STOP LYING to these kids and families

[Doomdad]

I have coached A level for almost 10 years now and I see the same thing EVERY tryout season. These "used car salesman" so called coaches/organizations that tell them they are going to be a "Showcase" team and are going to get these kids recruited - When in fact they have no clue how to do it.

Stop falling for this!!

I have seen some great players never make it just because they believed these sales pitches

I want to start a list of coaches that HAVE REALLY DONE IT- Not just once but year after year

In no particular order and I don't know all of them in Ohio but have a good idea of the ones I have seen year after year.



Mike Libecap- (Myself) Doom- -- Now recruiting for Central Ohio Pride-
Justin Smith Central Ohio Pride
Joe Ogg- Central Ohio Pride
Tim Shepherd- Outlaws, Doom
Rona Dorsey- Bandits
Allphin/Caudill- Doom
Tim Gregory-Doom
Jeff Hill- Doom
Mark Santos - Valley Storm and Doom
Doug Lenos - Hawks
Jaime Wolf - Wolfpack
Tim Adams- Hawks
Hutchinson- Hawks-
Julie Joseforsky- Hawks
Warren Wolf- Outlaws - I know Warren has had some other coaches in the org do it but not sure of their names
Russ Smith- Ohio Thunder
Chris Lucas- Lasers
John Mileski- Ohio Thunder
Danny Bay- USSSA Pride
Josh Moody- Lasers
Mike Waddell- Lasers
AJ Young- Outlaws (Retired)
Doug Mix- (retired) Classics
Jason Parsons - Outlaws- (retired)
Donny Holbrook- Lasers
Brian Purdy- (Team Ohio)
Glen Widner- Lasers
Matt Pope- Stingrays (Now Outlaws)
Shawn Bray- Team Ohio (Now Lasers)
Mike Mease- Team Ohio (Lourdes Asst. Coach)
Troy Collins- Wolfpack (Now Outlaws)

I know there may be some others and if they have done it MORE THAN ONCE please add their name below

I'm just tired of seeing these great players have no clue what to do to get recruited and people lying!

I had a great player come to tryouts that played on a so called Showcase team that didnt even know how to make a skills video, what to say in a introduction email or what to do at a camp to stand out..

 

[Passion4theGame]

I can add to this Mike. There's a number of young athletes out there that are moving to new Orgs/ teams this year due to recruiting issues or lack their of.

The amount of 2023 & 2024s calling me that have no idea how to email coaches, set up visits, or even phone calls just blows my mind!


That's just a quick list of guys off top of my head that you didn't list. I highly respect these coaches and they always have solid teams. I'm sure if I took time I could list a few more.

Danny Bay- USSSA Pride
Josh Moody- Lasers
Mike Waddell- Lasers
AJ Young- Outlaws (Retired)
Donny Holbrook- Lasers
Brian Purdy- (Team Ohio)
Matt Pope- Stingrays (Now Outlaws)
Shawn Bray- Team Ohio (Now Lasers)
Mike Mease- Team Ohio (Lourdes Asst. Coach)
Troy Collins- Wolfpack (Now Outlaws)

 

[Stedman00]

Tim Adams - Ohio Hawks. Entire squads multiple years.

 

[FC2019]

I can say i have not said to any of my girls i would get them recruited but all i have told them i would do the best i can to get them in front of coaches as much as possible it is up to them to email..email...email and i will do what i can .. However you are right about the car salesman coaches i dont know the ones you said personally but have lost athletes to them and then they lied to them and the next year they are looking again

 

[Player532]

Not trying to throw shade at the other couple hundred orgs in Ohio but..... look at the Orgs these coaches are associated with. Established and highly regarded with proven track records. Hawks, Outlaws, Lasers, Doom, Team Ohio, Stingrays, and id put Thunder elite and a couple others in there too. Not saying you cant get there from another org but the tried and true with recruiting coordinators and phone full of contacts definitely give you some advantages. I sincerely hope every young lady with a dream of playing in college makes it come true.

 

[Passion4theGame]

Not trying to throw shade at the other couple hundred orgs in Ohio but..... look at the Orgs these coaches are associated with. Established and highly regarded with proven track records. Hawks, Outlaws, Lasers, Doom, Team Ohio, Stingrays, and id put Thunder elite and a couple others in there too. Not saying you cant get there from another org but the tried and true with recruiting coordinators and phone full of contacts definitely give you some advantages. I sincerely hope every young lady with a dream of playing in college makes it come true.

Thunder Elite For sure. Great Org with some great coaches. Steiner coming back coaching is Huge for the Org.

another coach that did an outstanding job helping players with recruiting, Joe Ogg (C.O. Pride).


I don’t think any of the coaches listed ever tell Athletes they can guarantee recruitment.
It’s a process.
There has to be a plan in place and if that plan is in place and you trust the process great things will work out. Everyone on the ship has to do work. Coaches, Athletes, parents.
It’s a lot of work but it can also be fun if you make it fun.

I highly recommend private recruiting seminars for coaches and Athletes & families. I try to do one every fall with my team. Get a solid college coach, someone that is in the trenches daily to walk these families and you as a coach through it. Ours always last roughly 3hrs.

zoom meetings with coaches. Joe Abraham and some others would put these together and there’s a lot of information we can learn from everyone out there.

Personally, I try to learn something from every coach I meet. I don’t care if they have been coaching less years than myself. I still try to learn something from them.

The day we stop wanting to learn and get better is the day we should get out of it.

Bottom line there’s a lot of great coaches out there that bust their Butts to help these Athletes and families and we enjoy the process.

 

[CARDS]

Honestly there are a lot of coaches and organizations that have very little experience with guiding families towards a post secondary pathway and others that do not get the credit they deserve.

Having been involved in secondary education for over 25 years even most high schools even struggles with getting together a guidance department that understands the various pathways a student athlete can take to get into college, apply for financial assistance or get financial assistance or use the classes they have already completed to reduce their college expenses.

There are a lot of schools that have 25% to 100% FREE tuition or a reduced CH cost for athletes especially; with the HBCU's that has a lot of scholarships students can apply for. JC, NAIA, small DI, DII and even DIII schools have grants/scholarships opportunities a lot of coaches do not know about.

Its not just local clubs that stretch how or where their players have landed. Beverly Bandits, Bullets, Intensity, Mustangs etc. have all claimed ladies that earned scholarships at big time college programs from lesser know name travel programs.. Same thing happens

 

[CoachTEA]

Thanks for call-out Mike! Good luck to you and Summer at the CO Pride.

I have coached A level for almost 10 years now and I see the same thing EVERY tryout season. These "used car salesman" so called coaches/organizations that tell them they are going to be a "Showcase" team and are going to get these kids recruited - When in fact they have no clue how to do it.

Stop falling for this!!

I have seen some great players never make it just because they believed these sales pitches

I want to start a list of coaches that HAVE REALLY DONE IT- Not just once but year after year

In no particular order and I don't know all of them in Ohio but have a good idea of the ones I have seen year after year.



Mike Libecap- (Myself) Doom- -- Now recruiting for Central Ohio Pride-
Justin Smith Central Ohio Pride
Joe Ogg- Central Ohio Pride
Tim Shepherd- Outlaws, Doom
Rona Dorsey- Bandits
Allphin/Caudill- Doom
Tim Gregory-Doom
Jeff Hill- Doom
Mark Santos - Valley Storm and Doom
Doug Lenos - Hawks
Jaime Wolf - Wolfpack
Tim Adams- Hawks
Hutchinson- Hawks-
Julie Joseforsky- Hawks
Warren Wolf- Outlaws - I know Warren has had some other coaches in the org do it but not sure of their names
Russ Smith- Ohio Thunder
Chris Lucas- Lasers
John Mileski- Ohio Thunder
Danny Bay- USSSA Pride
Josh Moody- Lasers
Mike Waddell- Lasers
AJ Young- Outlaws (Retired)
Doug Mix- (retired) Classics
Jason Parsons - Outlaws- (retired)
Donny Holbrook- Lasers
Brian Purdy- (Team Ohio)
Glen Widner- Lasers
Matt Pope- Stingrays (Now Outlaws)
Shawn Bray- Team Ohio (Now Lasers)
Mike Mease- Team Ohio (Lourdes Asst. Coach)
Troy Collins- Wolfpack (Now Outlaws)

I know there may be some others and if they have done it MORE THAN ONCE please add their name below

I'm just tired of seeing these great players have no clue what to do to get recruited and people lying!

I had a great player come to tryouts that played on a so called Showcase team that didnt even know how to make a skills video, what to say in a introduction email or what to do at a camp to stand out..

 

[HITTER23]

The problem with a post like this is coaches you didnt mention on your list gets lumped into the "used salesman" category. Yes, there is those unscrupulous coaches out there, but there are also coaches who may not have done it to the extent of griseled veterans but indeed get the job done.

 

[Stedman00]

it doesn't take a genius to see and disprove some of these 'car salesmen' type coaches. AND for the record, i have zero problems with 'Mr. Johnson' coaching some local team of select players in a rec, select, D level travel team arena. Wins a bunch of those games. Girls all happy, involved, parents happy, etc. Enjoy the experience.

Where I get heartburn is the same Mr. Johnson starts crowing that they are winning 70% of their games (which when looked on GC is actually closer to 60%), and posts looking for A/B level players to join his amazing A/B level team. It is simply not true and BLATANT LYING!!!!! Mr. Johnson is only hurting himself, since if they do actually attend a tryout, the A level player is going to be like "what the heck is this? , i'm out. And then Mr. Johnson gets the reputation as a liar and it's all down hill from there.

And then Mr Johnson takes his team 20 miles down the road to a slightly bigger tournament, with some real B teams entered. And predictably, gets blasted in all their games and all parents are screaming and upset at the B teams for hanging a bunch of runs on them. It's not the B team's fault that Mr. Johnson is coaching a team of C or D skill level players , that can't compete on a bigger stage.

Rep your team for exactly what they are, whatever that level is, and play ball at that level.


And lastly, if player X is close to same area as Mr. Johnson, post on a social media site, looking for a new A/B travel team, please MR. Johnson do NOT answer her post and invite her to your tryout. You're wasting your time and look like a fool with zero reading comprehension skill.

rant complete.