College life of a D1 softball player

I have a friend who is the head coach at the University of Memphis, and was speaking with her today.
To kind of get a feeling of what is expected from a player, the players reported last Wed, the coach and staff got them into living qtr's and enrolled in school. so not much work the first three days. well that ended Monday as conditioning started and continued thru Thursday, team was given Friday off for the weekend,(coach and staff are having team out for a BBQ Sunday,) one more week of conditioning and then fall drills start, not only conditioning but softball drills and practice as well.

I know that a lot of you have read from various sources that playing D1 softball is nothing like you have ever been assicoated with, well you have heard correctly,once you get past the HS level, and that is at any college, it is a full time job......

 

Yes: I have shared with many TBR members personally the following story but I thought I would relate it everyone here:

A few years back we attended a college camp. The camp, as many do, used current players to assist with instruction and other camp activities including living on the dorm floor with the girls.

One of the camp counselors was their #1 pitcher. She was from CA and really was good enough to have pitched on the west coast for a high major program. We went to see her team play UNC the next spring and she pitched her team to a 1-0 extra inning victory over the Tar Heels. However, she choose to come east to pitch.. to a D1 school that did not offer athletic scholarships.

I had the opportunity one day at camp to catch her. I wanted to see the type of "stuff" a very good D1 pitcher had up close. Afterwards, we talked for a bit about her college choice, her recruitment process etc and her response was enlightening.

She said she loved playing where she did because if she had gone to play on scholarship they would, to use her term, have "owned" her. She said she couldn't have gone snow or water skiing, couldn't have ridden a motorcycle, couldn't have gone skydiving ... or anything else that to her was "fun" but that the school deemed "dangerous". All these things would have been specifically prohibited in her scholarship agreement. If she was injured while engaging in any of these activities her scholarship would have been subject to being revoked. She also mentioned that even though she played at a D1 school her fall softball consisted only of conditioning and was not a major consumer of her time.

Ray Chandler confirmed once to me what I already believed.. he said "don't let softball make your college choice for you".

I relate this story not to detract in any way from those who have realized or still have the dream of playing high D1 ball. Just make sure you go into that situation with eyes wide open.

 

rooming?

how is housing for athletes at D1 schools handled? likely it varies, but do scholarship athletes generally all stay in same dorm(s) or room as normal w/ other non-athletes?

opinions on this??

 

Moved mine in yesterday and just left farewell cookout (going to football game tonight though lol). She is rooming w/ one of the other '08s and the other two are right across the hall. Her resident advisor says there are mostly student/athletes and rotc kids in their dorm. Try to keep them kind of together. They initially wanted them to room w/ an athlete but from another sport but couldn't get it done this year. Oh well, softball team having cookout tomorrow and then we're not supposed to be seen back on campus until family weekend Sept. 26. (Mom's not to happy about that rule) but then again she's playing her first college game that weekend. Too bad me and the Morg will be in Rock Hill that weekend, Oh well one down, one to go lol.

 

.....1. All students ask for dorm 1, then choice 2, then choice 3. The folks in housing then hand out assignments.

2. D1, D2, D3, etc. all would like for their players to room together as much as possible, due to the simple fact of the roommates having the "same" schedule.

3. As for which Dorm, I can tell you this much, NCAA no longer permits "athlete only" dorms. Athletes can occupy no more than 60% of any one dorm.

4. For the most part, well atleast at my DDs gig, the players do stay in the same place. But, by players, I mean new/freshman players.

5. Offcampus apt., homes, and Booster owned facilities, etc. make up the rest of the possible living qtrs.

 

Just dropped my DD off at UNCW for the 2nd time in 2 weeks after begging to come home for the Labor Day holiday because if she didn't she wouldn't be able to come home until Thanksgiving break because the softball team has a tournament during the October Fall Break...BooHoo
She is housed in an apartment with other freshmen softball players which works out well because they do have similar schedules starting with the 6:30am conditioning.

She's loving it...even weight training.
She is especially excited because individual workout start this week.

 

I'm hoping they do really well. I know several of the freshmen and a couple of older ones. They are really great kids!! Keep me up to date with any news from there. Thanks and good luck!

 

D1 Softball Players have no life except . . .

books and ball. The NCAA reports that D1 softball players report spending an average of 37.1 hours per week on athletic activities during the season. These data are self-reported and include all sport-related activites including time in the training room. This is the highest number reported for any NCAA women's sport. These same athletes report spending 38.5 hours on academic activities.

You had better love softball and everything that goes with it if you are going D1!

 

Posted last March . . . how D1 players spend Spring Break

I thought I'd how summarize how my D1 pitcher spent her Spring Break. I thought it might make good reading for girls who THINK they want to play college ball.

While her classmates were on beaches in Mexico and Florida here’s how my daughter spent her spring break.

Thursday before break: class in morning, practice at noon, bus two hours to airport, fly non-stop from Washington to San Diego. Check in at hotel at 11 PM pacific time (2 AM east coast time).

Friday: Rise at 8:45 (5:45 EDT) eat and go to San Diego U for 11 AM game. Pitch seven innings versus Central Michigan (4 hitter, 6-1 win) then watch as the team plays poorly vs #4 UCLA. Jelly Selden throws a one-hitter and team gets run-ruled 8-0. Back to hotel, clean up and go to our SS home (whose from San Diego) for a cookout. It’s cold but team has fun with karaoke. Back to hotel and bed.

Saturday: Only one game at noon. She doesn’t pitch and we beat CSU-Bakersfield 6-2. Back to hotel and then to a park for a cookout hosted by the family of sisters (again from San Diego) who played at our school. Its very cold but the team has fun with volleyball.

Sunday: Rise at 6:45 and go to fields at San Diego State for two games. The stadium is beautiful and the sun is warm. We fall behind Oregon early and She throws three shutout innings of relief but we lose 7-0. She has a sub for lunch and then plays #22 Fresno State. She throws 8 1/3 shutout innings and leaves the game after two IF errors in the ninth. The next batter doubles and we lose 3-0. Team then showers and goes to old town San Diego. She has dinner with mom and dad. The team then goes to airport and takes the “Red Eye” to Washington arriving at 6 AM.

Monday: The team busses two hours back to campus. She crashes for a few hours and then heads for the training room for treatment. Does some reading and goes bed.

Tuesday: Sleeps in, then cleans the apartment. Goes for treatment and then to a four hour practice. Dinner, reading bed.

Wednesday: Gets up and have a brief practice before getting on the bus @ 11 AM to go the Maryland. Pitches the first game but strains a quad fielding a bunt in fourth inning and has to be removed from the game. Its very cold and we lose both games. She’s back in the apartment and in bed around midnight.

Thursday: Gets up around nine and goes for treatment. The leg feels OK. Practices, grabs lunch and gets on the bus for Chapel Hill, NC. Arrives around 11 PM and goes to bed.

Friday: Gets up at 6:45 and gets breakfast and dressed but it’s pouring rain. We’re supposed to play two games but both are cancelled. Shes’s a NC girl so she suggests that the team goes to Southpoint Mall. They return to hotel, change and have lunch and shop at Southpoint. She calls a good friend who plays for UNC and they shop together. Back to hotel, read some and bed.

Saturday: Gets up around 8:00 and finally plays first game at 2:30. She’s not pitching as the coaches seem to indicate they want to save her for UNC tomorrow. We lead 5-2 but wheels come off in the top of seventh. She’s warm but the coaches decide to stick with our starter. The #4 batter hits a grand slam and she enters the game with team trailing 7-5. She gets a K and GO but we don’t score in the bottom of seven (she makes the second out swinging at rise ball). The coaches then tell her she’s starting the next game. She likes pitching at night and is really on. Records 14 K’s and gives up only two hits. We beat Princeton 3-0. The coach announces on the bus that she has become the career strikeout leader at out the school and gives her the game ball.

Sunday: We have one game versus UNC. She starts and gives a run in the first. The UNC girls know her pitching style (she’s taken lessons from the UNC pitching coach for eight years) and are very aggressive. In the third the girl she went shopping with homers (the first one she surrendered this season). The pitching area is really bad and two batters latter she feels something pop in her knee. She’s facing an old travelball teammate who she K’d in the first inning but having a tough time as she feels like she’s going to fall on each pitch. The coach comes out and asks if she can get one more out (there are two) and she tells her yes. The count goes to 3-2 and she throws a fat pitch that her friend lines right back at her. Fortunately, it hits her on a “meaty part”. At that point the coach removes her. Her teammate pitches great the remainder of the game but we K 16 times and lose 3-0. She’s disappointed about her injury as she had 5 K’s thru three innings and wanted to finish. She says hi to some of her good friends on the UNC team and gets on the bus. They arrive back on campus at 11 PM.

Monday: Class from 8 – 11. Her knee hurts but the bruise where she got hit hurts worse. To training room for evaluation then some studying at the academic center and to the Ortho doc at 5 PM. He doesn’t think it’s too bad but since she had surgery on it as a freshman he wants an MRI; She’s not sure if she’ll be ready for Wednesday’s game. Back home, cook dinner, studying and bed.

Bottom line; if you don't love the game (she does) think twice about making the commitment.

 

The kids who are.....

......REALLY into the game think that this type of schedule is awesome.
As you know pal, we as parents can't live our kids lives for them.
I think that for the most part, ALL college coaches, D1, D2, D3, etc. have a pretty good idea of what kind of kid that they give $ to. Sometimes, no, many times, there are kids whose talent level is every bit as good as another kids but for some reason or another, the D1s aren't interested. Beats me!
Which BTW, leads me back to my main gig of how to get recruited to the school that you want to go to. SHOW REAL interest in that program. Go to their camps, email, etc.
In the end a coach will choose kids on athletics, academics, and pure desire. That desire is what it takes to play at ANY level. Listen to what Duke is telling kids.
There no cooler opportunity than to be a college athlete. You'll get SO many perks to help you in your education.
Lastly, I ask....when did flying to Okla., then Palm Springs, then Miami, etc. become such a hardship?