preparing for college

[Blind Squirrel]

softballmomma,

My random thoughts as a parent of a kid that verballed to a D1 before her Jr year and a kid that is a Sr and still not found a place to play. You can save yourself time by having a brutally realistic view of your kid's relative talent WRT her peers across the nation. Talk to experienced folks who know her game and see what they say about what level she could play at. D1? D2? D3? PAC-10? etc. You and your kid MUST have an open mind about where she would go if playing softball in college is important to her. My son is extremely shy and has had a very sheltered existence mostly in South Orange County, CA. NYU was interested so he visited. My wife and I were absolutely sure NY City would intimidate and scare the crap out of him. He walked the streets and loved it. You never know. Obviously grades are important in general, but the fact is that it varies greatly depending on the college. A 3.5 GPA doesn't get you into some schools but a 3.2 gets you into a surprising number of D1 schools, including some in the PAC-10, Big-10, etc. We didn't read Cathi's book. It may be great. I have no idea. We simply emailed coaches all over this country expressing interest, telling them which travel team our kid plays for, described them as a player and provided a schedule of the tournaments they would be playing in. Never sent a video. Both kids were seen by plenty of college coaches we emailed, at showcases and big tournaments. Didn't need a video to make that happen. One often overlooked key to the process is the person who serves as intermediary between you and your kid and the college coaches. The more effective that person is as an advocate for your kid, the greater chances your kid will have for a number of reasons. Talk to that intermediary and make them aware of what your kid is interested in. If inclined, KISS THEIR ASS!! I absolutely don't believe in doing that, we didn't feel the need to, but I'm telling you that person can make a difference. Do not join a team that has no specific way of dealing with college coaches during games. Do not let your kid see how stressed you are over this. It may affect her performance when she plays in front of college coaches.

Disorganized rambling is now, mercifully at an end. I wish you the best of luck.

John

[LVTHEGAME]

For those of you that are just starting to look for colleges, and are registered players in Southern California please use the players association to help! We live outside of California and happen to be at a tournament and was lucky enough join. Since then its been a whole lot easier for use.

[FPdawg]

Now, thats what I'm talkin about boys and girls, I'm a student at University Of South Alabama a DI school, and all of the previous post, now that is great info, and right on the money. this is the kinda stuff that will keep good SB folks smakin them keys...great posts

FPdawg

[softballmomma]

Let me start by saying thank you to all that offered very helpful info. I have been made aware of things that did not even cross my mind. Grades are very important and we are fortunate enough to have a daughter that is very disciplined managed to play high school volleyball, travel softball and still pull off a 4.0. She knows our requirements are a 4.0 or no softball, mom's rule. Her coach does require them to keep their grades up and the high school coach is trying to have mandatory study hall. She is well aware that skills will only get you so far, gotta have that smarts to go with it. (she's cute too!!) They are all one injury away from their softball career being over. Thank you for all the wonderful advice, keep it coming.

[Gone in 2.6]

:lol: Thank you all so much for your help. I will definitely go out and get that book and start reading. I was not sure when you are suppose to start contacting coaches. I know the competition is tough and did not want to miss out. At what age should she move up to 16u? Should she skip 2nd year 14u and jump ahead and play 3 years of 16u? She is playing 14u travelball right now, trying out for high school, I know we can not play travel while playing high school but what about after high school season? Again thank you for your help.

Playing 16's as a freshman is fine as long as you're getting playing time on a high level team. Otherwise I don't see the benefit. To your second comment, no you don't want to play 3 years of 16's. Move on to gold after your sophomore year at the latest.

[Glengary]

Here are a few of great links for girls wanting to play college sports and going though recruiting:

http://clubhousegas.com/archive_player_prog.asp?id=106

http://clubhousegas.com/archive_player_prog.asp?id=78

http://clubhousegas.com/archive_player_prog.asp?id=79