When it comes to fastpitch softball and recruiting, one of the most trusted experts in the space is Cathi Aradi, who has helped thousands of players and parents better understand the recruiting process through her clinics and consulting work.

She works individually with athletes to guide them through the recruiting journey and also offers Skype workshops on the college search process for groups of all sizes.

For more information on the workshops, go to www.fastpitchrecruiting.com or you can email Cathi at info@fastpitchrecruiting.com or call 415-456-6449.. 

Cathi has also written and published the book “Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level 2015 Edition” considered the No. 1 book covering high school softball and the 2015 edition of her book is now available from the NFCA.  It’s got the latest recruiting info, including the new Div. III contact guidelines and the pending academic changes for both Div. I and Div. II.

Cathi has graciously agreed to contribute recruiting articles to help players and parents navigate the tricky waters of the recruiting process.

Today’s article talks about the fall ball season and the realities of a packed schedule of events and a limited amount of time college coaches can check out players!

It’s always harder to play travel ball in the fall, particularly if you are a senior who needs to visit colleges or take SAT’s and ACT’s or one who is working to bring up your grades.

In the past (10-15 years ago), West Coast teams, for example, would play two or three local tourneys or round robin/scrimmage type games, and then they would go to So Cal for one or two tournaments, generally the Octoberfest and the Thanksgiving tournaments.

Travel coaches always knew they’d be missing kids at local tourneys or scrimmages, but generally could work around that and get the players to one or both of the big So Cal tournaments.

And college coaches who lived outside the area would fly out to the Octoberfest or the Thanksgiving event, but they would only rarely come out for both unless they were still in need of senior recruits or had very good travel budgets.

However, the hunt for the almighty dollar prompted every tournament promoter and his or her son to try to “horn in” on the exposure tourney trend.

If you looked at last year’s calendar, there were events in California alone from Labor Day until the weekend before Thanksgiving. Someone is always having a “showcase” or scouting event.

Some travel teams are playing more games in the fall than in the summer and some kids are missing school every week for one event or another.

Fall showcases are more complex to run than elimination tournaments and often need lots of fields–particularly if admitting 100 teams. This can require college coaches to spend more time in the car than at the games!

If your travel team doesn’t have an “in” with the tournament director, or you’re not considered a top, top travel team, you may well end up with the 8 am and 8 pm games out at the satellite field where you’re lucky if any coaches turn up.

And—no matter what any tournament director tells you—there’s one big “catch” in all of this fall tournament planning. (Please pass this along to everyone you know, including your travel coaches.)

This is fall ball. That means colleges are in session. Many have fall (or non-traditional) seasons during which they practice and play–e.g., scrimmages, round robins, double headers or tournaments.

Once again…when does all this college fall ball take place? In the fall! That means from late August or early Sept. to early November, many coaches are busy coaching their teams.

Here are some things to think about:

• Consideration #1: Even if a college coach wanted to scout every weekend in the fall, most of them could not. (And trust me, they don’t want to scout every weekend in the fall…they don’t even like doing it in the summer.)

• Consideration #2: Many college coaches have recruits come for visits on weekends from Sept. to Nov. And generally, they want to be on campus when they have recruits in.

• Consideration #3: If you survey all the colleges east of Nevada, I’m betting the ranch you would find that the majority of them would tell you this. “If (and that’s a big IF) we travel in the fall to scout–e.g., if we have the money, the time, the resources–we would probably go to one or maybe two of the West Coast tournaments. And we’d likely only go to two of them if we were (unfortunately) still hunting for this year’s grads or if we had an unusually big recruiting class coming up in the next two years.” I’m also betting that many of the coaches at schools east of the Mississippi who travel would tell you they go to events in Texas or Florida or New Jersey.

Yes, it’s true that some coaches go to three or four fall tourneys. But they all won’t be out there every weekend. And their long-distance travel will be limited.

In fact, many D-II and NAIA coaches will have prospects come in and work out with their teams rather than trying to see them at a tournament while coaches at D-I or D-III schools may run weekend camps.

One of the key issues parents may not understand and travel coaches tend to ignore is that by October, most D-I schools have either gotten commitments or are having their last few prospects visit while waiting for them to commit.

They’ll go scout in the fall–sometimes for walk-ons or a sudden, unexpected need–but mostly it’s for kids from the new sophomore or junior classes (and where the big D-I schools are concerned, they’re looking at freshmen).

The point here is that if you’re looking at younger players, you don’t have to be out every weekend. Your recruiting is important, but not urgent.

So how does this affect you? Do your homework–uncommitted seniors in particular. Remember, coaches may go to these tournaments, but if they don’t look for you, chances are good you won’t be seen. And they won’t look for you if you’re not on their radar.

Here’s some additional rationale behind all of this:

• 90 percent of colleges are east of Colorado so 90 percent of kids will play there. If you all want to stay West, then your options may be limited.

• Remember that in addition to the above statistic 75 percent of all teams are D-II, III or NAIA. D-II, D-III and NAIA coaches often don’t start serious recruiting until players have finished their junior year. And since they tend not to scout off campus as much as D-I’s coaches and can have kids in for workouts instead, you may want to focus on getting invited to a college to show your skills. It may be better than hoping a coach shows up at a tournament and watches you have two at-bats and four innings in the outfield. Worse, if you’re a pitcher who’s not pitching the one game a coach comes to see, you could just be out of luck. But at a D-II or NAIA, you could go throw for them all you (or they) want!

That’s my two cents worth, but no matter what you do, remember this is supposed to be fun for everyone. It’s a game! (Well, except for college coaches…for them it’s a job!)

Catharine Aradi is the author of Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level, published by the National Fastpitch Coaches Assoc. (www.nfca.org).  She has over 20 years of experience working as a recruiting consultant with athletes and colleges around the U.S and Canada.  If you would like knowledgeable, one-on-one guidance through the often bewildering labyrinth of recruiting, Ms. Aradi’s company, Collegiate Softball Connection, offers “concierge” recruiting services.  Unlike corporate websites that rely upon mass marketing of hundreds and hundreds of athletes, Ms. Aradi works with the individual player and her family to ensure a successful college search.  Detailed information is available on her website www.fastpitchrecruiting.com. Cathi can be reached by e-mail at info@fastpitchrecruiting.com or by calling 415-456-6449. Remember: if you use the code “fullcountsoftball” when signing up with CSC, you will be entitled to a $100 discount off her Fast Track or Elite options!

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