NLI Signing Protocol

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I have always wondered this, and it jumped back into my head after seeing a picture of a local player signing her NLI to play college softball. It was at her High School, everyone was dressed in their HS gear, The HS AD and Softball Coach standing there smiling. I know this HS team. They are bad. The coach did nothing for the kid recruiting wise, or softball wise for that matter. She played on a strong showcase team with a parent that handled the recruiting coorespondence for the team. Her parents did the same. The Summer team HC works his contacts hard for every player. And yet to the uninformed the HS coach and AD that did nothing get the picture and can go around saying they "got a kid into a D1 program". I know there are some HS coaches that participate in the process. But in my experience not many.


Am I reading too much into this?

 

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I know when my DD signed her College coach could not be there but her HS Coach and AD were there to talk about her and announce. I think it was just a big deal to sign in front of all your team, friends, students and teachers. And the cake, we can't forget the cake!!!

 

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I know when my DD signed her College coach could not be there but her HS Coach and AD were there to talk about her and announce. I think it was just a big deal to sign in front of all your team, friends, students and teachers. And the cake, we can't forget the cake!!!

Maybe in her case the HS coach is the one that worked to get her signed.

 

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I think the picture is naturally taken at the high school since that's the tradition in all sports, and therefore it is natural to have the high school coach and AD in attendance. I would guess in softball a lot of girls are maybe afraid of offending the high school coach if they invite their travel coach. Also, the travel coach might live an hour or more away and the signing is usually in the middle of a work day, making things difficult.

I suppose there is nothing keeping a travel organization from hosting its own signing day and having all of its signing players present. Again though, this is going to require some travel for many people.

 

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I agree with JoeA. It has a lot to do with tradition. This is what kids and families grow up seeing and what they want if they reach that goal. I also think it has something to do with media coverage. If a Lasers team held a signing day event you would probably never see it in a newspaper. Where would it be? What media would cover it? Most papers cover their local kids, but would they travel to Columbus from Akron to cover a kid signing. Would the Dispatch have any interest in covering a signing event that only had one kid from the Columbus area and 9 from elsewhere around the state. The high school coach and the AD are the ones who know the local media and arrange for media coverage irregardless of their role in the recruiting process.

 

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I have always wondered this, and it jumped back into my head after seeing a picture of a local player signing her NLI to play college softball. It was at her High School, everyone was dressed in their HS gear, The HS AD and Softball Coach standing there smiling. I know this HS team. They are bad. The coach did nothing for the kid recruiting wise, or softball wise for that matter. She played on a strong showcase team with a parent that handled the recruiting coorespondence for the team. Her parents did the same. The Summer team HC works his contacts hard for every player. And yet to the uninformed the HS coach and AD that did nothing get the picture and can go around saying they "got a kid into a D1 program". I know there are some HS coaches that participate in the process. But in my experience not many.


Am I reading too much into this?

It would seem to me that every individual situation could be a bit different. If you had to credit every one who helped the picture could look like a family reunion! How many kids were actually developed by one org. and by the same coach? Even some of the biggest orgs. benefit from a previous coaches work. Then you have too add the personal instructors and physical trainers!
I just hope (as a dad) I get to be in a picture someday!

 

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It would seem to me that every individual situation could be a bit different. If you had to credit every one who helped the picture could look like a family reunion! How many kids were actually developed by one org. and by the same coach? Even some of the biggest orgs. benefit from a previous coaches work. Then you have too add the personal instructors and physical trainers!
I just hope (as a dad) I get to be in a picture someday!

All good points - this HS coach is just a tool. I hated to see him get any of the credit...lol

In most cases where I am at it is the travel coaches at the showcase level that are doing the recruiting work. With all the team jumping that we have it really would have to be a WIDE angle lens to get all the past coaches in the shot.

 

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If you had to credit every one who helped the picture could look like a family reunion!

True dat !

Mom
Dad
T-Ball coach
Rec Ball coach
Travel team coach(es)
Pitching coach
Hitting coach
High School coach
Loan Officer
Jiffy Lube
Tire Store mgr
Parents' psychiatrist
Dog sitter
House sitter
...

 

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All good points - this HS coach is just a tool. I hated to see him get any of the credit...lol

In most cases where I am at it is the travel coaches at the showcase level that are doing the recruiting work. With all the team jumping that we have it really would have to be a WIDE angle lens to get all the past coaches in the shot.

Agree it's tradition. Interesting point about many girls(familes) team hopping. We've done it.

Also interesting that in virtually every college player's bio I have seen (on the college's team site) the kid's high school is listed prominently. Sometimes, if the kid gets a paragraph or two of text, a travel organization is mentioned, too. But seemingly always the high school. With many folks around here, and many college coaches, downplaying the importance of high school ball, why do they do that?

 

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Agree it's tradition. Interesting point about many girls(familes) team hopping. We've done it.

Also interesting that in virtually every college player's bio I have seen (on the college's team site) the kid's high school is listed prominently. Sometimes, if the kid gets a paragraph or two of text, a travel organization is mentioned, too. But seemingly always the high school. With many folks around here, and many college coaches, downplaying the importance of high school ball, why do they do that?

It is an interesting question and goes hand in hand with my original one. During the showcases I have never been asked what HS a player is from or what her HS stats were. But they are interested in the tournaments she plays in the summer/fall and her stats in those.

 

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Also interesting that in virtually every college player's bio I have seen (on the college's team site) the kid's high school is listed prominently. Sometimes, if the kid gets a paragraph or two of text, a travel organization is mentioned, too. But seemingly always the high school. With many folks around here, and many college coaches, downplaying the importance of high school ball, why do they do that?

The SID's at colleges do all of that work and I imagine most college coaches don't give it a lot of thought. I made sure when I was at Whitworth that each player's travel team was listed on her bio and I tried to make sure they included highlights of their travel career, along with high school highlights. I had to explain to the SID that when it came to softball community, almost all girls were far more known for their travel team than their high school team. Also, why not give those travel teams credit and hopefully get some love in return?

At Hillsdale, I made sure each girl listed her travel team and they are on most of our profiles. We are getting a new website sometime this summer or fall, so I'm waiting until then to let the SID know how I would like those bios to look as it concerns their travel ball experience.

 

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Yes, you are reading too much into it. There have been many people that helped my dd develop into a college athlete and it would have been impossible to give them all credit at her signing. Let the hs coaches and AD's share it with the local press because of the logistics. Everyone else knows what role they played and hopefully the girls and parents remember to take the time to thank those people personally.

 

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Yes, you are reading too much into it. There have been many people that helped my dd develop into a college athlete and it would have been impossible to give them all credit at her signing. Let the hs coaches and AD's share it with the local press because of the logistics. Everyone else knows what role they played and hopefully the girls and parents remember to take the time to thank those people personally.

You are right. I just come from a different time. When my daughter played there wasn't team moving like today. All the kids from her team that played in college - and that was almost every player - all knew exactly who prepared them for that step. Our head coach and his assistants were with them all the way and to this day they all would credit them entirely for their successes.

 

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True dat !

Mom
Dad
T-Ball coach
Rec Ball coach
Travel team coach(es)
Pitching coach
Hitting coach
High School coach
Loan Officer
Jiffy Lube
Tire Store mgr
Parents' psychiatrist
Dog sitter
House sitter
...

Now thats funny

 

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You are right. I just come from a different time. When my daughter played there wasn't team moving like today. All the kids from her team that played in college - and that was almost every player - all knew exactly who prepared them for that step. Our head coach and his assistants were with them all the way and to this day they all would credit them entirely for their successes.

Cool thread and I agree with you to a certain point about the HS coach getting credit. When my kid signed she was lucky enough to have her HS & TB coach on hand. Rare these days because of jobs and travel time but we were extremely lucky to be with the same TB coach for years.
Our HS coach deserved about 1% of the credit and I too wondered why it was customary to allow him to be in the picture. I guess you just have to ask yourself - has he/she done enough with my daughter to keep her interested in school ball and does this signing help encourage girls in the school system to play at a higher level? Most cases we have absolutely no idea what our HS coaches do on a daily basis to keep his/her team intact. Have you ever been around 14-18 yr old girls everyday and try to keep them all on the same page? My GOD what a nightmare it can be .
Most of our TB coaches get off easy because they meet with the girls once or twice a week and then put them in the right tourneys on the weekend. The teaching can be more focused because you have a group of girls that all want to play at a higher level and be successful.
HS coaches (for the most part) should get some of the credit because at the end of the day your daughter remained in good standing grade wise and she probably had a blast hanging with her friends. Having a good time can sometimes allow itself to engage in lots and lots of horseplay .
At whatever level, coaching is NOT easy. Let them get a little street cred every once in a while.