Benefits and best approach to join a national organization

[MNDad]

Our team has 2 potential D1 athletes, however, they don't want to play D1. Our players are looking at options other than D1 because most of them want to major in the medical field or something that requires a rigorous school schedule. Our team is made of mostly high school freshman with a few sophomores. They are beginning to to focus on what college best fits them. We have no plans to travel out west for tournaments. There isn't a need for us. We do have many college options within 3 hours of us and will focus on those.

Our high school team is very competitive and our region and state do a good job about recognizing players. The school team has a former D1 and D2 player as coaches. The travel team has excellent coaches as well. While none of them were college ballplayers, they have sport IQ that is unbelievable. They also have an excellent ability to motivate the kids. One of the coaches is in the KY Softball Hall of Fame. It is for her school coaching record and achievements.

Last summer and fall (2020) was the first year that we traveled to some larger tournaments and showcases. We were able to beat a few of the elite national teams. The rest of the time we were able to hang with the teams. Confidence is what got our girls. Our schedule is 3 tournaments a month. We do our best to give one weekend a month off for family, friends, and fun. It is important to not burn them out. Many of them go from basketball to school softball to travel softball back to basketball. Also interchange basketball with track, cross country, volleyball, or mountain biking. That one weekend a month is important to have. It keeps them focused and hungry.

This year we plan to focus on getting them seen and interacting with the colleges that fit their wants and needs. We have a very realistic group of parents and players. They are not looking at LSU or UCLA or Oklahoma. However, they all would love to play at UK (just because). I do have one that has interest in Baylor and Florida but those schools are top in the program she wants to major in. We are focusing on academics first.

That is enough ramble. I am wordy sometimes. Thanks for everyone's input. It sums up what we thought.

Many D1 softball players carry a rigorous class load. The commitment and time management skills to juggle softball and academics aren’t going to be much easier at a D2.

Like the others I don’t see much value in renting a national name. You’ll still be the same team with coaches names that aren’t familiar. You’ll just be paying more. If they’re just getting started thinking about colleges as freshman and sophomores they’re a little behind the curve. Still plenty of time though. Get the girls to some camps where they can see the caliber of athlete those schools are looking for. That’ll help them narrow down their searches.

 

[uncdrew]

If your girls have the Grades, SAT/ACT scores, and other accolades you can direct market to some of the smaller D1 schools. The Ivory League, Military Academies etc are always looking for kids that are in the top of their class, have high SAT/ACT scores, volunteers at the local elder home, have a part time job, baby sits, and is All Regional/State.

Did you mean Ivy League? Or is there and Ivory League?

 

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

Did you mean Ivy League? Or is there and Ivory League?

There are ivory towers, and ivy league, and ivory towers in the ivy league, but no ivory league, and no ivy towers.

 

[tamss13]

Did you mean Ivy League? Or is there and Ivory League?

well its clear I didn't go to an Ivy League School

 

[gophert]

If you are a competitive team and you DON'T move to a more well known organization for recruiting purposes, you stand to loose your top players to those org. Of course, if you have a track record as an independent team that gets players signed then it is not as important. To me the biggest way to get noticed is to win but fastpitch is a political game and if you are not on the right fields at showcases then you won't get noticed. I would look into some of the organizations that you are interested in. Not all of them are super expensive nor do they require you to travel all over the country. We made the move to a larger org first year 16s. It definitely helped us with a little more exposure. You couple that with winning and players will call you to join your team.

 

[uncdrew]

well its clear I didn't go to an Ivy League School

There might have been ivy at your school.

 

[Rick M]

DD has a friend who plays for a local independent team. The team is really good, they routinely win A-level tournaments. There are two reasons they stay independent:

Reason one is the cost, the majority of their players live in a low income area and they fundraise most of their expenses. That’s the good reason. Reason number two is that the parents of the best players are the team coaches, and they want to control their daughter’s softball experience. That part — not so good.

The downside is evident by looking at a big regional showcase like New England’s Finest. None of the teams in DD’s large org could beat this independent team, but they have two teams registered for NE Finest while the independent team is on the waitlist.

Even though this independent team is probably better than 80% of the teams attending, it’s the orgs that go year after year that get to play.


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[Orange Socks]

DD has a friend who plays for a local independent team. The team is really good, they routinely win A-level tournaments. There are two reasons they stay independent:

Reason one is the cost, the majority of their players live in a low income area and they fundraise most of their expenses. That’s the good reason. Reason number two is that the parents of the best players are the team coaches, and they want to control their daughter’s softball experience. That part — not so good.

The downside is evident by looking at a big regional showcase like New England’s Finest. None of the teams in DD’s large org could beat this independent team, but they have two teams registered for NE Finest while the independent team is on the waitlist.

Even though this independent team is probably better than 80% of the teams attending, it’s the orgs that go year after year that get to play.


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DD played for a "boutique" organization that had been around for many many years with a solid history of sending kids to college, but was not very shiny like these bigger organizations. That HC had been coaching longer than most of the other newer shinier organizations have been in existence. We attended the Boulder IDT tourney every year. The team you described above would have to first play in the Louisville Bracket and then place high in order to get invited to the Boulder bracket. A team like this would have a hard time getting into and staying in this tourney because the team might not be around once the coaches DD's graduate. The Softball Illuminati's network and reputation makes a huge difference. I was sad when HC retired last year.

My wife got talking about softball with one of her coworkers in another state. She found out that DD's HC had coached this woman 20 years prior! Crazy!

 

[Rick M]

A team like this would have a hard time getting into and staying in this tourney because the team might not be around once the coaches DD's graduate.

This is exactly what is going to happen, which is unfortunate for DD’s friend who is two grad years behind the coaches kids.


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[uncdrew]

DD has a friend who plays for a local independent team. The team is really good, they routinely win A-level tournaments. There are two reasons they stay independent:

Reason one is the cost, the majority of their players live in a low income area and they fundraise most of their expenses. That’s the good reason. Reason number two is that the parents of the best players are the team coaches, and they want to control their daughter’s softball experience. That part — not so good.

The downside is evident by looking at a big regional showcase like New England’s Finest. None of the teams in DD’s large org could beat this independent team, but they have two teams registered for NE Finest while the independent team is on the waitlist.

Even though this independent team is probably better than 80% of the teams attending, it’s the orgs that go year after year that get to play.


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New England Storm!