college choice-softball coaching beliefs

[slingnit]

College softball isn't as important to me as to many here. My dd told me 3 years ago she was not interested in playing college ball. But as we go through the process of picking a University we have eliminated most of them by whether or not they have the degree she is interested in. Then we have narrowed the remainders by the location of the school, relative to where my DD wants to be. Then we further narrowed the search by going to several schools and interviewing students and faculty in the program she wants.

Regardless of how much your DD wants to play softball, I think this should be the approach you take. Take the field of schools you have narrowed to via softball then focus on the academic and the softball will take care of itself.

This is the part I disagree with many. I tell my dd that you were recruited to play ball. Work your tail off and do the best you can. You have 4 maybe 5 years to play and then you grow up and have to live in the real world! Work hard in the classroom but don't try to kill yourself with a difficult degree that is most unobtainable while playing ball. Get your 4 years in, take classes in the field you think you want to go into. After college ball is over move home for a couple years and put the time into school in order to finish the degree you want. You only get to do this once, make the most if it!!!! They have their entire lives to be adults, have some fun! Just my 2 cents

 

[wichita]

Once they get to college, does it really matter? I mean, honestly...it's not like they're going to go pro. We teach them what works for 10-12 years in the hope that someday they'll earn a college scholarship with that knowledge. After that, it's all gravy, isn't it?

Right on the money

 

[RubberBiscuit]

This is the part I disagree with many. I tell my dd that you were recruited to play ball. Work your tail off and do the best you can. You have 4 maybe 5 years to play and then you grow up and have to live in the real world! Work hard in the classroom but don't try to kill yourself with a difficult degree that is most unobtainable while playing ball. Get your 4 years in, take classes in the field you think you want to go into. After college ball is over move home for a couple years and put the time into school in order to finish the degree you want. You only get to do this once, make the most if it!!!! They have their entire lives to be adults, have some fun! Just my 2 cents

I am a purist sporto at heart and I get your intent with this message BUT do you really want to promote paying for 2 years more of questionable value and overpriced "education"? (in light of so many young adults leaving school with bills they almost never pay off - then additionally in light of the increased percentage of girls that ditch their careers once the joys of parenthood come around - in even further additional light that "going back home" might mean they finish another degree from "no-name-U"...)

Again I see the intent of your plan here but the obscure applicability of it seems to negate it from large scale consideration.

 

[Coachw01]

First I think you choose a university based on their academic programming and the students career/educational goals. I'm hoping that at some point my daughter is able to 'use' softball and the work she puts into it as a means to get her to a very good college or university so that she can prepare for her life after softball/college. I hope that if faced with a few options (she's only 10 now), academic relevance would play a larger role in making a choice than softball mechanics, beliefs, techniques, or strategies for my daughter. Ultimately it's going to be her choice.

Second, there's a couple of things that have me thinking regarding college coaches approaches and strategies. It was mentioned that one coach consistently wins their conference, that in itself would tell me that they are doing something there that's pretty good (of course though I have no idea what conference this is or the level of play). I also have to believe that college coaches recruit talent based on performance and having said that they are more looking at making slight tweaks and opposed to very large adjustments. I have to believe that UM didn't watch Sierra Romero play and recruit her to make her change everything she does and if they did, job well done the girl can flat hit. I guess I envision a situation where they will take a player and make any necessary changes to help their performance long term, ultimately at the college level those coaches are working to win championships as well as to keep their jobs/careers. As I've said though in other posts here, performance should speaks volumes to a coach when training/recruiting players and to a parent/student when choosing a program.

 

[chinamigarden]

S

This is the part I disagree with many. I tell my dd that you were recruited to play ball. Work your tail off and do the best you can. You have 4 maybe 5 years to play and then you grow up and have to live in the real world! Work hard in the classroom but don't try to kill yourself with a difficult degree that is most unobtainable while playing ball. Get your 4 years in, take classes in the field you think you want to go into. After college ball is over move home for a couple years and put the time into school in order to finish the degree you want. You only get to do this once, make the most if it!!!! They have their entire lives to be adults, have some fun! Just my 2 cents

Its my opinion that as a parent my job is to prepare her for life I am sure my ideas are not everyone's cup of tea. But one of those steps to life does not include have fun and coast through school and then move back home with a degree that you can't use. I want my Dd to just as self sufficient as I expect my son to be upon graduation.

 

[slingnit]

I am a purist sporto at heart and I get your intent with this message BUT do you really want to promote paying for 2 years more of questionable value and overpriced "education"? (in light of so many young adults leaving school with bills they almost never pay off - then additionally in light of the increased percentage of girls that ditch their careers once the joys of parenthood come around - in even further additional light that "going back home" might mean they finish another degree from "no-name-U"...)

Again I see the intent of your plan here but the obscure applicability of it seems to negate it from large scale consideration.

+


Point taken. But after 4 years of school do you really believe there would be 2 more solid years of school? Paying for a few classes while living at home or even on their own is not the same as $20-40k a year. And we are fortunate that she will have no bills after college. If the joys of parenthood happen to come around then how, when and where she received her degree would be irrelevant.

Large scale consideration, what large scale consideration? Holding of 1 or 2 years in getting the degree she wants instead of one she can live with? If it is her decision, not mine, that would go a long ways in the grand scheme of things. How many people spend 4 years in college to get a degree and then go into a completely different field a few years later because they hate it, not enough money to be made or no work to be found? The same people that don't think a 15 yr old should be deciding what college to attend are the same ones that believe that an 18 yr should have the rest of their lives' planned out and set in stone! Regardless of what I say she is an adult and is capable of making her own decisions.

 

[slingnit]

SIts my opinion that as a parent my job is to prepare her for life I am sure my ideas are not everyone's cup of tea. But one of those steps to life does not include have fun and coast through school and then move back home with a degree that you can't use. I want my Dd to just as self sufficient as I expect my son to be upon graduation.

Did anyone say have fun and coast thru school, move home and mooch off parents?? And that little piece of paper is not a garuntee of being self sufficient, a job or happiness. Yes there are tons of people that have degrees, high paying jobs, big house, etc.... and they are miserable. Success is not measured by a piece of paper or by not having fun in college because or by living your parents dream of what a life should be.

 

[knightsb]

slingit, I agree with your point of view. DD is 16 and we are going through the recruiting process now. I have read many threads emphasizing selecting the school based on the field of interest by the future student, which is great if they know what they want to do the rest of their life. I think back to my college years and I had no real idea what profession I wanted to pursue as a college freshman. I changed my major the beginning of my senior year which put me on the 5 year plan. I know there are some who have an interest in a field/career at a very early age, there are others who decide later. My DD, at 16 does not know what she wants to major in at college, but there is a chance she'll have to make a decision on which school to attend within the next few months. I have financially planned for both my children's college educations and have enough saved for both. Should my DD receive any type of scholarship, that means we will have some additional money to work with should she decide to specialize in a career field after her playing days are over.

 

[AndyS]

This is the part I disagree with many. I tell my dd that you were recruited to play ball. Work your tail off and do the best you can. You have 4 maybe 5 years to play and then you grow up and have to live in the real world! Work hard in the classroom but don't try to kill yourself with a difficult degree that is most unobtainable while playing ball. Get your 4 years in, take classes in the field you think you want to go into. After college ball is over move home for a couple years and put the time into school in order to finish the degree you want. You only get to do this once, make the most if it!!!! They have their entire lives to be adults, have some fun! Just my 2 cents

I have to admit this is about 180 degrees different from my DD's approach but that means nothing. The one thing I have learned raising my DD is there is more than one way to successfully raise a child and there is absolutely more than one way to go about athletics and college. I think the real key is to have a plan that matches your DD talents and goals. And it sounds like that is exactly what you and your DD have done. And for my DD that is attend an elite academic university first and play softball. But that is just her.

I wish you and your DD the best of luck and thanks for sharing.

 

[slingnit]

slingit, I agree with your point of view. DD is 16 and we are going through the recruiting process now. I have read many threads emphasizing selecting the school based on the field of interest by the future student, which is great if they know what they want to do the rest of their life. I think back to my college years and I had no real idea what profession I wanted to pursue as a college freshman. I changed my major the beginning of my senior year which put me on the 5 year plan. I know there are some who have an interest in a field/career at a very early age, there are others who decide later. My DD, at 16 does not know what she wants to major in at college, but there is a chance she'll have to make a decision on which school to attend within the next few months. I have financially planned for both my children's college educations and have enough saved for both. Should my DD receive any type of scholarship, that means we will have some additional money to work with should she decide to specialize in a career field after her playing days are over.

Thank you! My dd is in the same boat. She has been in school all of 4 months and already questioning her major. She is smart in the sense she handles herself well, recognizes "real world" situations(for nothing better to call it), able to use reason and common sense to make decisions, very responsible for her own actions. But has to work a little harder in school than most to get by. I'm not saying I am right and anyone else is wrong. With my younger daughter I would definitely not use this philosophy. There is no cookie cutter approach to raising kids.