Already? Travel Trout notices going out...

[Me_and_my_big_mouth]

Go to tryouts for any team she's interested in playing for. If she has offers from legitimate "GOLD" teams then I'm guessing her current org doesn't want to lose her. What is the current success of your org in respect to you and your players goals with softball? If your DD wants to play in college does the org have a good track record of placing players?

DD had an offer from a very good 18U team this year she's still 14U eligible but plays 16U. The coach bragged that they place girls into college. I looked at their website and he didn't lie, but it was all local technical community college level. I talked with a parent and asked about player profiles, eligibility center numbers and if the coach reaches out to colleges for the girls. I got a long ummmmmm what's that. I'm not saying that these are the be all end all in this process or even that important, but they are fairly basic.

I would look into your current org and see if your DD's goals line up with the track history of the org. Look up the other orgs around and see if they meet your needs better.

Both current org she plays for and 2 others that are reaching out to her are reputable travel teams, well-known for college recruiting and having strong programs for development. Recruiting ranges from D1 to JUCO, and everything in between. DD is very active in her own recruiting, sending emails and attending camps at the schools she likes - and current org does a great job guiding the girls through it.

Both orgs aspire to National berths and include a great deal of showcasing nationally. Apples to apples, as far as that goes.

We aren't naive enough to think the grass is always greener, but she hasn't seen the growth that she was hoping for this season for herself, despite working really hard on her own to get there. One of the orgs currently talking to her is a fairly higher caliber than the one she's with - and they've been watching her for a while (through her HS season). They came to her with a plan for improvement, a plan to showcase her strengths, and an assessment of what they feel her next season would look like with them. They didn't promise the world or offer all the playing time, but they offered unlimited opportunity for growth and extra work whenever she's wanting to. With our current org, we are paying $300 a month for lessons, and not one coach has taken time to break it out like this.

She just wants to be told that she's a valued part of the plan moving forward, and that there's a place for her to grow with current org. I'm thinking maybe they're taking her for granted?

Wait, am I being naive? I hate tryout season.

 

[grcsftbll]

I hate it too! I would personally have a hard time resisting a coach coming to me about my kid (she's young, so they would be coming to me not her) with a plan of action like that. I'm a planner and I love people who think things through and care about the future. Not saying what you should do by any means but that communication would impress me. It's one way our coach won us over, he has been through it all and has plans for getting this team to certain places at certain times. I love that long term perspective.

 

[Softball scholar]

I just saw on the posting board a tryout for a new elite organization associated with a big name in softball (professional softball team), and its next Tuesday the 28th. Of course it advertises tons of coaching experience, best college exposure and everything elite. So I think, lets go over to the tryout, what can it hurt. But we have a month and a half left in our current season. Say your current coach, who expects to bring back the core of the team, gets the word that your already going to tryouts. Current coach might not like this, and not take it so well. And even though we live in a major city, I think people are connected enough that they would know who is at those try outs. Seems like a good opportunity to lose some playing time for your DD. Even though it appears this team has some really fertilized fresh cut green grass, it sure seems very risky and a bad idea to go this early.

Also, even if you did go over there, Do they really think they can poach an elite team in June. I really doubt the elite players are going to commit this early to a new team. I think you would be waiting in limbo for two months to see how the whole team turns out anyway.