The D3 thread IS super. Can someone help with information about the NAIA?
Thanks!
Thanks!
What about NAIA?
- Thread starter sluggers
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
This was my reply to earlier thread on DIII -
Have you considered NAIA? They allow athletic scholarships, most schools have exceptional academic reputations and have very liberal coach/player contact and transfer rules. I played and graduated from an NAIA school (now DIII) and went to law school at an NAIA program which won 8 national titles in softball and featured Jay Miller as its coach. They are serious about softball. Just my 2 cents.
Have you considered NAIA? They allow athletic scholarships, most schools have exceptional academic reputations and have very liberal coach/player contact and transfer rules. I played and graduated from an NAIA school (now DIII) and went to law school at an NAIA program which won 8 national titles in softball and featured Jay Miller as its coach. They are serious about softball. Just my 2 cents.
- Jul 9, 2010
- 289
- 0
I believe, but may be wrong, that NAIA teams are allowed up to 10 scholarships per team. Contact rules, etc, are set by the conferences, as opposed to NAIA itself, so they may vary by team.
The NAIA is instituting a new eligibility clearinghouse requirement like the NCAA's. Here's a link to NAIA programs, that you can search by sport:
NAIA Eligibility Center - PlayNAIA - School Search
For us, we didn't find any NAIA schools with the major my DD wanted, so it wasn't an option (similar to D2 for whatever reason). Had we found some, we certainly would have pursued them like we did other schools. I am helping some players on my travel ball team with talks with NAIA school coaching staffs, and I know several players with degrees from NAIA schools that softball helped pay for.
The NAIA is instituting a new eligibility clearinghouse requirement like the NCAA's. Here's a link to NAIA programs, that you can search by sport:
NAIA Eligibility Center - PlayNAIA - School Search
For us, we didn't find any NAIA schools with the major my DD wanted, so it wasn't an option (similar to D2 for whatever reason). Had we found some, we certainly would have pursued them like we did other schools. I am helping some players on my travel ball team with talks with NAIA school coaching staffs, and I know several players with degrees from NAIA schools that softball helped pay for.
Many people don't realize the level of play that NAIA schools can offer. When I coached at a NAIA school, our conference had two or three nationally ranked schools. They would play (and beat) mid and lower level DI schools in the fall. My team, while not quite at that level, had several players that had received DI offers. Two players in our conference were drafted by the NPF (though I don't think they played). Lots of great opportunities at NAIA schools.
FastpitchFan
Softball fan
I coached at a NAIA school for 3 years - Simon Fraser University. Go to Nationals every year and won the title 4 times in the last eleven years.
Anyhow, I can tell you this... there is very good and very bad and everthing in between.
The best NAIA schools (top 10) can be rival any top D2 (in fact, very similar level) and beat lower to mid-rank D1 school. Over the years, we played top D1 like UofW, UofA, Long Beach, Oregon, and we were always competitive. We did beat lower ranked D1. Always very good competition against D2.
Top 20-30 is solid and could play any D2 any day.
However, when you come to some teams... it can get pretty bad in some cases. We used to kill teams at times. However, well-coached, solid NAIA are definitely good programs.
Just look up the NAIA websites, softball section, and look at the rankings, anything ranked top 20-30 is good.
Marc
Anyhow, I can tell you this... there is very good and very bad and everthing in between.
The best NAIA schools (top 10) can be rival any top D2 (in fact, very similar level) and beat lower to mid-rank D1 school. Over the years, we played top D1 like UofW, UofA, Long Beach, Oregon, and we were always competitive. We did beat lower ranked D1. Always very good competition against D2.
Top 20-30 is solid and could play any D2 any day.
However, when you come to some teams... it can get pretty bad in some cases. We used to kill teams at times. However, well-coached, solid NAIA are definitely good programs.
Just look up the NAIA websites, softball section, and look at the rankings, anything ranked top 20-30 is good.
Marc
