Circle City Summer showcase

[softball]

It will be a nice fund raiser for Team Akadema if they get enough teams.

[Blind Squirrel]

First, my earlier reply was actually me just being a bit of an A$$. I'll try again with a more serious attitude:

I'll give you folks my view as a kid born in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, who came out to SoCal. As a boy in Ohio, I was unusually fast. Thirty years after leaving, I got an email out of nowhere from a girl I went to elementary school with. She remembered me as the only kid in her grade in the area (boy or girl) who was faster than her. She ended up running track at Ohio State on a scholarship. In SoCal, I was absolutely nothing special. The reality was stark. There were probably hundreds of kids in the area in my grade who could kill me in a race. It didn't take me many meets before I quit.

Are there athletes in Indiana who are every bit as good as kids in SoCal. Of course there are. But there are nowhere near the numbers which brings me to what a D1 college coach told me. She said she wanted to see how kids do when facing the same type of pitching/players that her players see, to the extent that that is possible. Out here, my kid routinely plays with and against kids that will play in the PAC-10, BIG-10, SEC, etc. Weekend after weekend in friendlies as well as in tournaments. It's just the way it is. They can't help but have an advantage in a few different ways.

I remember when my kid's team played an Ohio team in an 18G exposure tournament (Colorado). I was told this team was considered one of the very best in Ohio. At the time my kid's team was quite average for 18G in SoCal, not even close to qualifying for Nationals. The Ohio team lost something like 10 - 0 with the Ohio State coach watching. It was ugly and I felt terrible for those Ohio kids and their parents. Not one Ohio kid showed well.

I can understand the frustration that results in feelings that the pursuit of a softball scholarship is a waste of time. From what I've seen, a good 70% of 18G parents are disappointed with the offers their kid ends up getting. And that is in SoCal. But the fact is, that every year schools across this country give athletic scholarships to softball players, though the vast majority are NOT full rides. Look at the web sites of any team that finished in the top 20 at 18G Nationals and you will see one kid after another that has been offered a scholarship and has committed. Whether or not it is a waste of time to email college coaches is quite simply a function of how a given kid stacks up against the best of her peers across the country. A kid with the talent to play in the PAC-10/SEC/BIG10 will have no problem getting recruited by colleges, maybe in the PAC-10, maybe the BIG-10, SEC, or other conferences. That assumes, of course, that the kid has done what is needed to be seen and shows her talent when being watched by college coaches.

I have tried to provide as accurate a description of the situation that I can based upon my experiences. I encourage anyone to expose any of my misperceptions as such, to provide better information.

John

[Canocorn]

John - you'll have to bear with us Midwesterners, we are just now figuring which end of the bat to use.

As you said it's the power of numbers. Where Indiana might have 20 16u teams, and 10 18U/Gold that are very competitive, we simple don't have the numbers of people that Socal has.
Also, I can't for the life of figure out, is all the chest thumping of "my daughter is going to a D1 school". It would be different if they had a chance to earn millions playing the sport. I would much rather my daughter attend a private intitution, get playing time as a freshman, and graduate with a meaningful degree. Ask your UCLA girls if they were able to chose any major they wanted, or if there was a specified list of degrees that wouldn't interfer with softball. You can take that general studies degree. You are right about the partitial scholarships for 90% of the players. Which even adds more to my argument.

I think what the posts were about, is how it has become a job, rather just playing the game. Didnt have anything do to with the competition of west coast vs. Midwest.

I like to know how long ago your kid played, because over the last 5 years, the gap is almost non-existent.

I'll make my own anology. People buy Chevrolet's because of their excellent quality compared to Chrysler. But, according to JDPowers, Chrysler's quality is actually better. But the perception is still out there. You can fill in Westcoast for Chevy, and Midwest for Chrysler.


Take a look at the last several years at nationals. I think we (midwesterners) have figured out which end to use.

[jag1]

well said, Canocorn..!

[da60]

John, no doubt the talent pool in SOCAL, NORCAL, TEXAS etc. exceeds what IN has to offer. I couldn't even begin to mount an arguement. Same as your observation on DI recruiting. I made a point in an earleir post that a better representation of hoosier girls playing in college is in DII, DIII or NAIA. Exceptations do exist and a number of girls from IN are playing DI. Is the talent gap narrowing between girls from the midwest and those in warmer climates? I would like to think so. That being said, you only have to look at the rosters of some of our DI schools and see the number of Cali, AZ, TX girls far exceeds IN girls. I would love to hear from a parent of our more talented girls and see what if any DI in state recruiting was like. Or an honest opinion from a DI IN coach. My wish for the Circle City Showcase to succeed is in the hopes local DII, DIII and NAIA schools see it as a recruiting tool. If not, teams who want to participate in showcases will be off to Detroit, Elgin, Cincy, Nashville, Boulder, etc. Which then begs the question of whether it is worth the time and money for some players/teams to attend knowing how little interest college coaches may show.

[Blind Squirrel]

[quote="Canocorn"]John - you'll have to bear with us Midwesterners, we are just now figuring which end of the bat to use.

quote]

No time now to respond except to say that if my post was interpreted as a slam on Indiana softball in any way, then I wasn't very clear. I did not mean to be disrespectful or dismissive, nor was that in my mind. Personally, I barely know which end of the bat to use and my kid has been playing for the last 10 years. To answer someone's question, my kid is currently a HS senior.

John

[anonlooker]

Take a look at the last several years at nationals. I think we (midwesterners) have figured out which end to use.

And that's an excellent start!

[coolstuff]

I think this CC showcase will be great for girls who just want to play ball when they go to college, even if its a small school. We've got some quality small schools in Indiana and surrounding states that provide the same caliber of education as big schools - maybe even better. What a great opportunity for a girl to get a partial athletic scholarship, get a good education at a good price, and play the sport she loves! Isn't that what this is about?

[Blind Squirrel]

John - you'll have to bear with us Midwesterners, we are just now figuring which end of the bat to use.

As you said it's the power of numbers. Where Indiana might have 20 16u teams, and 10 18U/Gold that are very competitive, we simple don't have the numbers of people that Socal has.
Also, I can't for the life of figure out, is all the chest thumping of "my daughter is going to a D1 school". It would be different if they had a chance to earn millions playing the sport. I would much rather my daughter attend a private intitution, get playing time as a freshman, and graduate with a meaningful degree. Ask your UCLA girls if they were able to chose any major they wanted, or if there was a specified list of degrees that wouldn't interfer with softball. You can take that general studies degree. You are right about the partitial scholarships for 90% of the players. Which even adds more to my argument.

I think what the posts were about, is how it has become a job, rather just playing the game. Didnt have anything do to with the competition of west coast vs. Midwest.

I like to know how long ago your kid played, because over the last 5 years, the gap is almost non-existent.

I'll make my own anology. People buy Chevrolet's because of their excellent quality compared to Chrysler. But, according to JDPowers, Chrysler's quality is actually better. But the perception is still out there. You can fill in Westcoast for Chevy, and Midwest for Chrysler.


Take a look at the last several years at nationals. I think we (midwesterners) have figured out which end to use.

1. I don't know whether one of the PAC10 kids was forced to select from a list of majors. I know for a fact that the other one was asked what she wanted to major in, responded "I don't know" and was given a booklet describing every major offered at the school. Not one word was said about any particular major(s). It does happen in some schools, no doubt. I don't know what the percentages are. I can just imagine UCLA telling Dr. Dot Richardson that she'll have to be a general studies major.

2. You want your kid to go to a private school? Great! May well be the absolute best thing for her. May not be the best thing for other kids. I wouldn't mind my kid getting a degree from UCLA or any other school in the conferences I mentioned previously. And if I have to pay a fraction of the cost or nothing at all, I'm good with that. I'm already paying for one college education.

3. Chest thumping? You want chest thumping, try the 12U threads. They have a much better reason to be proud that their kids are one of the top few thousand kids who play with other 12 year olds than someone whose kid is (OBJECTIVELY) assessed by college coaches as one of the top 2 or 3 hundred in the country. The irony is that the norm, from my experience, is that the better the kid is, the less inclined the parents are to do much public chest thumping. Every parent is proud and likes to talk about their source of pride. Some do it much more than others.

4. It would be one thing if they had a chance to make millions? That is the only valid criteria for a kid to play D1 ball? Are there not very competitive kids in Indiana that flat out love the game and want to play at the highest level they can in college, while they are enjoying everything else the college experience has to offer? Some kids want to play for a school where part of the experience is attending football games with 80,000 other rabid fans. Some people look back at their college days and consider those memories among their fondest. What constitutes a good fit depends on the kid. Personally, I would love to see my kid get her degree and enjoy to the fullest what may be the four most enjoyable years of her life, as it is for many people. My kid would not enjoy nearly as much playing at a small private school. That doesn't make any other kid wrong or inferior in any way. It is important to you for your kid to play as a Freshman? No problem. It is important to my kid that she plays with and against the best players she can and even hopes that her teammates are much better than her when she gets there. She is confident that she will be able to improve and compete with them at some point. It remains to be seen if she ever gets an at bat. It is not about generalities. It is about what works best for the individual.

BTW, she may not make millions, but she will be saving me tens of thousands of dollars at a time when I can't really afford to pay for a comparable education. I doubt that I am alone.

5. It IS a job to try to successfully market your kid to college coaches. It takes a fraction of the time spent watching them play during a single season.

6. Your car analogy runs completely counter to what I've seen the last 3.5 years at 18G exposure tournaments.

7. The gap is nearly nonexistent? There is obviously no Darwinian softball player evolution going on in non-CA states. Some folks around the country are probably having better success at consolidation of talent. I think a team called the Shamrocks from the East Coast won 18G Nationals a few years back. I'm guessing that team was quite successful in recruiting many of the very best players in their state/surrounding area. I could be completely wrong. I do believe other parts of the country are likely benefiting from playing more months of the year than previously. Outstanding. Consolidate to compensate for lower population and density. Seems logical and appropriate to me.

8. I suspect that there are plenty of Indiana kids who have the talent to play D1 softball and elsewhere. In addition, there are many cases where a kid can get into a college where they would not normally be admitted, because of their softball playing ability. Is enduring the "job" in an attempt to get your kid recruited a no-return exercise in futility? That depends on how the kid's talent compares to other kids around the country in the same grade. To make a blanket statement that, in Indiana, it is a waste of time seems quite inappropriately insulting to Indiana softball players to me.

John

[jag1]

my kid loves to play and compete at the highest level possible. But, if what she does on the field doesn't garner her some attention and an opportunity to play at the next level..........then, darnit, we'll just have to go to college like everyone else.!!lol!... I, for one, am not going to get caught up in all the chasing-scholarships-hype..!(and I will save myself ALOT of headaches and hassle..) if it happens, great, if not, OH WELL..!! I hope the rest of you find your pot of gold....!