I recently talked with a coach I work with and found out that two senior softball player we know of will be going on to continue their education at DI schools with the opportunity to play for the schools’ softball programs.  That’s so cool right?

I was actually worried about these two because they were in the situation many seniors find themselves in: it’s senior year and still the future is uncertain. They didn’t know what college they’d be going to or even IF their softball careers were going to continue.  It’s not a fun position to be in.  In fact, it can be a downright stressful situation to be in.

Neither one of these players are what I would consider “blue chippers” however, they do have better than average softball skills and great attitudes.  They are the type of player that coaches find so easy to work with and always a pleasure to have on the team.  But they also had one other factor working for them which ended up being a major contribution to the opportunity they now have.  But before I tell you all about that, you have to understand that being that it was already their senior year and neither on had secured an offer from any colleges, their opportunities were definitely vanishing.  Most softball programs had already finished even looking at this year’s graduating class and are focused on undergrads.

Why were these two student-athletes in this position in in the first place? Well, there are a number of factors that contributed to it, but a few of the main reasons were simply not starting early enough and not getting the word out to enough coaches.  These two mistakes are so, so common!  Too often student-athletes do nothing to get their name out there and in front of college coaches until end of sophomore year or junior year and even then, they only contact a handful, or *maybe* 10-15.  That in an of itself, severely limits the opportunities you’re going to have.

So anyway, these two seniors were more or less in limbo during those first months of their senior year.  Both wanted to go to college and both hoped to continue their softball careers, but neither knew what their future held.  It’s not a situation I like to see senior student-athletes in; especially not ones that are such great people (not just great players).

Well, in the conversation I had with this coach, I found out that they BOTH are going on to the collegiate level.  Why?  How?

Because of doors that their strong ACADEMICS opened up for them. With this first student-athlete we’re talking Advanced Placement courses and a 3.9+ GPA.  She had specific colleges in a specific state she wanted to go to and had no problem qualifying academically.  The softball programs however, had used up all their funding and had no scholarship money to offer by the time she had contacted them.  Her first choice college also had a softball program that does not open up tryouts to unknown walk-ons.  If you’re going to get a spot on this team, you have to be asked by the coaching staff to be there.  Well after establishing that she qualified for NCAA for and had been accepted by the school for admission and was able to secure some academic funding, she got back in touch with the coach and let him know what her situation was.  She let him know that this was the college she wanted to be at, she’s already been accepted academically, and just wanted to know if she could also be a part of the softball program while she was there.  Guess what happened?  She was offered a preferred walk-on opportunity.

So she’ll be going to the college she wants to be at, in the state she wants to live for the next 4-5 years, studying the major she wants to study, has a chance to continue her softball career, and has opportunities for aide through academic paths.  Seriously – it doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.

The other student-athlete had also been told by a handful of college coaches that while the coaches liked what they saw on her video and in her packet, no athletic funding was available.  She was disappointed because no one had “softball money” left.  Somehow, she failed to overlook the fact that she would be able to receive 85% academic funding for one of the schools she wanted to go to. She had been so focused on athletic scholarship money that she forgot to look at the situation from every angle. Thankfully, this coach I was talking with pointed this out to her.  The very next business day she got back in touch with the coach of that school (newer DI program).  She let him know that she was accepted to the college academically and had been able to work out aid through her academics.  She told him that this is where she wanted to be and asked if she still had a chance to be a part of the softball program.  The coach said he’d love to have her and that, as usual, there was always a possibility of athletic funding in the future.

So both these student-athletes now know what their college plans are.  They will both attend DI schools and will both have an opportunity to be part of the softball programs as well.  Though it was “too late” to get there from the softball angle, their strong academics opened up windows that would not otherwise have been opened. On top of that, they are both attending schools they WANT to go to is huge.  Neither fell into the “trap” many high school student-athletes fall into of simply picking-the-school-that-offered-a-scholarship.  They were both able to avoid that less than ideal situation because they had other avenues by which they could accomplish the goal they wanted.

I know that both these young ladies will go on to have awesome college experiences because they are in the place they want to be and they both have such positive attitudes that I know they will be able to, not only handle all the challenges college life brings, but handle them well.

I wish the best to them and to all the high school seniors who will be continuing their education in college next school year!