What is it about Girls and staying with one team/

Careful, that could strike an ugly nerve with some people...head over to the baseball thread and see what has been going on over there.

 

SBMom, a lot of what you say here is right on the nose but I disagree with the part about showcase teams do little if any to help the players get a scholarship. I agree that playing on a showcase team does not guarantee you a scholarship and yes you do need to correspond with college coaches before and after these tournaments. But, college coaches want to see if the player that is contacting them can compete against the level of play that they are recruiting for at that level. Never mind if it is D1,D2 or D3. If your aspirations or your talent allows you to play upper D2 or D1 then you will have to compete at these tournaments. Not condoning players leaving one team to go to another but if the team that they are currently playing on does not go where these "Better" players need to go then they have no choice but to move on. :xyzthumbs

 

Thank you! The last sentence sums it up.

 

I have to disagree with SBMom on the showcase tourneys.

We had 2 girls on our travel team sign with colleges with scholarships after being seen at a showcase. College coaches want to see their prospects playing against tough competition and the showcases are the way to go.

 

Showcase

SBmom is right about just showing up at Showcase events and expecting to be recruited or have your kids recruited. U have to contact college coaches in advance, find out their needs, tell them of the girls U have to fit their needs, follow up over and over to make sure they come see your team play. Give them your schedule several times during the spring and summer, seek them out at the tournaments and talk to them, e-mail them and thank them for coming. Follow their teams and comment on their season, advise them again of the girls U have that fit their needs. Attend all the best tournaments U can including regionals, states, nationals, and the best showcases both summer and fall. Have all the kids contact the coaches, send tapes, send profiles, attend camps when U can. You are right SBMOM it takes more than showing up for tournaments if U want to play college ball, does your team do any of these things for your daughter? If so, great, your DD has a great chance. If not, She probably does not. Do not blame kids for trying to better their chances of playing college ball. They can not stay behind because 10 or 11 other girls do not want to move on to the next level. Be happy for that child moving on and seeking a dream, U would want them to support U and your child.

 

thanks cometfan you know shes ready to play hope to see you soon

 

Blues you are 100% correct. However the problem as I see it is that there aren't enough true "showcase" type teams available that actually play the true ASA showcase tourneys.

NSA, USSSA, AAU, USFA, PONY and all the other sanctions do a fantastic job and most of the the girls in NC developed their skills playing these tournaments and we all owe those who run those tournaments much gratitude. However, the regular anmd showcase tourneys they hold aren't well attended by college coaches as compared to ASA. On the other hand the ASA tourneys I have been involved in, the college coaches are all over the place. One tournment last summer had over 200 coaches to sign in at the tournament.

Until NC becomes more active with ASA, many players and teams can't afford to travel the distances to play ASA. I know there are a few NSA, AAU teams that could compete in ASA tournaments, but unfortunately it just comes down to money. Girls can and will be recruited without playing ASA, however they just are not getting the same exposure as those who do play ASA.

There just needs to be more ASA tournaments in NC, but until that happens, we need more teams willing to travel and play ASA especially the 16U and 18U teams. But I know that is much easier said than done.

I also understand that many play just for fun and for the social aspect, and not all want to play in college. So the NSA, AAU and others offer excellent competition. But for those who do want play at higher levels, there just needs to be more teams available to provide those opportunities found at ASA tournaments.

 

i agree 100% tournament directors do a wonderful job they put alot of hard work and dedication into what they do i just meant i dont think there is any other way it will ever be stopped without there help i wish there was asa around nc also it would take girls to another level of the game and thats what it is really about your child working hard and over coming differences to become the best player they can be mentally and ability

 

Blues is absolutely right about the amount of work that goes into promoting a kid through "showcases". It just isn't done at game time... Most coaches, while they mean well, just do not have the time to justly accomplish this. And give them credit for what they are able to accomplish. Most of them work other full time jobs as well as find time to coach and work with these kids just to prepare them to play... So if they do anything else to promote their kids, be grateful... If they don't do such a great job, remember you get what you pay for... don't knock them though...

The best way to look at the college recruiting process is as a financial planner to stocks... Diversify... The kid's own performance is only one part... the parents must invest in the process also ... this investment comes in the financial form of batting, pitching, catching lessons, travel teams, visits to schools among other things... also, because of time constraints on parent's time and coach's time, some even choose to use recruiting services... fact is, either you invest the money for college now through all these methods to secure a scholarship later or you pay for college later.... Either way you are going to be paying for college...

But the fact still remains... college coaches do not go to "Showcase Tournaments" to discover talent... they go to evaluate talent they already know about.. while the type of Tournament, be it ASA, NSA, AAU or whatever, does matter to a degree... that is not the main factor of what is keeping softball in NC from being taken seriously by college coaches around the country... And my hats off to Ray Chandler and others like him for their dedication and hard work to the growth of softball in NC, I am conviced we would not be where we are without them ... But, what hurts us more than anything else is that out west they play, literally, year round... they may have 1-2 weeks off but that is it... We are limited by weather among other things... but we just aren't at that level yet... Another reason is that they also start much younger than we do here... While we are getting deeper in our talent pool here in NC.. we are still way behind as far as the depth of the states out west... To change that, it will take nothing less than old fashioned time and hard work... What may help with this is like someone said earlier, we lay our egos (parents and coaches alike) aside and realize that we all SHOULD have the best interst of the kids at heart... and if we do... we need to do our role and our role only to the best of our ability to help the kids and not be a hinderance to someone else from doing their role or be afraid that they will take all the credit... After all a good wine is only as good as the soil that grows the grapes... think about it...

 

Coaching

This is one of the best threads the softball group has put together in a very long time. Good thoughts and comments.

From this side of the fence, if things continue in the same direction what will regretfully be lost is the quality of the experience the kids get from participating on a team that receives outsanding, caring coaching and then works and plays hard together. If that is not included in the mix, the kids will burn out too quickly and get discouraged sooner than they should.

There has been some mention of the watering down of player talent. What we should be concerned about, too, is the deterioration of coaching that occurs when teams split and new ones are formed.

To be truly effective, the coach of a travel softball team must clearly understand how to coach the college game, how to teach and handle young women and how to motivate each player to reach her potential. That requires attention to learning the details and nuances of fundamentals, strategies and player mentality and conditioning. Without this type of attention to detail and quality instruction, a team may as well stay home and play in the local youth league. They will have a lot more fun and the parents won't have to dole out so much money chasing a pipe dream.

I saw a number of teams last summer and fall that had solid, athletic kids, but who received such poor coaching that they had no chance of being competitive. They could go to small tourneys, do well and win a trophy or two, but once they got into tournaments that required basic college-level skills, they were dead in the water.