how important is High School Ball?

[sittingonabucket]

hello californians.

we're in texas, but i figure you have the most experience with this so i thought i'd ask it here.

15 year old daughter, pitcher, plays year round in Texas select/club/whatever you want to call it.

first year high school. doing great. starting pitcher all that stuff.

Here's my question. Club Ball starts up in May. The competition at 5A level in North Texas is an absolute joke. it's rec ball with part time teachers, god bless them, coaching the softball team. so lots of yelling, crying, all kinds of stuff.

I would really like my daughter to have a few months to work on new stuff, heal, and quite frankly, not burn out.

If she has this "big dream" to play college ball, do you see anything wrong with as long as she's playing on a good select team that travels, just to not play high school ball at the school and focus on studies?

thanks

I'm an old dad that's on my last kid. trying to do this one as right as possible.

[exD1dad]

If you look at college player Bio's they always list their HS achievements & generally only mention the Travel team if they've won a championship

there's a bunch of old threads on this topic too

[McGee]

Playing HS ball will probably generate more memories, build more freindships and teach more life lessons than the entire select team experience. It also shows to lots of people, including college coaches and employers, that you can be a team player and leader.

[sittingonabucket]

thanks.

we'll see how it goes next year. she misses basketball, so Im sure she'll play that.

I think it's tough for a 9th grader to own the circle and be the star. older classmates just don't like it. I feel for her.

you are right. it's about memories and having fun. If she's not having either, i'll let her sit out next year if she desires.

for what it's worth, i talked to a few D1 programs yesterday. they didn't seem to care. The only real feedback I got was from two of them that look for multiple sport athletes which i thought was interesting.

thanks

[Makina]

Just do what you feel is right for your daughter. Maybe she can work on her hitting or playing another defensive position. I can only speak from what I saw in So. Cal in Div I as a lot of these high school programs were on par with very good travel teams. Our high school program had 8 players in last grad. class go to DI and DII programs on softball scholarships.

Also had a 9th athlete not play all 4 yrs / ran track and went to a Pac-12 program on a full softball scholarship. I'm guessing the college coach was not worried that she did not play softball in high school.

[PDad]

... If she's not having either, i'll let her sit out next year if she desires.

for what it's worth, i talked to a few D1 programs yesterday. they didn't seem to care. The only real feedback I got was from two of them that look for multiple sport athletes which i thought was interesting.

They're more likely to care why she didn't play in HS than the fact she didn't play. It's best to have a good answer prepared (e.g. injury, needed a break, wanted to do xxx instead) in case she's asked about it that won't raise any red flags (e.g. bad mouthing coach and/or problems with teammates).

[sittingonabucket]

great advice. hadn't thought about all that.

she could play first base and let one of the other girls pitch. that would seem fair.

it's a mix of rec girls who own their first glove and her. biggest challenge is the catchers literally are crying by the 3 rd inning. Just hard on my daughter.

but that's a great idea. play a different position. thanks!

[CoachKari]

Something else to think about are the awards and accolades your daughter can earn by being the best player on her high school team. Every MVP, All County Team, All Star High School team she makes can be added to her resume for college.

[basher1]

Interesting topic. I'll start out with this; high school ball is what caused my daughter to leave the sport. Fall season before her freshman year she was playing at the 18 Gold level. As a freshman she makes the varsity squad and that's where things went downhill quickly. All but about 4 of the girls were rec level players who had played with each other at the rec level for several years. They did not want my daughter (or any of the other travel players) upsetting this "chemistry." Coach put keeping the girls and the parents happy at the same level as winning and as such the travel players, if they were playing, were playing out of position, etc., etc. I think you can guess how successful this team is. This combined with other negative experiences in the sport that goes all the way back to 12U led to her decision to walk away, even as she was beginning to get interest from D1 schools. I will say this; if you are lucky to be at a high school where the softball coach puts winning and competitiveness above all else, have her play. She will be able to contribute right away and develop crucial leadership skills as most of the time travel players are the better players on the team (team will no doubt have rec level players in the VAST majority of the cases). Unfortunately programs like that are about 1-2 in every 10. If she is in a program like my daughters, then skip it and encourage her to play another sport. Track and Field is a spring sport and would be a great cross sport as it has something for every type of athlete and it would be a great break from softball.

[fastpitchdad05]

In our house we just refer to the HS season as, "One long practice..."