High school softball

[Hillhouse]

Not taking anything personal...just having a discussion. What you say about the "why" isn't logical..."PGF doesn't give out individual awards, so college player bios have to include HS awards, including detailed but skewed stats doctored by a scorekeeping dad" (paraphrasing)

What if a kid didn't play for a TB team that you thought was up to your standard, didn't go to the right "nationals", but did really well in a competitive HS program...they do exist despite your own apparent bias. Would you just shut them out?

PS...Little Sally is going to be playing somewhere, regardless of where her 19 perfect games happened.

I'm not sure why you think the "why" is illogical. You asked why some college bios list HS accomplishments, and I'm telling you those are the only ones they can list. There's no alternative. I am not sure what part of that confuses you??? If I kid could list "I was Most Valuable Player at PGF 18u" then I'm sure they would. If they could list "PGF 18U Nationals All tournament team" then they'd list that. But they can't list those things because the tournaments don't offer them. Therefore, a kid has no choice but to list HS accomplishments.

Of the scenario you asked, yes, I think I'd have serious questions about a kid who didn't play travel ball. And any kid in the description you mentioned could easily be overlooked by playing HS only. I think there's a TREMENDOUS amount of talented players, probably some of the most talented athletes in the country, that don't play travel ball because of lack of resources. And many of those kids play for inner city schools that have next to nothing for school softball programs. Yes, unfortunately, those kids fall through the cracks. Yes, little Sally might player somewhere but her choices will be severely limited. SEVERELY.

It's funny when you see the WCWS, it seems 9/10 times they interview the parents of a player in the game, the father is a former MLB, NFL, or some other with extraordinary resources. The majority of players in the WCWS play for a hand full of travel teams. Oklahoma has some diversity in where they get their players, schools like Texas draw from many clubs but have CLOSE relationships with the Texas Bombers. A school like JMU probably has close relationships with a regional club, maybe the Virginia Shamrocks or Legends.

 

[Bonesaw]

I'm not sure why you think the "why" is illogical. You asked why some college bios list HS accomplishments, and I'm telling you those are the only ones they can list. There's no alternative. I am not sure what part of that confuses you??? If I kid could list "I was Most Valuable Player at PGF 18u" then I'm sure they would. If they could list "PGF 18U Nationals All tournament team" then they'd list that. But they can't list those things because the tournaments don't offer them. Therefore, a kid has no choice but to list HS accomplishments.

Of the scenario you asked, yes, I think I'd have serious questions about a kid who didn't play travel ball. And any kid in the description you mentioned could easily be overlooked by playing HS only. I think there's a TREMENDOUS amount of talented players, probably some of the most talented athletes in the country, that don't play travel ball because of lack of resources. And many of those kids play for inner city schools that have next to nothing for school softball programs. Yes, unfortunately, those kids fall through the cracks. Yes, little Sally might player somewhere but her choices will be severely limited. SEVERELY.

It's funny when you see the WCWS, it seems 9/10 times they interview the parents of a player in the game, the father is a former MLB, NFL, or some other with extraordinary resources. The majority of players in the WCWS play for a hand full of travel teams. Oklahoma has some diversity in where they get their players, schools like Texas draw from many clubs but have CLOSE relationships with the Texas Bombers. A school like JMU probably has close relationships with a regional club, maybe the Virginia Shamrocks or Legends.

Excellent insight. I'm interested in your opinion on what Doug Gillis says here from 24:45.

 

[Shiloh]

Yep! I’m aware.

This applies to what percentage of players again though?

Of all the kids I know (or coached) that have played in college, I don’t know a single one this applies to.

I’m also a really long way from anywhere warm in the winter. I understand things are different there.

For the best players, say top 50 or 100, fly in teams are depressingly commonplace; more likely these types of players are on one than not.

But even some unranked players are flying in to play with the nationally ranked teams, just because their future college coach tells them to.

sucks

 

[Shiloh]

think there's a TREMENDOUS amount of talented players, probably some of the most talented athletes in the country, that don't play travel ball because of lack of resources.

The best softball player the world has ever produced will probably never touch a field or even see a yellow ball in person. Because she lives in rural China or southern India or Mongolia and her family is struggling with everyday life; her culture won’t allow her to play sports.

Talent is distributed evenly. Opportunity is not.

 

[Westwind]

Talent is distributed evenly. Opportunity is not.

I like that.

Gonna steal that line.

 

[_MIA_]

Gonna steal that line.

from Leila Janah

 

[PapaBear]

Would love to get your opinion. My DD is in 7th grade and wants to play softball in college. We just found out the high school she plans on attending no longer has softball. Is travel ball enough? How important is playing high school ball to get into a good college?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Travel is enough. High school ball is for pride in the community, play with friends, break records and hopefully be able to fill the trophy case with something you can be proud of later on in life.

To say it doesn't matter in being recruited isn't always the case. Now High School is a great way to get recruited or check off the list as many high schools carry games live or on social media. My daughters future college watched her pitch via the opposing teams game feed while on the road this past spring. They don't use HS coaches like they used to but they watch games from the comfort of the bus, hotel, home or phone.

 

[Cannonball]

I try to stay out of these types of discussions for the most part but will chime in some here. My DD was 1st Team All-State. Maybe it is important and maybe it is not. However, that award could have gone out to players from a bunch of schools. The committee that selects All-State is in the Chicago area and as far as I know, only one coach from my area is on that committee. Therefore, it takes a lot for a player to get that award. The high school's program comes into play as well as the strength of schedule. It is the same for all areas. BB made several all-area teams. Those coaches knew her and had coached against her. I was not on the all-area committee. In this metro area, there are so many schools that are very good at HS softball. There are so many great players. To get those awards for four years was yet another indicator of her ability. I know that for some college coaches, it was what drew them to her initially. from there, naturally, they had to see her play. Finally, when BB took her first unofficial visit, that coach knew just how well her HS season had gone and knew the awards she had earned. The same coach did make it to a lot of her TB games. I do think that the HS awards as a freshman mattered. JMHO!

 

[Westwind]

from Leila Janah

I bet she stole it too, lol!

 

[Strike2]

I'm not sure why you think the "why" is illogical. You asked why some college bios list HS accomplishments, and I'm telling you those are the only ones they can list. There's no alternative. I am not sure what part of that confuses you??? If I kid could list "I was Most Valuable Player at PGF 18u" then I'm sure they would. If they could list "PGF 18U Nationals All tournament team" then they'd list that. But they can't list those things because the tournaments don't offer them. Therefore, a kid has no choice but to list HS accomplishments.

Of the scenario you asked, yes, I think I'd have serious questions about a kid who didn't play travel ball. And any kid in the description you mentioned could easily be overlooked by playing HS only. I think there's a TREMENDOUS amount of talented players, probably some of the most talented athletes in the country, that don't play travel ball because of lack of resources. And many of those kids play for inner city schools that have next to nothing for school softball programs. Yes, unfortunately, those kids fall through the cracks. Yes, little Sally might player somewhere but her choices will be severely limited. SEVERELY.

It's funny when you see the WCWS, it seems 9/10 times they interview the parents of a player in the game, the father is a former MLB, NFL, or some other with extraordinary resources. The majority of players in the WCWS play for a hand full of travel teams. Oklahoma has some diversity in where they get their players, schools like Texas draw from many clubs but have CLOSE relationships with the Texas Bombers. A school like JMU probably has close relationships with a regional club, maybe the Virginia Shamrocks or Legends.

It's illogical because, if HS ball doesn't matter, then the awards don't matter. Arguing that the player bio has to include SOMETHING because PGF doesn't do individual awards is a head-scratcher. Player bios often don't include HS academic accomplishments, and one could argue that those are plenty important. Why bother with something that doesn't matter?

I didn't ask about a kid not playing travel ball at all, I asked "what if a kid didn't play for a TB team that you thought was up to your standard, didn't go to the right "nationals", but did really well in a competitive HS program...would you just shut them out?"

Little Sally WILL get an opportunity...she still had to get the ball over the plate for those 19 perfect games while walking / hitting none. I guess it all depends on what your definition of "severely limited" is. I know a kid currently playing on a Div II team who will likely start as a freshman, but didn't play for a high-dollar TB team. The strength of her recruiting resume was undoubtedly her strong performance at a large area HS. Heck, I know of a current Div I coach who started college as a JUCO player and eventually became a record holder for a mid-major.