Choose based on organization or team?

[The Man In Blue]

We were at a camp last week, and the question came up to the 12 College coaches that were in attendance......."Does org matter for recruiting (big vs. small)", and EVERY coach there said it did not matter to their programs, and is typically not an advantage in getting recruited if schedule/events are similar. In fact, several coaches also made comments regarding "watered down" large orgs.

This was something I have an opinion on: do you want to play for a school that only recruits based on the name on the front of the jersey versus the name on the back of the jersey? I know coaches’ time and resources are limited, but that just smacks of laziness to me. (Or somebody who has a good thing going and doesn’t have to put in more than minimal work.)

 

[The Man In Blue]

The "watered down" part is SO true. It used to be that if you saw certain organizations you knew you were playing good competition. Before DD switched to her current team her other team switched to a big name org. It was ridiculous. The team was still a mess and the coach still didn't know what he was doing - they just looked better doing it and it cost more to wear the jersey.

... and THAT. Admittedly, softball is in a sad state of affairs around here as the few programs that were here have splintered and shattered into individual teams. But our experience with my daughter was on this path.

Not saying they were anything like your Org 1, but around here “blue and green” was a big thing ... until they started creating teams to take anybody and everybody as a way to subsidize the costs of their actual competitive teams. My daughter was recruited by that org early on and we said “no” because it was similar to what you said about Org 1 — no real organization, didn’t even have a coach for the team, etc.

Which brings me to the thing that jumped out at me in the OP ... if that team is that big of a deal, how do they not know who the coach will be? Shouldn’t the coach be building the team?

 

[murphdog]

Which brings me to the thing that jumped out at me in the OP ... if that team is that big of a deal, how do they not know who the coach will be? Shouldn’t the coach be building the team?

This makes me wonder if it’s one of the watered down teams. Certainly the top 2 teams would have had a set coach before tryouts.
The big organization near me has 6 18U teams but only the top two get any recognition. And the others usually end up at the random fields in the middle of nowhere.

 

[_MIA_]

This makes me wonder if it’s one of the watered down teams. Certainly the top 2 teams would have had a set coach before tryouts.
The big organization near me has 6 18U teams but only the top two get any recognition. And the others usually end up at the random fields in the middle of nowhere.

My DD's org typically has one premier team at the 14U,16U and 18U level which goes to the best tournaments and then 3 to 5 teams at each age group which line up with your "random fields in the middle of nowhere" comment.

 

[juliefox_24]

DD did not attend an open tryout at org 1, but a private very early on in the process. When I said "do not know who the coach is", I meant that we had not met the coach, not that one hasn't since been selected. At the conclusion of the private she was promised a spot on the top team, but communication has been sparse and conflicting since then. On the flipside, I had an open and healthy conversation with org 2 coach yesterday where he had no issue answering all of my questions.

 

[murphdog]

DD did not attend an open tryout at org 1, but a private very early on in the process. When I said "do not know who the coach is", I meant that we had not met the coach, not that one hasn't since been selected. At the conclusion of the private she was promised a spot on the top team, but communication has been sparse and conflicting since then. On the flipside, I had an open and healthy conversation with org 2 coach yesterday where he had no issue answering all of my questions.

Who was the private tryout with? Usually the head coach would be making the decisions about who goes on his/her team, at least in my experience

 

[juliefox_24]

Who was the private tryout with? Usually the head coach would be making the decisions about who goes on his/her team, at least in my experience

Head of the organization.

 

[juliefox_24]

After talking more at PGF, DD ended up selecting org 1. Nothing like a face to face conversation to cut through the confusion coming from emails and texts.

Thanks everyone for your input, really hoping we made the right decision here!

 

[The Man In Blue]

Face to face communication? What is that? You mean Facebook or FaceTime ... right?

 

[Yellowjacket]

The stronger organization will get your daughter many more looks than the weaker organization. I wouldn’t worry about the communication/coaching issues at this point.