High school softball

[NBECoach]

If you have a decent AD and enough player interest he could work out a co-op team between interested schools.

 

[CoachJD]

That said, most states allow players to play for another school if their desired sport is not available at their school so that might be worth looking into if she really wants to play HS ball.

Wow, is this true? That's crazy. Definitely not true in Illinois (for IHSA sponsored sports). There might be some kind of exception for home schooled students.

 

[CrazyNani]

We had a high school that abandoned their softball program a few years back because they didn't have enough girls go out for the team. Now they are back up to 2 teams, JV and Varsity. Perhaps that's the issue at your future school? You never know how many girls will have interest as many fall off after 14u.

 

[marriard]

Wow, is this true? That's crazy. Definitely not true in Illinois (for IHSA sponsored sports). There might be some kind of exception for home schooled students.

Florida (FHSSA) is a complex mess of regs, but they do get students in the game if they want to play.

 

[Hillhouse]

A good portion of HS coaches will tell you they have great contacts with colleges and they can "help" with the recruiting process. And to be fair, there's probably some truth in that. Some HS coaches are current/former TB coaches, some are members of the NFCA so they rub elbows with college coaches at the annual convention, etc. But the actual results and stats from HS games, it 10,000% irrelevant to college recruiting. I can tell you as I coached in college, I never once asked about HS ball. I'd listen politely when a kid would tell me about their HS games/stats but, I didn't put much stock in it.

I can tell you that a good percentage of my own pitching students don't play HS ball.

HS ball has it's place. Don't get me wrong. Many kids want to play softball with their friends, many of those friends play for different travel teams, at different levels. There might be a pitcher being recruited by UCLA who's best friend plays class C rec ball, or on a TB team that only competes locally. And HS ball is their only opportunity to play together. So from that perspective, it's great.

Where it gets bad is, when HS coaches are at war with local TB coaches. And the rules in many states don't allow TB activity while you play HS ball. I still don't understand how this is legal, how a school can dictate what a kid does away from school but I'm sure people smarter than me have challenged the legality of this. I just don't get it. When these rules are in place, HS coaches push for the players to play for him/her, and TB coaches do the same. That rule can turn into a competition itself!

But, overall, if your kid wants to play in college, I'd be surprised if any coach inquires about HS. They might ask, to be polite and make conversation if she's going to play HS but, that'd be about it. And since only 5 states in the country play HS softball in the fall, it makes coaches watching HS games as part of recruiting extremely difficult.

 

[Strike2]

HS doesn't matter...that's what many people here swear by.

When DD got to college (a Div I school), I started paying more attention to college rosters and the player bios, and something stood out. The vast majority that I've seen talk about HS ball, including details about where they played, how they did (including stats), and the athletic honors earned. If travel ball is mentioned at all, it usually gets fewer words. Look at the Oklahoma softball roster, read the bios, and you'll see what I mean.

If HS doesn't matter, then why does it get such detailed attention in the biographies of some of the best players in the sport???

 

[JayW]

HS doesn't matter...that's what many people here swear by.

When DD got to college (a Div I school), I started paying more attention to college rosters and the player bios, and something stood out. The vast majority that I've seen talk about HS ball, including details about where they played, how they did (including stats), and the athletic honors earned. If travel ball is mentioned at all, it usually gets fewer words. Look at the Oklahoma softball roster, read the bios, and you'll see what I mean.

If HS doesn't matter, then why does it get such detailed attention in the biographies of some of the best players in the sport???

If you look at the Florida Gators roster, the player’s bio lists hometown and high school. Then college accomplishments are listed. If you scroll down further, there is a section titled high school/travel ball where accomplishments from high school and travel ball are listed.

 

[Shiloh]

If HS doesn't matter, then why does it get such detailed attention in the biographies of some of the best players in the sport???

Because it's really, really easy for a mid-level TB player to look like a stud in HS.
Resume padding.

 

[Strike2]

Because it's really, really easy for a mid-level TB player to look like a stud in HS.
Resume padding.

Not talking about "mid-level" TB players. Talking about HS and the importance colleges place on it...specifically top Division I teams.

 

[Strike2]

If you look at the Florida Gators roster, the player’s bio lists hometown and high school. Then college accomplishments are listed. If you scroll down further, there is a section titled high school/travel ball where accomplishments from high school and travel ball are listed.

That's fine, but doesn't answer the question about the importance of HS. If it doesn't matter, why mention it at all?

Who cares about someone being "All State" or being the "State Player of the Year" or anything else like that? If HS doesn't matter, why even mention it? Why put detailed HS stats by year, but give a one-line mention to the TB team?