KC ZEPHYRS Gold/College Prep: Coaches Blog
Wednesday, November 1Welcome to the Zephyrs "Coaches Blog"
Hello and welcome to the Zephyrs "Coaches Blog" page. This new site addition will be available to the general public to view, but only available to Zephyrs Coaches and Players to add Blog entries. Teammates and Coaches can send their Blog entries to me via email. I will cut and past to the Blog with date of posting. Your Blog can be about anything that may be on your mind or how you are feeling about certain issues pertaining to you and softball in general. KEEP IT CLEAN! Each Blog added will be unedited with one exception... Foul Language will be cut from the Blog. Enjoy!
Wednesday, November 1
Once you commit.
There is no rule about playing 23&U once you are signed. After all the real reason we coach and play this sport is to compete and challenge ourselves. Of course the emphasis today seems to only be on recruiting and getting a free ride into college, but there is still a sport out there that people should be playing for fun and not just to get into college. Getting signed is a bonus or an added benefit to playing the sport you love. With that said, keep in mind that once these players commit, they also need to become prepared to play in college and achieve success. So even though many teams may have most of their players committed, they still need to prep them for their college career. So , just because they signed, does not mean they are done and now sit while the youngsters take over. They need to play and improve their skills. I think we are beginning to lose focus on the sport itself and get too caught up in showcasing and scholarships. If the player does what they have been doing since age 8 and continues to get better , the college stuff takes care of itself.
The quote from above is taken directly from a post on ultimate college softball by California Cruisers coach Andy Anderson. Why did I post this? well it seemed to strike a nerve. We are now entering this phase for the first time as a team and there are allot differing opinions concerning this issue and most are valid. I tend to agree with Andy that this is still a competitive game and there is a score kept and there are winners and losers. Once we get too far away from that fact we might as well just be holding "exposure camps" where all skills are broken down and evaluated ontheir own merit. I still think the challenge of winning each at bat and winning each inning brings us the true measure of the athlete and we see how they react to adversity and how they handle success. Each player needs to continually develop their skills in pressure situations in order to have that dominate muscle memory take over when things get tough and the game speeds up.
I think that high school senior needs to understand that she will be asked to take her game to another level in college and that playing against the best competition available at all times will help to make her transistion smoother. Remember that once you sign your NLI the college coach has a responsibility to begin to look for your replacement for when you graduate. If you take a summer off...you will be a year behind the player that does not. That is very hard ground to make up.
...Food for thought?
Thursday, November 2
Putting the "student" back in student athlete!
Collegiate softball is generating so much excitement with players and their parents these days that it's easy to lose sight of the "big picture."
Getting a scholarship has become the end for many families... rather than the means. Parents sometimes forget the reason their athletes give up their summers and work hard to develop their playing skills. As a player, however, you should be doing this because you love the game. Doing it because you want softball to help in some way with your college education--e.g., getting into school, getting classes, maybe getting some financial aid--should be a secondary reason.
Your parents may give up their precious weekend time to go to tournaments; and they may invest in these tournament "adventures," pitching lessons, equipment, and so on, without looking for any payback beyond a positive experience for you.
But where most of my travels take me, I see far too many families who either don't understand what college means in the first place, or they have completely lost sight of the only reason a softball scholarship is worth something--e.g., a college education and hopefully a ticket to a better life.
It never fails to surprise me when I meet parents who are only looking for dollar signs. They don't seem to care whether you love the game and are learning positive life lessons from it. They don't seem to understand that the work ethic they try to instill in you when it comes to pitching or batting should also be carried over into the classroom.
But these parents are often astounded when their player takes her SAT and scores a 760. They may also be dumbfounded when some college coach says he or she can't recruit you because you're not a strong enough student for his college.
These parents--who may have made enormous sacrifices to enable you to play on a top travel team--somehow managed to overlook the fine print that told them what classes you need and what test scores are required for you to get into college. And when it comes time for you to choose a college, they may want you to choose based on the dollar amount you're being offered.
Whether it's a good academic college that will ensure you graduate with a degree might be less important than whether or not it's a big-name school. They might forget to ask whether you'll be happy at one college versus another. And they might not think about whether or not you'll get to play so that your investment of hours of study hall and practice time and conditioning and road trips will be worth something to you!
Teenagers are teenagers. While you are struggling to grow up and deal with all the changes that this time brings, you should still look to their parents for guidance. While you need to learn independence, decision-making skills and self-reliance, you also need structure and support provided so that you can grow up successfully.
It might be tough for you as a 14 or 15 year old to go to your high school counselor and say, "Here's a list of academic classes I need to be eligible to play college sports. I need certain minimum grades in these classes, and I need to take my SAT or ACT as a junior. I need to stay focused on academics because although athletics may get me into college and might even pay for part of my education, it's a college degree that's my long-term goal. Can you please help me reach that goal?"
So you need your parents to be aware of these things. If your mom or dad can take an afternoon off work to drive you to a travel ball tournament, surely they can go in a bit late some morning in order to make a quick visit to your high school. If they can find the time to do soft-toss with you in the back yard each night, surely they can spend a few minutes making sure you're doing your homework. If they can spend $190 on a new glove, maybe they can also spend $40 on a book that will prepare you for your SAT or ACT--which they also need to help you schedule.
Being a good parent is always a tough job. Being a great softball parent may be incredibly difficult. Everyone in the family has some choices to make, and they may not be easy ones. Remind your parents that you need to make the right choices as a student and as an athlete. This is something you'll all be glad you did ten years from now!
Catharine Aradi has been a recruiting consultant for over 16 years, and she is considered by many college coaches to be one of the best recruiting resources in the nation. Through her book, Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level, her clinics and her consulting work, she has helped thousands of college-bound players gain that "competitive edge" during the college search process. Cathi is an active member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Assoc., (which also publishes her book), and she works with players and schools around the country. For more information, visit her web site at www.fastpitchrecruiting.com or email her at info@fastpitchrecruiting.com. To order her book, you can call 662-320-2155 or go to www.nfca.org.
Thursday, December 7
QUOTE OF THE YEAR!
Tip: the college coaches will ABSOLUTELY hold her accountable for the work and improvement they identify in their camp or workout...if they tell u to change your sidearm, change it; if they tell u to work on your change up, get one; if they tell her to quit dipping your shoulder, get a tee and a bucket of balls and get in the cage...they are watching and they have people everywhere
dreams come true, life is compromise...and hard work pays off...
good luck and happy holidays...
Tuesday, March 27
!
As for being unprepared I am reminded of Tommy Lasorda saying that when he was coaching in the minors he went out to relieve a young pitcher. The pitcher couldn't get anyone out and was shaking his head when Tommy reached the mound he said "skip, I just don't understand in high school I was striking out 15-16 guys every game. Tommy's reply " Well you know the guys you didn't strike out? They're here!