How high school softball coaches can have a productive “fit” conversation with their players

Why the “fit” conversation is so important

The “fit” conversation is maybe the hardest – and likely the most avoided – conversation between a coach and player in high school sports. 

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High school players imagine they’re going to play at Oklahoma or UCLA, and if not there, then at least somewhere else in Division I. But the reality for 99%+ of high school players is that they’re not going to play Division I, and that’s perfectly fine because the good news is that there are a lot of great places to play after high school outside of Division I.

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The other good news is that as a high school coach, developing a relationship with your players early in – and throughout – their high school career enables you to play an important role in helping them find their path after high school graduation. And given the important role you play in your players’ life, the sooner you have the “fit” conversation with your players, the sooner they can get going on reaching out to college programs and coaches where they’ll be able to play after high school.

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Below is a simple guide for how high school coaches and players can structure the “fit” conversation, and how to use this conversation to help players (and their families) move forward on their journey to find the next step that’s best for them after high school.

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How to structure the “fit” conversation

Introduce the concept early on

Talk to your players as incoming 9th graders about the concept of fit. Help them understand that where they’ll fit after high school is first and foremost up to them, and that the two biggest elements that they need to focus on are their academics and athletic capabilities. Encourage your players to start thinking about what’s important to them by reading our article “Do you know your ‘what’ and ‘why’ when it comes to preparing for college as a high school softball player?”

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Make the conversation as objective as possible

Given the dual combination of academic and athletic metrics that largely shape where a high school softball player can play in college, be sure to share with your player the key metrics that college coaches look for in both areas.

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Academic metrics

Encourage your student-athletes to take the right courses, to achieve the best grades possible, and to prepare best they can to score well on standardized entrance exams like the SAT and ACT. Make sure your players know that the types of colleges that will be available to them academically will be based on the combination of their courses, grades, and test scores. Also, encourage your players to read our article “What are the academic requirements to play college softball?”, so they begin to understand what it takes academically to play at different types of colleges.

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In the “fit” conversation, help your players understand (in conjunction with academic guidance counselors at your high school) where they are right now academically, and what they need to do in order to expand their options of college choices if this is important to them.

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Athletic metrics

Encourage your players – both pitchers and position players – to know their softball metrics. Increasingly, these core metrics are used by college programs and coaches to understand where high school players will fit across the landscape of NCAA Division-I, Division-II, and Division-III, NAIA, and Junior College levels. 

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For position players, read our article “How to run a metrics showcase day for your high school softball program”, to easily capture these core softball metrics for your players:

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• 20 yard dash
• Throwing velocity
• Hitting exit velocity
• Broad jump
• Grip strength 

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Based on where your players are at on these five metrics, before your “fit” conversation encourage them to read through our article “What are the athletic requirements to play college softball?”, so they can come into the conversation with an understanding of where they’re at athletically within the spectrum of college softball levels.

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In the “fit” conversation, help your players understand where they are right now athletically, and what they need to do in order to expand their options of college choices if this is important to them.

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Be sure to include the concepts of “projection range”, “intangibles”, and “exceptions”

Keep in mind that fit isn’t a fixed point for your players, and that you should convey the idea of a “projection range”, especially for younger players who have a lot of academic and athletic growth ahead of them. 

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For example, your conversation with a sophomore player might convey something like “right now you’re in the lower Division II to upper Division II or maybe lower Division I based on how you might develop in the next couple of years.” This projection range signals to the player that again, much is in their control in terms of where they might end up depending on how hard they work through the rest of high school in both the classroom and on the field.

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Also, when talking about projection range, make sure to stress to your players that college coaches pay attention to the progress they see both academically and athletically in a player. For example, a player that shows large increases in their softball metrics year over year will catch the eye of a college program more than a set of higher metrics that have remained static over that same timeframe. 

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Finally, be sure to introduce the concepts of “intangibles” and “exceptions” to your player. 

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• “Intangibles” are the things coaches look for in players that don’t show up directly in their academic or athletic metrics. These can include the player’s work ethic, softball IQ, resiliency, and leadership capabilities, among other intangibles. Sometimes you’ll hear intangibles referred to as a player’s “make up”.

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• “Exceptions” are those cases when a player ends up playing and contributing at a college softball level that exceeds what their metrics might otherwise project. This outcome can happen for a number of reasons, but a couple examples are 1) players who bring a number of the intangibles mentioned above to their profile as a player and 2) players who excel at a specific skill such that it outweighs other deficiencies. Think here of the big guy with off the charts exit velocity who can’t run, throw or field, or the reliever with sub-par velocity who has three pitchers he can command above average.

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Where do you go after the “fit” conversation?

The “fit” conversation isn’t a one and done process. In reality, this conversation should be an ongoing check in between you and your players as they move through high school.

After a fit conversation with a 10th grade or older player, the next step for the player should be for them to begin building their target list of colleges. This exercise is crucial in that it takes what for many high school players is an idea, and it turns it into an actionable reality and possibility.

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Our article “Top 3 Ways High School Softball Coaches Help Players Find Their Next Destination After High School”, lays out the ways you can help your players start developing their list of target colleges. Encourage them to create their own copy of the MyNextPlay Tracker and share access with you. In this free Tracker, players can begin listing colleges, and include coach names and contact information that they’ll use to later begin reaching out to these coaches and programs.

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Good luck working with your players – they are fortunate to have your support!