How to use your MyNextPlay Tracker to guide your journey to playing college softball

The MyNextPlay Tracker is a free tool you can use to organize all your academic and athletic information – as well as details about college softball programs you are most interested in pursuing – within a workbook that you can share with your coaches, parents, and counselors.

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Create your own version of the MyNextPlay Tracker

To make the most out of our free MyNextPlay Tracker, we recommend opening it and saving your own version either to your Google Workspace or Microsoft OneDrive account, or as an Excel file on your computer hard drive. Get started by clicking on one of the two versions of the Tracker below, and then follow the instructions in the rest of this article to create your personal version of the Tracker:

• Open the MyNextPlay Tracker in Google Workspace

• Open the MyNextPlay Tracker in Microsoft OneDrive

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Create your Tracker in Google Workspace

When you first open the Tracker in Google it will be in “Viewing” mode. To create a version you can save and edit yourself follow these steps:

• Step 1: Create a folder in Google Workspace where you’ll keep your copy of the Tracker. You can name this folder anything you want, something like “College” might be good.

• Step 2: Create and save your own copy of the MyNextPlay Tracker Google workbook in your folder by clicking “File” in the Google Sheets navigation bar, and then in the dropdown menu click “Make a copy”.

• Step 3: Name this new version of the MyNextPlay Tracker whatever you want, for example, “MyNextPlayTracker” with your last name added at the end.

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Once you’ve created your own version of the Tracker, you can edit the information in the tabs, and you can control who you share this Tracker with and how they are able to interact with your information. For example, you can share it with your parents and give them “Viewer” status, and share it with your high school coach and give them “Commenter” or “Editor” status.

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Create your Tracker in Microsoft OneDrive

When you first open the Tracker in Microsoft OneDrive it will be in “Viewing” mode. To create a version you can save and edit yourself follow these steps:

• Step 1: Create a folder in Microsoft OneDrive where you’ll keep your copy of the Tracker. You can name this folder anything you want, something like “College” might be good.

• Step 2: Create and save your own copy of the MyNextPlay Tracker Microsoft workbook in your folder by clicking “File” in the OneDrive navigation bar, and then in the dropdown menu click “Save As”.

• Step 3: Name this new version of the MyNextPlay Tracker whatever you want, for example, “MyNextPlayTracker” with your last name added at the end.

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Once you’ve created your own version of the Tracker, you can edit the information in the tabs, and you can control who you share this Tracker with and how they are able to interact with your information. For example, you can share it with your parents and give them “Viewing” status, and share it with your high school coach and give them “Viewing” or “Editing” status.

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Download the Tracker in Excel

If you open the Tracker in Google Workspace, click on “File” in the navigation bar. Next, in the dropdown menu select “Download”, and then click on “Microsoft Excel” to save the Tracker to your computer.

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If you open the Tracker in Microsoft OneDrive, click on “File” in the navigation bar. Next, in the dropdown menu select “Save As”, and then click on “Download a Copy” to save the Tracker to your computer.

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NOTE: If you create an Excel version to use on your personal computer you will have less ability to easily share your Tracker with others who can help you along the way. This is why we encourage you to create your own version of the Tracker in Google Workspace or Microsoft OneDrive and share access with your coaches, counselors, and parents/guardians.

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How you can use each tab in the MyNextPlay Tracker

Now, let’s talk through what each of the tabs in the MyNextPlay Tracker workbook is set up to help you with as you track your journey to college.

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My Academics tab

• This tab allows you to document your course schedule and match your courses to the NCAA “core” courses requirement for playing in college. There is also space on this tab to include your upper-level electives like Honors and AP classes that will be required by some colleges and universities. This will be useful for getting your core course work done early and for helping you develop a strong academic profile.

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My Colleges tab

• This tab makes it easy to start listing and tracking colleges and softball programs that you are interested in attending. Update this list of colleges as you learn more about the types of schools that are the best fit for you academically and from a softball perspective. Your list of colleges will be essential in helping you always know where to focus your efforts during the college planning and recruiting process.

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My Profile Data tab

• This tab allows you to record and easily access all the information you’ll need during your college planning and recruiting process. In this tab you can record your “Academic,” “References,” and “Athletic” information and stats. This will be useful when communicating with college coaches and filling out college applications. All your info will be in one place.