The Youth Softball Coaching Clinic Blog is your free online source for youth softball and little league softball coaching tips and drills. Our articles and daily post covers all aspects of coaching girls softball and girls softball teams.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Softball Scholarships - 5 Tips For Softball Recruiting


By Sean J Farrell

College softball scholarships are becoming harder to get every year. More high school softball players are seeking scholarships as a way to help pay for college and athletes are becoming more knowledgeable regarding the recruiting process. To earn a softball scholarship you must have a solid recruiting plan and knowledge of how the recruiting process works.

College softball is classified as an equivalency sport. This means scholarships are rarely "full ride" as commonly thought. Most softball scholarships are partial scholarships. NCAA Division I schools can offer 12 scholarships. These can and usually are divided up among more than 12 athletes. For example, if you are offered a .5 or 50% scholarship, then the coach has 11.5 scholarships to divide up among as many athletes as they see fit. Incoming freshman often compete for 3 to 4 scholarships, all of which will be partial. DII schools have 9 scholarships, while NAIA schools have 10. Junior colleges have 24 scholarships and have become a hotbed of softball scholarship recruiting.

Use these 5 tips to help with your softball scholarship recruiting:


Get the best grades possible. This is an easy aspect of your recruiting to control. Coaches have a much easier time recruiting an athlete that leaves no questions to their academic ability in college. Colleges are tightening admission standards for athletes every year. Do let your grades leave you sidelined.
Play multiple positions. With such little scholarship money to hand out, if you can play two positions well, the coach saves money by recruiting you. You are a two-for-one deal in the coaches eye. Even if your high school coach only lets you play one position, play another during your summer season.
Get exposure. You have to let the coaches know you exist. Even if you are from a rural high school or school that hasn't had a scholarship athlete in years, you can get your name out there if you contact schools early and do it the right way.
Don't wait. Coaches are offering scholarships earlier every year. Start your recruiting during your sophomore year to get a jump on the competition. Junior year is critical for softball and you should have been contacting colleges all year. Don't wait for your high school coach or the college coach to contact you. Get out there and make it happen.
Be aggressive. There is a lot of competition. Be aggressive with contacting schools, sending out personal recruiting packets and picking up the phone. It often comes down to who did more work during the recruiting process, not who is the most talented softball player.

Use these 5 tips as a starting point for your college softball scholarship search. You need to start developing a recruiting game plan and educating yourself about the recruiting process. Take action and you can guarantee yourself success.

If you want a softball scholarship then don't wait any longer. You must start today. Visit http://www.collegeathleticscholarships.net to get the recruiting system that works for college softball scholarships. Use step-by-step instructions to beat out the competition and look forward to signing your National Letter of Intent.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_J_Farrell

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