Recruitment help

[exD1dad]

Jeez fasterpitchdad why so harsh? Have you never met a smart girl who loved to play the game?

CrankyMom softball coaches at the elite academics are like admission asterisks of being a minority, family legacy etc they help & "all things being equal" between an unknown number of students your DD would get the nod due to the coaches letter/interest whatever.

Two years ago, DD's HS 2nd baseman loved the game, busted her butt on & off the field. After getting accepted to numerous academic elite colleges she narrowed it down to Yale or MIT (where she could play DIII). Well after campus visits she chose the Ivy school, became the coxswain for the rowing team & still competes as an athlete. I think this was the type of answer fasterPitchDad was attempting to make. Sounds to me like a win win for your DD & whatever road she takes will be the right one.

[fastpitchdad05]

Jeez fasterpitchdad why so harsh? Have you never met a smart girl who loved to play the game?

CrankyMom softball coaches at the elite academics are like admission asterisks of being a minority, family legacy etc they help & "all things being equal" between an unknown number of students your DD would get the nod due to the coaches letter/interest whatever.

Two years ago, DD's HS 2nd baseman loved the game, busted her butt on & off the field. After getting accepted to numerous academic elite colleges she narrowed it down to Yale or MIT (where she could play DIII). Well after campus visits she chose the Ivy school, became the coxswain for the rowing team & still competes as an athlete. I think this was the type of answer fasterPitchDad was attempting to make. Sounds to me like a win win for your DD & whatever road she takes will be the right one.

Who's fasterPitchDad?

[fasterpitch92701]

I'm assuming Ex-D1 meant me. The reply was not meant to be harsh, rather, realistic. How often do you find someone trying to find the worst possible team so that they have a chance to "make it"? Frankly, I thought the OP might be a jest offering by someone wanting to just stir the muck.

Rather than aim for the lowest possible option, take the high road. This daughter obviously has the grades. Great! Then look for a school regardless of softball (a good idea anyway) and see where it takes you. As noted by ExD1, sometimes students find new athletic adventures, be it crew, cross country, lacross, soccer, volleyball, etc., and most schools have club teams in a variety of venues and sports. Including softball. So why make the future education choice of a school based on finding the lousyest possible softball team?

With 2200 SAT's she has plenty of flexibility. Her perspectives and views will change over the college years as well as her interests. She's not married to softball. The POINT of higher education is not softball and, frankly, Cranky seems to be aiming way too low on what her daughters opportunities might be. She has a smart kid. Take advantage of that and explore other opportunities on the way.

I wish them well....

[Crankymom]

My kid will attend a school for academics, not softball (sorry if it sounded like something different). There are some schools that she likes that happen to be DIII and have so-so softball teams. I think it would be to her advantage to work the softball angle at those schools. She won't apply to a school solely for softball.

My 2013 applied to 12 schools. Looking back, 10 of those 12 are DI (and not all have softball). Only two DIII and the softball team at one of them is pretty good (don't know if she would have made the cut). She ended up at a DI with no softball team, but with a club team. The club team isn't that good, but her teammates think she walks on water and she is president of the club team.

My 2016 would be fine with playing club. She will probably stay active in one of her sports in college (plays volleyball too, stopped playing club as it was too much with travel softball and other activities).

[Battle]

My kid will attend a school for academics, not softball (sorry if it sounded like something different). There are some schools that she likes that happen to be DIII and have so-so softball teams. I think it would be to her advantage to work the softball angle at those schools. She won't apply to a school solely for softball.

My 2013 applied to 12 schools. Looking back, 10 of those 12 are DI (and not all have softball). Only two DIII and the softball team at one of them is pretty good (don't know if she would have made the cut). She ended up at a DI with no softball team, but with a club team. The club team isn't that good, but her teammates think she walks on water and she is president of the club team.

My 2016 would be fine with playing club. She will probably stay active in one of her sports in college (plays volleyball too, stopped playing club as it was too much with travel softball and other activities).

It seems that your mind is already made up. As far as your OP question, I would not spend a dime on recruiting sites and concentrate more on contacting my target schools directly and attending any camps that they have to offer. Do what ever it takes to get face to face with those coaches... JMO