Question for DukeDog4 and others whose girls have completed collegiate careers

I totally agree with what you say here. What my point is that the girls you speak of are not a very large percentage of the girls who go on to college to play. I do think that the girls who play at a higher D1 tend to stay and play longer than the girls at smaller programs

 

Absolutely

I agree... now the question....because you already answered it...

IS IT FOR YOU!!! Are you willing to make it your life!!
The truly elite players have a plan, and understand how hard it is gonna be...

That's the difference and the reason why there is a tremendous amount of
churning of rosters.... Div 1 owns your life..... period...
Div 2 and 3 are huge commitments, but not at the level of Div 1...

I now say this with respect to all.....
What is an elite player?

 

Charlie- I hope you are going to invoke some of your comments at the Hot Stove dinner. It should get people's attention.

Now...about the Div 2 commitment vs D1; would you please tell Coach Allen Osbourne @ Wingate that he does not own his player's life. That he doesn't need to eat with them breakfast, lunch, then dinner every single day. That he shouldn't wake them up at 5 to go running, eat, go to classes, eat, practice, eat, lift weights..then study, go to bed ....and wake up to do it all over again. He needs to understand they are a D2 school, not a D1.

Sorry Charlie, I couldn't help myself. I had to give you a zinger....lol

 

The top level D2 programs . . . .

like Wingate are not that different that D1. That's why they are 'top level'. Look at the facilities Wingate has. Not your typical D2 program.

 

Elite player?

Honestly, the only way to really know who the 'elite' players are is after the fact. We have all seen high school and even TB stars who simply couldn't get it done at the collegiate level. Particularly for pitchers, it's a completely different game.

 

I don't think it is the fact that they can't get it done. For most I think it is more they don't want to get it done. From my experience most girls priorities start changing at around their senoir year of high school. Guess that is where the term Senoiritous comes from. I've seen a lot of girls go from live and die softball players to finding other priorities between their junoir and senoir years. I know at Alexander we are lucky to have many dedicated girls but still I see a difference even here. I'm not an authority and don't keep up with every girl we have had come through here but I can't remember one we have had go on and play 4 years of college ball. I'd say there are a couple but not a very large percentage

 

....I don't care if you play at UCLA or an entry level JUCO or D3 school. To be the best that one can be requires giving "just a little more".
If you're lifting weights, try to lift that bar one more time.
If you're running sprints and are ready to puke, then run two more and yak your lunch up.

Raise the bar!

Fishman

 

you never know...

correct...

The landscape is scattered with "can't miss" players that never were or should have been..., and they all have a story.....why they failed...bottom line, they are responsible....

Nothing good comes in softball unless there is allot of hard work...there are no shortcuts or excuses.....

 

My oldest played for a DII school and lived and breathed softball. She even made it to the all-conference team her freshman year. However, "required" practices way longer than the allowed amount for an NCAA DII school and the abusive nature of her coach took all the fun out of the game. She no longer loves the game like she used to.

It didn't matter who you were--even the all american player as a sophomore had to put up with the treatment. The abuse was not just verbal; he also did not provide them meals, made them lose weight (including at least one player with an eating disorder) and other actions that made my daughter realize that a softball scholarship was not worth how his demoralizing treatment was changing her into a person she didn't want to be.

It is why I so strongly emphasize to make sure that you would love attending the school even if you didn't play ball.

 

...wow, that sucks! Maybe your DD would be interested in transfering to another college.
Transfering is tough. Our kids develop relationships with the school, teachers, boys, etc. so I do realize how difficult such a decision would be, hell its hard enough to pick the first school to go to.
For what this is worth, crap like this is what provides the wisdom for our kids. They're not the "boy in the bubble" anymore. We as parents can't live their lives for them . They're gonna take punches, so to speak, get up, and brush themselves off, and gain knowledge that is not taught in a classroom.
Thats LEARNING.

Fish