How do you find Softball Players?

[iCoach]

I need information on how to find potential softball players and recruit them.

I have two main objectives:

(1) Find players to join our recreational league
(2) Find more players with great potential and convince both them and their families to join our travel teams.

Each year our recreational league numbers go down, as well as our travel team numbers. We used to have about 350 girls in our rec league, and 3 travel teams per 10U, 12U, and 14U division.

NOW-- we barely get 200 rec league girls, and are hanging by our the skin of our teeth when it comes to putting together even 1 team per travel division. We are a college town that is competing with soccer. Soccer's numbers are off the wall; how do we capture girls' hearts for the game and keep them?

Open to all options, even if they seem obvious. It's possible we may have missed something very blatant!

 

[InsidePitch]

When DD first became interested in Softball, the Town rec league sent flyers to the school to be distributed. They started with instructional league, basically 8U. It was coach pitch and catch and there were about 150-200 kids in this. Less each year after but it did seem to work for them. Maybe offer a free clinic to the local kids. Don't forget to hit the Brownies and other clubs for girls. Maybe play an exhibition game between a 12 or 14U team and the teachers. I know seeing the playing abilities of the older girls made DD want get better.

Having come up through the various age groups, I think having a smaller ball would help get girls involved earlier. Some 8 year old girls can hardly hold an 11" ball but a 6yo boy can hold a Tball. Smaller ball for smaller girls.

 

[Lozza]

NOW-- we barely get 200 rec league girls, and are hanging by our the skin of our teeth when it comes to putting together even 1 team per travel division. We are a college town that is competing with soccer. Soccer's numbers are off the wall; how do we capture girls' hearts for the game and keep them?

PFFFT. I was involved with starting a new club this year. We got 13 players. Two we had to send to a different club because we had no team for them. We got two more girls later in the season. Two dropped out halfway.

Advertise, advertise, advertise. Schools, local newspapers you name it. We're doing a school day and teaching the kids the skills. Post flyers everywhere.

 

[starsnuffer]

First, adjust your season so you're not competing directly with another sport. This may mean pushing softball into the summer instead of winter/spring.

Second, get in touch with your county parks and recreation department as well as community centers, and offer a softball summer camp, or work with other summer "sports camps" to have a softball week where you go in and teach the game and let kids have fun getting introduced to the sport.

Pass out flyers at schools, and do fund raisers like selling candy. Our rec leagues TB program sold lollipops at schools and recruited a bunch of new players just because our TB program was "cool" and had candy.

Honestly, you missed a great time to recruit during the college world series, but it's never too late to start!

-W

 

[joemcq51]

Here are my two cents from past experience. Many years ago, I was trying to build a program locally that was experiencing tough times. You have to be able to make the tough decisions. First off, you will find most programs have a board of directors. That board will be made up of parents who have been around for a few years. They will want to do what is "best" for their dd's age group. That will be an obstacle to overcome. If you are trying to build a program by adding 11-14 yoa girls, you will not get anywhere. By that age, they have mostly settled into a sport. You will get a few, but that isn't going to offset the amount of girls who decide softball isn't for them. You need to go after 5-6-7 yoa girls. Offer reduced registration rates. Go to local schools and send flyers home to kindergarden and first graders. You need take a young player at any time. If they sign up late, so be it. Be able to expand and add teams mid season if necessary. Also, good coaching is a must. Just dropping off equipment on the first practice and saying you need a coach, won't work. We did 3 weeks of group instruction. Clinic style. Brought the interested parents on the field with us, as helpers. Taught them how to run practice. Then we split the teams up as evenly as possible. Build the program from the youngest age and you will eventually like the result. Keep chasing the older ages to fill spots, and you will eventually lose out. JMHO

 

[NVfishing]

I don't think it's a matter of finding them. I think it's a matter of keeping them. If the game isn't fast and fun you will lose players the following year. End coach pitch. Go to a pitching machine at the earlier ages 8U and also let the girls pitch earlier. All the girls this year had more fun in our league. I expect them to be back and to have told friends of how much fun it was. It's also better for the parents.

Best moment of the season this year was when a tiny little girl that struggled with hitting got her first hit. It was the last game and when she got her first hit and gets to first base she starts jumping up and down with her hands in the air. She then hit at her next at bat. It was a great way to end league.

 

[rowdy]

We have been in travel ball for the past 5-6 years but started in a league. The league like all leagues leaked players as they got older and found other interests such as soccer or boys. But I did notice a couple of things the league did that really helped build a foundation in the lower levels.

First and foremost they had a pitcher and catcher draft at the beginning of the year. Each team could have one pitch and one catcher with experience but they could also only play those positions for two innings. So each team would have to develop at least one more pitcher and one more catcher. What it did was balance the pitching so every team had a fighting chance. The league made an exception to this rule one year and it almost destroyed the league because it lost its balance.

The second thing I noticed is that too many dads were coaches. When girls are 6-10 years old they are easy to coach and will take any abuse the coach hands out. How many times have you witnessed a coach yelling like the devil at a girl when you are at the park. Some will take this but most as they become teenagers will not. I think the solution is have mandatory coaching clinics to teach the men and women the traits that make coaches successful as mentors as will as wins and losses.

Lastly make it affordable to everyone and make sure everyone knows that no one will be turned away because of money. A lot of rec leagues charge gate fees, team fees, uniform fees and quite frankly many people are struggling right now and a cheap pass time would be welcomed.

 

[MsDinosaur]

Flyers in schools would be great, but it's nice to try to reach the pre-schoolers for t-ball. How about posters at the library and those small yard signs at intersections?

 

[SnocatzDad]

Youth sports is event driven, the weekly practices and games are the meat and potatoes but the dessert is an event, try to hold a season ending weekend tournament and make it special (i.e. use umps if you don't normally, have an announcer, have plenty of guarnteed games but at some point play towards a championship, if available bring in Varsity players from local HS to assistant coach that day, have concessions, etc...) From my experience that is what hooks kids in for the following year is how good of a time they have at the "event" and the ones who really love it are the ones who want it more than one weekend and they become your travel players.