If it wasn't for the possibility of playing softball in college...

[Gambler Bob]

If a college scholarship was not in the picture there is absolutely no chance I would be paying what we pay for travel softball. I could purchase a lake home for what I pay in travel ball expenses for two kids. The kids would just play locally and for their high school.

 

[jsoftballcoach]

I think for us, it would have ended at 12U/14U. “Preparing for HS ball” I don’t think would have been a motivating factor. The challenge of getting a D1 scholarship was.

My DD is an excellent student and graduated HS with a 4.5 gpa, 4th in her class, so maybe she would have got more academic money for school.

And no way I would have been traveling the country, getting up at the buttcrack of dawn, etc. Have to admit, I do miss it just a little. But you never miss what you never had.


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[ChrisSB]

I'm sure DD would still want to play, but she'd probably play for a local team that doesn't play as much. Of course then she'd probably get frustrated that they weren't as competitive or the girls weren't as serious, but she's also tired of missing football games in the fall and beach weekends in the summer.

 

[_MIA_]

Hard to imagine what softball would be like without college softball as every sport has a pinnacle which drives some athletes and for all intents and purposes that is what college softball is for fastpitch.

 

[joe720]

I'd still pay for travel. We got over the national thing years ago so it's not a financial burden at all. We realized it doesn't make a difference at the end of the day. My DD loves the sport, and that's enough for me. We've played local for the past 3 years. And believe it or not, college coaches wanted her to play for their teams without spending $25k per year.

 

[nixxy311]

DD never had a real desire to play in college but the difference in level of play and skill in TB is so huge - it made it more fun to switch to TB regardless. Plus the extra time she gets to play and spend with friends was a big factor. She quit TB recently and will do rec this spring to finish out her senior year - I'm really curious what it's going to be like.

I get soo many SB related tweets of girls going to camps like every other day - I can only imagine how much these parents are spending for that and for TB. We really enjoy watching DD play but I can't imagine doing this. Are parents spending the college money for TB and camps and hoping to get a scholarship? I just don't get it. I see these girls all doing this and really hope they are getting their dream D1 school.

 

[Gambler Bob]

I get soo many SB related tweets of girls going to camps like every other day - I can only imagine how much these parents are spending for that and for TB. We really enjoy watching DD play but I can't imagine doing this. Are parents spending the college money for TB and camps and hoping to get a scholarship? I just don't get it. I see these girls all doing this and really hope they are getting their dream D1 school.

I don't think it could be any less than $12,000 per year to play on a National team that plays a real national schedule. In many cases it could be $20,000 per year. I would say very few get to go to their dream D1 school in terms of softball.

Think about it this way. How many girls do we know that their dream school is Oklahoma, Florida, Florida St, UCLA, etc. Those schools only take 4-5 new freshman every year, and a couple transfers from other schools. There are thousands of girls that dream of playing at those schools.

 

[Westwind]

I think we are an exception. For a brief period dd was burned out, sick of traveling and doubting that she wanted to play in college.

She went from a well known org to a local team that had some real athletes on it but didn’t compete at a high level. The team won a lot. She hated it. The winning seemed hollow.

It was the competition she loved. It was playing really good teams. She is a junior in college now and while nothing is perfect in college softball there is nowhere else she would rather be. Working on a summer internship next summer and could graduate early this time next year. I have never seen her so happy.

I wouldn’t trade any of it. We are lucky, both my wife and I had/have good jobs and can afford the travel. I was worth it to us.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

We would still play local travel, but there's no way we'd fly all over the country.

 

[Westwind]

I don't think it could be any less than $12,000 per year to play on a National team that plays a real national schedule. In many cases it could be $20,000 per year. I would say very few get to go to their dream D1 school in terms of softball.

Think about it this way. How many girls do we know that their dream school is Oklahoma, Florida, Florida St, UCLA, etc. Those schools only take 4-5 new freshman every year, and a couple transfers from other schools. There are thousands of girls that dream of playing at those schools.

The above is all 100% true.

The figures are accurate.

And a player has to be exactly the right player in exactly the right situation to be considered at these schools. The odds are against it.