Future Interviews on tbr softball

Once again cheese you are the MAN. Have met both Pop and Coach Dobbins in the past month or so and both have alot to offer in information. Two great softball minds. Can't wait.

 

great

Looking forward to the interviews.

Something maybe that could be addressed; apparently lots of scholarships out there going to play in college. Some girls I see getting these opportunities especially at Div II & III schools, well let's just say were "average" / maybe slightly above average players in HS...........did not make major impacts, batting avg's under .300, more errors than you would expect from a college-bound players, not all-conference.

And how much are NC colleges looking outside the State for prospects.....is there emphasis on looking inside this State first?

 

Most girls who want to play college ball can!

Your observations are accurate. There are lots of kids who are average HS players and (frankly) below average travel ball players who recieve SOME money to play college ball. Why? Lots of reasons one being some of the better HS players have no desire on continue playing or they don't really want to go to the school where they might play. Lots of kids want to go the Carolina, State, ECU etc but simply aren't talented enough to play there. They then have to choose to either go to what they percieve as a "lesser" school and play or not play. Money is also a factor. The cost of attending most private schools in NC exceeds $25K/year. Even with some scholarship help many families can't afford it. Players' parents who can afford it effectively pay for their daughters to play even with some financial help. Having said all this I'll steal a quote from Charlie Dobbins "Don't make your signing day the greatest day your career". The bottom line is that girls who have modest skills but are highly motivated can almost always play collegiate softball at some level.

 

confirm

Thank you, Dukedog for confirming what I was thinking on this.

do many small colleges have to "settle" for average players to make a roster?

 

Ouch...

The word I use is potential.... average is so .......average.

Small DII and DIII colleges are not getting for the most part the ready made, walk into the lineup, student athletes that perhaps most of us think define a college softball player.

Coaches at the DII and DIII levels focus on the potential they see in every kid they recruit and work to develop them into players who can produce at the collegiate level.

We actually have to coach....

Do they all make it... absolutely not.... but neither do they at the DI level. DI softball is littered with "can't miss" prospects who became "never were's". There are many kids playing DII and DIII that can compete and excel in a DI environment, but they choose not to... for many reasons...

I think DII and DIII coaches work very hard in identifying potential student athletes that can come in, fit the needs of their program, and fit the needs of the kid.

Average is not a word any of us would ever use to describe our program or kids....

 

Observation

Sometimes this average player U are speaking of has a great game and just happens a coach is there needs the skills she shows at the time and bang signed. I know it sounds to easy or to unbelieveable but happens. On the other side there are oustanding players that go unnoticed unless someone sells them. If U know of good players let the college coaches know even if they do not play for U. Let's help the kids that love the game get to school!

 

When looking at kids who get college scholarships...there are a lot of things to consider beyond just the skill or accomplishments of a player.

1. Needs of the program...each program is different in what they need from a player standpoint. Some schools may look only at talent and filling a specific need on their team. I am fortunate in the fact that as a state school, our admission standards allow me to go after some players who are not the 4.0, 1200 SAT kids and give them a chance to play in college and get a degree. However, there are a lot schools that can't recruit kids unless they meet certain high academic standards. Another factor to consider is that at some small, private schools (Charlie can talk with more authority about this), coaches are told by their administration that they have to carry a certain number of kids...say 25. Now, not all of those kids are going to get softball money or even ever have a real chance of playing. But they are all paying a lot of money to go to school there and that is all the admin wants.

2. Coaches evaluation - We have limited resources to go out and see everyone. In fact, that is nearly impossible. Very rarely are college coaches going to go to high school games unless it is during the play-offs because our season is going on at the same time. So, we are going to see kids out during the summer time. Unfortunately for some kids who maybe can't afford to play summer ball or have something else going on in their lives, they might get missed. We are currently recruiting a kid who is not playing travel ball and thus may not be a big name to some. If we or anyone else signs this kid, people will say who's that or what is coach so and so thinking? But ultimately, it is up to the coach to go out and find talent. Charlie is right in that for the most part, when you coach at a major program, you still have to work but the talent comes to you. Those of us at the mid-major Div I's, Div II's and Div III's must sometimes find those that get missed or have something specific that we need.

I've been coaching at the collegiate level for 8 years now and I'm sure Charlie would echo the same sentiments....what I think is good and can make a major impact on my program is usually very different from what a lot of parents and travel ball coaches thinks is good. Every year I am asked about certain players and told I should recruit this player or that player and when I see them, I know immediately that they can't help me. It's like the people telling me about these kids think that just because we're not in the ACC or have Div I by our name that we'll take anyone and that is simply not the case. Sometimes people get offended by this but I think a lot of people who are pushing kids on college coaches have never gone to a good Div II game or good Div III game. Before you push a kid on a program, or question why a program didn't recruit your DD or player, look at the conference the team plays in and go see them in a game. There are a lot of unrealistic expectations in the high school and travel ball programs regarding where kids should go play ball. Many times parents and TB coaches push their kids to programs that aren't really the right fit. There are a lot of kids out there now that are legit Div I kids. But there are also a lot of kids going to Div I or mid major Div I that aren't really ready and would be better suited at a strong Div II. And likewise there are a lot of kids pushed on Div II schools that aren't up to that level yet. Sometimes, kids slip through the cracks because they aren't seen or they are on the wrong travel team or are overshadowed by others on their teams. We have one kid who maybe was boarderline Div I material coming out of high school but didn't play on a major travel team and did get lost at her high school as the class before her was very good and got all the attention. She came to us in the late signing period and hit .415 her freshman year and made all-conference. Now, after 1 year of college you can see the ability and talents she has and can say she should probably be at a Div I...but at the time of recruiting a lot of people had a difference of opinion.

College coaches do a lot of work evaluating talent and finding kids that best fit OUR program. There are certain cases when everyone knows that a certain kid is talented and belongs where they are. But there are many more instances where a kids talent is up for debate. Parents are (and SHOULD be) the most unobjective source of information about their kid. Many times, TB coaches are too. For myself, there are certain coaches out there that I trust and talk to about not only their kids but others as well. And, I sit around with other college coaches and talk about kids. Some college coaches are real tight lipped when it comes to who they are recruiting and what they like. I, on the other hand, am very open. My philosophy is that there is no other school like mine. I offer certain things that other schools cannot not and other schools offer things that I cannot. We all may be competing for the same kids, but we all offer different things so I have no problem talking about kids with other coaches.

So there are a lot of things to look at when college coaches choose certain kids for their programs. Unless you are in every meeting a coaching staff may have or you are privy to every thought a coach might think about players, then you don't really know the whole story about why some kids are chosen and others aren't. I guess anything that one observes from the outside is left open to questions until one knows the whole story. Hopefully we'll be able to answer some of these questions more indepth when cheeze and I get around to doing that interview he wants to do.

Steve Johnson
Head Softball Coach
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke