All About Fastpitch Softball Blog

Quick 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

Technorati Tags: College Recruiting, College Softball, NCAA

Hey – join me right here this afternoon/evening (depending on where you are in the US) and “blog” live with me while the 2nd Game of the NCAA WCWS is going on!

This live blogging even will begin at 7:00 Central (2:00 Hawaii Time).  Share your thoughts on the game and read mine and others as it happens! We won’t be able to go the entire game, but we’ll stay “Live” right here at AAF from 2:00pm-3:00pm Hawaii Time (in other words, for the first hour of the game).

Technorati Tags: College Softball, NCAA, WCWS

So far the WCWS has been a crazy display of hitting! That walk off grand-slam by a Florida senior who was 0-9 for the series to oust Alabama was just one example.

There are a bunch of WCWS stories over at the NCAA website. Read them at
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-softbl/ncaa-w-softbl-body.html

But I just wanted to share a few things with you that I saw this past week that stood out in my mind…

1. Pat Murphy pinch hits (with a freshman) for his All-American lead off senior Brittany Rogers (Alabama vs ASU game).

At the time, they trail 2-0 and there are 2 outs. It ended up being a coaching decision that made him look brilliant because this freshman pinch hitter, with 2 outs and 2 strikes launches a grand slam to put Alabama up 4-2. They eventually went on to win that game, but the thing I loved about it (just as much as seeing some awesome “nerve” by a freshman in a pressure situation in a big game/venue) was how Brittany Rogers (the senior All-American that was being pinch hit for) stood at the top step of the dugout cheering her heart out for her teammate to make something happen for their team. Too many players pout and hang their face and send out all kinds of negative vibes when they get replaced or subbed for. Not Rogers, she was there on every single pitch doing whatever she could from the dugout to support her teammate that was brought in from the bench to hit for her. That was soooooo awesome to see! That’s what everyone should be doing from the bench. That’s what every player should do at any given time – ANYTHING and EVERYTHING they can to support and help their team, no matter what the role, starter or not.

2. Carol Hutchins Chats with Home Plate Ump about Illegal Pitches

In addition to Murphy’s substitution, the other piece of coaching that I thought was impressive was Michigan’s Carol Hutchins little chat with the home plate umpire about Georgia’s Hamilton’s illegal-ness of her pitching (step outside that 24-inch area directly in front of the rubber). She was very clear in communicating her point and did so in a firm and direct way that was neither “beggy” nor “insulting.” Michigan ended up losing that game 7-5, but I still was quite impressed with the words she exchanged with the home plate umpire.

3. Drawing the throw on a short fly ball.

I can’t remember what game this was, but I believe it was on Day 1 of the WCWS. I got an opportunity to show my daughter why, even on a short fly ball you know you’re not going to advance on, you still come off the bag hard. Runner was at third and a short fly was hit to center (I believe the game was tied in later innings). Anyway, what happened was the CF caught the ball and the runner at 3rd, although she had no intention of going all the way home on the catch still came off the bag hard for a few strides. This forced the CF to make a strong through in. This throw was well wide of the plate. The catcher made a nice move to stop the ball, but I told my daughter that if that throw had been a little more off or somehow got by the catcher, that runner at 3rd scores the go ahead run even though the fly ball was not deep enough to sacrifice her in. If you don’t come off the bag hard and just stand there in an un-athletic position (absolutely no threat of going), then the outfielder can just take her time and make an easy throw back in to the infield. I believe that runners should force some kind of urgent throw from the outfield (not be stupid and put yourself in jeopardy), but at least explode a few steps off and make that outfielder have to make an urgent strong throw in to the infield or to the plate. If she rushes, if the person she’s throwing to isn’t quite ready, if somehow that ball gets by it’s intended recipient, you may score a run (or get 60 ft closer to home if on 2nd). Challenge the defense…make them work!

The WCWS has been full of great softball excitement. If you haven’t been watching, you’re seriously missing out! There was a homerun hit over the right field fence that was called foul by the umpires, but cameras clearly showed that it landed on the chalk foul line that extends beyond the homerun fence. Then there are all the big hits (home runs and grand slams) and a game where, at one point, a team had 8 runs and ONE player had 7 of the RBIs for that game. I’m sorry, there have been so many teams in so many games that I can’t remember exactly who was playing in each one to tell you teams and player names for these situations, but I remember the plays! Then there’s Schlopy (for Georgia) , if I’m not mistaken, who hit a homerun in her 1st AND 2nd at bat in a game. She was a solid defender in CF, then ended up PITCHING in a game. She just one example of the serious skills and talent some of these girls have.  And how about the UW pitcher who not only pitched, but helped her team out on offense with a Grand Slam in the semis? Even Michelle Smith mentioned it on twitter: @MicheleSmith32 “I say all the above & pitchers who hit ROCK!! ” - that was posted by her during the UW/Georgia game.

Like I said, lots of cool softball stuff going on in the series. I can’t possibly tell you about them all, but if there’s anything else I think of that really stands out (or I forgot to mention here and remember about later), I’ll let you know.

So, fighting for the championship (which begins tonight) is the Washington Huskies and the Florida Gators. Neither program has ever won a WCWS title, so it’ll be a first for either program.

The Gators have lost a ridiculously low number of games this season. I think I heard the commentators say only 3 loses all season! That’s just unbelievable. No wonder their ranked No. 1 – yes, as you can tell, I haven’t really been following college softball this season. The odds were completely against Alabama in the semi-final when they were faced with the challenge of having to beat them twice in ONE day to get into the championship)! They’ve only lost 3 games all season, highly unlikely that they were going to drop 2 in one day.

Anyway – who are you rooting for in the final?

Who do you think will actually win?

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

*Updated: Twitter Responses*

JessicaJobes@staciemahoe GO HUSKIES!!!!

MelakneeRows@staciemahoe i’m going with the gators. =]

Technorati Tags: College Softball, NCAA, WCWS