Inside is an open-letter from recruiting expert Cathi Aradi that you won’t want to miss!  Cathi talks about the upcoming Women’s College World Series and what to look for including Six Key Lessons you can take from watching the best in the nation battle for the chance to end up with a National Championship!

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Players, Parents, Coaches,

Hopefully, many of you will catch NCAA D-I championship play on ESPN (see bottom of page for link to schedule) over the next three weeks.  This is always an exciting time of year. It’s wonderful to see these young ladies excelling at the college level, but my hat goes off to all the girls who took part in college softball this spring–be it as a league-honored D-I starter or a supportive role player at a small D-III you’ve never heard of.  All of these young ladies are elite athletes of one kind or another.

As you watch the games on ESPN, you’re bound to experience a lot of thoughts, ranging from “Wow!!!!” to “Gee, I could do that,” to “My kid is better than their starting second baseman.”

But I’d like to interject a word of caution.  It’s never as easy as it looks.  As you watch, try to pay attention to the “subtext” of the game–e.g., listen to the things the commentators say that tend to go in one ear and out the other.  If you really listen, you’ll hear that the work load of most players at the very top of the collegiate game is substantial.

Also, their coaches are tough.  They expect, if not demand, an intense commitment to winning.  This includes hours of conditioning–both mental and physical–extra time working on skills and drills, and the willingness to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve both team and personal goals.

Being good is a gift to appreciate, but it’s not nearly enough. There are thousands of good players out there.  Yes, you should celebrate your All-League achievements in high school, and yes, you should be very proud of everything you’ve accomplished so far in your softball career.

But keep these things in perspective.  Ask yourself if you are the kind of player who truly lives, eats, breathes, and sleeps softball?  If softball is your life, then you should definitely pursue the kind of championship team where that’s a given–whether it be at a D-I, D-II, NAIA or D-III or a JC program.

But if softball isn’t your whole life, that’s okay too!  There is definitely a place for you in college ball…just as long as you really love the game!  There are all sorts of programs out there; you simply need to find the one that’s right for you. All college ball at all levels of competition will demand more of you than you expect.  And that’s a good thing.  It’s the only way you’ll grow.  You should want to work hard, to get better, to set new goals for yourself, because while making a college team is the culmination of all your efforts so far, it’s also the beginning of a new chapter in your game.

In the meantime, try to keep a few things in mind.  No matter how good you are, there are other players out there who are just as good, if not better. And some of them may feel they’re entitled to take a spot away from you on a college team!

So what should you do? You’ve got to have game, of course! You’ve got to want it! You’ve got to be willing to fight back and show some coach that you deserve that spot!

And maybe most importantly, you’ve got to be smart about it.  Get cagey, get competitive. Understand how the process works, and figure out how to make it work to your advantage!

When you watch the WCWS, here are some very important things to NOTICE:

• Almost all of these athletes hit for power. Even the slappers can drive the ball into the gap.
• Many of the pitchers are big, strong girls. Notice that most of them throw consistently well over 60 mph. Yes, they might throw a change-up at 49 or an off-speed at 54, but most of them can bring the heat. At the same time, they don’t rely on the heat…they add movement and spin, the kind of movement that ties batters up in knots!
• Everyone makes mistakes. Fielders misplay balls, runners leave early or get caught between bases. The trick is to get over it and move on. (But don’t assume that because a batter strikes out or a fielder misplays a ball, this means you’re a better athlete than she is.)
• Getting there was the result of many months (if not years) of preparation. Getting there took a lot of hard work during a very long season. And these young ladies had to go to class, take exams, and do their laundry too!

What can you learn from this?

• Lesson #1: If you’re a slapper, learn to hit.  If you’re a “singles” hitter, turn those singles into doubles or double the number of singles you do hit.  Study hitting, study pitching, and learn to recognize the rise ball, the drop ball and the curve ball before they reach the plate. Learn to go with the outside pitch and to lay off the rise ball.  (I’m not a fan of tattoos, but if you get one, it should say, “See ball, hit ball.”)

  

• Lesson #3: Pitchers…use your pitching skills to your advantage. Learn to recognize the kinds of hitters you can most effectively and consistently challenge, and then look for the colleges that are recruiting those kinds of players. I guarantee those coaches will want to hear from you!
• Lesson #4: Make sure your study habits will carry you through a long season of college ball.
• Lesson #5: Understand that sitting the bench isn’t nearly as much fun as playing–even if your team is on TV. (Maybe especially if your team is on TV!) The moral here? Look for colleges where the coaches believe you have the potential to truly make an impact.
• Lesson #6: Know that you can have a wonderfully rewarding, awesomely fun college career…even if ESPN never visits your campus!  It’s all about finding the school where your hard work and determination will be rewarded, and where you can spend the better part of four years knowing everything you’ve done until now and all the sacrifices you’ve made were worth it.  The memories you generate during those four years should be memories that last you a lifetime!

In the meantime make this summer count!  But have fun while you’re doing it.  Otherwise, it’s just not worth the time!

NOTE: Check your local listings or go to my web page for the NCAA Div. I Regional Sites from which ESPN will broadcast starting this Friday. (The D-I Selection show airs Sunday night on ESPNU at 10 pm EASTERN time/7 pm Pacific). Next week, they’ll broadcast all 8 Super Regionals and the week after, every game of the WCWS! You can also watch some of the games on NCAA.com!

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Catharine Aradi has been a recruiting consultant for over 20 years, and she is considered by many college coaches to be one of the best recruiting resources in the nation. Through her book, Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level, her clinics and her consulting work, she has helped thousands of college-bound players gain that “competitive edge” during the college search process. Cathi is an active member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Assoc., (which also publishes her book), and she works with players and schools around the country.

For more information, visit her web site at FastPitchRecruiting.com. If you have questions about recruiting, you can also post them directly to Cathi on her web site (click here). To order her book, you can call 502.409.4600 or go to NFCA books