College Scholarships

[stlbrd]

The reverse would be that if it is OK for 49 states then why try it. As you have probably guessed by now I am a fan of high school sports. Travel ball is great, in the summer, when school is out.

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Okay, I guess you got me there. As you can probably tell, I am a travel ball coach who is extremely tired of having to "put" a team together in order to "form" a team in the spring. I have girls that play middle school ball and some that choose not to due to the level of competetion being better in travel ball.

 

I honestly feel that girls softball is somewhat different than other sports in that they are "looked at" more in the summer when they are playing travel ball. I only feel that it would be more beneficial for the "serious player" to play as much travel ball as possible. Maybe I am just being selfish.............oh well.

 

ERA, awesome post, I definitely can relate and I commend you on a job well done! The memories you have created will last forever and I am sure you will enjoy them for many years! thumb

[CoachT]

ERA,

 

That was a great post!  You have a right to be very proud.

 

Now as far as college teams and playing HS softball in the fall....

 

It is a competitive world.  The competition is not limited to our particular little corner in Tennessee.  Why is it that most colleges are going after players from the sunshine states?  THESE PLAYERS HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE!  THEY HAVE MORE PLAYING TIME!  Does this matter to the TSSAA or to the local school administrators.  No.  Why not?  Because all they are concerned about is following the established rules, reducing conflicts, and leveling the school ball playing field.  It is not TSSAA's concern whether or not your little Susie or Johnny gets a college scholarship.  IMO, TSSAA should have student/athlete representation to give the athletes a voice, but that's for a different thread. 

 

To summarize, to be competitive you need to play as much as possible.  The best chance for good weather is in the fall.  In Tennessee we are already behind because of our winters and the wet spring weather.  I guess the serious baseball and softball players could move to California or Arizona.

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Every school has a voice on the TSSAA Board of Control and the Board of Control are the ones who can make the changes you want. If enough schools want the changes then they can get them. If not then it is simply because there is not enough interest in changing.

 

If travel ball is as great as the claims on here indicate then that is where the college scouts will be, isn't it? So play travel ball in the summer and fall and showcase yourselves then. If you are already doing that and it is not enough then moving high school softball to the fall is not going to solve the problem. You will end up with high school ball in the fall and travel ball in the spring when the weather is so awful. (I never noticed how terrible the weather in the spring was. I always look forward to spring. Guess I'll start having to look forward to fall instead, for reasons other than football..er..I mean softball.)

 

My suggestion is what ERA says, in a roundabout way: play the game hard and enjoy it no matter WHEN it is played. THAT might get you a scholarship.

[FPFanatic]

Okay, I guess you got me there.  As you can probably tell, I am a travel ball coach who is extremely tired of having to "put" a team together in order to "form" a team in the spring.  I have girls that play middle school ball and some that choose not to due to the level of competetion being better in travel ball.

 

I honestly feel that girls softball is somewhat different than other sports in that they are "looked at" more in the summer when they are playing travel ball.  I only feel that it would be more beneficial for the "serious player" to play as much travel ball as possible.  Maybe I am just being selfish.............oh well.

 

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like coacht says, this is not a travel ball softball board, it is a high school softball

board; it is not directed to the serious softball player, fan, or coach; in other

words, it is not directed to the biggest contributor to the high school game; in fact,

travel softball is so insignificant that it has to share a board on this website with

travel basketball.

but anyway, little of this has anything to do with why the BIG colleges are not

recruiting all the state's talent, or why high school ball should be played in the Fall,

those are totally seperate and unrelated issues, a more relevant question is why are so many of the state colleges and universities doing so poorly in the game

today? (MTSU, APSU, TSU, BELMONT, LIPSCOMB, etc,) quite a few have losing or

barely breakeven records and have had revolving doors for coaches, a lot of

these schools are recruiting the best state talent, but yet due to a myriad of

reasons-lack of administrative support, coaching issues, etc., etc, still do not win,

although we all know winning is not that important in college ball. (lol)

 

just my humble opinion

[CoachT]

like coacht says, this is not a travel ball softball board, it is a high school softball

board; it is not directed to the serious softball player, fan, or coach; in other

words, it is not directed to the biggest contributor to the high school game; in fact,

travel softball is so insignificant that it has to share a board on this website with

travel basketball.

but anyway, little of this has anything to do with why the BIG colleges are not

recruiting all the state's talent, or why high school ball should be played in the Fall,

those are totally seperate and unrelated issues, a more relevant question is why are so many of the state colleges and universities doing so poorly in the game

today?  (MTSU, APSU, TSU, BELMONT, LIPSCOMB, etc,)  quite a few have losing or

barely breakeven records and have had revolving doors for coaches, a lot of

these schools are recruiting the best state talent, but yet due to a myriad of

reasons-lack of administrative support, coaching issues, etc., etc, still do not win,

although we all know winning is not that important in college ball. (lol)

 

just my humble opinion

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It is not that travel softball is so insignificant, it is that high school softball is so significant, or should be. CoachT.com is for Tennessee High School Sports.

 

Do high school athletes view the colleges you mention above as small-time? I admit that is the impression I get from this thread. Is signing anything other than an SEC, ACC, Big Ten, etc scholarship perceived to be a failure, or settling for something less than your goal? If so, then that could be why those schools are doing so poorly. I have seen comments on other boards about so-and-so signing with Tech, or APSU, or UTC, and fans comment that they thought those players would be able to play at "better" schools than those. Is that the perception? Do good, talented players think that if those schools are the best they can do then they would just as soon not play at all?

[stlbrd]

like coacht says, this is not a travel ball softball board, it is a high school softball

board; it is not directed to the serious softball player, fan, or coach; in other

words, it is not directed to the biggest contributor to the high school game; in fact,

travel softball is so insignificant that it has to share a board on this website with

travel basketball.

but anyway, little of this has anything to do with why the BIG colleges are not

recruiting all the state's talent, or why high school ball should be played in the Fall,

those are totally seperate and unrelated issues, a more relevant question is why are so many of the state colleges and universities doing so poorly in the game

today?  (MTSU, APSU, TSU, BELMONT, LIPSCOMB, etc,)  quite a few have losing or

barely breakeven records and have had revolving doors for coaches, a lot of

these schools are recruiting the best state talent, but yet due to a myriad of

reasons-lack of administrative support, coaching issues, etc., etc, still do not win,

although we all know winning is not that important in college ball. (lol)

 

just my humble opinion

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While we are on the subject......what are the chances of getting a travel softball board.......sorry, just being selfish again. Seriously, I think it would generate a lot of interest (I know it would).

[std]

My opinion in choosing a college is that it should have nothing at all to do about the college's position in the pecking order of the softball world and everything to do with what the college has to offer in the way of a career track for the student athlete esp. in women's sports. ERA I remember when Danielle was first watched by the Lipscomb coach at the South Atlantic Regional tournament when she picthed against the Brown's Mill Jackets out of Georgia. I remember telling her that Lipscomb was an excellent choice not because of softball but because of their academic reputation esp. their success in pre-professional programs. Two other players on our team that summer made decisions to go to the "bigger programs" and guess where they are today? Not at the "bigger programs." This is about the future and what best serves a means to that end. Danielle made a great decision, one based on the future.

[stlbrd]

It is not that travel softball is so insignificant, it is that high school softball is so significant, or should be. CoachT.com is for Tennessee High School Sports.

 

Do high school athletes view the colleges you mention above as small-time? I admit that is the impression I get from this thread. Is signing anything other than an SEC, ACC, Big Ten, etc scholarship perceived to be a failure, or settling for something less than your goal? If so, then that could be why those schools are doing so poorly. I have seen comments on other boards about so-and-so signing with Tech, or APSU, or UTC, and fans comment that they thought those players would be able to play at "better" schools than those. Is that the perception? Do good, talented players think that if those schools are the best they can do then they would just as soon not play at all?

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I don't think FPFanatic meant these schools were "small time" only that their softball programs were not given the attention they need. All of the schools mentioned are great schools and should never be considered "small time".

[CoachT]

I don't think FPFanatic meant these schools were "small time" only that their softball programs were not given the attention they need.  All of the schools mentioned are great schools and should never be considered "small time".

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I certainly don't. I graduated from one of them and my two college age kids attend UTC (he is now at Columbia State for a semester for medical reasons) and ETSU.

[CoachT]

While we are on the subject......what are the chances of getting a travel softball board.......sorry, just being selfish again.  Seriously, I think it would generate a lot of interest (I know it would).

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There is plenty of room for all of the travel teams on the boards available for boys and girls AAU & Travel Teams. If there gets to be too much traffic on there for one board then I will gladly create more.

[FPFanatic]

I don't think FPFanatic meant these schools were "small time" only that their softball programs were not given the attention they need.  All of the schools mentioned are great schools and should never be considered "small time".

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First of all, like it is mentioned elsewhere and throughout this thread, when it

comes to the post-secondary academia/athletics dicothomy (sp), no where in no

school situation should the academic and athletic programs be termed as

BIG/SMALL or SMALL/BIG at any specific school, since there is no relation to the

two. Example, BIG schools may have SMALL academic programs and vice versa,

there is no relation anywhere, it varies wherever you look and go. This is simple

apples and oranges, black and white, day and night, etc. There is no relation to

academics and athletics in any general comparisons or terms.

I agree that these local colleges/universities do not get adequate institutional and

administrative support in this sport and maybe other sports as well, you can see that if you have been around for a few years. I think it goes back to bad decisions

made a few years ago for some of these schools to go D1, it has nothing to do

with their academic programs which are outstanding. In fact, there is no doubt

they all have D1 academic programs, but still lag behind with the type of support

of a D2, or D3, or NAIA program, which tells me that they should never have gone

up to D1 in the first place, since they can not afford it or support it, and there is

nothing wrong with D2, or D3, or NAIA either in athletics. Some of the best and

most talented athletes decided to play at these smaller divisions and there is

nothing WRONG with that. My daughter like a lot of others decided to play JUCO,

so I understand this as well as anyone, I just think it would be better for some of

these local schools to play to their own level of supported competition, instead of

playing out of their own levels of support. Look at Trevecca which does very well,

also Sewanee which won their conference last year, also Maryville, Lee, and other

schools that continue to do very well playing to their own level of competition (while having GREAT academic programs).

Just my humble opinion.

[Bleacherbum]

My opinion in choosing a college is that it should have nothing at all to do about the college's position in the pecking order of the softball world and everything to do with what the college has to offer in the way of a career track for the student athlete esp. in women's sports.  ERA I remember when Danielle  was first watched by the Lipscomb coach at the South Atlantic Regional tournament when she picthed against the Brown's Mill Jackets out of Georgia.  I remember telling her that Lipscomb was an excellent choice not because of softball but because of their academic reputation esp. their success in pre-professional programs.  Two other players on our team that summer made decisions to go to the "bigger programs" and guess where they are today?  Not at the "bigger programs."  This is about the future and what best serves a means to that end.  Danielle made a great decision, one based on the future.

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STD, you are correct...the girl should choose whatever college best fits her overall future needs. The Catalano girls picked a good school in Lipscomb....a great academic school.

The end result of their academic career should be the same(a degree), its just how you obtain that result is a bit different in "smaller" schools vs "bigger name" schools. Its like driving a car to the store....driving a toyota vs driving a Lexus...you still get to the store and complete your mission, you just did it in a differenty style.

Bigger schools devote more time, money, etc into their softball programs. Their kids get to pick from the best dorms, eat the best foods, travel in luxury, get the pick of the classes, get the best tutors, play against the best competition, have the best stadiums, and fitted in the best clothes, and ultimately, are treated like stars, people waiting on them hand and foot. But with that, comes a tremendous amount of responsibility and pressures associated with trying to win a national championship.

Some girls just dont want all of that and are just as happy at a "smaller" school, which is great. Such as Lipscomb, it would be nice if they could compete for a national championship, but as we all know, that will not happen..their goal is to compete within their own league, hopefully get a chance to play in the NCAA tourney, but most importantly, enable them to become better citizens and future leaders by helping them earn a degree.