Episode 2
What are you doing to get recruited?
Too many athletes believe that if they're good, college coaches will just find them. Is that really true? Let's see what coach B has to say about it.
Have a question for Coach B? Send us a message on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalkingSoftball
Transcript
Players, coaches, parents.
Speaker:The recruiting season is upon us.
Speaker:It's never really not upon us.
Speaker:You know, it's just a matter of what dates we look at,
Speaker:what different levels are able to do or not able to do in the process.
Speaker:You know, we just got through September 1st.
Speaker:That's a big date for the Division one programs.
Speaker:And, you know, now some of our players have received their contacts.
Speaker:They are being able to to communicate with the NCAA Division one coaches,
Speaker:you know, but I think the key thing we want to understand
Speaker:about recruiting, it's not just about one level, one school.
Speaker:I'm very fortunate to have
Speaker:a young team this year, and I have a number of two thousand
Speaker:and twenty three players that are uncommitted.
Speaker:And I've been trying to work with them on where they are
Speaker:in the recruiting process. And I'll be honest,
Speaker:I'm disappointed because I've picked up a number of players
Speaker:from from other programs and other organizations.
Speaker:And and I know as organizations, we all talk about recruiting
Speaker:and we all talk about,
Speaker:hey, we're going to get our kids to the next level.
Speaker:But I have a lot of players right now that don't have any concept
Speaker:of the process on how to be recruited at any college level,
Speaker:because I think we spend so much time talking about NCAA Division one.
Speaker:That we forget to encourage these players to widen their scope
Speaker:and look at all of the opportunities they may have in front of them.
Speaker:You know, if we just talk about some numbers
Speaker:and some stats, you know, I always get asked, coach,
Speaker:you know, how many how many high school players do you think.
Speaker:Get an opportunity to go on and play college softball?
Speaker:Well, there's a lot of high school players across the country
Speaker:playing softball.
Speaker:And there are a lot of college programs.
Speaker:But but there's been studies done that say less than two percent
Speaker:of the total number of high school players
Speaker:get an opportunity to go on and play college softball.
Speaker:Less than two percent.
Speaker:I mean, that's a that that's a small number.
Speaker:And if you just if players
Speaker:if if you just look at it and look at your high school team,
Speaker:if you have 20 players on your high school
Speaker:team, 10 of those is 50 percent.
Speaker:Two of those is 10 percent.
Speaker:So do the math. We're getting that number down there.
Speaker:We're getting we're talking about less than one player per
Speaker:high school team gets an opportunity to play at the next level.
Speaker:So I think it's really important that we all understand that
Speaker:we have to be engaged in the process.
Speaker:Players, parents, coaches,
Speaker:we all have to be engaged in this process
Speaker:and we all have to make sure that we make it a priority.
Speaker:You know, there's there's misunderstandings out there.
Speaker:Hey, there's an opportunity
Speaker:and a place for everyone to play college softball.
Speaker:No, there isn't.
Speaker:There's an opportunity and a place for those that want to go out
Speaker:and work and achieve it to play college softball.
Speaker:But there's not a place for everybody.
Speaker:Oh, every player gets a scholarship.
Speaker:The maximum at Division one is 12.
Speaker:The Max at Division two is 7.2,
Speaker:NCAA Division three programs don't give athletic scholarships.
Speaker:NAIA programs can give
Speaker:scholarships, junior college programs can give scholarships.
Speaker:But not everybody is going to get a scholarship.
Speaker:And that's why I think it's critical
Speaker:that we all have to work together and prioritize this process.
Speaker:You know, one of the great things that I think we get
Speaker:at American Freedom out of our partnership in the MVP program
Speaker:with with with Jenn Starkey and her crew, is
Speaker:we now have someone designated to help our athletes identify,
Speaker:apply for and secure non-athletic scholarships.
Speaker:How important are a person's academics?
Speaker:They're critical.
Speaker:How important are their
Speaker:the personal life and how they conduct themselves?
Speaker:It's critical because there's opportunities for non softball
Speaker:scholarships out there that people just don't know about.
Speaker:And it's based on academics.
Speaker:It's based on community service.
Speaker:It's based on citizenship. There's lots of opportunities.
Speaker:And we have to understand all of those are important.
Speaker:You know, in another misunderstanding is college coaches will find
Speaker:you if you're good enough.
Speaker:Really? You know how many tournaments
Speaker:there are on any given weekend during the fall or summer season
Speaker:for the college coaches to attend and try and find players?
Speaker:It's not possible, it's not possible.
Speaker:Our sport is one of the
Speaker:fastest growing sports and in number of players playing.
Speaker:So it's just more and more opportunities for games to be played
Speaker:and players to be on the field, which that's great.
Speaker:But if we're using that as a recruiting opportunity,
Speaker:we have to understand those college coaches can't be everywhere.
Speaker:So how do we get in touch with them?
Speaker:How do we communicate with them?
Speaker:How am I communicating through email?
Speaker:How am I using social media?
Speaker:You know, what are the tools that I'm using to market myself?
Speaker:And that's huge.
Speaker:You know, I talk to my team the other night and I asked him,
Speaker:I said, how many?
Speaker:We have an updated skills video.
Speaker:2 and I'm like. So how do you market yourself,
Speaker:what do you use to show college coaches your skills?
Speaker:How many of you have attended
Speaker:at least three college camps in the last three months?
Speaker:Only a couple of them.
Speaker:And I'm like, ladies, if we're not sending video,
Speaker:we're not getting out in front of these coaches.
Speaker:What are we doing?
Speaker:Are you emailing them on a weekly basis?
Speaker:No. Well, it's great that you have a wish list,
Speaker:but what are we doing to make that wish a reality? OK.
Speaker:And I don't want to
Speaker:I don't want to talk about all of the areas right now.
Speaker:I want it to be something
Speaker:we talk about on a regular basis here on talking softball with Coach B.
Speaker:You know, we're going to touch on academics.
Speaker:We're going to talk on talk about how important it is to get good grades.
Speaker:And that starts early.
Speaker:Academic tracking starts your freshman year of high school.
Speaker:So don't just wait till your junior and senior year.
Speaker:Yeah, I always ask players, I said, how many of you actually know
Speaker:the eligibility requirements to be a college softball player?
Speaker:And they look at me and, you know, they're like, I don't really know.
Speaker:Well, how many of you have a copy of the college
Speaker:bound student athlete handbook that the NCAA puts out
Speaker:and it explains those those requirements?
Speaker:You know, how many of you
Speaker:have registered for the NCAA eligibility center?
Speaker:That's the tracking process for NCAA eligibility.
Speaker:And yes, they don't need to
Speaker:use it for junior college or they don't need to use that for NAIA.
Speaker:But but there's a lot of schools out there
Speaker:that that's a requirement and they need to be able to use that.
Speaker:So I think what I really want to do when we talk about recruiting is
Speaker:I really want to cover the areas that I think
Speaker:families and players should be engaged in.
Speaker:You know, us coaches, we need to be engaged in the process
Speaker:and in tracking our players activities. Yes, we do.
Speaker:We need to be reaching out to coaches
Speaker:and college coaches and talking about our players.
Speaker:And, you know, when I was a college coach, I always appreciated
Speaker:getting emails from coaches
Speaker:and giving me their perspective about players .
Speaker:I think that that's important.
Speaker:I think we have to be honest in the process.
Speaker:We've become very analytic driven in the recruiting process right now
Speaker:and home to first times
Speaker:and in exit speeds and pitch velocities.
Speaker:Those are all measurable analytics Now that coaches
Speaker:are looking at and evaluating.
Speaker:We need to be honest about that information.
Speaker:I don't know how many times I watch skills videos
Speaker:and saw the stopwatch the dad was holding in his hand.
Speaker:And Susie would run home to first and dad would put the stopwatch up
Speaker:in front of the camera and it said two , six, one.
Speaker:And it amazed me because there were times
Speaker:that Susie ran a two six one four times in a row.
Speaker:Did that dad really think that I believe that
Speaker:he changed that stopwatch every time?
Speaker:Or did he just hold
Speaker:that two six one up in front of that camera each time?
Speaker:You know, when we talk pitching velocity,
Speaker:has she hit 60 once when she really cut
Speaker:loose and threw it off the top of the backstop?
Speaker:Or is she working at 60 on a regular basis?
Speaker:You know, providing honest information about our players
Speaker:is critical coaches and parents.
Speaker:But there is a spot out there.
Speaker:There is a spot out there that Susie can compete for.
Speaker:And there is an opportunity for Susie to be a college athlete.
Speaker:That's why we spend all of our time on player development,
Speaker:that's why we spend all of our time competing at the levels
Speaker:we compete at, is we try to create those opportunities
Speaker:or make better opportunities for our players.
Speaker:But there's also a process on getting those players
Speaker:in front of college, coaches, getting those players seen
Speaker:and then getting them engaged in the process.
Speaker:And it doesn't just happen. Right.
Speaker:There was a lot of people that were probably disappointed
Speaker:they didn't get a call on September 1st.
Speaker:Well, the first question they need to ask themselves is,
Speaker:what have you done to get that call on September 1st?
Speaker:What work did you put in to get that call from that college coach?
Speaker:Because that college coach is looking for players all across the country.
Speaker:You've got to make sure that you're marketing yourself
Speaker:and taking advantage of every opportunity
Speaker:so that that college coach can see you and ultimately
Speaker:get you on their list or on their board
Speaker:and then begin the communication process with you.
Speaker:So I hope that we can talk a lot about the process.
Speaker:I want to be honest about it.
Speaker:I would hope that people will send me questions
Speaker:that we can discuss during this segment of of our podcast,
Speaker:because it's critical that these players get engaged now.
Speaker:So many things have changed.
Speaker:You know, the NCAA recruiting rules have changed.
Speaker:Obviously, with Covid, there's been a number of changes that have changed
Speaker:roster sizes and players have gotten extra years of eligibility.
Speaker:The money's not out there in the recruiting budgets
Speaker:for a lot of these schools that used to be there.
Speaker:So just waiting for coaches to show up at the field and watch you play.
Speaker:That may not happen.
Speaker:So I'm looking forward to this segment.
Speaker:I think it's going to be great.
Speaker:I want to engage with as many people as possible.
Speaker:You know, I talk to college coaches on a regular basis about it.
Speaker:I talk with my colleagues in the select world,
Speaker:and there is a plan.
Speaker:And we need to understand that, that each players plan
Speaker:is is individual to them.
Speaker:But we all have a role in it.
Speaker:And we all need to make sure we can navigate through the process to a
Speaker:to a positive end and a great experience for each of our players.
Speaker:So thank you. And we look forward to
Speaker:talking about it again the next time.
Speaker:I want to thank everybody for being with us today.
Speaker:I'm really looking forward to doing this.
Speaker:I want to talk the game
Speaker:of softball on a on a straightforward, honest level.
Speaker:I'm not trying to slant it one way or the other, but I do want to talk
Speaker:the game and I do want to provide information and insight .
Speaker:So if you're enjoying these these segments, I want you to to like
Speaker:please engage with your families,
Speaker:players, coaches, everybody about it.
Speaker:And if you have topics or ideas, please share those
Speaker:and we'll try to get to as many of those as we can.
Speaker:But thank you all. And until next time.
Speaker:Good luck on the field and God bless.
