the worst conditions—e.g., kids who can face adversity
and still love the game.
2) Playing
travel ball this summer, you'll encounter tons of other good players. Every
time you look at another player, remind yourself that only about one out of
fifteen of you will actually end up on a college team next year. While top
travel ball players and top students do have a slight advantage over kids who
don't play travel ball or who don't get seen, there are no guarantees. Recruiting is a very competitive business.
3) If you
look at the list of seniors committing to colleges or signing Letters of Intent
to play at a college next fall, you'd see that college players come from
everywhere these days. There are great players all over the United States
and Canada, and many West Coast athletes have to look across the country or
look at smaller schools if they want to play college ball. No matter what your
travel ball coach tells you or your parents want to believe, don't assume
you'll be recruited and offered a scholarship because you are a) a really good
player, b) attending a 'big name' tournament, c) from the West Coast.
4) When college coaches go to major tournaments,
for the most part they don’t show up saying, "I'm going to look at every
player here." They go in with a
list. On that list are:
· players who have written and sent tapes
· players they've been watching for awhile and are
already interested in recruiting
· players on certain teams that they always
watch—this will include "top" travel teams, teams from their region,
and teams they have recruited from in the past.
They do
not just wander around hoping to discover YOU! They don't have the time, and there are just too
many good athletes out there. You want to be on a coach's list of "must
see" players if at all possible.
Do kids get discovered by luck? SURE. But it
usually happens because they do something outstanding—more outstanding than the
other kids on the same field. They hit a couple of home runs, or throw a
1-hitter with 12 strike outs, or make three diving catches, or go four for five
against a big name pitcher—you get the idea. Making the routine plays, going
one for three, and so on—while exactly what you're supposed to do—will not, as
a rule, make you "stand out" so much that a coach says, "Gee who
is that player? I have to see more of her."
However, if you write a coach and send a video, and she comes to see you, and then you make the routine plays, go 1
for 3 with a clutch RBI hit—that coach may well decide she wants to see you
play again. But without knowing who you are in advance, she may just see you as
another good player on the field.
5) Accept
in advance that recruiting is not now, and will never be fair!!! It doesn't
really matter to the coach at Alabama or Fresno or Arizona State or Oregon or
Florida State or Oklahoma that you could be as good as any of his or her
players if you just had the chance to get a scholarship and work with the
coaching staff. Those coaches can generally recruit the best kids they see.
They may not even notice you, or they may see you, but choose not to recruit
you. However, somewhere out there, there are plenty of terrific coaches who do
want see you, and who might love to recruit you. You need to go find those
coaches and everyone will benefit!
6) Parents also need to accept the
fact that recruiting is not fair. The chances are very high that they will
have to contribute something to your education. Yes, kids do get full tuition
and room and board scholarships, and some kids—particularly those with
outstanding grades—may get terrific aid packages. But statistically-speaking,
the vast majority of families will
have to pay some college costs, and many will have to pay a good portion of
their player's college costs even if she's getting some scholarship money.
7) Recruiting is a complex and sometimes
confusing process. But for most coaches, coaching (and by default,
recruiting) is a business. No matter how nice they seem, no matter how much
they talk about your skills, until you actually commit to a college nothing is
set in stone. Don't take things for granted; ask questions; understand the
rules; understand the strategies and the "realities;" and make the
best of your opportunities. It's a game of "musical chairs." There
are too many people playing the game and not enough seats for all of you.
Sometimes you have to choose between quitting the game (Hey, it's softball not
life, right? If you don't want to play, don't!) and taking the first (or last)
available seat.
Have fun this summer...playing and practicing hard pay off in the form of clutch performances—and that's often what catches a coach's attention. But no matter what happens, you should be enjoying it all. Your love of the game is your best asset in your college search.
* * * * * * *
For more information on giving your athlete the competitive edge during her college search, consult my book, Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level. The 2008 edition can be ordered from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association in Mississippi at 662-320-2155 or online at www.nfca.org. If you’d like specific coaching guidance through your college search, please read Collegiate Softball Connection and You on my web page.
© Collegiate Softball Connection 2008