Showcases

Note the Orange Pool isn't Reaves---------- It's O'Conner---- I'm not a coach any longer just a parent....please fix !!!!!

Softball Guru Out Of HERE !!!!

 

GURU

Easy Guru, we love U MAN!!!!!!!!! U need to be on the field, in the dugout or cheering in the stands! U are a fixture in softball land.

 

yea, guru is the man!!! love your posts and enthusiasm.:notworthy

 

SHOWCASE

I was doing a little research involving the number of NC players that actually committed to play college this year. Just my opinion but it "appears" that traveling to Colorado and such places benefits our players very little as far as what college they will attend. The list I came across of those that committed to the next level about 18 out of 61 players went to D1 schools and the majority of these are lower tier D1 schools. 43 of these went to DII or lower schools. The vast majority of all of these schools are in NC or SC. One could conclude that we could just stay in the SC/NC showcase arena and our ladies would do quite well in the recruiting circuit. Congratulations to each of these fine athletes.

 

I tend to agree

Going to CO may make a bit of difference but I think it is very hard to identify a NC kid in the last few years that playing in CO or Fl has really impacted their recruiting. The Rocket/Cards kids that all ended up @ Chapel Hill were known to that coaching staff there since 12U. Doing well at nationals probably really didn't impact their recruiting at all. I don't think "hummer" Glosson ever played much outside of NC/SC and still was signed by SIU (a very good program). I guess it could matter if a kid really wanted to play in the west but I don't know of any NC kid who has ever signed with a school west of the Mississippi. SEC/ACC/SoCon coaches have adequate opportunities to evaluate these kids closer to home.

This said, clearly the more exposure the better and CO offers the most coaches. If a kid plays well and generates more interest it may serve to get her more $$ from a school that she would've selected anyway as there is an "auction" aspect to the recruiting process. It comes down to a calculating the cost versus the tangible benefits and for the vast majority of NC kids the benefits just aren't that substantial. If softball is your life, though, the CO experience would probably something you would really like!

 

Conn.

I know a 13 yr old from our area that played this summer in Connecticut , not Colorado, for several weeks.

 

Any player that has the talent, drive and qualities and plays on a team that plays ASA tournaments, can and will be recruited. You don't even need to play in "select" pools at these tournaments just as long the player (and hopefully summer coach) has done her part and contacted college coaches and keep them up to date on her summer schedule.

What playing in tournaments in Boulder, Plantation and the ASA nationals do is to allow NC girls to play in front of 300+ college coaches against the best teams in the country. Coaches from D-1 schools want to see how girls play against the highest level of competition. Although a girl can be recruited by good schools and not play in these tournaments, it is possible to move up on the coaches list by playing against the best competition. This could mean more $$ in an offer and more intense recruitment. Another benefit is that NC girls can be recruited by out of state schools that normally don't recruit in our area. This is how girls end up being recruited hard by schools like Arizona State, Villanova, Princeton, Auburn, FL State and other high profile schools.

In Ms. Glosson's case, I believe she was first seen by the SIU coach at a Club K clinic in Nashville. I am also pretty sure she has played in tournaments in Ohio, FL, and a few other states outside NC/SC. But again, she has worked very hard and put herself in a postion to been seen by coaches from other parts of the country and it paid off nicely for her.

But back to my original point, if the girls who want to be seen and recruited by all level of colleges in the SE, you must play on a team that plays ASA. This is even more important as more and more colleges coaches are showing up at 16U ASA tournaments. This is just my take on what I have observed first hand over the past 8 years.

 

West

Why I agree with much that has been said, I think Colorado, Plantation, and other venues such as Nationals show Carolina players can compete on national level and may have aided them in getting recruited. Also, I have kids now that will go out of state to play and I think Ray and others may have same. Ashton Ward is headed to Tenn and they never saw her play till Plantation, I have another kid interested in Auburn, one in Georgia, One in Alabama and they were seen at Nationals and Plantation. Unless U play Dynamites or ASA qualifiers, Plantation, etc., U usually will not see the SEC schools around. We want to play the best where ever we go and our team voted to go out west to play as they wanted to see how they compare to west coast teams. I guess it is all in what U want for your team, your girls, your organization. To each his own so to speak. We will continue our Colorado trip till our girls decide it is not for them. We will continue ASA Nationals, Plantation, Dynamites so we can constanly improve our game! If we do that, even if they decide to play in NC, hopefully they will be better prepared to help their college team of choice.

 

Diminishing Returns?

Although I agree wholeheartedly with most of these posts in regard to traveling long distances,the fact is,in most cases,the amount of $$$$ offered by MOST colleges in the form of softball scholarship money is FAR eclipsed by the overall cost of the individual expenses of playing travel ball. The real $$$$ from MOST colleges comes in the form of ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS, NOT SOFTBALL...VERY FEW ladies will receive anything close to a "full ride" or for that matter even 1/2 "rides". My DD was recruited by 6 or 7 D1-D3 schools and in ALL cases the actual softball money being offered was less than 20% of the overall cost of attending ANY of those institutions.

 

Roo, sorry but I disagree with a couple of your points. Please note that my viewpoint comes from my experiences and that doesn't mean either of us is wrong.

As for the expense of things, depending on the level of scholarship given, I can see where you could spend more money on travel ball than what the scholarship could be worth. But if the scholarship is large enough, the scholarship will surpass what is spent on travel ball. Plus, there are plenty of girls who are able to get into better schools that without softball, they would not have have been accepted otherwise Also, what kind of value do you put on the life experiences these girls get from the travel and competing with their friends and team mates?

Also, from the scholarships amounts I have known about over the past 2 years, I don't know of anyone that has been offered less than 50%. There have been several young ladies that have been offered full.

This is just another perspective.