Post by Homer Hawks Site Administrator on Oct 29, 2007 9:24:30 GMT -5
Other links as well:
www.ncsasports.org/student-athletes-families/softball/
www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/NCAA/student/index_student.html
I found this article on another website and so much of it is so true .. BUT - the key is still what YOU - our athletes do to prepare yourself Academicaly - Athletically - Attitude - Teamwork - and contact presentation to the colleges ... many good points attached below - and remember this - it's a voyage - not a race - so pace yourself and prepare to be the best YOU can be!
For all the parents who attended the exposure camps this fall.
Oy Vey! My Daughter Is A Sophomore and Doesn’t Have A Scholarship Offer! What Am I To Do?
By Cathi Aradi
I never ceased to be amazed at how many parents these days believe that a college scholarship is the pot full of golden coins waiting for them at the end of the rainbow. And it’s really hard to make them understand the realities of athletic aid availability when so many youth coaches, other parents, and even some college coaches themselves persist in perpetuating the myth that every player who goes to college goes to a Division I school, and she goes on a full ride scholarship.
Since many younger families coming up through the ranks have little familiarity with the recruiting process as it works these days, they are often misled by what they hear in the stands or from their player’s coaches. Consequently, panic is spreading like wildfire among the parents of younger players—14, 15, 16 year olds—because their daughter doesn’t have her college commitment locked up.
I get calls, emails, I’m even accosted at tournaments by frantic moms and dads who have heard that all the big schools are done recruiting…for 2010! Give me a freakin’ break!
While it is true, there are much publicized "early" commitments, and it is a trend that is growing among bigger Div. I college programs, the reality is that the vast majority of kids won't be recruited or commit before the end of their junior year or even well into the senior year. There are a number of reasons for this, but probably the most prominent is the fact that no matter what anyone would say, wish, or believe, 75% of all college players will compete at the Div. II, Div. III or NAIA level. And that's not going to change.
Since most D-II, D-III and NAIA coaches don't start a lot of active recruiting before the end of a player's junior year, they will generally be looking at 18 and 18 Gold players who are due to graduate next spring. And, believe it or not, even among the D-I coaches, there is a quiet backlash against the early recruiting trend. It's inconvenient, hard to do for many coaches since they don't know what they'll need or have money for two years from now, and it has numerous inherent problems that people aren't talking about....yet.
It’s nice to think that your daughter’s college education (and her softball future) would be all wrapped up and neatly tied with a bow by the end of her sophomore year. But not only is that not going to happen for most athletes, but even when it does, you better believe these stories won’t all have a fairytale ending.
Verbal commitments are just that…verbal. They are not legally binding in any way. So there is nothing to stop a player or a college coach from backing out two weeks before the player is due to sign. Granted that most college coaches will try to avoid doing this, it still is going to happen. For example, a coach who needs a big catcher in two years offers your 5’10” sophomore the chance to commit. Then in the fall of your daughter’s junior year, he discovers a tremendously talented catcher has decided to come to his school and try out as a walk on.
Meanwhile, his #1 pitcher informs him she’s getting married in June and won’t be back next fall. Suddenly, his money availability shifts dramatically. He may decide to give this walk-on catcher your money to ensure she stays, and use that pitcher’s money to find someone to replace his ace. Any guess as to what your next phone call from the coach might say?
There are also numerous scenarios that can develop in the space of a year or eighteen months that might change a coach’s perception of you. For example, you might gain twenty pounds and add a half a second to your time from home to first. That’s a big problem if you’re being recruited for your speed. Or that conditioning program you were following so rigorously as a freshman and sophomore loses its appeal the summer of your junior year when you get a new boyfriend. And because you stop working out properly, you start having niggling shoulder problems that force you to take a little off your fast ball which now moves at a very hittable 60 mph.
Then of course, there are the changes in your goals that may affect your choice of a college. As a freshman and sophomore, you were sure you wanted to go to a school with 25,000 students, a nationally-ranked football program, and lots of athletic prestige. Now as a senior, you’re thinking seriously about med school or law school or international business after college. Suddenly you’re more concerned about a school’s grad school admission rate and its professor to student ratio than the number of players it sends to the NFL!
I would hope that a word to the wise would be sufficient. But knowing softball parents, I doubt that it will be. Still, before you waste a lot of time and overdose on antacids, remember, this is softball. It’s not life or death. If your daughter never played travel ball, but you invested all the money you would have spent on the sport if she did, you’d almost certainly have enough money to pay for at least part of her education.
This becomes doubly relevant when you remember that only about 55% of all college softball players are getting any athletic based aid. (Academic and need-based aid is available regardless of whether or not you play a sport!) And of that 55%, very few are getting full rides. Since so much of the recruiting process is beyond your control, wouldn’t it be smart to stay grounded and focus on the important aspects—e.g., your athlete having fun, loving the game, staying healthy, learning valuable life lessons, and oh yes, pursuing a college education!
The early signing insanity isn’t going to disappear any time soon. But that doesn’t mean you have to take part in it. As I used to say to my teenager many years ago…”Don’t give me that ‘All my friends are doing it!’ garbage. If they were all jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, would you be the first to line up?”
* * * * * * *
For more information on giving your athlete the competitive edge during her college search, consult my book, Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level. The 2007 edition can be ordered from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association in Mississippi at 662-320-2155 or online at www.nfca.org.
www.ncsasports.org/student-athletes-families/softball/
www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/NCAA/student/index_student.html
I found this article on another website and so much of it is so true .. BUT - the key is still what YOU - our athletes do to prepare yourself Academicaly - Athletically - Attitude - Teamwork - and contact presentation to the colleges ... many good points attached below - and remember this - it's a voyage - not a race - so pace yourself and prepare to be the best YOU can be!
For all the parents who attended the exposure camps this fall.
Oy Vey! My Daughter Is A Sophomore and Doesn’t Have A Scholarship Offer! What Am I To Do?
By Cathi Aradi
I never ceased to be amazed at how many parents these days believe that a college scholarship is the pot full of golden coins waiting for them at the end of the rainbow. And it’s really hard to make them understand the realities of athletic aid availability when so many youth coaches, other parents, and even some college coaches themselves persist in perpetuating the myth that every player who goes to college goes to a Division I school, and she goes on a full ride scholarship.
Since many younger families coming up through the ranks have little familiarity with the recruiting process as it works these days, they are often misled by what they hear in the stands or from their player’s coaches. Consequently, panic is spreading like wildfire among the parents of younger players—14, 15, 16 year olds—because their daughter doesn’t have her college commitment locked up.
I get calls, emails, I’m even accosted at tournaments by frantic moms and dads who have heard that all the big schools are done recruiting…for 2010! Give me a freakin’ break!
While it is true, there are much publicized "early" commitments, and it is a trend that is growing among bigger Div. I college programs, the reality is that the vast majority of kids won't be recruited or commit before the end of their junior year or even well into the senior year. There are a number of reasons for this, but probably the most prominent is the fact that no matter what anyone would say, wish, or believe, 75% of all college players will compete at the Div. II, Div. III or NAIA level. And that's not going to change.
Since most D-II, D-III and NAIA coaches don't start a lot of active recruiting before the end of a player's junior year, they will generally be looking at 18 and 18 Gold players who are due to graduate next spring. And, believe it or not, even among the D-I coaches, there is a quiet backlash against the early recruiting trend. It's inconvenient, hard to do for many coaches since they don't know what they'll need or have money for two years from now, and it has numerous inherent problems that people aren't talking about....yet.
It’s nice to think that your daughter’s college education (and her softball future) would be all wrapped up and neatly tied with a bow by the end of her sophomore year. But not only is that not going to happen for most athletes, but even when it does, you better believe these stories won’t all have a fairytale ending.
Verbal commitments are just that…verbal. They are not legally binding in any way. So there is nothing to stop a player or a college coach from backing out two weeks before the player is due to sign. Granted that most college coaches will try to avoid doing this, it still is going to happen. For example, a coach who needs a big catcher in two years offers your 5’10” sophomore the chance to commit. Then in the fall of your daughter’s junior year, he discovers a tremendously talented catcher has decided to come to his school and try out as a walk on.
Meanwhile, his #1 pitcher informs him she’s getting married in June and won’t be back next fall. Suddenly, his money availability shifts dramatically. He may decide to give this walk-on catcher your money to ensure she stays, and use that pitcher’s money to find someone to replace his ace. Any guess as to what your next phone call from the coach might say?
There are also numerous scenarios that can develop in the space of a year or eighteen months that might change a coach’s perception of you. For example, you might gain twenty pounds and add a half a second to your time from home to first. That’s a big problem if you’re being recruited for your speed. Or that conditioning program you were following so rigorously as a freshman and sophomore loses its appeal the summer of your junior year when you get a new boyfriend. And because you stop working out properly, you start having niggling shoulder problems that force you to take a little off your fast ball which now moves at a very hittable 60 mph.
Then of course, there are the changes in your goals that may affect your choice of a college. As a freshman and sophomore, you were sure you wanted to go to a school with 25,000 students, a nationally-ranked football program, and lots of athletic prestige. Now as a senior, you’re thinking seriously about med school or law school or international business after college. Suddenly you’re more concerned about a school’s grad school admission rate and its professor to student ratio than the number of players it sends to the NFL!
I would hope that a word to the wise would be sufficient. But knowing softball parents, I doubt that it will be. Still, before you waste a lot of time and overdose on antacids, remember, this is softball. It’s not life or death. If your daughter never played travel ball, but you invested all the money you would have spent on the sport if she did, you’d almost certainly have enough money to pay for at least part of her education.
This becomes doubly relevant when you remember that only about 55% of all college softball players are getting any athletic based aid. (Academic and need-based aid is available regardless of whether or not you play a sport!) And of that 55%, very few are getting full rides. Since so much of the recruiting process is beyond your control, wouldn’t it be smart to stay grounded and focus on the important aspects—e.g., your athlete having fun, loving the game, staying healthy, learning valuable life lessons, and oh yes, pursuing a college education!
The early signing insanity isn’t going to disappear any time soon. But that doesn’t mean you have to take part in it. As I used to say to my teenager many years ago…”Don’t give me that ‘All my friends are doing it!’ garbage. If they were all jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, would you be the first to line up?”
* * * * * * *
For more information on giving your athlete the competitive edge during her college search, consult my book, Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level. The 2007 edition can be ordered from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association in Mississippi at 662-320-2155 or online at www.nfca.org.