NCAA softball still dominated by regions

BAMA

OF THE 15 PLAYERS, PLAYING BAMA SOFTBALL.....
ALB 4, FLA 6, NY 1, TX 1, MIZ 2, ORG 1..........

2010 ALABAMA POP... 4.5 MILL 5 MILL LESS THAN NC...

 

Commitment and Dedication

As N/A Jacket said, totally comes down to commitment and dedication to the sport. Crystl Bustos skipped school to go hit. I know a
northern California high school player who decided to leave her high school and finish her high school education by taking online courses from a university. She did all this so it would give her more time during daylight hours to train and focus on softball. She ended up getting scholarship offers from 8 NCAA DI schools. In the end she felt it was due to her flopping her softball time and school time. How many NC players would do either of the above???

 

None, I hope! We definitely don't want kids skipping school to try to earn a scholarship to go to school.

I agree that the level of commitment is not what it should be. There are exceptions, of course. You could take the game stats of most teams and compare them with the amount of time they spent practicing and be able to pick out the ones who really worked at it and who didn't.

The trick is to figure out why so many are satisfied to get ready for show and tell instead of getting ready to outperform their competition. And this question may be part of the answer, where is the competition? Where are the MUST WIN tournaments? Where are the tournaments that show everyone who the best is?

 

there are some

There are some that have left school early.... BUT.. they usually had enough credits to graduate early anyway. Ally Blake left Central Cabarrus after her Sr yr fall semester and entered UNC for the spring season. She has proven to be a D1 player. There have been some in other sports that have done the same thing. Those are the exception, not the rule.

 

??

I think the vast majority of parents would question or worry about over-the-top commitment, some as described. Aren't we urged to promote balance in the lives of our children?

 

I think the majority of the kids don't even scratch the surface of being over committed.

I know kids that get extra work through TB and HS. It shows in their game.

I know kids that put in 10 or more hours a week outside of team practices. They are near the top of their game. They are at the top in academics. It seems the ones that are working to improve their game are also excelling in school. It must have something to do with their work ethic.

Basing judgment on those kids I wouldn't call it over commitment at all. They are all happy kids. What else could you want?

 

Bustos

Well, I might be wrong but I don't think Bustos graduated from college. In fact, I don't think she ever played D1 softball. Seems I remember she went to a JC and, after that, made her living as a softball player/personality. Probably not the best strategy for 99.99% of aspiring players.

No degree on the BIO

 

My DD was offered that opportunity a few years earlier

She got caught in the transition from traditional to block scheduling and was told by the local school board she couldn't graduate.

It was pretty upsetting at the time but, in retrospect, it all worked out. Not sure she how she would have done pitching against FSU as opposed to New Bern High School that spring

 

A question was asked why there were no ACC schools or to expand upon any NC based
collegiate softball programs advancing past the first round of the NCAA WCWS playoffs .......
Based upon the number of readers of this thread thus far inquiring minds wanna know ...

What has been noticed by many , is that schools like Florida and Georgia which usually advance
into the later rounds have imported many of their players from the west coast ... Why Is That ????
(Florida = 6 , Georgia = 5 ) And some thoughts expressed as to why thats happening is from population density ,
to better availability to coaching ,girls playing multiple sports ,and even suggestions that those west coast girls
want it more , work harder and are more commited ...

While some of those thoughts may have some merit , again I respectfully disagree with NC girls not
having commitment and to not wanting to work harder ..(with exception some parents wanting it more than
their kids ) Girls unlike boys are very coachable and are more than willing to do the work and follow instructions ...
The advantage I've noticed is that those west coast girls are being taught better skills , especially at hitting and
along with that thought comes better pitching skills to counter their advanced style of hitting ..
Candrea and Enquist some years ago adopted Don Slaughts RightView Pro style of hitting ( MLB style ) ,
which the rest of those west coast collegiate leagues including travel ball has adopted as well ....

I don't see crossing state lines with 10 year old travel teams , playing more tournaments , are even
playing up against older teams , as being advantageous too develop our girls skills to someday be capable
of competing on a national stage .. All your doing is reinforcing the same old philosohies same old
hands to the ball hitting styles , which clearly the west coast collegiate teams has moved away from ...
My final thoughts are if the ACC are any NC softball collegiate teams to which many of you aspire to
have your daughters play for one day , don' t have some sort of revision softball could end up like
many college baseball teams ... GONE !!! ( not enough fan base , too expensive )

Maybe a better thread would be captioned Whats Wrong / Right With NC Softball ......

again my .02 cents worth ...........

 

I agree with much of what you say but you're wrong . . .

about softball going away. It won't for at least a generation. Title IX assures that.