Impact.Gold

[sbcowboy]

Hello Dfp.
A local organization is changing from Pride to Impact Gold. The reason for the switch is to give girls more opportunities for scholarships. Their thought is that IG has been doing this a lot longer and have the contacts. They said that they would have 3 different level of teams skills. I was wondering should we make a move and try and get on one of these teams? Right now we play on a small town team. Sometimes it is a struggle getting enough girls to play. It seems some parents r not so motivated to make things happen. We do not have any talented depth on the team. The core group of girls r good ball players. The bigger city seems to have an over abundance of talent.
The organization also want to teach what Impact Gold Teaches. What do they teach as far as hitting and fielding?


My DD says she does want to play college ball.
She just turn 13 and it seems like we running out of time to get better. We need more playing time.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Pdiddy]

Never heard of a "Texas Pride" organization....have heard of the "Texas Impact - Gold" though....you all did the right thing. Texas Impact is a real club. The Pride stuff just seems like a USSSA manufactured thing to anyone in the country needing some sort of an affiliation, which may or may not be the case in your area. The Texas Impact Gold teams do put a lot of kids in college softball programs and definitely connected to the college coaching world geographically....but 13 IS running out of time, but its certainly not time to panic about it either....I would suggest that if your DD wants to play in college, you will have to get her moved to a team in a large metropolitan market (Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston). College coaches want kids that have experience against other college bound players and high level teams. But the great thing is coaches all over the country love Texas players....but you will have to get her on a "A" and/or a "Gold" level team to give her a fighting chance....which is struggle in it's self.

 

[Orange Socks]

Impact Gold is a great organization, but not all of their teams are great. Just because your team changes names and gives your current coaches some teaching tools, doesn't necessarily make the team better. You may want to tryout for an existing team that is already great. I was once told that you need to find the very best team that your daughter can be in the starting 9. There are many great teams in and somewhat close to your area. You might have to drive to get to them though. We are in the "Big City" up 59 from you and we sometimes have to drive an hour to get to practice because of traffic. There are girls that travel much further(some north of CC) to get to our practices. Your DD is still young and has plenty of time to develop the skills needed to play at the next level, which is 14U, 16U and 18U. See how the transition goes before you make any decisions. Good Luck.

 

[maksoftball]

Agree with OrangeSocks...just because they have the IG label doesn't mean she will get the "training/development/exposure" she needs. Just need to be sure that you are in direct connection with the coaches that DO have the connections...and that they are not unapproachable being too high up the chain (as is the case with Houston area IG teams). I see you are in CC area, so I guess it is slim pickings. Good luck.

Personally, my DD has declared she will never play for a franchise.

 

[nobrainhamster]

....I would suggest that if your DD wants to play in college, you will have to get her moved to a team in a large metropolitan market (Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston). College coaches want kids that have experience against other college bound players and high level teams. ....but you will have to get her on a "A" and/or a "Gold" level team to give her a fighting chance....which is struggle in it's self.

This is not true in MANY, MANY cases, and is in some ways irresponsible to say without qualifying the comments with explanations. In the area I live generally, and my dd specifically, there are players that have or will be playing in college without any of your statements being true of them. We started a team in our town 6 years ago because there were only 3 rec teams, and the dept. kept cancelling our trips to all star tournaments. We had 12 girls that wanted to play against different competition, so we started the team for them. We, the coaches knew there were only 3 girls that would ever have a chance, or desire for college ball, but that wasn't our focus. My dd was invited many times to join bigger organizations and other A teams in the state, but she wanted to play with her friends, so we always declined. After awhile she decided college ball was not a goal anyway, so it didn't matter who she played with. She did attend a few college camps just in case, but NEVER an A tournament, or showcase. Our high school team played one state playoff series in her 4 years, with ZERO college coaches in attendance. On her way home from her final high school game she texted to tell me she didn't want to stop playing. She got on the phone with some coaches to work out visits and privte try/workouts. To make an already long story shorter she ended up with choices of D2,and D3 schools. No, she won't be playing D1 (although that may change in a couple of years), but you didn't make that qualification in your comments. I think far too many parents hear what they HAVE to do, and decide it won't work for their child and don't even try. It takes alot of hard work in several areas to get to play college ball, but you don't have to play in a large metropolitan area for the biggest baddest organizations in town to reach that goal. Sure, it would help, but we don't all have that opportunity available to us. My advice is to do homework and research whatever team you would want to join. Most of the big name organizations have a team or two that don't carry the same weight as other teams in the organization. Know as much as you can about what you would be getting into before joining a new team.

 

[JAD]

My DD started TB when she was 9 on a Church All-Star team and we played with the same team until she was 15. I loved the challenge of building a team without the marquee name to attract players. We had to "coach up" our players to compete. Some of my fondest memories were the expressions on opposing coaches faces when they learned their marquee TB team was just beaten by a "Church team". Playing on a Tier 3 team was also a great motivator for my DD. She worked hard because she knew the team was counting on her. We finally made the move to a marquee TB team for second year 16U in order to increase the exposure to D1 coaches. In hindsight we should have made the move at first year 16U. I hated to leave, but we had to do what was best for my DD and made the decision with our heads instead of our hearts. To this day her former TB coach holds it against me, and I feel like I lost a good friend, but I do not regret the decision.

My $0.02....
1) If you want to play for a top D1 school it is advantageous to be on a marquee name team at 16U. Second year 14U if your DD is a bonafide STUD. At 10U, 12U and 14U find a team that is going to offer the best opportunity for improvement - good coaching, playing time, circle time, ect.
2) Tier 2 TB teams are still good for D2 and D3 colleges and the recruiting timeframe shifts towards 18U.
3) A lot of Tier 2 TB teams can go "toe-to-toe" with Tier 1 TB teams on the field, but college coaches still gravitate towards marquee name teams for recruiting.
4) There is a "good ole boys" network amongst the marquee teams who run the showcases.
5) While a Tier 2 team may get an invite to the big showcases (IDT, Legacy, DeMarini), they will probably not be on the primary fields playing marquee teams in prime time slots. Showcases have become HUGE money makers as parents chase scholarships for their DDs. Showcase organizers will be happy to take your $1500 plus a $20/room/night kickback from the hotels to schedule your Tier 2 TB team against another Tier 2 TB team on some remote field where a college coach would have to be lost to see your teams play.

 

[sbcowboy]

Thank you all for responding! You guys always have great insight.

JAD. Possibly leaving people/team behind bother me. I recently took over the team b/c the original guy could not continue b/c of his job. Since then, I have found a lot of cracks in the foundation of the team. For one, it is hard to get equipment from the main guy running the small organization. I have already threaten to leave b/c of this. I feel obligated to the team parents. Most are good people. Most of the girls are pretty decent players. I have used a lot of what I learned from here to make them better and most of the parents can tell a big difference in the hitting. Anyway, we are a big part of the team. My DD is probably the best pitcher on the team. We only have 2 bracket pitchers and 1 pool. If we leave, the team will fall apart. Nobody else to coach the team. Some of the parents have said if we leave they will follow us wherever we go. I guess there is no easy answers. I guess leaving is just not easy. I hate to make enemy for me and my DD. In the past, it seems girls get mad at her for leaving. My DD is very easy going. I just want to do what is best for my DD. The other organization has express interest in my coaching a 14u team. They would like for me to start learning what Impact Gold teaches their coaches. This is why I was wondering what they teach. I usually teach solid fundamentals. I will do whatever is best for DD coaching or not.

I love to learn and I have learned so much from all of you! I thank you all for your input.

Thanks

 

[Jojo]

I agree with nobrainhamster (funny name btw)

Sure being in the thick of things helps, but it's not the only way to be seen.

 

[CoachBroker]

Impact Gold is a great organization but like any other organization they are not going to guarantee your daughter will play college ball and if she says she doesn't want to play college ball it may not matter. Like others have mention not every team is great (yet ). IG has started a rebuild of the organization and has a lot of new and young teams. Their top level 18u and 16u teams out of Houston will be good teams. What they do have is the experience, knowledge, and connections with a lot of college coaches and are able to educate parents/players how the recruiting process works. They opened my eyes up to the fact of how important it is to be playing in the right tournaments and how early the coaches start looking at possible recruits for D1 schools. Also, I think it is important to make sure the coaching/team is the right fit. There are lots of good organizations out there but IG is definitely worth a look.

 

[tjintx]

They have 50 teams in that organization. 41 in Texas. It looks like there's a few 14U holes in the southern Texas area so you will be welcomed. Pick your poison when it comes to big organizations. They want you $$$ and they want your stud player for their Gold team if She's good enough. It's a win/win for the organization.
You pay for the right to wear their uniform and put their name on emails sent to college coaches. That's all you get! For most players/parents that's not much return for the $$$$. If your DD is a top flight Gold talent they will find you and fund your playtime. All others will do the funding Truth!!
Honestly, I don't have good things to say about the big organizations and where they have taken the game. They are self serving. Period!
P.S. If you want to know what Impact Gold teaches, just ask them? A few flow through items so players can easily transition from team to team and not feel lost in the system. IE, defensive strategies. Good Luck TJ