GENERAL FACTORS

One theme you will notice in this book over and over again is that the recruiting process, from both a coach’s and a player’s perspective is about narrowing choices and eliminating options.  There are hundreds of colleges and universities in the United States that have an intercollegiate softball program.  In order to make this process manageable, that number has to be reduced significantly.  To do this, you must have a conversation between parent and player to make some initial determinations as to her choices. Not of choices of schools, but choices of things like geographical locations, school size, and other similar factors. 

IMPORTANT TIP.  This is not a conversation that should be done once, but should be reviewed on a regular basis.  Things, choices and preferences, may change over time.  This is particularly true if you followed my suggestion and started this process early.  So you should check this on a period basis and adjust your initial determinations accordingly.

One of the first factors you want to look at is the geographic region that your player wants to go to school.  This may change over time, but if the player wants to stay close to home or specifically away from cold weather states, then this will help narrow your search.  However, you must always keep in mind that this is like a job search, so all the principles of supply and demand are very much in play.  Another theme that you will see over and over again is that college coaches like to see interest from the players.  It only makes sense that given a choice between offering a scholarship to a girl is expressing interest in the school and one who does not, given comparable ability, the coach will target the girl expressing interest.  It is probably fair to say that a large number of girls do not want to play in cold weather states.  The coaches at these schools may have an uphill battle recruiting girls.  Therefore, it may make sense to target these schools for contact.  If there is less competition for these spots, then there is a greater chance of being offered a position with the team.

The next thing to be discussed with your player is about her intended major.  Most girls will have no idea what they want to do, and this is fine.  In fact, the earlier you start the process, the less likely that she will have a real grasp on what she wants to do in the future.  But if your player does have a strong idea on what she wants to major in this will help with both college selection and the recruitment process.  Girls should not waste their time targeting schools that they have no interest in attending and college coaches don’t like to waste time recruiting girls who have no interest in going there.  However, because there may be some changes of heart over time, be careful not to eliminate too much too soon.  Just as above, this is a decision that should be reviewed on a regular basis.  Otherwise, you are just limiting your player’s opportunities for potential options.   Be flexible in your approach.  Remember, no absolute decisions have to be made until it is time to commit to a college.

Next, your player’s commitment to playing softball as an activity must be assessed.  There are many levels of college.  There are just as many levels of softball.  In the NCAA there are three divisions and there is also the NAIA along with three different levels of competition in junior college.  In the NCAA, the major difference between the Divisions is the amount of time that the player will have to commit to the sport.Division I demands the most time.  Division I players often lose out on the full college experience and focus a good portion of the college life on softball.  Often exams and other assignments have to be scheduled around the softball schedule.  Weekends have to be sacrificed and many coaches and schools have a zero tolerance policy concerning alcohol and other recreational activities.  And this is not necessarily limited to actual consumption.  I am aware of a player in Division I program who faced disciplinary action for merely being in a room where drugs and alcohol were being consumed by others. I do not want anyone to think that I am advocating the use of alcohol or illegal drugs.  Of course I am not.  However, players intending to compete on at the Division I level must realize the extent to which they are giving their lives over to the softball program.  It is a commitment that not everyone is ready to make nor should they make.  Division III players are more students than athletes and Division II is somewhere in between. 

Notice that I did not say anything about the level of competition.  That should definitely be one of your considerations and will be discussed later in more detail, but it should NEVER be discussed in the context of Divisions in NCAA.  I have seen many Division II teams that can beat teams from Division I programs.  Division I teams are not automatically better merely because they are Division I teams.

There are some other factors that should be considered and discussed.  For example, you should be looking at the size of the school.  Some girls will want the big college experience; others will want the comfort and coziness of a smaller school.  Is the college in a city, suburban or rural area?  What is surrounding the college?  Some girls may be concerned about issues of diversity, culture, ethnicity and race, while others may have a strong preference for playing for a male or female coach.  The point is that you have to communicate with your player to find her preferences.  These preferences should be prioritized to see what is really important and revisited often. These factors will help identify the right school for your player.  What you should begin to see is that this process was created to find the right fit, player to college. 

The goal here should not just to find a school willing to give your player a scholarship, but the right school.  You want to find the school where she has the best chance to have a successful softball and college career.  The fact is that your player had better like the school she selects selects. 

 TALENT LEVEL ASSESSMENT

The next thing that needs to be done is for an honest assessment of the player’s skill level.  This is not always easy to face.  Virtually all parents think that their player is the second coming of Jennie Finch or Dot Richardson.  Trust me when I tell you that they probably are not.  This is not to say that their players are not talented or even elite players, but very few players reach that rarified air.  Once again, this is about finding a good fit, player to school, and not necessarily targeting only the elite softball programs.  This means finding the right level of competition for your player in order to maximize her opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the team and have a successful college career.  To do this, you have to check your ego at the door, accept constructive criticism and learn to see your player as others see her.  You must watch, ask questions and listen with an open mind.  Probably one of the worst mistakes that you can make is to target schools that are outside your player’s skill abilities.  With regard to this you must remember a couple of things. 

First and foremost, no matter how good your player is, you are comparing her to the competition that she is playing against.  Unless your player is among the best players on an elite team, chances are she is not good enough to play at the highest levels of competition in college.  Remember, each college team signs between 4 and 6 players a year to National Letter of Intent.  That means that only about 175 players will be signed to play at the top 35 Division I programs in the country.  In order for your player to get signed there, she must be among the very best of the best and fit the needs of the school at that time.  When you realize that there are thousands of girls each year graduating from high school and seeking to play softball in college, you begin to recognize the odds against playing in one of these programs.

Second, your player wants to play.  Each girl may outwardly crave to play for UCLA, Stanford, or Arizona.  However, when given a choice between getting playing time or sitting at UCLA, a very high percentage would choose to play.  I can bet you anything that no player wants to go to any college and sit.  A few may tolerate it in exchange for an opportunity to be associated with a prominent national program.  But remember, your player did not get to that level of athletics by not being competitive and having a desire to play.  By targeting the right level of competition for your player, you are maximizing the opportunity for good playing time.

One of the worst mistakes players can make is targeting schools that are out of her skill level.  If a player is not attracting attention from Division I schools, then chances are excellent that she is not a Division I talent.  If that is the case, the efforts must be redirected to a more appropriate level of play. 

Remember supply and demand?  In many cases, Division II, Division III and NAIA schools must wait to see which players may "fall back" to them after being by passed by Division I programs. In other words, because most players (parents) believe that they have legitimate Division I talent, they concentrate their marketing efforts there.  The players who have a more realistic view of their skill level, and correctly identify where they should be playing sooner will have an advantage when it comes to being recruited by Division II, Division III and NAIA schools and perhaps have an easier time getting scholarship dollars from those schools that offer them.

ACADEMIC ASSESSMENT           

The next thing that you have to do is assess the academic level of the player and be realistic as to the academic level of the colleges you choose to target.  Coaches won’t waste time recruiting a player that cannot be admitted to the school or who they believe will not remain academically eligible.  The importance of grades cannot be overemphasized.  Recently I learned of a girl whose scholarship offer a decent Division I program in Pennsylvania was withdrawn because her grades had dropped and she was no longer academically eligible.  In addition, the better the player’s academics are, the better the chance that she will receive academic money, thereby allowing the coach to spread athletic money around to more players. 

There is far more money available to players for academics than there is for athletics.  There is a player that I know who got a full academic scholar and was offered a roster spot on the team.  This is a no risk situation for the college coach because no athletic money was invested.  Academic scholarships can open the door to athletic possibilities more than athletic scholarships can open up the door to academic possibilities.  For more information about scholarships,  go to the scholarships page. 

The NCAA has academic eligibIlity requirements. For Divisions I & II they are as follows: