tbjd33 wrote:Dugout Dad wrote:You start your post with "I", but what does she want to do? Allow her to play for her school colors, regardless of your impression of the team, the girls do have fun. A college coach will see her not being on her HS team playing as a red flag of possibly not being a team player.
I disagree with the red flag comment... College coaches if presented with a plan absolutely go along with it. This year only I know of 3 of the top 10 in the Top 100 which do not play HS ball. It is becoming more common with recruits.
Yes I agree with the experience... Have to consider life is not about HS and it shouldn't be. Their experience in College is far more valuable and if they are prepared when they get there even better.
An earlier comment made about real games being good. Again, not true. Some HS ball is bad and so is the pitching and so are their team mates. No softball is better than bad softball. Any good coach would agree with that. Travel ball provides plenty of games to satisfy the games played issue.
You write like a person that thinks they have knowledge because they have read an article or two, but have no skin in the game.
Myself and many on this board have been through the softball grind and the OP wants to hear from our experience. Understand my experience is from a SoCal perspective.
Regarding the red flag, you would be surprised. I have met hundreds of college coaches over the years and I am friends with many. Every once in a while I will get a call or run into certain coaches at showcases and they have asked questions about players I may know. They may have asked questions like, why (a reason) a player is not playing HS ball, is it because of the parents? Or is it because they think they are too good for the HS team? Or they think the coach is an idiot? is it academics? What have you heard? All red flags in the view of
some, not all, college coaches, some don't want this mentality on their team, they want team players. It may or may not effect an offer, but when a coach has 5 potential players for 1 position, they are looking for reasons to disqualify the other 4.
Go to any college roster bio page on any college softball website, and they have a whole paragraph on high school accolades, records set, awards, ALL CIF, ALL League, ect. They love and eat up those stats. Funny how there is a perception that HS does not matter. There may be a sentence or two on travel ball.
I don't think my DD would trade her HS experience for anything and it was very far from being perfect. She has friends from travel and HS softball, but the ones she is still in contact with are from her HS team even though they are playing ball throughout the country, they have remained very close. I think travel ball friends are like friends you make at work, close but not the same.
Not playing HS ball because the goal is to play college ball is very shortsighted. I believe you should play for today, every day, there is no guarantee for tomorrow. My DD was fortunate enough to be on varsity and start all four years in HS and play in a competitive league. It is tough for a freshman in HS not be intimidated by the upperclassmen. This social experience has come in handy in college. Think politics are bad in HS, college ball is no different, get over it and learn to survive.
Don't underestimate that HS letter and the wearing of the letterman jacket. Or the local paper doing write-ups on the team. Or her or her teammates being interviewed and quoted in the paper. Great life experiences. DD has a nice scrapbook of articles and box scores of her HS years. Irreplaceable memories in later life.
Would a stud baseball player skipping HS ball for the sake of his college career be tolerated by the local community?
