Elite college look

[sbfan]

It sounds like the college coach's go to the main field pull up a good chair and watch the games only at the main field and are to lazy to go anywhere else.

I have read where coach's that coach good teams say they don't care where they play because the colleges coach's will find them.

Then I read parents/coach's of teams not as strong complain the only way the girls get seen is if you force the college coach's to watch them play at the main field.

I suspect the college coach's all look at it a little different and there is truth in what everyone is saying.

But if I was looking for players to play on my team i would look at the best teams because I know there will be a better chance to find a talented player. MHO.

[Blind Squirrel]

Don't get me wrong, i am not complaining about our field draws...and BTW 18's..there were 4 complexes in use, not 3...one was a pathetic baseball complex with the mounds shaved down....ridiculous for a "college look".....goes back to how much money can pad the Elite pockets. We were happy with our draws, but had many friends on other teams who really got shafted by Elite. I feel for them, as a softball parent and friend. It is easy to say don't play if you are not happy, but the reality is with so many teams playing at the main complex, it is rough for the college coaches to travel 4 different parks to watch all the girls they need to...that is why EVERY team should be given equal opportunity to play at the big fields, and I don't mean every game on fields 6, 7, 8, and 9, a half mile away from the main field.

I disagree with the general notion that it is typically so rough for college coaches to go to different parks at a tournament to see kids, that the kids have no shot at being seen. When my kid was going through the recruiting thing her team very rarely played at main complexes. Some of the satellite locations she played at only had two fields and were a fair distance from the main complex. She was seen by coaches from every top D1 conference in the country and I can say with complete confidence that they weren't all there to see any single player. Put yourself in the coaches shoes. Your career depends in no small part on your ability to get the best players you can. Are you really going to repeatedly skip over kids you want to look at because you would have to drive 30 minutes to do it? Does every college coach believe the only kids that could help their team are the ones at the main complex? That would be contrary to what I saw time and again over the course of 2 years.

Were all of the reports of college coach sightings at the recent HB exposure tournament from main complexes? I don't know since I don't know which complexes were considered the main ones for each age group. Bottom line: Do the best you can to get coaches interested enough in your kid that they will feel compelled to drive 30 minutes instead of visiting the snack bar and/or waiting for the next games to begin. I can't tell you how many times I saw the Villanova coach at remote locations, but then who could possibly want their kid to get a degree from that academic dump?

John

[Blind Squirrel]

It sounds like the college coach's go to the main field pull up a good chair and watch the games only at the main field and are to lazy to go anywhere else.

I have read where coach's that coach good teams say they don't care where they play because the colleges coach's will find them.

Then I read parents/coach's of teams not as strong complain the only way the girls get seen is if you force the college coach's to watch them play at the main field.

I suspect the college coach's all look at it a little different and there is truth in what everyone is saying.

But if I was looking for players to play on my team i would look at the best teams because I know there will be a better chance to find a talented player. MHO.

Do you think that is what you would do if your chances of getting players of the caliber of those on the best teams was small. If I was a coach, I would concentrate most of my efforts on recruiting the best kids I could reasonably expect to play in a softball program like the one I was at. That is my uninformed speculation.

John

[TXfastpitchsoftball]

Interesting post. If parents had better (realistic) expectations that may help.
At the Elite Showcase, what is a "good turnout" of college coaches to watch one team . . . 5, 10, 15, 20 . . . How many coaches watched Shelton's, Bancroft's, Grave's teams.

What coaches where there total. No list is posted of who actually came, and the list that is posted is just ridiculous.

[DonnieS]

It sounds like the college coach's go to the main field pull up a good chair and watch the games only at the main field and are to lazy to go anywhere else.

I have read where coach's that coach good teams say they don't care where they play because the colleges coach's will find them.

Then I read parents/coach's of teams not as strong complain the only way the girls get seen is if you force the college coach's to watch them play at the main field.

I suspect the college coach's all look at it a little different and there is truth in what everyone is saying.

But if I was looking for players to play on my team i would look at the best teams because I know there will be a better chance to find a talented player. MHO.

Do you think that is what you would do if your chances of getting players of the caliber of those on the best teams was small. If I was a coach, I would concentrate most of my efforts on recruiting the best kids I could reasonably expect to play in a softball program like the one I was at. That is my uninformed speculation.

John

John, check your PMs.

Donnie

[lucylive94]

Looking at the schedule, there were 5 complexes used, not 4. And the baseball field stunk.

The college coaches that I visited with were at specific complexes watching specific players that had emailed them.

It's not that hard to visit with a college coach and ask them questions about recruiting. They are there to help. But most of them just don't show up, they have a plan. They have kids that they want to look at. And with over 100 teams, they all can't play at the times we all want them to play. So it is about the adults, as parents and coaches, doing their homework and getting the girls looked at. That is any tournament you enter.

It's nice that someone is taking the time to put on a venue such as this to get the girls looked at. So if Elite makes extra money off of this, so be it. Whether it's Elite, Glory, Batbusters, etc., it's nice that these people are providing venues to get these girls looked at. If any of these organizations make money off of it, good for them. They deserve it. Because if one player gets a commitment from a college at any of these venues, it makes it all worth it.

[LoneStarGreed]

It's not that hard to visit with a college coach and ask them questions about recruiting. They are there to help.

They are there to work...NOT help you with your 100 questions. They are only being nice talking to you. Leave them alone and stop bothering them. Also unless your daughter is a senior, you are close to violating NCAA rules depending on the coach you are bothering

[TulsaEliteGold]

I am not sure of the total number of college coaches who checked in because I didnt go back and check the list on Sunday. I did talk to a lot of coaches who didnt come who went to alternate events and are planning to attend the Nov Elite Showcase instead now that the Fall Recruiting Window is opened back up.

These are some of the ones I can remember seeing or talking to at our games:
AUBURN
BAYLOR
TEXAS TECH
KANSAS
IOWA STATE
TULSA
SOUTHERN MISS
HOUSTON
ILLINOIS
WICHITA STATE
MISSOURI STATE
NORTH TEXAS
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
NORTHWESTERN STATE
UT ARLINGTON
TEXAS STATE
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
ST GREGORY'S
ARKANSAS TECH
EAST CENTRAL OK