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Maybe the Northeast folks have something for you, it is the hidden mecca of softball talent
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jonriv wrote:You have received some great advice, yet seem to ignore it. Here's mine...........
To start with I think you need to get your priorities in order. I might make more sens to focus on the following for to focus on the following before making the leap to Olympic Exposure:
1) making it on progressively better travel programs
2) making and starting on High School team
3) getting into and playing at a good college program
4) Starting at a good college program
5) excelling at a good college program
It is great to dream and in the past the existence of an Olympic team sparked a lot of interest in the sport, but there needs to be some recognition of the difficulty(some might say impossibility) of what you are attempting. The numbers are daunting! There will be 15-25 slots on the Olympic team. Your player will be competing with the following:
1) 31,000 current college players at all levels(around 5000 on scholarship)(probably less than 100 that would be in contention)-that's less than 1%
2) Over 200 players in the National Pro Fastpitch at any given time- add to that American players playing overseas in professional and semi-pro teams- as well as on US based club teams
3) 235,360 High school players
4) 2 million youth softball players
5) All of those players that might continue to play now that their olympic dream has been reignited
6) past Olympic players that are now pro that might want to get back in the mix
The task is daunting!
What I've seen so far is the USA Select30 camp http://usaeliteselect.com/usaes/select30. And In response to what Umpsteve said about Softball Factory their National Tryout may be worth considering. http://www.softballfactory.com/tryouts/
Sam wrote:jonriv wrote:You have received some great advice, yet seem to ignore it. Here's mine...........
To start with I think you need to get your priorities in order. I might make more sens to focus on the following for to focus on the following before making the leap to Olympic Exposure:
1) making it on progressively better travel programs
2) making and starting on High School team
3) getting into and playing at a good college program
4) Starting at a good college program
5) excelling at a good college program
It is great to dream and in the past the existence of an Olympic team sparked a lot of interest in the sport, but there needs to be some recognition of the difficulty(some might say impossibility) of what you are attempting. The numbers are daunting! There will be 15-25 slots on the Olympic team. Your player will be competing with the following:
1) 31,000 current college players at all levels(around 5000 on scholarship)(probably less than 100 that would be in contention)-that's less than 1%
2) Over 200 players in the National Pro Fastpitch at any given time- add to that American players playing overseas in professional and semi-pro teams- as well as on US based club teams
3) 235,360 High school players
4) 2 million youth softball players
5) All of those players that might continue to play now that their olympic dream has been reignited
6) past Olympic players that are now pro that might want to get back in the mix
The task is daunting!
You forgot the 5 million parents of youth players who think their kid is Olympics material, of which 4,999,999 keep their electronic mouths shut because they realize the odds of making the team are daunting and that there are actually a shitload of kids who play the game better than their kid.
Tntcoachtom wrote:So I take it the two venues that I found are the only ones out there.What I've seen so far is the USA Select30 camp http://usaeliteselect.com/usaes/select30. And In response to what Umpsteve said about Softball Factory their National Tryout may be worth considering. http://www.softballfactory.com/tryouts/
You are right. There has been some good advice regarding the first question. But I have seen very little info on the very direct and specific follow up question about showcases and other events. They are out there. I proved that with these two links. Maybe you don't agree with the use of camps and showcases. But that wasn't the question. I stopped asking the vague question about process on page one. So please let's move on. I'm only asking about venues that other more experienced coaches and dads might know about. If the two that I mentioned are the only ones around. So be it.
Please don't bother answering this post if you don't know the answer.
jonriv wrote:Tntcoachtom wrote:So I take it the two venues that I found are the only ones out there.What I've seen so far is the USA Select30 camp http://usaeliteselect.com/usaes/select30. And In response to what Umpsteve said about Softball Factory their National Tryout may be worth considering. http://www.softballfactory.com/tryouts/
You are right. There has been some good advice regarding the first question. But I have seen very little info on the very direct and specific follow up question about showcases and other events. They are out there. I proved that with these two links. Maybe you don't agree with the use of camps and showcases. But that wasn't the question. I stopped asking the vague question about process on page one. So please let's move on. I'm only asking about venues that other more experienced coaches and dads might know about. If the two that I mentioned are the only ones around. So be it.
Please don't bother answering this post if you don't know the answer.
You don't seem to get it do you?!?!?! There is no Olympic exposure venue per se. It's the Wcws, it's college play, it's the pro game, it's major tourneys. It's word of mouth. hellooooooooo.....
I do want congradulate you on being the one poster to get the likes of Sam, AWT myself and others to agree on how misguided and clueless you appear to be. You ask for advice and then refuse to listen to it