Tag Archives: College Softball

Exciting Hawaii Softball Action Starts Today!

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Hawaii Softball ChampionshipsI’ve been getting lots of questions about this via Facebook and phone call, so I’m going to layout as many details as I know here.

This week is an exciting week in softball all over the place I’m sure and Hawaii is no exception. If you don’t live in Hawaii, don’t dismiss this message just yet. There will be a way you can watch some of the Hawaii action live via the internet! I’ll tell you more about that in a second.

Anyway – the Hawaii High School State Softball Championships begin TODAY at UH Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Today’s games are at 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, and 7:00 pm. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for kids and seniors.

There are also Div II games going on at CORP. Today there are a total of 4 games. Two starting at 5:00pm and the other two starting at 7:00pm.

While none of today’s games are being shown via the internet, games on Thursday and Friday will be shown online via live streaming video at http://www.oc16.tv. Two games will be shown each night. One starting at 5:00pm HST and the other at 7:00pm HST.

If you’re in Hawaii and want to catch some fun college action, head over to HPU for NCAA Div II Regionals this weekend starting Friday.

For more information on the Hawaii High School State Softball Championships, check out today’s article at http://bit.ly/acF0Ob

To view the bracket for the NCAA Div II Softball Oahu Regional go to http://bit.ly/9OQUUp

NCAA Div II Regionals Hub is at http://bit.ly/b6Q4dQ

Enjoy!!!

Fastpitch Softball: How Do You Compare

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High School Softball PlayerIf you think you’re “hot stuff” as a softball player, read THIS ARTICLE and ask yourself…

“How Do I Stack Up?”

This player is a freshman that college coaches of some of the best programs in the nation already know about.  She’s got great grades and doesn’t have to be hounded by her parents or coaches about it.  She’s not one of those players who’s been playing since she was 5 and yet, she can hit the ball and “has it all” as a pitcher.

AND is just a freshman in high school this year!

So how do you stack up?  Where are you in your skills and grades and attitude?  Are you working hard enough?  Or are you just “settling” for “being the best” where you are at?  Are you really, truly striving to being the best you can?  Why should a coach choose you?  Can you do better?  Can you strive for more?  Can you push for more than you’re doing now?  Do you need to raise the level of your softball performance?

Maybe now is a good time to do a serious self-check and re-evaluate your direction.  Be Great!

Follow College Softball Free Online

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20100212_sb_headerI came across a pretty cool announcement by Oklahoma University yesterday. They will be broadcasting (via audio stream) softball games on the internet for free this season. I think it’s great that there are more and more ways to fans to follow softball!

Yahoo Sports also shows a list of college sports that will be broadcast in some way shape or form so you can check there to see if your favorite college softball team is one of them.

Another place to follow your college team online is CSTV. You can search for specific events or schools there.

Hopefully we see even more and more of these avenues for following softball pop up!

By the way - who’s your favorite college team this year? Leave a comment here and let us know!

College Recruiting: This Doesn’t Count As Taking Control

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This is something I thought of while watching the season finale of Shark Tank.  On the show there were a couple of guys  who said they want to change the way college recruiting is done and help athletes take control of their college recruiting process.  Well, unfortunately, they have a lot of work to do on their business in order to achieve
that because, from what they described on the show, all they have is an online database that coaches can search.

When I heard that…this is what I wanted to say to them right through the tv…

Adding your name to an online database that coaches can search is NOT “taking control” of your college recruiting process.

There I said it.

Adding your name to an online database is NOT “taking control” of your college recruiting process.  Neither is adding videos to YouTube or going to a recruiting camp.

I’m not saying those things are useless or that you shouldn’t do them, but there’s so much more you can do.  Those things in and of themselves are just a small sliver of what you should be doing if you really want to take control of your college recruiting journey!

“Taking control” involves doing your homework.  It means:

  • Knowing where you have to be academically
  • Knowing what the NCAA requires of you to be eligible
  • Knowing what different program require in the level(s) of play you are interested in (not always the same as what the NCAA requires)
  • Knowing what type of school is a good fit for you
  • Knowing what to ask college coaches
  • Knowing what to ask yourself so you can find the right fit
  • Knowing what you need to get done by when
  • Knowing what you CAN do and when
  • Making sure YOU are in contact with coaches before they are even allowed to get in touch with you
  • Knowing whether or not it’s better for you or your parents to be corresponding with a college coach
  • Having the information college coaches need about you in order to make a decision readily available
  • Getting prepared for college entrance exams
  • Having a strategy!!!
  • …and so much more

Putting your name “out there” in public places and hoping to be found is not going to cut it.  That will not give you the best opportunities possible by the time your college recruiting journey come to an end. Remember – there are no re-dos. Get educated. Get informed. And if you need help, some of the best in the business are ready to walk you through it all at NCSA.

If you’re serious about playing at the college level and have been taking care of business on and off the field, you can have someone from NCSA personally give you a call by filling out the form at HERE.

And yes, for student-athletes who use that link and become part of the NCSA family, NCSA does make donations back to AAF.  However, if you do not wish for them to do that, you can also visit them at their main company link at

http://www.ncsasports.org/

Whatever your choice, you can have a real person talk with you about your options plus get a username and password to set up your own athletic resume web page with no risk and no money required by going HERE and filling out your contact information.

Wishing you the best,

Stacie Mahoe

Avoid This Major College Recruiting Mistake

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One of the biggest mistakes I see families make as they go through the college recruiting process is not starting early enough. Now this doesn’t only have to do with getting in touch with college coaches or registering with the NCAA Eligibility Center on time. Aside from the marketing aspect, there are at least 3 other major reasons to being planning early.

1. Prepping for the SAT/ACT

Many students don’t see the point in taking prep courses until they realize they need a higher SAT or ACT score to get into the college they want to go to. By this time they’re scrambling at the last minute to take classes to learn the valuable test taking strategies that will help them improve their scores. Now imagine if you had start early and begin this test taking preparation in your freshman or sophomore year. By the time you’re junior year rolls around you begin taking her entrance exams, you’ll have had time to get really comfortable with the test taking strategies and the vocabulary words most test prep programs cover. Starting early just gives you more time to really get well prepared vs. trying to cram at the last minute.

Plus, imagine having to take that SAT or ACT as a senior knowing you need a great score and knowing that your chances are running out. That’s a lot of pressure to carry into a test! Why not get it out of the way sooner? You’ll probably perform better if your aren’t at the point where you whole college future is riding on the test you’re about to take. Can it still come down to that even with the planning? Yes. But at least if you start early and take the prep courses and tests earlier, you know exactly where you stand and what you need to do to get where you needs to be by senior year. Plus, if you start early, you’ll probably have a few years vs. just a few months to work on it.

2. The GPA Factor

Grade point averages are a lot like batting averages, shooting percentages, or per game averages. The further you get into the season and the more games you have under your belt, the tougher it is to raise your average, even with an awesome game performance. The same is true for grade point averages. The farther along you are in your high school career, the tougher it’s going to be to raise that GPA even with straight A’s. In the beginning of a softball season a 4-4 game can raise your batting average hundreds of points. Just like a GPA, if you have a perfect semester or two (or even good semesters in the beginning), your GPA will be nice and high. But toward the end of the season a great game may only raise your batting average 20 points or so, if that. By the same token it’s very tough to try to raise a 2.6 GPA to a 3.0 in just a semester or two. I don’t even know if it’s possible. I haven’t worked the numbers, but if it is, it’s certainly very tough! If you start planning early, if you know where you need to be to give yourself the best opportunities at the end of your high school years. Plus, if you keep an eye on your progress and make sure your necessary GPA is always in sight or surpassed, that just makes your life so much easier toward the end.

3. The Physical Factor

Another aspect to take into consideration is the physical factor. You simply aren’t going to go from average to elite in 1 year. For instanc, if a softball players is running a 3.4 second home to first time and she needs to be at 3.0 or better by senior year, wouldn’t it be better to begin working on that from her freshman year and give her a good amount of time to really improve? It’s certainly much more attainable than trying to go from 3.4 in the middle of junior year to 3.0 by the start of senior year. Some things are just about physically impossible. Again, early planning can give you the best chance of being where you need to be when you need to be there. Plus it’ll give you ample time to prepare and work toward those goals. That makes the journey less stressful and more successful. So don’t wait! Start that process of preparing for the future as soon as high school begins! If you need a little help, check out some of the free college resources at http://www.allaboutfastpitch.com/freeresources.html.

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If you’re serious about playing softball in college, get help with your own personalized college recruiting plan with NCSA.  It’s college recruiting simplified!

College Recruiting TOD: There Are No Do Overs

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NoDoOverQuick note: TOD stands for “Thought of the Day.”

Still to this day it amazes me how many student-athletes and parents put off learning about or taking steps in the college recruiting process.  I’m not sure if it’s too scary and they just don’t want to think about it or if they’re just unsure of what to do and don’t know where to get help so they wait until they get a kick in the butt at the last minute to get started.  Whatever the case, there’s one thought that I want to share today:

When it comes to college recruiting, there are NO Do Overs!

Once you’re in high school, that’s it, you have ONE chance to go through high school, play your sports, get the grades you’re going to get, take your entrance exams, contact college coaches, etc and hopefully have a successful journey on to the next level.  Not only do you get just one shot at the journey as a whole, but there are so many things during the journey that, once your opportunity comes along, it’s the ONLY one you get!  If you miss it, it’s gone forever. 

Take your freshman year in school as a simple example.  Once that year is over, you don’t go back and get to do it all over again if you didn’t quite get the grades you wanted.  You basically have one shot and that’s it.  If you mess around and don’t get very good grades, you’re stuck trying to play “catch up” for the rest of your high school career trying to make up for the poor choices you made in that first year of high school.

There are no Do Overs for college recruiting.  You will only go through this process as a high school student ONCE.  That’s it!

So don’t wait ’till “later” to take care of your grades.  Don’t wait ’till “later” to improve your athleticism and your skills.  Don’t wait ’till “later” to find out what you need to do during high school to give yourself the best chance at moving on to college.  Don’t wait ’till “later” to get the help you need with college entrance exams or any other part of the process.  “Later” just may come and go and pass you by if you’re not ready.

If you’re already in high school (or if your child is already in high school), the time to start has already passed!  Get going!

If you’ll be in high school soon, it’s never too early to start learning about what to expect in the upcoming years.  It’s much less stressful and complicated if you educate yourself and learn as much as you can BEFORE having to execute your plan.  Trying to learn as you go can be frustrating, overwhelming, and disappointing when you realize you’ve missed something because there’s no going back.

Where to Get Help

The NCAA just released their 2009-2010 Guide for the College-Bound Student Athlete.  It’s free, you can get it HERE.  I highly suggest you download it, read it, and become very familiar with it.

If the whole college recruiting process seems a little scary or overwhelming to you and you’d like some guidance along the way or if you’re just starting and want to make sure you’re on the right path from the beginning, you can get the help you need.  If you’re serious about adding a few more years to your fastpitch softball career while getting an education, NCSA can help you create a plan to help you reach those goals.

What do I mean by “serious?”  Serious student-athletes don’t just “want” to play in college, but  actively work toward that goal by taking care of business ON and OFF the field, by making good choices, and always striving to learn and grow.  If that’s you, you’re exactly the type of student-athlete NCSA can help.   To have someone contact you personally, fill out the form HERE.

Wishing you the best on your college recruiting journey!  Playing is college softball is so much fun ~ I hope you get to experience it.

Fail photo:http://www.flickr.com/photos/phobia/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

From Pinch Runner to Player of the Year

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Not long ago I spoke with a softball mom who’s oldest daughter recently graduated from a DI college. As a freshman in college, this player was named Freshman of the Year for her conference.

What I didn’t know was that, at the very beginning of her college career, this player started off as a pinch runner. That’s all she was doing.

Her mom remembers talking with her after the first few games of that freshman season. She’d call and ask how the games went and if she got to play. Her daughter would say that “all she did” was pinch run. After a few games, the softball mom could hear the increasing frustration and irritation in her daughter’s voice. One day, when her daughter told her that all she did was pinch run, she responded with,

“Well then you better be the best pinch runner your team has ever seen.”

Her daughter later told her that that had been a wake up call for her. It was a turning point in her college career. After that phone call, she made a decision to stop grumbling, work her butt off, and take advantage of every opportunity she did get.

Most softball players, whether they are conscious of it or not, make this same kind of choice every single day. As a player, you can choose to be frustrated and irritated and grumble about your situation; or you can choose to stay away from that negative mindset, work your butt off, stay focused on improving, and take advantage of whatever opportunities come your way. These opportunities do not only come in games. They come in practice as well.

I’ve also heard players grumble about not having as many chances as other players do, and while that may very well be the case, they are more productive ways to spend your time and energy. Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, it serves you better to stay positive and make it a point to make the best of any opportunity you do get.  Stop focusing on what you don’t have and start fully appreciating and making the most of what you do have. You’re much more likely to be successful that way.

So how did this player I mentioned earlier go from being “just a pinch runner” to being Conference Freshman of the Year?

Well, one day a player on her team was having a rough day. The coach decided to put her in the game to replace that player.  She had a great day and that was it.  She never looked back.  She became a regular starter and ended up as the Freshman Player of the Year in her conference.  It’s a great example of how having the right mindset and attitude as a player can propel you to great things.

As a parent, are you cultivating the right mindset?  Or do you add to and feed the negativity your daughter sometimes falls into?
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