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Bingo, Uber.
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College coaches kill 2 birds with 1 stone: watching players from certain teams usually ensures they are playing top level competition
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Agreed, but what org in Ohio has that reputation. I think Lasers, Stingrays, Doom, Ice, Buckeye Heat & Classics would be close. I was just stating that this coach, and others have never heard of these teams. Maybe why Ohio kids going across state lines to play?
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I am probably in the majority but who you play for does definitely make a difference. And if your coach knows and college coaches and will spend time getting you recruited also makes a difference. I quit coaching to hand my kid off to play for a name organization, for a coach that I trusted and who defines success by getting his kids recruited. Don't get me wrong, we and he want to win every game we play but this is about getting them recruited. I have coached for a name organization and also one that was not a named organization. Facts are facts, if you want recruited you have to get them with a name organization, invest in the camps, kick butt in those camps, email the coaches and develop a relationship and then kick butt when they come and see you play.
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Coachmurph, I don't disagree with many of the points you make, however, I think it is important for people to know that if you don't play for team X or Y it doesn't mean you can't play D1 ball. There are other routes players can take to get invited onto a D1 team.
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Have to agree shock, although the organizations in ohio have somewhat of a name in a 100 mile radius of Ohio, they have yet to break into the national scene. The laser org hasn't wanted to break into a regional role and doesn't seem to have the will to get heavily into it at this point. Stingrays seems to have the power and organizational prowess to do it, but we haven't seen much from them either. I cannot comment on the doom org, they seem to want to get it done, but maybe don't have the organizational depth to be a consistent player at the national level.
Don't shoot the messenger on this one. I just seem to see that there is a pent up demand to play top end tournies by the girls here in Ohio. We see all the time on here, parents stating they can't understand why some of the girls in Ohio go out of state to play. It's because NO org in Ohio has been able to be THE team to play on for big time national exposure. I remember try outs at 10u. My dd wanted so bad to land a spot on the stingrays or the lasers it hurt. They were THE teams to play for then. They were the dominant force in regional ball then. Since then they have not branched out onto the national circuit.
My only suggestion would be now that the demand is finally arrived in Ohio, one of these great orgs jump in and create a national powerhouse to compete nationally with the best. It would take a long term commitment to do so and quite a few national sponsors, but it is doable. Just need a leading org to make the decision to be the groundbreaker to do so.
Seems like conroy and the bandit org sees the need, who is ready to jump in locally to step up and do the same?
Herb
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Conroy has the $$$ to do it. That's why he can do what he does. Not taking away the fact that he loves the game. I just don't see his kind of people here in Ohio, at least supporting softball. Think of the team Lex Wexner could field (just recently gifting 100 million to OSU) if he loved softball like Bill Conroy.
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Herb, I gotta disagree with your statement that the Lasers organization isn't known outside a 100 mile radius of Ohio... With Lasers Gold winning 14u Nats and placing well at ASA this year, and the run that JP & Scarlett had, along with Lasers Black and then Aqua and White back in the day putting kids into major programs, there are alot more college coaches from major programs and mid major programs well outside of Ohio (west of the mississippi) that know of the "Lasers" and the talent that those teams put together. I'm hearing that the younger teams Blue, Gray and Red are already attracting Southern interest as well as ACC and Big Ten (outside of Ohio).
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Last I saw of the Lasers their 10u team got beat 12-0 in some Dome in a cornfield and the coach's were having major discussions for HOURS AND HOURS after the game ...... (you will identify your self as an old timer if you get that one)
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some people on this site crack me up, you don't see the teams that get out and travel outside of 100 miles because you don't get out and do it, teams like the Nightmare, lasers and the Doom do get out and play in the big tournaments, maybe they don't go to TX, FL and CA every other weekend but they get to the big tournaments. Some people should not comment on here if they don't know what there talking about.
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Then you must not see the Lasers often.
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Oh I've seen the Lasers on a consistent basis for about 6 years now. ( dd even played with them few times with them , including last fall) If you go back as long long time OFC junkie you would get the joke . I accidentally stirred the hornets nest back in the winter of 2007 .
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I can speak for Laser Black. The name did help us. My dd is going to a school outside of 100 miles - D1 (Morehead State) and it did help. Now, after she got the looks, she had to perform - for sure. Laser Black under Glen's leadership, since I have been there, (1 year), has travelled or will travel to New Jersey, California, Indianapolis, Chatenooga, South Carolina and all over the state. I know that Laser Scarlet did too as well as Gold etc.. I think the thing that you under-estimate is two things: First playing for a coach that helps your kid get recruited. Second, no matter what the crazy dads (and I am one of them), want - the girls make the decision. Those car rides and plane rides to the states mentioned above as well as Utah for Addidas, ASA nationals, Colorado, Ok. City, etc leave an impression on the girls - they either want to be far from home or they don't. And by the way, I don't mind being able to drive down and see her play occasionally. One more thought, alot of the Bandit girls from Ohio are going to local schools - at least within 3 hours. I am happy for all the girls getting to play where they want to play. I get excited everytime I hear about a girls that I have known through coaching or just relationships that lands somewhere - cool stuff!
Coach Murph
Coach Murph
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I like to go to the bars the coaches hang out at and start buying them free drinks. Before long they ask "Got any kids?" Before they can recover they are looking at my presentation which includes highlight dvds, Powerpoint, stat sheets, Youtube links and personal recommendations from everybody I could think of. I will then drag them to an all-night batting cage where she is already ready to show you what she's got.
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I couldnt agree with FLARAYS more. Sure a kid has to be a blue chip type to play at the division one level. I would guess 99.9% of those kids play for a name brand summer team. Flarays has it absolutely right, the coaches want to see how you play against the very best peers you can play against. They could care less you hit .550 in high school because the vast majority of pitchers you face are not college material.Same goes for a summer team that does not play in the better tourneys. Ive seen many high school "great pitchers" get their head handed to them when they tried to play high level summer ball.
Now if a kid is going to play division III, it is a different story.
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I TOTALLY agree with you. Emailing a lot and forming a relationship with the coaches is typically very important. This is not football recruiting... where a girl (unless a true superstar) will have softball college coaches beating her door down. It is up to the family to get her name out there. College coaches want to see genuine interest in their school and their program. Camps are important too.
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At least in our case, this is absolutely true. Our school is kind of specialized in terms of grades and ACT needed for admission and even in other ways, which makes it even more imperative that we know a girl is truly interested, rather than just out throwing darts. Also, it's easier to say yes to a person with whom you have developed a relationship for a year or longer. Of course, it also makes it much more difficult to say no for both the coach and the recruit if that has to be done.
Also, don't fall for the fake methods of showing a true interest that have popped up lately. One e-mail I get at least once a day from girls has a line that says "I've spent quite a bit of time on your website..." Of course, as soon as I see that, I know you have just copied and pasted a form letter from a recruiting service and that you haven't spent any time at all on our website.
It still amazes me that at least 90% of the e-mails I receive show no true specific interest in our school. They wouldn't know Hillsdale (politically conservative) from Oberlin (politically liberal/socialist) and we're living in two different worlds.
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Joe,
Not to be nosy but I've always wondered how many (on average) emails do college coaches see on a daily or weekly basis? I bet it takes hours to sift through all the pre-canned emails to find one genuine recruit.
For all you parents out there - make your child write her own personal emails to these coaches. This process will take hours upon hours but to be truly recruited it's a process you must engage in. As Joe mentioned, don't add fluff or half truths - be honest and personal.
I'll never forget what a D1 coach told us at a camp once: "Parents, we are recruiting your daughter to play for us. If we think she has the talent to be on our roster we will reply and answer her emails only. Do not think we can't tell the difference between a young adult emailing us and a parent's vocabulary."
It takes a ton of work to catch an eye but it takes very little to give up.
Not to be nosy but I've always wondered how many (on average) emails do college coaches see on a daily or weekly basis? I bet it takes hours to sift through all the pre-canned emails to find one genuine recruit.
For all you parents out there - make your child write her own personal emails to these coaches. This process will take hours upon hours but to be truly recruited it's a process you must engage in. As Joe mentioned, don't add fluff or half truths - be honest and personal.
I'll never forget what a D1 coach told us at a camp once: "Parents, we are recruiting your daughter to play for us. If we think she has the talent to be on our roster we will reply and answer her emails only. Do not think we can't tell the difference between a young adult emailing us and a parent's vocabulary."
It takes a ton of work to catch an eye but it takes very little to give up.
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OMG! Seriously? IDK what you're talking about. It's OBVI that my daughter and I write the same way. Oh, well. Y.O.L.O.
