Updated on

March 4, 2024

Top 3 ways high school softball coaches help players find their next destination after high school

Overview

High school softball coaches play an important role in helping their players define the path they want to take after they graduate, whether that includes playing softball in college or not.

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Below are perhaps the three most important things coaches can do to help their players define their path post-graduation:

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Know where your players are academically and athletically

Have the “fit” conversation with all of your players

Help your players create and manage their target list of colleges

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Let’s dive into each of these three elements in more detail.

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1. Know where your players are academically and athletically

Take the time to get to know your players, and to understand not only who CAN play softball after college, but also, of those who academically and athletically can play, which players WANT to play after high school. Have your players read through our article “Do you know your ‘what’ and ‘why’ when it comes to preparing for college as a high school softball player?”, so they start thinking about this process early on in high school.

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For those players who want to potentially play softball in college, knowing where they’re at academically and athletically is important. The good news is that much of this evaluation can be based objectively on data and metrics achieved by your players.

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Academic metrics

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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. The types of colleges that will be available to your players 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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Athletic metrics

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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 net out on these five metrics, encourage them to read through our article “What are the athletic requirements to play college softball?”, so they begin to understand how to continue training to put themselves in the best position possible athletically to play college softball.

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One final note here. Keep in mind that for many of your players, the path after high school won’t include playing softball, and it may not even include starting right away at a 4-year college. Some of your student-athletes will find 2-year colleges, trade school programs, or maybe going to work right out of high school to be the best next step for them after graduation. Be sure to be there for those players, checking in with them each semester, as they’re figuring all of this out during high school.

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2. Have the “fit” conversation with your players who want to play college softball

For your players who both athletically and academically CAN play softball in college, and who also WANT to pursue this path, the next important step for you to take with them is to have the “fit” conversation. You can read our article that outlines how best to structure this conversation, “How high school softball coaches can have a productive ‘fit’ conversation with their players”.

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Why is this “fit” conversation so vital? Simply put, it’s an important way to help your players understand the range of college softball levels where they might be able to play, but also where they ideally can play a lot of innings. Sitting the bench at a higher level is a much less desirable outcome than playing a lot at a lower level.

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Keep in mind also that for some players (especially younger players), the idea of talking about a range e.g. “NCAA Division III to Division II”, will be the best way to talk about “fit” since so much growth and development occurs for high school players. Further, it’s important to convey in the fit conversation the idea of intangibles and exceptions. While metrics and data drive a lot of player evaluation today, intangibles like work ethic play an important role, and there are always exceptions to the rule e.g. a Division II prospect who makes his way to playing a key role on a Division I roster.

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3. Help your players build their target lists and encourage them to engage with college coaches and programs

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The third important way coaches help their players is through exercise of assisting them in building and managing their target list of colleges. This effort is crucial in that it takes what for many high school players is a fuzzy idea, and it turns it into an actionable reality and possibility.

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Tools players can use to create a target list

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There’s no one way to go about putting this list together – and for sure, the list will evolve over time. One way to start is to have your players create their own copies of the MyNextPlay Tracker and share access with you. In this 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. Your players can find and begin researching college softball programs through the lists and search tools provided here in our resource “Finding college softball programs by NCAA, NAIA, and Junior College levels”.

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In addition to the MyNextPlay Tracker, several online recruiting services (like FieldLevel and SportsRecruits for example) enable the creation of a free player profile, and they sometimes allow student-athletes to research and create target lists for free (though messaging coaches through these services often requires a premium subscription).

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How to help players create and manage their target list

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Based on the specific college softball level (or range of levels) that you and your player discuss during the “fit” conversation, encourage your student-athlete to come up with a list of schools that they are interested in pursuing. The ideal number to start can be in the 10-20 range, and then you and your player can review the list to refine it as makes sense given some the questions below:

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Are there some schools that were overlooked and should be included?

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Are there some schools on the list that are too much of a stretch either athletically or academically?

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Are there schools that are in locations that upon further reflection the player would rather not go to for college?

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Once the player’s list has been created and refined a bit through a conversation with their coach, it’s now up to them to start the process of engaging with coaches at the programs on their target list. This process can be as simple as:

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Assembling their academic information, their softball metrics, and video of them hitting and fielding, or pitching (or all three) in either their MyNextPlay Tracker or their recruiting service profile.

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Drafting and sending emails with the information above included, along with their high school coach’s contact information and a list of any upcoming events that they’ll be participating in over the upcoming summer and fall.

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Coaches and players can together consult the MyNextPlay Timelines for each high school grade level for more detailed information about what tasks to be talking about each semester throughout the player’s high school journey:

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