Why the push for college ball?

Agreed,only 2-5 % of the kids that play fastpitch softball will get any type of scholarship monies to college, but my DD and myself enjoy the experience of playing other kids and challenging them in their talents..we love the competition that travel ball promotes, and love seeing the comradery that our team has toward that goal in finishing first....yes it can become a compulsive behavior,and personally many that know me see me on the field every weekend, but hey a lot of my friends go to the golf course every weekend, my philosophy " To Each His Own ". I love playing for the organization that my DD is a part of and we enjoy all the aspects of it.


GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE TEAMS IN THE NCNSA STATE NEXT WEEKEND !!!


SOFTBALL GURU

 

It's what I do on the weekends (my hobby)...

Great topic. DD has been playing travel ball since she was 10 (17 yrs. old now, will be HS Senior this Fall). She played in 7-8 college showcase tournaments last summer, only to tell me that she does not want to play college ball. She still wants to play travel ball while she is in high school, while she can, likes playing with her HS team friends.

Yes, I did have a strong influence in her playing travel ball from Feb. through Nov. the last 6-7 years. She never really complained. I agree that I may have been living some kind of dream of playing ball through my daughter's life. I loved playing baseball, football & basketball, back in the day. One of my biggest regrets is quitting baseball my sophmore HS year, to pursue a job.

But the work ethic I learned from all of the practices and games I had in all three sports, from age 5 through 17 is/was priceless. Especially all the two a day football practices in 105 degree weather and running all those bleachers and running until one puked.

So I strongly believe that despite my DD not wanting to play college ball she has still learned a lot of valuable lessons from her years of travel ball and playing 8-9 games in two days, in 105 degree weather and what it takes to be a winner and a loser.

Plus, I don't fish, hunt or play golf. I work during the week, take care of my family and do travel fast pitch on the weekends.:229031_ha

 

Our family has totally enjoyed the "family time" that playing travel ball has given us. College ball is just icing on the cake. Yes we hoped that a scholarship may come our DD's way and it did but we wouldn't trade anything for the good times we had together as a family, scholarship or not. It's what you make out of the time you spend together that matters whether you're together playing ball or just going to the beach.

 

Why the push? That's a great question. Many, many girls get scholarships without even playing travel ball. That is a personal choice. Never once played travel ball, didn't have to. Didn't want to give up my life as a teenager. Still got offered many scholarships. Actually got offered more from NC and SC then the state I lived in. Mainly because fastpitch was just beginning down here.
I moved here from Erie, PA. Great city for men and women's fastpitch softball. We have a little league softball league. Great program. The kids get the same experience that travel ball players get, maybe even better(depending on your opinion). If you good enough at the end of the season you get picked for the allstar team. That particular team can travel to States. Can you imagine that at 8 years old? How cool? By the time you get to states in high school, you have played against these girls for ten years. It's pretty neat. I preferred it over travel. It also allowed me to have a normal "kid" life. What makes this program even better, the dad's that are coaches, actually played the game of fastpitch softball. So they actually know the game. (no offense to anyone) Just my opinion.

I'm not sure if this particular league is going on but you could play fastpitch until your legs fell off. I haven't been in Erie since 97'. We played in an 18 and over. I remember being 20 years old and getting waxed by a 35-40 year old team. WOW, still embarrassed about that one.

Just another point. Been there done that type thing. If my dd wants to goto college and play a sport super. If not oh well. Life's too short. The aches and pains don't really make it worth it. I'd rather share my knowledge of the game by coaching today.

 

well... I'll be brutally honest with you here... if you say that there are lots of scholarships available outside travel it doesn't help the credibility of your link to the pitching lessons.. although I spent some time on that site and found it interesting. The idea that you could play school ball and get a college scholarship ended in the 1960's I thought. I am not going to go into all the gory details of why travel ball is not only better but is really a necessity.. it should be apparent to everyone who watches this board regularly and who has experienced it.

as far as little league... an area near where I live is a LL powerhouse. they have come close several times to go to the LL WS in Oregon and get on ESPN but I assure that the level of play present in LL in nowhere comparable to travel ball... most of the all star teams are weak B's frankly. LL rosters are just too hamstrung by geographic where you live restrictions. You have to range far and wide to find kids with talent who have good parents and are dedicated. Its just a fact. I would be willing ot bet you could take the top 5 finishers in 12U at the NSA state this weekend and everyone of them would beat the eventual LL WS chmpion in a 2 out of 3 game scenario... even if it is Waco TX again.. a team by the way filled with travel ball players!

 

networking. You know how many alumni business owners and executives are out there that will hire an athlete with not quite as good a resume as a non athlete with a better resume? Alumni love to take care of their athletes. Gives them something to brag about when they can tell others they have a former athlete working for them.

 

beauty

to me that's the beauty of all-star teams; they are restricted to a geographic area, not recruiting all over several counties or regions of a state ; heck maybe of more than 1 state, as TB's are able to do.

TB teams should certainly be able to beat all-star teams since the areas they draw from have no limits.

And would a college team not take a deserving non-TB player if that girl really has the skills , stats, abilities needed? I know it would be rare but entirely possible. There are some natural athletes out there that maybe have valid reasons for not playing TB, such as financial.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. That's what is so nice about this board. It comes down to where you live in the U.S.A.

:banginghe Didn't even know they had fastpitch for women in the 1960's. Learn something new everyday.

Travel ball is great, I'm not disagreeing with that. All I'm saying is it's not a necessity. It makes a lot of great players, but it also burns out a lot of good players. Whether, mentally or physically.

:bananalam

 

Fathers' influence

this link may be indirectly related to this thread.
http://www.usasoftball.com/pressReleases/getStory.asp?nid=1145

 

IMO I doubt if a Coach would even look at a non TB ball player.The level of competition is so much more intense that 1 mistake will cost you a ball game.How could you judge the talent of a player unless she were in that type of environment.TB ball is like the HS championship every weekend only better.You're strong top to bottom.Even have had 1 coach tell me not to let DD play school ball, will mess her up.Couldn't tell DD she wasn't playing school ball, it's supposed to be fun.TB ball is serious biz .