Recruiting and getting NOTICED

[killerbee]

One last word of advice would be to make sure your daughter plays two seasons of 16s (do not move to 18s too early). The second year of 16s is, by far, the key recruiting age for the bigger D1 programs.

Skidoo-Lots of good info u pass along! However, I disagree with 2 years of playing 16u. Most coaches tell me they want to see them compete against players ready to enter college ranks. Compete at Gold, HS Premier to see how they stand with the grizzled veterans. Besides, most coaches split and go to separate ASA nationals.
Don't get me wrong. 16u is one of the strongest venues for college coaches. But, If ur a player and you're not putting in the effort and your travel coaches aren't working for you, or not apart of a nationally recognized program, chances are you won't get many coming to your games anyway.
As Squirrel says, every kids situation is different. My #3 dd skipped 16u and played 18Gold to play with older sis. This situation worked out o.k. for her.

[DLauck]

BigPappy,

I know how it (recruiting) is and how it was. Been there, done that. I'm not saying softball brings in millions, but football and basketball do; at least for the big boys. I agree that the competition for the scholarship has increased tremendously. It just doesn't seem right that the HS parents have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars just for the opportunity that their DD's be seen. The fact that most of these girls don't land the scholarship, makes the situation worse. Just my opinion; I realize nothing I say on here is going to influence what anyone does in regards to this issue. I got girls in our program who play all year round and all over the place. The parents know what they're doing, and I support it. I'm very fortunate to be able to work with these HS girls for 4 months out of the year. Though this year so far has been very challenging, and it has nothing to do with parents or travel ball conflicts.

[slapperdad]

I've got to disagree a little bit on the two years of 16's as well. In my two years of 16's, one as a 14U, I see 16's in crappy time slots, at crappy diamonds, and sometimes stuck in crappy pools. I really feel like we wasted a year.

[gunshy]

Flip side of the 16u option......we played 16u for 3 years, opting to skip our 2nd year of 14's. It was absolutely the right move for our team. We quickly developed a nice following of coaches and our players played in front of lots coaches virtually every weekend. Our coaching staff spent one summer asking MANY college coaches where they spent the majority of their 50 recruiting days and every single coach we asked told us their big target was ASA/USA 16 Nationals. When we asked them about Gold, virtually all of them said they liked to attend Gold Nationals and Qualifiers to see how their committed recruits were doing, but those events were not where they usually found their prospects. We based our decision to stay 16's heavily on the advice of the coaches who we were working hard to attract. Coaches mentioned Independence in Boulder, Surf City and Ronald MacDonald behind 16u ASA Nationals. This all could change thru time, though, as more slightly above average 16u eligible players flood into 18u Gold. 16's may become sparse and Gold more watered down if that trend continues.

[23Skidoo]

I anticpated that there would be a few challenges to my suggestion to play two (2) years of 16s. It is/was traditional, based on my experience, for players in Indiana to play one year of 14s, jump to 16s for a year and/or leap to 18s. We were always told by the "old school" Indiana travel coaches that this was the path to success/getting noticed. I must assume that this undoubtedly worked at some point for some players and it may still work for some; however, based on what I was told by several top and middle tier DI coaches, this philosphy is skewed (actually their words were slightly different).

I appreciate Gunshy's comments. He heard what I heard (outside of Indiana) and I was also going to suggest the option of moving up during the second year of 14s and playing three years of 16s to better enhance your daughter's chances. If the situation would have been right for us, we probably would have followed this path. However, each player and each situation is different! I dare say that the path of a pitcher (or catcher) who desires to play D1 at a top tier school likely needs to be different. My daughter is neither a pitcher, nor a catcher. In our situation, my daughter never played up, with the exception of playing 18 Gold in exposure tournaments at 16 and going from 16s to 18 Gold (if this is considered playing up) and she did okay, in my opinion. In other situations, like Killer's daughter, 16s were not necessary, but I think this is likely an exception and not necessarily the "rule." My daughter, at 16, did get the opportunity to play against 18 Gold teams during exposure events (because the organization had an 18 Gold team and we had coaches who recognized her abilities and who were not afraid to showcase her talent against the "grizzled veterans"). Perhaps this is why she was offered scholarships following her second year of 16s, but I honestly do not know.

I'm not sure that there is a perfect path to solidify a D1 scholarship. I offered my dauther's path because I thought this was what Farm (not "Frarm" - sorry) was looking for in response to his post.

[killerbee]

This all could change thru time, though, as more slightly above average 16u eligible players flood into 18u Gold. 16's may become sparse and Gold more watered down if that trend continues.

The way I see it, it's that way 16's are now. When 'we' (my oldest, now 23 y/o) started playing 16u ASA, the ultimate goal was to play against the top 65 teams in the country. Now the field has been stretched to 130+ teams. Seriously!!! I'm a true supporter of the ASA, but there has to be a better way to declare top teams without taking the "Mudville All-Stars Elite". (Luv ya Cindy)

Gold is still 64 of the top qualified teams in the country. (ya, u have premier now tho).
16u weekends are spent at State games, DOS, etc and so on.. getting your berth. How many college coaches have you at these events? Maybe a few, I'm sure~!
Our gold qualifiers which are generally held in Blue Springs, Bloomington and Chicagoland which attract large numbers of coaches. So it pays off for my team to be seen every weekend and possibly not making 'the big dance', than only to be seen at 'the big dance'.

[gunshy]

Killer, Patrick Murphy was not seen at DOS, but coaches who are more likely to recruit the majority of our players were. (Patrick was at the Demarini, and so was our 16u team) MY CF was first seen in Jasper by Southern Illinois (where she later signed) and there were several other coaches there who were within driving distance. I never suggested JUST playing ASA Qualifiers and calling it a summer; we played Independence in Boulder, DeMarini in Chicago, Midland Magic along with ASA/USA Natioanls, so it was NEVER just the big dance. Going GOLD has large risks, too, if you are not a VERY good team. The format is double elimination with NO pool games, which means possibly heading home Saturday at noon. Not much exposure gained riding home in the car. How many teams from Indiana have ever won a GOLD berth in an Indiana qualifier? None, according to Cindy. How many Indiana teams, in the history of GOLD, have even qualified for GOLD Nationals? You and Maybe Magic Gold once? Odds are against teams rushing early into the Gold Division WITHOUT a solid resume, teams unlikely to have long runs in the qualifiers and teams with no reputation to get them into the best exposure events. Parents should do their homework before deciding to jump to a metallic named team, it is not the best fit for everyone.

[killerbee]

Wow.. That one did a b-2 Stealth flyover! Patrick who??

Going GOLD has large risks, too, if you are not a VERY good team.

Without a doubt!!! I thought we were talking good teams! Afterall, This is a 10u thread!
Shouldn't be throwing a 16u team on a field and playin "A" either.

No need to get all worked up Guns. I know your schedule! Been there done that, got the shirt. This is an opinion board. And IMHO I would have it no other way. I've been through it several years, several dds in several scenarios with multiple sanctions. Is it for everyone? He77 no! But, wouldn't trade my Gold experience for anything!

DREAMS METALLICA-LARS