Schools that contact your DD September 1st Junior year?

[rbi]

Just like the "personal" letters go, so goes the college coach who doesnt miss a game all Summer, and umpteen phone conversations with same coach, and then all of a sudden its like the phone broke and they didnt get the emails of game times and locations and you never hear from them again. So it goes beyond just the personalized letter, when you think you have got them figured out and in the palm of your hand think again. I finally figured out that when it does happen it was meant to be, and it did, and we cant be happier. Funny thing is the school who lost our game times and phone broke, well the phone got fixed in a REAL hurry in the 11th hour, imagine that, but you have got to go where it feels right, not where a desperation move occurs. This whole recruiting thing will stress you out more than a job if you let it...

Letters are super cool and will always be cherished...

SURE WOULD BE NICE TO GET THE FIVE OFFICIALS DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!

Arto so you didnt practice what you preach now, damn you

[Blind Squirrel]

Here's a widdle recruiting story and it's true:

The first college coach that expressed interest in my kid called her TB coach after an exposure tournament. He told her my twirp was #1 on his 2009 recruit list. He said she was already good enough to play in his outfield. Yada Yada Yada. What he didn't do was describe what he would offer her. As a result, I told my kid if he really believed the things he said about her, then he would have made an offer. Since he didn't, I told her that she was just among the kids that were on his radar and he wanted to be on her radar in case he wanted to offer her something down the road. It was a school that the squirrelette would have loved to go to. We got her a widdle blankie with the school's logo.

A year and a half goes by and that coach made no further effort to contact us. Then one day at an exposure tournament, the coach walks up, sees her and watches the entire game. After the game he says Hi to her and told her she looked great out there. Then he talks to my kid's TB coach and says "We screwed up. She fell through the cracks. We thought she stopped playing outfield and was now a pitcher. Please go to her and her parents right now and tell them we will offer her XYZ and let us know right away what they say".

The moral of the story: It's easy for college coaches to say stuff they know recruits and their parents want to hear. They could be saying it for any number of reasons. But until they start talking scholarship specifics, I wouldn't get too excited. Never forget that there are talented kids all over this country that play the same position as your kid. And if you could objectively rank every kid in the nation at a position, there would be very little difference between a given kid and the next one or two or five or 10 in the ranking. But then that only applies to 99.99% of kids.

I think my pontificating is even making me want to throw up. (I am actually just trying to help)

BS

[rbi]

BS, your last paragraph was dead on!

FWIW, BS thank you for all your help, and best of luck to your kid the rest of the way!

[ontheblack]

Threads like this are the best part of HB

[ssarge]

You think I was rough.....wait till his kid gets recruited, signs, goes off to college and plays a total of 10 innings over her 4 year career. Seems to happen quite a bit.

Yeah, it happens. Virtually EVERYONE in college was SOMEbody's 3, 4, or 5 hitter (or #1 pitcher), and obviously, something has to give.

But isn't that true at every level of play, from about 12U on?

I do understand that in college, the difference is that you are making a life decision, not just a softball decision. That's big. OTOH, getting paid to pursue the requisite preparation for your eventual life decision is not a bad deal.

Best,

Scott

[jonriv]

Sept.1st, Was a very fun day in our house I really don't see anything negative about it. 5:am on the 1st our house was woke up by the happy screams of my kid getting emails alerts from the east coast college’s from Ivy league to powerhouse schools to schools she has never heard of. The rest of the day the west schools emails started coming. She had a blast that day. I saw no negatives that day just a kid and parents exited about getting an email from different coaches.
How someone reacts to getting a correspondence from a coach has no bearing on the value or validly of the letter. If you act stupid it is becuz you are stupid, don’t blame the letters and I would never take away the joy of my kid getting a bunch of coaches correspondences. Nor would I piss on someone else’s parade if they are excited about it.

I would have to concur with Norcal- this is a GREAT day and you should enjoy it!!! My daughter was thrilled at getting correspondence- in many case from schools we never heard of before. Some were personal, some were form letters, and some just little notes- they were all great. As to what many have brought up previously- the letter from the school she winds up going to might not be there.

We had gotten zero correspondence from the school my daughter is attending now. Her HS guidance counselor thought the school would be a good fit(saw it on her college recruiting spreadsheet) She e-mailed the coach and set up a meeting for that upcoming friday. when we met with the coach -he pulled out a thick folder of notes and her updates- he had also seen her play several times. Interview and personal tour with him was 3 hours. You NEVER know who is watching.

[3Bsnag]

My kid doesn't like this whole process- showcases, one-sided communication, casting a wide net, etc. It warms my heart to see her smile every once in a while doing her recruiting stuff, so yeah the letter/emails were nice. She knows there isn't real interest until a visit/offer, but an acknowledgment back after all the work they do is encouraging, especially to a teenager.

[Fastpitch4Life]

Threads like this are the best part of HB

Agreed. The graybeards (Yoda's is a better term - thanks Arto) who regularly share their experiences or the recruiting process is the draw to Heybucket. These guys are great and its fun watching their DDs excel on the field. Thanks to all the Heybucket Hall of Famers!!!

[watchtonsofsoftball]

For our family we were already pretty stressed at the whole recruiting process at this point. Just like many of you will go through soon. The letters for us was awesome as well but to be honest it made for more stress for us (after that day of course) We had a good offer on the table and were mulling it over and my dd was ready to verbal.........then an outpour of letters come rolling in. Making us doubt our decision, and more importantly HERS. my dd was like 'oh i didnt know so and so was interested', and it really started clouding up things a bit. The school she chose was probably 5 or 6 on her list but she really liked the school. We talked to a few 'yodas' and they all said pretty much whats been said, which is, who knows if they are REALLY interested. We took the offer and didnt look back and our family life got back to normal SOMEWHAT. The process sucks no matter which way you look at it but everyone has to ride it out. And I was far from relaxed. DD had a great freshman year and she loves the school (beach town) so it all worked out. She still has no time but I think by now she is used to it.

[NORCALGOLD]

. "try to relax and enjoy the process..." .
Stress is waking up everyday wondering if you will be shot at or a IED will blow you or your partners up today.
Enjoy the ride with your kid most good rides are full of bumps and turns.