What is it about Girls and staying with one team/

I did a study last year based on the 2004 rosters of the NC colleges and here are the percentages of NC players on those rosters. 10-D-I-- 69/156 - 45%, 18-D-II -- 110/258 - 43%, 7-D-III -- 64/128 - 50%, 2-NAIA --17/25 -68%. With all the signings last year I would bet that these figures would be even higher. As part of the study I also looked at the top 25 teams in D-I,II and III and there were only 3 players from NC on these rosters. To me this indicates that the in state schools realize that the talent in NC is starting to get better but the major programs still have doubts.

 

The reason why I made this comment is because the facts are that most girls do stay close to home and the list shows that.Please go look at the North Carolina college Rosters you will find most of the girls are in D-1, D-2 or D-3. As the coach of the Carolina Comets 18u and 14u I do go to showcases Tournaments and I work hard for my girls too. My job is to guide them in the right direction,to help them get to the next level,help them contact college coaches and most important is grades but let's be realistic. Also I think that the NC and SC college coaches are doing a GREAT job getting local girls in.
When we play in Hot times showcase and the World Series we either played with the best or we beat the best. Lets face it we have allot of talent on ALL
the 18 u teams and ALL the coaches care about their girls and would want to see them suceed. I want to thank everybody for their input and good luck to everybody this season.

 

any person who takes there time to coach are girls is doing a great job but just remember we as parents can also do alot in scouting for are girls you can't count on your coach to do it all there main objective is to teach are girls the game then are girls have to excell the game we as parents need to set back and let the coaches teach and maybe as parents we should do the scouting and then you will find that girls will stick together if parents will stop expecting everything out of a coach me as a parent works very hard with my child and trust me it is alot of time but well worth it i found taking what my childs coach teaches her and excelling it at home seems to work pretty well girls who jump teams it usually comes from spoiled parents

 

May have been said...

BUT M & D maybe? hehehehhhehehehe

 

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Leigh Carter Belmont Abbey
Kelly Schafer Belmont Abbey

 

Cavs

U are right and both are great players and have helped put the Abbey back on the map!!!!!!!! Abby my DD loves both of them and really enjoys playing with such great young ladies. They are great leaders and have helped make the Freshman feel comfortable. Heck the whole team is very close knit group. Go ABBEY!!!!!!!!

 

Exposure

In my opinion, it all comes down to buiding skills and exposure for the girls. I started a 14U team with some 12 and 13 year old girls back in the fall of 1999. Over the years played mainly in the NC NSA, USSSA, PONY and AAU tournaments. We did play in the various world series in Salem, Rock Hill and even traveled as far as Peoria, IL to play in the 16U NSA Super World Series. It wasn't until last summer before we played in any ASA tournaments.

Our team was quite successful over the years and we worked hard to do as well as we did. We never had a tryout, but on the rare occasions when some one decided to leave the team, word of mouth was how we added new players. (That's why you should never burn bridges and why forming relationships with area high school coaches and softball instructors is important.)

Last fall as our team prepared to play 18U for this summer, it was time for a decision to be made in the direction of our team. As a 14U and 16U team we were very successful, however after discussions with several 18U coaches, and as I thought, I learned that an 18U team should be primarily for exposure for the girls rather than winning tournaments.

Knowing that for the most part the national ASA tournaments are difficult to get in to, I felt it was best not to have an 18U that would not play in better tournaments, so I asked the players on my team a serious question. How many were really wanting to play ball in college? Out of the 11 players, 5 were wanting to play at the next level. With that information, I decided I would help those who wanted to play in college as well as those who just wanted to play recreationally find new teams.

I began to make phone calls to the 18U teams that I knew played the ASA tournaments and began to see what needs they had for this coming summer. I was honest and shared the names and abilities with these coaches and I am happy to say that all 5 recieved tryouts and 4 were picked up immediately and the other recieved an offer from a team last week. For the girls who were looking to just play recreationally, they merged with another team and they are looking forward to playing this summer also.

I guess the bottomline to all this are 2 things. First, in my opinion, travel softball for the younger ladies (10U-12U) should be more about improving skill levels than about winning tournaments and 14U-16U teams should have a goal of still improving, but to begin to use those skills to win some tournaments. The area NSA, AAU, USSSA tournaments provided our team exactly those opportunities (plus we practiced 2-3 times a week) and we are very appreciative to those who run those tournaments.

The other thing is that coaches, parents and players need to be honest and realistic when it comes to playing 18U ball. Not every girl really wants to continue to be that serious about softball (that's OK) and not every girl has the skill level to compete at that level. But for those who have the skills and more importantly the desire and dedication to play ASA 18U and in college, the coaches and parents should actively began looking for those 18U teams in the fall before the summer they want to begin playing. That is when those teams are looking to replace the ones they have helped move on to college ball.

Hopefully soon, there will be enough desire, demand and talent that teams like the Lady Blues, Explosion, Challengers, Comets and others will be able to form a second or new 18U team that will be as competitive as their current teams. (I think the Cardinals already have 2 18U teams).

For what it was worth, I hope my experience will help those who are facing the same issues our team and players experienced. Now, I am forming a 10U team and look forward to going through this great experience again! Hey Ray, Rodney, Tony, any idea on what you guys will be needing in 2012???!!!!

 

Ben, you summed it up well and i know you will take what you have learned over the years to your 10u you are now coaching. They are extremely lucky to have you as their coach and bring this group along just as you did the Stars!! Great Job!!

gotta 08 player now, so if your youngest or any of those 10u are the quality of your Oldest.....we'll take a catcher and a mid-infielder for starters!!