Tag: college recruiting

Introducing the College Softball Directory

Softball Nation is excited to unveil its College Softball Directory.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DIRECTORY

The web page was created to give players, coaches and parents an easy place to find information about college coaches, rosters and other information about their programs.  The directory provides a central place where you can look for college coaches and their contacts with a couple clicks.  It also provides easy access to links for other colleges in their conferences.

We created the directory so that parents and athletes could go to one web site and do research about colleges where they might want to go.  While directory does not list all of the conferences in Division I Softball, it has links to the most prominent softball programs in the country.

Be sure to bookmark the page to be able to refer to the site during those showcases.  Or find the emails of the college coaches of schools where athletes want to go.

If you don’t know what conference of the college of interest, simply enter the name of the school in the search bar and the link will appear.

We hope you find the directory useful!

Coach McElvain explains the process of how to choose the right school for you

“Could you see yourself at this school without softball?”

Sometimes, schools come calling for softball players, providing a ready-made list of choices.  But very often, players have to go out and find the right school for them.  University of San Diego Head Coach Melissa McElvain explains one way to narrow down the list of possible colleges where players might want to go.

Coach Mac suggests asking a series of questions about what a softball player might want in a University.  Ultimately, she says athletes should be comfortable with a school even if they didn’t play softball.  Here’s why….

Danielle O’Toole’s stunning recruiting experience and how she bounced back

She’s the newly hired pitching coach at the University of San Diego. She also pitches for Team USA Softball and the Chicago Bandits. This University of Arizona graduate is living the softball dream and she says she never saw it coming.

Like so many softball families, she wanted to get a scholarship to go to college.  In her interview, she reveals that a school verbally committed to her and then took the scholarship away.

Buy Mizuno Women’s 2016 Finch Batting Gloves

Hear what she has to say about her career, recruiting and the stunning event that shook her recruiting experience.

Here’s a list of Danielle O’Toole’s Career Honors according to the University of Arizona website:

2017
NFCA All-American (First Team)
Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year
USA Softball Player of the Year Finalist (10 players)
All-Pac-12 (First Team)
All-NFCA West Region (First Team)
Pac-12 All-Defensive
USA Softball Player of the Year Finalist (34 players)
NPF Draft (Round 2 | #8 | Chicago Bandits)
Pac-12 All-Academic (Honorable Mention)
USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List (50 players)
U.S. Women’s National Team
ESPN.com Preseason Top 25 Players (#25)
NFCA Player of the Week (3/20-26)
USA Softball Pitch of the Week (3/20-26)
ESPNW Player of the Week (3/20-26)
Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week (2/20-26)
Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week (3/20-26)
2016
All-Pac-12 (First Team)
Pac-12 All-Defensive
NFCA All-West Region (First Team)
Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week (5/9-15)
Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week (5/2-8)
Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week (3/14-20)
Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week (2/15-21)

Skills many girls don’t know before college

College and Travel ball coach Cristina Byrne talks about the important skills that many young players didn’t learn before they went to college. She also explains the biggest difference between coaching in College and Travel Ball.

Coach Cristina Byrne was a Head Coach at San Francisco State, Assistant Coach at UCSD, UC Davis and now SDSU. She also Coaches the SoCal Mavericks

Buy a Mac Sports Collapsible Folding Wagon

Pitching Coach Monica Fenton on Common Recruiting Questions

“Pitchers need to be good enough… a lot of people don’t like to hear that. “

   Pitching Coach Monica Fenton has helped players find success in the circle for 18 years. She’s seen well over a hundred of her students recruited to schools around the country.  
    In the first part of our interview with her, she answered the questions:

– What do college coaches want in their pitchers?

– How important are taking breaks from the game?

– What’s the toughest thing about getting recruited as a pitcher

As a known pitching coach to college recruiters, she has a unique perspective on how college coaches and recruits find each other. 

We asked her a battery of questions about pitchers and the recruiting process. While the questions were about pitching, the answers can be applied to other positions. They give us a great perspective on the mindset of college coaches in searching for players. 

Coach Sean Brashear is Thankful for Trips to Del Taco

 

In our second of three segments with Firecrackers Coach Sean Brashear, we talk about his best advice to parents about paving the path to success.  He also talks about the fine line between pushing your kid and letting them push themselves.

Don’t Fear Failure. Embrace the Opportunity.

 

For many young softball players, we’re getting into the heart of the season.  Recreational leagues will soon have their tournaments, travel teams will try to qualify for National Tournaments and the eyes of college coaches will be looking for the talent they need to fill their future roster.

Parents, coaches and teammates have high expectations and hopes of glory.  All of this turns up the pressure on young ladies who aren’t even old enough to vote, or even drive.

In the first of our 3-part interview, Firecrackers Coach Sean Brashear  talks with Softball Nation about how softball players can prepare for the pressure of playing on a bigger stage.