My daughter is an all conference player on her high school team. She has already set some single-season batting records for her high school and she still has a couple of years to go until she graduates. Likewise, our travel team tries to play a competitive schedule going to some very high level tournaments. She has very good personal stats at those events as well. She does work hard, has a great attitude and is overall a great kid (yea, I'm a little biased, but her coaches and teammates feel the same way).
She also has goals to play softball in college. I don't think she projects to be a high level D1 player, but has eyes on DII, DIII or even a highly rated NAIA school focussing on her academic goals.
The down side is our travel team is not very good. Even though we go to these higher level events, we normally have a marginal pool record and get knocked out pretty early. The team has some great young ladies - each of of them are wonderful people with wonderful families. However, about half of them are either just not putting in the time or are not really working towards the higher goals as others on the team. Their coaches are also wonderful people. However, the ship can be a little loose and things can be run on a B level much of the time (practices and game management). I love them. They have the girls best interested in mind, but I think the fun culture is stressed more than playing at the higher levels which has meant some of the on-field development is lacking which is distressing.
Bottom line, we don't want to be team hoppers, but want to develop in a way to prepare for college. How highly do college coaches rate the level of the player's travel team? We can go to all of these college PSA camps and have them evaluate her on a personal basis there, but will she get the invites she needs by being on a team that isn't getting exposed and in front of the coaches at these tournaments? Should we be looking for a more competitive team, which could mean the risk getting a coach or organization who's interested are not necessarily directed towards the kids, but their own ego (which is pretty common around this area for coaches). We need some opinions. Try-out season is coming and we are trying to develop a plan for next season.
Thanks in advance!
She also has goals to play softball in college. I don't think she projects to be a high level D1 player, but has eyes on DII, DIII or even a highly rated NAIA school focussing on her academic goals.
The down side is our travel team is not very good. Even though we go to these higher level events, we normally have a marginal pool record and get knocked out pretty early. The team has some great young ladies - each of of them are wonderful people with wonderful families. However, about half of them are either just not putting in the time or are not really working towards the higher goals as others on the team. Their coaches are also wonderful people. However, the ship can be a little loose and things can be run on a B level much of the time (practices and game management). I love them. They have the girls best interested in mind, but I think the fun culture is stressed more than playing at the higher levels which has meant some of the on-field development is lacking which is distressing.
Bottom line, we don't want to be team hoppers, but want to develop in a way to prepare for college. How highly do college coaches rate the level of the player's travel team? We can go to all of these college PSA camps and have them evaluate her on a personal basis there, but will she get the invites she needs by being on a team that isn't getting exposed and in front of the coaches at these tournaments? Should we be looking for a more competitive team, which could mean the risk getting a coach or organization who's interested are not necessarily directed towards the kids, but their own ego (which is pretty common around this area for coaches). We need some opinions. Try-out season is coming and we are trying to develop a plan for next season.
Thanks in advance!