Next steps for daughter finishing HS freshman year

[joe720]

My DD is committed and start college this fall at a D3 school that goes to the NCAA's. So they have a good program. She decided early on that she had no interest in D1 athletics as she wanted more time to study and get a great education because at the end of the 4th year softball is over. She's focused on course studies. In her senior year this year she is taking all AP and local community college courses to help her be ready for the workload to come.

She played on a high level national team at 14U. Won an east coast national. Then never wanted to do it again. She's played on a regional team ever since, that play a pretty competitive schedule in the Northeast as part of a well know org.

She had lots of interest and offers from D1 but end of the day it's not what she wanted.

 

[LHV_NY_SB]

My DD is committed and start college this fall at a D3 school that goes to the NCAA's. So they have a good program. She decided early on that she had no interest in D1 athletics as she wanted more time to study and get a great education because at the end of the 4th year softball is over. She's focused on course studies. In her senior year this year she is taking all AP and local community college courses to help her be ready for the workload to come.

She played on a high level national team at 14U. Won an east coast national. Then never wanted to do it again. She's played on a regional team ever since, that play a pretty competitive schedule in the Northeast as part of a well know org.

She had lots of interest and offers from D1 but end of the day it's not what she wanted.

Do you feel comfortable sharing your experience with exposure while not playing on a team traveling across the country? There's such a push to go to FL, CA, etc. to play in front of coaches, but did you find it necessary?

DD playing for a team 2nd year 14U that went down to Florida twice and didn't see a single coach. Spent several grand just to play 5 games in warm weather over the winter. Felt like a waste of time and money.

 

[joe720]

Do you feel comfortable sharing your experience with exposure while not playing on a team traveling across the country? There's such a push to go to FL, CA, etc. to play in front of coaches, but did you find it necessary?

DD playing for a team 2nd year 14U that went down to Florida twice and didn't see a single coach. Spent several grand just to play 5 games in warm weather over the winter. Felt like a waste of time and money.

I been in that boat, flew to Georgia for two at bats.

If your DDs ultimate goal is to play in the SEC you have to play down there. My DD played in front of coaches from all the major SEC schools. But really they are just there to see a certain kid. Not there looking at everyone. Would guess between airfare, food, lodging, rental cars, ect probably blew 30k that year. Which come to look at it it's more than her yearly tuition at the university she's attending this year after receiving her academic scholarship. Hindsight it was not a good investment.

Best thing i ever did for her was to remove myself from what she wanted to do. Would support whatever she wanted but didn't push her to do anything. She's a really good baller, can play any position on the field and always bats above .500. But she decided what she wanted and my wife and i were just there to support her.

 

[LHV_NY_SB]

I been in that boat, flew to Georgia for two at bats.

If your DDs ultimate goal is to play in the SEC you have to play down there. My DD played in front of coaches from all the major SEC schools. But really they are just there to see a certain kid. Not there looking at everyone. Would guess between airfare, food, lodging, rental cars, ect probably blew 30k that year. Which come to look at it it's more than her yearly tuition at the university she's attending this year after receiving her academic scholarship. Hindsight it was not a good investment.

Best thing i ever did for her was to remove myself from what she wanted to do. Would support whatever she wanted but didn't push her to do anything. She's a really good baller, can play any position on the field and always bats above .500. But she decided what she wanted and my wife and i were just there to support her.

DD has targeted about 5 D3 and 5-7 D1 depending on the day of the week that she has interest in around the northeast. She has no interest in playing south of DC or west of PA. We're trying to cast a wide net but she's definitely leading the process.

 

[joe720]

DD has targeted about 5 D3 and 5-7 D1 depending on the day of the week that she has interest in around the northeast. She has no interest in playing south of DC or west of PA. We're trying to cast a wide net but she's definitely leading the process.

There are lots of good tournies and showcases in the NE you can play at that i'd venture a guess most of those teams come to. The TNT Tournament, Pennsbury Invitational, Super 48 always has a pretty good draw if you are at the right complex. They also have the event the day before that is a minicamp that all the coaches run. Great place to be if she wants to stay in the NE. Also Showball Camp rolls through here a couple of times a year. Get a lot of coaches there and kids actually come from all over the place to attend.

My personal advice, if your DD wants to play in the NE, no real reason to play outside a regional schedule.

 

[bebopdeluxe]

DD has targeted about 5 D3 and 5-7 D1 depending on the day of the week that she has interest in around the northeast. She has no interest in playing south of DC or west of PA. We're trying to cast a wide net but she's definitely leading the process.

Sounds like my daughter’s map! Although she wants to play in a big city, at least for now (not a lot of options there).

 

[LHV_NY_SB]

There are lots of good tournies and showcases in the NE you can play at that i'd venture a guess most of those teams come to. The TNT Tournament always has a pretty good draw if you are at the right complex. They also have the event the day before that is a minicamp that all the coaches run. Great place to be if she wants to stay in the NE. Also Showball Camp rolls through here a couple of times a year. Get a lot of coaches there and kids actually come from all over the place to attend.

My personal advice, if your DD wants to play in the NE, no real reason to play outside a regional schedule.

We're playing in East Coast Showcase, TNT, NE Finest, as well as a couple other showcases in NJ. She is also going to out Colorado w/ Team Israel for TC International Challenge.

 

[tomorrow]

Just an aside Michael Lewis's Audio book "Playing to Win" is a nice listen around this topic.

 

[LHV_NY_SB]

Sounds like my daughter’s map! Although she wants to play in a big city, at least for now (not a lot of options there).

My daughter would also prefer a bigger school, which limits D3 options.

 

[joe720]

We're playing in East Coast Showcase, TNT, NE Finest, as well as a couple other showcases in NJ. She is also going to out Colorado w/ Team Israel for TC International Challenge.

Nice those are good spots. And as per the original question which i skipped for some reason, she had no problem getting coaches to come look at here playing on a regional team. She was approached all the time. Though she really was set on where she wanted to go so she committed to the coach in her junior year in October. Prior to that most coaches she wrote would come out to see her and talk to our club coaches about her. Key is really the communication prior and post games with them.