Today’s recruiting topic deals with preparing for summer ball –which is right around the corner!—and how to put yourself in a position to get noticed and, hopefully, recruiting to the school of your dreams.

“No matter what happens, you should be enjoying it all. Your love of the game is your best asset in your college search,” stresses Cathi Aradi, who has helped thousands of players and parents better understand the recruiting process through her clinics and consulting work.

She has also written and published the book “Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level 2013 Edition,” considered the No. 1 book covering high school fastpitch softball.  If you’re at all interested in playing softball at the collegiate level, you have to have this must-read book!

 

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PREPARING PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY FOR SUMMER BALL

I like to run this article every spring since most of my readers–juniors in particular–are gearing up for summer and really getting into your college search.

 

As a reminder, here are some things you should do before and during the summer:

1) If you’re finishing your junior year (and for sophomores who are reaching out early to D-I colleges), start and/or update the NCAA Eligibility Center Certification Process. Juniors should have your high school send a 6th semester transcript to the EC when June grades are posted.  Also be sure your SAT/ACT scores are sent to the EC directly from the testing agency. You can link from my web page to the NCAA and NAIA Eligibility Centers.

 

2) If you haven’t already done this, get your video shot/edited and uploaded to YouTube. This is vital regardless of whether or not your team attends tournaments where a lot of coaches scout.

 

3) Send snail mail letters/resumes to a wide variety of colleges. Keep track of everyone you write so you can follow up if you don’t hear back from them by the end of summer.  Follow up the snail mail letter with an email update just before travel ball starts.

 

4) Over the summer, if you have questions about what you may or may not do at tournaments in terms of talking to coaches, recruiting legalities, and so on, please refer to your NCAA handbook or to my book, Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level. Parents, be sure you understand when and under what conditions you may talk to coaches.  (It’s a good idea before summer starts to visit the NCAA web page to check on any recruiting or academic guideline changes.)

 

Here are some things players should keep in mind when you are playing travel ball:

1) You never know who’s watching you.  Some coaches may even watch you when you’re warming up, particularly if you play a position like outfield where you may see action during a game. Consequently, you need to be on your toes from the moment you get out of the car at the ball park. Even if you’re hot, tired, grumpy, had a fight with your boyfriend, pulled your quad muscle, or haven’t been doing well at the plate, “Put on a happy face.” Coaches want players who can be positive under the worst conditions-e.g., kids who can face adversity and still love the game.

 

2) Playing travel ball this summer, you’ll encounter tons of other good players. Every time you look at another player, remind yourself that only about one out of 15 of you will actually end up on a college team. While top travel ball players and top students do have a slight advantage over kids who don’t play travel ball or who don’t get seen by college coaches, there are no guarantees. Recruiting is a very competitive business.

 

3) If you look at the list of seniors committing to colleges or signing Letters of Intent to play at a college next fall, you’ll see that college players come from everywhere these days. No matter what anyone says, don’t assume you’ll be recruited and offered a scholarship because you were All League in high school or because your team attends a high profile tournament.

 

4) When college coaches go to major tournaments, it’s unlikely you’ll hear them say, “I’m going to look at every player here.” They don’t just wander around hoping to discover YOU! They don’t have the time, and there are just too many good athletes out there. They go in with a list, and you want to be on that list of “must see” players if at all possible.

Do kids get discovered as a result of dumb luck? SURE. But it usually happens because they do something that’s more outstanding than the other kids on the same field. They hit a couple of home runs, or throw a one-hitter with 12 strike outs, or make three diving catches, or go 4-for-5 against a big-name pitcher. You get the idea. Making the routine plays, going one for three, and so on-while exactly what you’re supposed to do-will not necessarily make you stand out so much that a coach says, “Who is that player? I have to see more of her.”

However, if you write a coach and send a video link, and he or she comes to see you in action, and you make all of the routine plays, go 1-for-3 with a clutch RBI hit, there’s a good chance that coach will decide he or she wants to see you play again. But without knowing who you are in advance, coaches may just see you as one of many good players on the field.

 

5) Accept in advance that recruiting is not now, and will never be fair!!! It doesn’t really matter to the coach at Alabama or Fresno or UCLA or Northwestern or Florida State or Oklahoma that you could be as good as any of his or her players if you only had the chance to get a scholarship and work with the coaching staff. Those coaches can recruit the best kids they see. They may not notice you, or they may see you, but choose not to recruit you. However, somewhere out there, there are plenty of terrific coaches who do want see you, and who might love to recruit you. Find those coaches and everyone will benefit!

 

6) Your parents also need to accept the fact that recruiting is not fair. The chances are very good that they will have to pay something towards your education. Yes, top athletes occasionally get full ride scholarships, and some players-particularly those with outstanding grades or demonstrable need-may get terrific aid packages. But statistically-speaking, the majority of families will have to pay something, and many will have to pay a good portion of their player’s college costs even if she’s getting some scholarship money.

 

7) For most coaches, coaching (and by default, recruiting) is a business. No matter how nice they seem, no matter how much they talk about your skills, until you actually commit to a college nothing is set in stone. Don’t take things for granted; ask questions; understand the rules; understand the strategies and the realities; and make the best of your opportunities. It’s a game of musical chairs. There are too many people playing the game and not enough seats for all of you. Sometimes you have to choose between quitting the game (Hey, it’s softball not life and death, right? If you don’t want to play, don’t!) and taking the first (or last) available seat.

 

Have fun this summer. Remember that practicing hard pays off in the form of clutch performances, and that’s often what catches a coach’s attention. But no matter what happens, you should be enjoying it all. Your love of the game is your best asset in your college search.

 

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Catharine Aradi has been a recruiting consultant for over 20 years, and she is considered by many college coaches to be one of the best recruiting resources in the nation. Through her book, Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level, her clinics and her consulting work, she has helped thousands of college-bound players gain that “competitive edge” during the college search process. Cathi is an active member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Assoc., (which also publishes her book), and she works with players and schools around the country.

For more information, visit her web site at FastPitchRecruiting.com. If you have questions about recruiting, you can also post them directly to Cathi on her web site (click here). To order her book, you can call 502.409.4600 or go to NFCA books