isl league

Just wondering if anyone would like to share their experiences along with us. Right now, D is a junior and I feel like we should be more proactive but the few coaches we've been in contact with don't want to speak to us until after Jr. year transcripts are in. (D sends tourney schedules and attends camps and they seem receptive but not willing to do much else right now).

I know being from MA will be a big negative - not exactly a hot bed of softball talent.

Please tell us about your experiences - the waiting is brutal! We appreciate all the insights we can get. Thanks!

beawinner

Are coaches coming out to see your daughter play? If so, her softball coach might be able to get a feel for what they are thinking. We live in California and there is a fair amount of recruiting going on here. The only experience I have with the Ivies is with a player recruited in her senior year. She's a freshman now at an Ivy and I remember there was a lot of back and forth, things were very drawn out and they waited for that final ACT score before anything became official. Hope this helps.

isl league

The local coaches (Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth) will come to a few local tournaments and they have seen her play but I think they focus more on California and Colorado for major recruiting (completely understandable). We're on a new team this summer so hopefully these coaches will be more proactive with the college coaches.

It's hurry up and wait for summer I guess. I get why they need to see grades before investing time into kids that may or may not be able to get accepted. Hopefully, she can get in on her own and softball will just be gravy. This has been what's she wanted since she was about 10 years old.

But thanks so much for your insight. Anyone else?

beawinner

Colorado is a big recruiting event (although I'm not sure where the Ivy coaches prefer to scout since there are three separate tournaments held at the same time). Softball recruiting is very hit and miss (no pun intended). In Colorado, teams from all over the US come and compete so this happens to be convenient for everyone if your team happens to be in the right place. If your daughter is not getting seen enough you may have to do what so many other people do and that is to find her the team where she will get the proper exposure. Absent that, many people produce videos of their athlete and send them off to targeted coaches along with many letters/emails.

Question for you. Have you checked out the rosters of the Ivy teams? I believe in the end there are many, many kids who come from local states on these teams. Frankly, while it's impressive for someone to attend an Ivy, the distance and the weather turn a lot of people from the west coast off. You'd be amazed how many people won't consider going East because of it.

Meanwhile, she needs to keep up the gpa (really, the main thing) and not get injured. Most of the action will take place in her senior year when they are allowed to speak directly. You know, of course, you (she) can make phone calls to them yourselves at this point according to NCAA rules. They just can't call you back. They can return your email correspondence as well.

Bennnie

My daughter is a junior in MA that plays softball as well. Made the league all-star team, local newspapers all-star teams as well. She'll be playing tournament ball this summer and will be going to the showcase tournies but other than that we aren't going try to get her recruited. She wants to major in architecture and we've been told by deans of the schools she is interested in that it is nearly impossible for someone to do architecture and play sports because of the studio class schedules.

We did go see Harvard play Cornell this spring at H. Judging from the printed program, H is recruiting only from AZ and CA. Not one NEngland player on the varisity team. On the other Cornell had mostly players from the Northeast including one from Plymouth. Is your daughter interested in Cornell?

isl league

Cornell is not first choice (prefer New England) but we would love to check it out and would certainly be open to chatting with coach. Dartmouth seems to have a few NE players as well. Going next month to visit.