College Coaches at your Game? Do and DO not!

It was an awesome weekend down in La with our new softball team and I was reminded about how interacting with college coaches for softball is 180 degree opposite then in baseball. Why? I have no idea other than the fact that it is just different. To put things into perspective. My daughter is currently playing on a team full of kids who will graduate high school in 2025. My daughter will graduate in 2026, however my son will graduate in 2025 so I feel like my references are pretty spot on with regards to this topic. Just in case any of you are at home thinking I might be outdated or not in the same boat.

The reason the dates matter is that as of about 6 weeks ago college coaches could start to "recruit" the 2025 softball class. You may not know this but for the boys it started a month earlier. Why? Once again I have no idea but those are indeed the facts. That September 1 date is quite the gut punch for 99% of the youth softball players and their parents alike. You have been told all this time that you are waking up at 5 am and eating in your car 5-6 times a week for this elusive college scholarship, only to find out that on this day you will almost certainly be let down. The idea that a coach will be contacting you that morning or even that day and offering you a scholarship is very rare. In fact it is almost impossible. There are exceptions.

Exception 1 might be that if you know with all your heart that you want to go to a certain school and you happen to be "better" than that school. This is another great topic I will have to write about but to be brief lets just say your kid is good enough to go to a school that is ranked in top 5 however they love a school that is local and maybe ranked in the top 100. Something like this.

Another example might be that your family has a connection with someone in that coaching staff or lets say your sister or brother is already playing at that school. That child is prospering and the school feels like you and your family are already in the know about what to expect there.

Last exception and most commonly mistaken is that your daughter is that good. She is the 1 % that every and any coach is looking for. She is so good that any coach would be a fool not to take her. There are a handful in the country and by September of their Junior year in high school you will know. In fact if you have not been a player of the year or a gatorade player of the year or multiples of this then sorry but this is not your child. I know, I suck sorry.

There will be a lot of kids who will get the call that a school likes your child and wants to follow them and offer them a spot out at their camp. This is merely more dating. Not a proposal. If we really think of it like a marriage I think us as parents would be way better with our emotions. Imagine if a person called that you barely knew and only had heard about and asked for your daughter's hand in marriage? I think not. Let's get to know each other right? Same thing for both sides. If you can go into like this it might make more sense.

Ok well shoot back to the topic at hand! The do and don'ts of what and how to act as a parent when these college coaches are in the stands at your game.

1) It is ok to smile and say hello. They are humans and should be treated as such. "Hey coach" Good morning " something like this is fine.

2) Do not strike up a conversation about their school and your child. If you know them or you have met them before then disregard this but if it is totally out of the blue then allow them to do what they are doing. Recruiting. They want to watch whatever kid they are there to see and move on to the next.

3) Do not sit right behind home or where the field of play is visible. Try to make room so that they have access to the best seat in the house. At one point this weekend I totally broke my own rule as I was scoring. The head coach of UCLA was standing behind me trying to video this girls at bat and I felt like a jackass. Don't be me. Like I said I am speaking from experience here hahaha.

4) Shade and water. I am not sure how all coaches might feel publicly about taking water but to offer is totally ok. If you have a pop up and it is in a good viewing spot, have your college liaison let the coaches know that the shade is for them. We had this on our second day and it was a hit. The coaches were all able to sit around each other in the shade out of the heat and they stayed for almost two games. Once again they are human and it's probably easier to be where they are comfortable.

5) Act like you have been there before. Same thing as the marriage proposal above: don't fall in love on the first date and start spilling your spaghetti on your shirt. They are human and so are you. It is all good.

6) Last but not least, take a note of who was there and let your kid know. Maybe have your coach follow up with them or at the bare minimum have your child send an email thanking them. If they have done something to catch their eye this would be an awesome way to find out.

Ps: Sorry for blocking you Lisa