“The Game of College Recruiting”
-Trey Miller
Softball World
This brings the total amount of scholarships available each year for college softball to around 15,000 athletes per year. Have I gotten you excited yet? Here is the tricky part. Every year there are over 225,000 girls playing High School softball. There are 15,000 scholarships available for college. So, the numbers say that 6% of high school players will be offered college softball scholarships. Now that we have established the small number of players who could receive scholarships, let’s talk about those scholarships in more detail. Most college softball teams carry at least 24 players on their roster. Now we are looking at these scholarships. For NCAA Division I schools, they have to spread 12 scholarships over 24 players. NAIA schools are spreading 10 scholarships over 24 players. Here is one of the hard truths about college softball. There is rarely a player on a “full ride.” Some players are offered 10% and some are offered 50%. There is the rare athlete that the coach will throw 100% towards a player. Nevertheless, you can see where it gets competitive. Now that I have you discouraged about college softball, let me tell you that there are many ways to get noticed by a college coach. The truth of the matter is that a college coach is rarely ever come to watch an athlete at a high school softball game. First, their season usually coincides with the high school season. They do not have the time. Second, most do not have the budget to travel all over to recruit. Third, coaches are restricted as to how many days a year they can recruit. So, that being said, there are still a lot of ways to get noticed. Below are some of the best ways to get noticed: ? Playing for a “National” travel team ? Going to camps ? Academics ? Contact the coaches on a regular basis
The first way to get noticed is to try to get hooked up with a travel team that plays National tournaments. This will cost a pretty penny; I’m not going to lie. You can look at spending anywhere from $2,000 - $10,000 a year on travel softball. These teams that are “National” teams travel all over the country playing big time events and play against the best competition in the country. Some of these events could have 200300 college coaches there. These are a great place to get noticed by a lot of coaches. Playing against other top athletes will allow the coaches to see what you can do against other girls competing for those same scholarships.