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Bouldersdad brings up a lot of good points.
Naturally, everyone has had different experiences as their DD went through their journey to college and opinions will very as it relates to the importance of playing for your HS.
I encourage the ladies to support/play for their school but I also understand why some choose not to.
From my experience in the process working with HS and TB teams there are some good and some not so good programs with both.
Not all coaches work to help the ladies into post secondary play or are willing to learn the process so they can help their ladies. Some HS programs are safety issues as well... I have seen some very bad programs and most do not even come close to a LEB., Mason, Lakotas, GE, Milford or one of the top programs in our area. HS ball for the most part does not even come close to a college experiance. Grades in some schools...classwork again not the same expectations as college and the athletic/practice requirements not close for the majority of programs...
After working and attending many combines, clinics and showcase tournaments this discussion comes up periodically and I have had a couple coaches tell me they would like to see their players play HS ball however; with that said if the lady is a 'player" she will get looks and offers regardless if she plays school ball or not.
During my DDs recruiting process she had several school from D1 to NAIA looking at her (none asked about HS ball). They did ask about grades, attendance and summer team info. (who/where she played)?
As far as the posters that post about HS awards. My DD basically played one full varsity season to collect a lot of hardware her senior year. She played 14 Varsity games as a freshman2010, sat out her Soph. year 2011. Broke her ankle the 10th game of the season in 2012 and played a full year in 2013 leading her team and conference in several categories hitting/fielding, Paper clips, all star app etc.
HS ball for her was more for her and her team more than anything that would help her in the recruiting process. She loved her HS coach her JR/SR years and it is cool to get into the paper/news and that is something HS ball can do that TB cannot.
A little off topic but still relevant; the dedication from the 93,94,95 age groups is something special. I am working with the younger age groups now and our HS and the level of commitment is not the same.
Now there are some good players outside of these age groups but nothing like what I seen out of these age groups the past 10 years. This year with our HS team we had one TB player. The rest were All Stars on their Rec.team and thought what they did in the past was good enough for HS. We went 4-20! Off of, back to back sweet 16 D1 appearances.
A lot of players also now have no interest in playing beyond HS add in higher pay to play and a lot of TB parents have to decide on the ROI of playing HS ball and the cost of summer ball.
Naturally, everyone has had different experiences as their DD went through their journey to college and opinions will very as it relates to the importance of playing for your HS.
I encourage the ladies to support/play for their school but I also understand why some choose not to.
From my experience in the process working with HS and TB teams there are some good and some not so good programs with both.
Not all coaches work to help the ladies into post secondary play or are willing to learn the process so they can help their ladies. Some HS programs are safety issues as well... I have seen some very bad programs and most do not even come close to a LEB., Mason, Lakotas, GE, Milford or one of the top programs in our area. HS ball for the most part does not even come close to a college experiance. Grades in some schools...classwork again not the same expectations as college and the athletic/practice requirements not close for the majority of programs...
After working and attending many combines, clinics and showcase tournaments this discussion comes up periodically and I have had a couple coaches tell me they would like to see their players play HS ball however; with that said if the lady is a 'player" she will get looks and offers regardless if she plays school ball or not.
During my DDs recruiting process she had several school from D1 to NAIA looking at her (none asked about HS ball). They did ask about grades, attendance and summer team info. (who/where she played)?
As far as the posters that post about HS awards. My DD basically played one full varsity season to collect a lot of hardware her senior year. She played 14 Varsity games as a freshman2010, sat out her Soph. year 2011. Broke her ankle the 10th game of the season in 2012 and played a full year in 2013 leading her team and conference in several categories hitting/fielding, Paper clips, all star app etc.
HS ball for her was more for her and her team more than anything that would help her in the recruiting process. She loved her HS coach her JR/SR years and it is cool to get into the paper/news and that is something HS ball can do that TB cannot.
A little off topic but still relevant; the dedication from the 93,94,95 age groups is something special. I am working with the younger age groups now and our HS and the level of commitment is not the same.
Now there are some good players outside of these age groups but nothing like what I seen out of these age groups the past 10 years. This year with our HS team we had one TB player. The rest were All Stars on their Rec.team and thought what they did in the past was good enough for HS. We went 4-20! Off of, back to back sweet 16 D1 appearances.
A lot of players also now have no interest in playing beyond HS add in higher pay to play and a lot of TB parents have to decide on the ROI of playing HS ball and the cost of summer ball.