Brand Name?

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I am only speaking for one coach, myself, as I have no idea what everyone else thinks. For me, if a girl is on a team that I know is a top 10-type of team, that tells me she is at least worth a good look. If she is on a team that is in the top 2 or 3 in the state at 16-U or 18-U, then she is probably worth a very good look.

And then in practical terms, I know my assistant and I are going to be able to get many more looks at the players on top teams because they will be at the tournaments we attend. I think the camps/clinics become more important for girls who aren't playing the top exposure tournaments. And I would suggest attending those camps in 8th-10th grades. If one waits until the summer between junior and senior year to attend, it's then hard to follow up by watching them in games.

If I were a girl on a team that isn't playing Stingrays, Best of the Best, etc., I would make a skills video, get it out there, attend camps/clinics, send e-mails and make phone calls to coaches, set up unofficial visits, and see what happens. When you generate some interest from coaches, make sure they know when and where you are playing every weekend you play. Attend one or more of the games of colleges in which you have a big interest. Determine whether you think you can play at that level. Just generally, get busy with things.

 

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Couldn't have stated it better Bill!

 

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I honestly cant think of anyone who ever got recruited because of school ball, unless youre talking semis/finals type h.s. games.

My dd was first seen by her college coach in a high school indoor league during the winter. There was a lot more beyond that first contact, but all of the girls should understand that they truly never know who may be watching.

 

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Nice post JoeA1010

My 2?. It really depends on the size of the school you are trying to attend. The big name schools want to go to tournaments where they will see lots of talent vs talent. They don't want to see little Susie go 10-10 in some local tournament. They want to see her face top talent because that is what she will face when she goes to college.

The smaller programs may be more willing to stray off the beaten path for a prospect. It's hard for them to out recruit the larger programs.

Your DD needs to ask herself what she wants. If its Big 10, PAC 10, SEC, ACC, then she may have to start running with the big dogs. You just need to see what teams in her age group are willing to butt heads with the big dogs. There are certain orgs that look for the opportunity to shine.

Orgs like the Xpress, Buckeye Heat, Doom, Lasers, Outlaws, Classics have experience in recruiting. That's not even mentioning teams like the Beverly Bandits, Intensity or the Chill.

 

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Very good different points of views that will only help families and players to hopefully reach that goal. Different ways to obtain Div.1, Div.2,Div.3 or NAIA.
Again it sure does help to run with the big dogs and there is a reason why they send more girls to the big show than others, but that does not stop others from making it.

Most important part as the girls work hard on the fields and during practice, they also need to put the work in off the field with contacting coachings and keeping those grades up!

Glad to see a thread like this on here to educate and discuss than most threads on here where it is usually bashing or bad news in certain ways. Im enjoying it!

 

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Just a different perspective....we really didn't begin travel ball as a means to obtain a scholarship. It has been a wonderful way for our daughter and her father to spend time together. They would not have the type of relationship they have without softball. For that reason, all of the money was worth it!! So maybe sit back and evaluate the long range goal. That might help you decide how to spend the money. One last point, $10,000 a year for 4 years goes a long way in paying college tuition.

 

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That $10,000 a year figure that keeps cropping up concerns me. Our team fees are $750. This year we are playing three regular season tournaments that probably require hotel rooms, depending on how much travel time the families choose. And then we will have nationals, which is a very expensive trip. But let's assume that meals cost $40 a day. We have 7 tournaments, excluding nationals, and I'm going to include the $40 even for the tournaments that don't require hotels. So assuming three days of meals per tournaments, that's $840 for meals. Assume 2 nights for the three tournaments, excluding nationals, that require hotels. At $100 per night (and it can be done for less than that), the hotel cost for the three away tournaments is $600.

The Nationals trip can require as many as 5 days of hotel rooms (I'll use $120 per night since that is pretty much the price we've obtained through the ASA tournaments) and meals probably run more like $60 a day. So the Nationals trip is somewhere in the range of $1000-1200 once gas and other miscellaneous things, such as gate passes, are taken into consideration.

My running total has these expenses at approximately $3,500. And there are obviously ways that a family can reduce some expenses such as meals.

It ain't cheap, but it also ain't $10,000.

 

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Some really good answers to this question so far.

In my opinion, the main advantages to playing with a "name" program come if you are specifically targeting D1 softball programs in your recruiting. Here are some of the advantages as I see them.

1. More competitive schedule. This serves two functions. First, players get better by playing against the best. If you think you can play in the Big 10 or SEC, let's see how you do against other players who are being recruited into those schools. Second, college coaches, especially from larger D1 conferences, prefer to attend tournaments where they get the most bang for their buck. Specifically, tournaments where there are a number of teams that have multiple D1 prospects on their roster. After all, college coaches have budgets and limits on recruiting dates so they have to pick the spots that will allow them to see the most competitive players at once in the most competitive setting.

2. History. If a club program has a history of producing D1 players there is a good chance trusted relationships have been built between the collegiate coaching community and the club program. This is particularly true if the club coach is not in a DD coaching situation. The club coach gets more credibility when he or she is there as a coach and not as a parent. Nothing against DD coaches, but the suspicion is that they are often there just for their daughters. No sense that they will be there once the daughter is done so long-term relationships are seldom built with the DD coach.

3. Free flow of information. A club program with an established head who has had players go on to play at schools across the country can get answers to the most important information in the recruiting process. For example "What are you looking for in the 2014 class and how much money do you have?" With this information kids don't waste time chasing schools that are not going to recruit them. It is not always easy to get this information if you have no prior relationship with the college coaching community. Just as importantly, when a player from an established program goes to a college camp, typically the club coach will communicate well in advance with the college in question about the player. Not coincidentally, at the camp the player ends up in the "A" group of campers. The group that gets the extra looks and attention from the coaching staff.

4. Familiarity with what makes a player a potential D1 recruit. If you are a club coach in a well established program, and you have been doing this awhile, you know what a D1 player looks like. There are physical benchmarks that identify the D1 softball recruit. You know whether she has the physical potential to play at that level and you hopefully know how to help develop her physical attributes into softball skills. In other words, you have a better idea on how to get a player from point A to point B. With the recruiting trend towards early identification of players time is of the essence. It is an advantage for a player with high ambitions to be getting her early guidance from someone who has taken others down that road before.

This viewpoint is written from the perspective of players looking to play D1 softball. D2 softball recruiting is somewhat different though many of the D2 coaches hit the major tournaments too. D3 recruiting is often very personal and can be initiated by the recruit herself through a skills video and her club affiliation is much less of a factor. Matter of fact, many D3 coaches assume kids from the big name club programs might not be interested in D3.

It should also be noted that club programs are like anything else. The "in" ones can change over a period of time. So when judging club programs, recent accomplishments should always be weighted a little more heavily than accomplishments five years ago. New programs will pop up where someone at the top learns how to take it to the next level. So nothing is written in stone. Recruiting is dynamic in every respect.

 

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I didn't read all the replies so if I'm saying something already covered my apologies.

1) Big organizations and Big tournaments: College coaches only have so much time they don't have big staffs and in all likely hood the head coach is going to be the one making the call. So, are they going to a tournament where there are 30 kids their interested in or a tournament that has 4 kids in it? If you want to play in front of as many college coaches as possible I think bigger well known organizations is the path of least resistance.

2) College camps: Great place to be recruited also a great place to waste a lot of $$$. Coaches have been known to make it appear their interested when in fact they just want your $$$. So if your kid is a solid OFer, solid bat and Arizona says we would love to see your daughter at our camp, they mean we would love to see your checkbook at our camp. Same kid and Gulas at Ashland came and watched her over the summer, sends a personal invite to her camp, asks you to stay and watch practice and have dinner with her team... She's interested, go to the camp show her your stuff lol. Know where your kid really fits.

 

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@gtq33:

Very nice post.

 

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I honestly cant think of anyone who ever got recruited because of school ball, unless youre talking semis/finals type h.s. games.

Absolutely spot on, and I am going to coach HS so there are no outside motives. As a 16u coach I make more college contacts for players in one month than 99% of HS coaches make in their careers. I even contact Coaches for kids that don't play for me.

Remember when and where the college coaches recruit. I have NEVER had a college coach ask me about a players HS Stats - except her GPA of course......

So to answer the original questions, it isn't always who she plays for - but it is most certainly WHERE she plays and against who. Most of the time that means the more established organizations.

 

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This is one helluva topic and one everyone on this board should read if your daughter's goal is to play in college.

The OP asked does your daughter need to be on a "brand name" team to get the necessary exposure.
1. I'd say the answer to this question is, Yes. If you're relying on your daughter to get seen by the most coaches then you better have her on the correct program. Correct program implies that she will be attending the highest rated showcases that require a track record with competing & winning at the highest level and producing good marketable players.
2. I'd say the answer to this question is, No. If you are doing the required legwork (10-15 hours a week) to get your daughter recruited. The biggest flaw most families have is they just don't understand how much time it takes to get your kid seen. Whether it be D1 - D3 and NAIA you MUST keep in touch with interested coaches on a weekly basis with updates, personal emails and newest footage. This not only shows the coaches you are interested in playing at the next level but most importantly you are interested in the school.

The perfect storm is to get your daughter on one of the top teams that have experienced coaches placing players on college rosters. With recruiting budgets being somewhat limited you'll find that these coaches can only attend some of the higher profile showcases. This in turn relates back to answer #1 and yes your daughter must be on one of these teams. Once she's on the team you still must do the required legwork but you'll also have an advantage of placing her in front of more coaches in a competetive environment.
There's a mantra in the elite ranks that in order to be the best you have to play the best. This relates to recruiting as well. Coaches are more likely to spend their budget on the more elite showcases than the smaller ones. They know the acceptance to these tournaments requires a certain skill level and they want to see these athletes compete on par at their talent level. It does no good for them to travel to a small time exposure tournament if the talent isn't what they need.
I know that there are some organizations on this site that think the selection committees are somewhat skewed on say Stingrays and Best of Best. I'd say their track record of placing players in front of some of the most prominant coaches in the midwest shows they know what they're doing. Year after year there are reports of 50+ coaches in attendance for Stingrays. You may not like that it appears they only accept the same "brand name" teams year after year but IMO, it appears to be exactly what those coaches are looking for. If not, I doubt they would attend.
Here's the bottom line. IMO, yes, you should try to get your daughter on one of the higher level teams. It can only help make the process a little easier. It doesn't mean you don't still have to work your butt off as players and parents but name recognition does drive college interest. I'd seriously take a look at my 16U daughter's schedule and if you don't see these following tournaments:
Stingrays
Best of Best
ASA States
Orland Sparks
Pennsbury
ASA Nationals

then you may want to look a little harder at next tryouts. Again, this by no means she'll never get recruited but I assure you it doesn't hurt.

 

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I will throw something else out there. Maybe Joe can respond to it. It is going to sound selfserving but it is not meant to be...

I have found that when a College Coach understands that I am floating a player to them, and I am a non-parent coach, I tend to get more favorable responses than if I was the parent or a parent coach. Right or wrong, it has been my experience with the coaches we talk to down here.

How that relates to the question is a bit convaluted, but you probably see many more connected non-parent coaches in the larger, more established Organizations/Teams.

 

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^^^
Yes, I agree with that. Not that I won't listen to parent-coaches, but I need to get to know them before putting too much stock into their thoughts. I can think of some out in the NW who were very good and who I knew I could trust, but at least with the non-parent coach, one potential element of conflict is eliminated.

 

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.So to answer the original questions, it isn't always who she plays for - but it is most certainly WHERE she plays and against who. Most of the time that means the more established organizations.

Good point. My daughter was originally seen by the college where she signed because the coaches were there to watch another player. This was at 16u ASA nationals.

 

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I believe the Organization is monumental in aiding a girl to get on the radar scene ... no doubt!! Fact of the matter is you can't get the RIGHT schedule without the brand name. Fair or unfair it is what it is.

Everyone has to do their own do diligence to get noticed. As the majority of the above post emailing, calling, camps, clinics, and visits are also equally important.

Ok now all this is done YOU MUST PERFORM when you are in the spotlight. Or at least have done something to have caught the attention of a college. Now go back to the marketing side AGAIN.

I believe their is more validity in the tougher schedule for the long term. It provides the proper pathway for the closest thing to your college routine. But college will still be way more demanding.

Final thoughts from me. I don't look at it as (to) get to college rather (stay) in college and maintain your scholarship. So many girls can't make it through the freshman year.

Great Topic CHRIS!!!!

 

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Great thread - especially for me as we are on our college hunt right now. We are focusing on D2 / D3 schools. Recently a coach looked at my DD's travel schedule and said "I always go to this tournament - it's right in my back yard!" It's not one of the big showcase tournaments!

As someone said above - you never know when a coach might be watching. You get your name out there, have the grades, drive and skill, and you will get noticed.

I would say the advice I've gotten from this board and her travel team coach has been invaluable. Her coach has a good reputation for getting girls seen.

 

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WOW! Everyone has covered this topic very well from what I can read. If this doesn't help answer the question in the original post, I don't know what would.

Great job gang!

 

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Just heard about this topic from a teammate of dd. The dad asked a college coach this specific question. The college coach said they didn't care as much who his dd played for but who she played against. They wanted to know that week in and week out she was playing against top notch competion.

So the answere as others have stated regardless of the team or org. you have to go play the best and it would appear some orgs. have an advantage getting into those tournies.

So the team you choose must be willing to go play in these tournies and have the ability to get into the tournies. where the big dogs are playing.