MyNextPlay's 11th Grade Timeline for college planning and softball recruiting

The MyNextPlay 11th Grade Timeline is a free tool you can use to help guide you through the college planning and college softball recruiting processes.

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For each semester and summer during your junior year in high school, the MyNextPlay 11th Grade Timeline lays out the things you should be working on and paying attention to during your journey from high school to college – and finding your spot on a college softball roster.

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In addition to using this MyNextPlay 11th Grade Timeline, you’ll want to create your own copy of the MyNextPlay Tracker – a Google Workspace or Microsoft OneDrive workbook that you can use to track all the information you’ll need as you move through your college planning and college softball recruiting process. (Note: You can also check-out the complete MyNextPlay Timeline that covers all four years of high school).

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Let’s dive into the MyNextPlay 11th Grade Timeline so you can get started!

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11th Grade Timeline

Reminder: Check-out MyNextPlay's College Softball Recruiting Guide, and set up your personal version of the MyNextPlay Tracker.

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FALL SEMESTER 11th GRADE

Academic to-dos:

❑ 11th grade is a big year – and it can be a very stressful year if you don’t take care of yourself! Study habits and time management will be more important than ever this year as you’re working to get good grades in upper level high school courses and preparing to take the ACT or SAT test during the spring semester. Be sure to sign up now to take the SAT or ACT in the spring.

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❑ Meet with your high school coach and high school counselor regularly to check in on your academics, and make sure you’re on the path to take upper level electives, honors and AP courses this year and your senior year.

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❑ If you need academic support, talk to your counselor or advisor, and your parents about getting the help you need. Consider tutoring resources provided by your school.

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Athletic to-dos:

❑ Consider attending a recruiting assessment event that’s easy to get to from where you live. Getting more experience in settings like this is always helpful, and attending an event like this will give you an opportunity to receive an assessment and evaluation of your core softball skills and tools. Talk with your high school coach if you need help picking an event to attend. MyNextPlay may be able to provide financial assistance; apply here.

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❑ Read MyNextPlay’s article “What are the athletic requirements to play college softball?” to see what skill levels coaches look for in players at each of the different college levels.

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❑ Commit to your training program to improve your strength, speed, agility, and quickness (SSAQ), as well as your hitting, fielding, and arm strength. Your high school coach will be able to help you develop a plan.

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College planning and softball recruiting process to-dos:

❑ This fall is when you really want to focus on getting your target list of colleges pulled together. Having this list together will allow you to begin communicating with coaches to express your interest in being a student-athlete in their program.

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❑ Fill out your “My Profile” tab in your MyNextPlay Tracker so you can start reaching out to coaches at the programs you’ve prioritized on the “My Colleges” tab in your Tracker. Your profile package should include your:

• High school transcript
• Recruiting video
• Softball core metrics and high school/summer season statistics
• Resume (can also be used in your college application)
• High school coach, travel ball coach, teacher, and counselor contact information so college coaches can reach out to these people for recommendations

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❑ Communicate with college coaches directly. Share updates to your player profile package information anytime after:

• You’ve updated your list of target colleges / universities
• You’ve attended a recruiting event
• You’ve created any new information that college coaches would find valuable to know about

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❑ College application process preparation:

• Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center
• Review academic requirements for NCAA, NAIA, and/or Junior College levels and update the “My Academics” tab in your Tracker to make sure you’re taking the courses you need to in order to be eligible at whatever college level you want to play.

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SPRING SEMESTER 11th GRADE

Academic to-dos:

❑ Congratulations on getting through the fall of your junior year! Keep working on your time management knowing that you’ll be busy every day this semester with softball practice and games.

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❑ Meet with your high school coach and high school counselor regularly to check in on your academics, and discuss whether it makes sense for you to retake the SAT or ACT a second time either this coming summer or in the fall of your senior year if you want to improve your test scores from your first test.

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❑ If you need academic support, talk to your counselor or advisor, and your parents about getting the help you need. Consider tutoring resources provided by your school.

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Athletic to-dos:

❑ Focus on softball season. This is an important year for you at the varsity level! Stay healthy both physically and mentally through the grind of the season.

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❑ Meet with your high school coach at season’s end to discuss where they see you potentially fitting as a college softball player, and to get their feedback on what areas you should focus on as part of your training and development.

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❑ Work with your high school coach and your parents to find a good summer softball team to play on during the coming summer. Whether you play travel ball or not, try to get on a team that plays in a few tournaments where you’ll have the opportunity to face tougher competition and get some more exposure to college coaches who attend some of these tournaments.

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❑ Develop and commit to your training program to improve your strength, speed, agility, and quickness (SSAQ), as well as your hitting, fielding, and arm strength. Your high school coach will be able to help you develop a plan.

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College planning and softball recruiting process to-dos:

❑ This is definitely the summer you want to attend one or more recruiting showcase camp events, ideally picking those that will give you the opportunity to play in front of coaches from schools on the “My Colleges” tab of your Tracker.

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❑ Keep refining your college target list, and plan to follow up with any college coaches you meet either at your summer softball tournaments or at recruiting events that you attend.

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SUMMER BEFORE 12th GRADE

Academic to-dos:

❑ Review your 12th grade fall semester schedule and make sure it aligns with the academic requirements for being a student-athlete. If you need to make any changes to your class schedule, reach out to your high school counselor to find out how to make these updates.

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❑ Decide whether you need to retake the SAT or ACT test this coming fall – if so, get it scheduled now.

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Athletic to-dos:

❑ Have fun playing on your summer team, and enjoy the experience if you go to any recruiting showcases events. Be sure to update the “My Profile” tab in your Tracker with any of the assessment and evaluation information that you get from attending a recruiting event. You will want to include this new information in email updates you send to college coaches at the end of summer or the beginning of the new school year.

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College planning and softball recruiting process to-dos:

❑ Your goal by the end of this summer is to really know the short list of colleges that are options for you when you start on your college application process during the coming fall.

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❑ If you’re a Division I or II recruited prospect, you’ll likely have your list of target schools pretty well defined by this point. You may have college coaches actively recruiting you to come play for them – and this might include making official visits early in the fall semester and discussing potential athletic scholarship offers.

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❑ If you’re looking at playing at a high academic college, you’ll want to be communicating actively early in – and throughout – the summer with coaches about where you fit on their potential list of “recruited athletes”. In addition, you’ll want to be ready to provide coaches with the academic information they request so they can submit it on your behalf to their admissions department as part of the “pre-read” process. (Take a read of this blog post that describes the pre-read process in more detail).

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❑ If you’re considering non-high academic Division III, NAIA, or JuCo schools, you’re still driving the process by working to narrow down your target list of schools and communicating with the coaches at these programs to identify the best opportunities for you both as a college student and softball player.

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❑ Before the end of summer, spend some time evaluating your target list of colleges, and take a look ahead to the 12th grade fall semester for the list of items you’ll want to be pulling together soon for the college application process.