by balou » Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:01 pm
1. Play on the best team that gets on the best fields that has a history of placing kids in college
2. Grades
3. Hit really well
4. Perform well when they are watching
5. Play, practice and behave like someone is always watching, they are.
6. Visit as many websites as possible to formulate a recruiting plan that fits your situation.
7. Make a criteria list of what is important about softball and college. The school that has the most matches on your list is probably where she should go. Things like how long has the coach been there, quality of education, size of school, competitiveness of the program, does my intended major exist there, are there enough options that if I change my mind there are other good majors, would I want to stay in this school if I was injured and couldn't play anymore, etc....
8. Have a huge email list of 40-50 schools from dream schools to not so dreamy and see which schools start paying attention. After a while you will learn what level your kid will play at. When a coach comes to watch but never watches her at another tournament and you never get the private cell phone #'s, you are probably shooting too high.
9. When you get that cell number, call it right away and express interest. If you don't they will not believe that you are dying to play for them and they will move on.
Videos can be great if done right. No need for the expensive route, just a good solid video starting with hitting from the side showing hitting and bunting, then straight on. Next a little fielding and finish with contact info for player and TB coach. Length 2-3 minutes max, NO MUSIC, post on YouTube and include link on email to coach.
There is not one item that gets the coaches attention. It has to be a broad approach. Exposure tournaments, College camps, OnDeck, letters, letters, letters aka email, lots of phone calls until you make contact, unofficial visits set up with the coach on campus, video, TB coach help.
There used to be a survey that existed on the web that surveyed about 100 college coaches and what they looked for. Lots of similarities but all had different systems to find their players. Punch line: You will get out of the recruiting process what you put into it. There is a place for every kid that wants to play, just not at the D1 level.