Junior College Softball ... let's talk about it

coachjwb

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I've made a few comments on here in the last 6 months, and talked a few times on the radio show about some recent experience I've had with Junior College softball. In full disclosure, I had never seen a junior college game until my daughter Sarah became an Assistant Coach at Tri-C (Cuyahoga Community College here in the Cleveland area) around the first of this year. In the spring, I got to see Tri-C play against several other junior colleges like Owens and Lakeland, and some in the Baltimore area as well, and was impressed by many of the players and the overall quality of play of some of the better teams. The last 2 days, I watched Tri-C play in a fall tourney they hosted against 3 D2 schools and, while they had their hands full, they did win one game and were in most others. In the spring, after seeing Tri-C play Owens, I chose Owens to be my team of the week on the weekly radio show and, in doing my research on them, found out that they finish second in the nation back in 2011.

Here's the thing ... some of these schools can offer up to 24 full scholarships. Here's a link to an article I found ... http://www.collegesportsscholarships.com/junior-college-juco-softball.htm. With the cost of college these days, I see this as a bit of a hidden gem ... essentially, players can go to school free for 2 years, and then possibly to go on and play at a 4 year college. Those girls that played for Tri-C this weekend certainly got some great exposure to some of the coaches they might be interested in playing for down the road. While I would say that most of the junior colleges I've seen play aren't quite as deep as the D2 and D3 schools I've been watching over the last 6 years, there's no reason they couldn't be if more players were thinking about this as an option.

I'm going to ask Bryan Komlos, head coach at Tri-C, to come on one of our future radio shows, but I just wanted to put this out there to raise a little awareness and generate some discussion. Ricky, let's definitely talk about this on the radio show this week as well.
 

WalkOffHR

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Two of the very best softball players I have ever laid eyes on didn't get recruited at all by D1 schools and ended up going to Lakeland this fall.
 

Comp

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As far as I know there is only 1 girl who has 4 national championship rings and for the life of me I cant remember her name at the moment. She won 2 national championships with Phoenix College JC, and then went on to win 2 more playing for UofA. My recollection is she was the shortstop at UofA around 2007-2008.
 

Admin

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I'm on board with you Jeff, I agree that a nice gem to fine, when your standing on a diamond.
Going to update my college with the JC, I wonder how many Junior College have softball programs in Ohio?
 

Coach E.

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The JC is a great fit for the athlete that isn't sure if they can handle the work load of attending college and playing college softball. I am familiar with Owens since it is practically down the road. I have a player from my first travel team Wizards Elite 94 who played her freshman year there last season and is only one of 5 pitchers in program history who achieved over 20 wins in a season. The former coach who build that program but was unfortunately let go after last season was also very successful at placing players to finish out their last two years of eligibility at Dl thru Dlll and NAIA schools. JCs with athletic programs have been providing great opportunities like that for years. I think it never really gets its just due because everyone is always trying to get that almighty Dl scholarship.
 

SoCal_Dad

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JCs are a good option for lots of players that aren't ready either academically or physically for a 4-year college. We have some JCs out here with strong guidance centers that help kids take the right classes so they can transfer to a 4-year college and graduate in 4 years total.

I know a softball player that lost her offer due to an injury before she could sign an NLI. She played a year at a JC and was recruited the following fall. She transferred to an OH D-I the middle of her sophomore year and played 3 years there.

According to the NJCAA web site (click here), there are 6 in OH with softball programs - 5 are Div-II (Clark State, Cuyahoga, Lakeland, Owens and Sinclair) and 1 Div-III (Lorain County). Like the NCAA, Div-III JCs can't offer athletic scholarships.
 

Lenski65

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I wrap satellite campuses in with JUCO's. Depending on their athletic association they also are able to offer scholarships.
 

Lester

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Didn't Bustos go to a Junior College...

Great topic BTW.
 

coachjwb

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SoCal_Dad ... thanks for the info on the JUCO's in Ohio ... not as many as I thought ... I know Tri-C, Lakeland, Sinclair and Owens all play in the same conference.

Coach E ... another reason besides academically and physically might just be financially and that can trump the other two. I know a couple of young ladies who are very good players and who have the grades, but they weren't going to get a big D1 scholarship, and this was a good opportunity for them to get 2 free years of schooling. I know one moved on to a D2 program in year 3 and got some athletic and financial need help, and is going to end up with a 4 year degree at a total cost of about $10K. My daughter played D3 and neither she nor I would have traded her experience for anything, but it took her 5 years to get her degree and be able to play softball 4 years, so you don't want to know how much her total cost was!!

I did receive a PM from someone that the level of play they saw from a couple of the schools wasn't very good, and I will acknowledge I've seen some poor play at this level as well. But as more and more young ladies consider this as an option, my contention is that the level of play could/should improve.
 

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