Welcome Rocker Recruiting Info Night (No Sour-Pusses Allowed)

Welcome

Rocker Recruiting Info Night

(No Sour-Pusses Allowed)

What We’ll Cover Tonight

• Expectations and Goals– The Team AND Your Kids– Parent survey results

• What tournaments we are playing – and why• Clinics and camps• How to get noticed by college coaches• How the Rockers can/will help• What concrete steps do I take next?• Q&A

But first, introducing…

Tonight’s very special guests

Sam Becker, 2B/SS – Lake Park

John Carroll University

Parents: Tyler and Geri

Laura Behnke, CF – St. Francis

Augustana University

Parents: Dave and Carol

2007 14U Rockers (6 college players+)

A few other faces you might recognize below…plus two more…

Was six feet tall and threw 56 MPH at 10 years old!

I swear, doctor, we don’t beat our kids, really…

Future Rockers

Rockers Playing in College

• Laura Behnke - Augustana • Kelly Loy - Illinois Benedictine• Sarah Koch - Illinois Benedictine• Vanessa Wegner - Aurora University• Samantha Becker - John Carroll• Lauren Krzysco (Xplosion) - Arkansas• Stephanie Starr (Xplosion) -Aurora University

Expectations and Goals

• All of our girls CAN play college softball– That doesn’t mean they have to

• The time is now – for juniors AND sophs

• Pick the level and target schools that meet YOUR goals– D1, D2, D3, Juco

• School and grades extremely important

• You can’t be TOO aggressive– Coaches will only come to see you if you ask

• You are not alone

Most, but not all the girls want to play in college

Girls interested, parents even more so

D1 Not a Top Priority

What Colleges are Girls Interested in?

• DePaul • Lewis • South Carolina• Stony Brook• Villanova• Southern Illinois• Stanford• Marquette• Valparaiso

• Loyola• North Central• Illinois State• Milwaukee/Wisconsin• Illinois State• Augustana• Carthage• Concordia• Wisconsin

Why Tonight?• 10 out of 10 respondents requested a

meeting : )

How Can We Help?

Let’s Get Started…

Tournaments we are playing – & why

• The goal is to entice coaches to come see YOU in person

• Fall has become THE big recruiting period– Demarini/Ringor (Elgin), Midland Magic (Springfield), St. Louis

Showcase– Competitive PGF tournaments

• High school DOES matter

• Summer is about competing…plus exposure• PGF• ASA Metros• Nationals• Exposures – Local…and Colorado Sparkler

Clinics and camps

• Camps are a great opportunity to get seen– College-sponsored camps

• You go to colleges

– Organization-sponsored camps• Colleges come to you

• We have a long – and growing – list of upcoming area college camps on RockersBlack.com– Coaches will remind girls about camps and clinics– We will try to attend in groups as Rockers Black when we can

• Camps cost money – you determine the value

How to get noticed by college coaches this fall

• We have ‘Recruiting 101’ documents at RockersBlack.com to help you get started• Go to the Parents tab

Softball Recruiting 101 (23 Slides)Athletes Wanted 300+ page book, NCSA Make the Team, 130-page

eBook, Captain U

Also, by Cathi Aradi:

Fastpitchrecruiting.com Preparing to Play Fastpitch at the Collegiate Level 2013 Edition (Book, $34.95)

Plus:

NCAA Clearinghouse/Eligibility Center - www.eligibilitycenter.org/

How To Get Noticed Basics• Determine goals with your daughter

• Identify initial targets – send (multiple) emails ahead of tournaments– There are links to college Web sites and coach’s contact info on the

RockersBlack.com Web site– We will also distribute attending coach list before every tournament

• Follow up every contact; be persistent with outreach before every tournament. Email first, then phone to follow where possible.

• Consider Captain U or other recruiting services

• Scholarship realities– Only D1/D2 has scholarships – 12 scholarships, typically 20 or so

players– Less than 2% of all college softball players receive full-tuition athletic

scholarships

How the Rockers can help• Coach Pete and Laura C. will oversee recruiting

outreach/connections, working with Coach Rich and Coach Bruno– On-site at tournaments– Camp and clinic opportunities– Incoming via email, phone, contact

• We’ll help as much or as little as you’d like – TBD

• Rockersblack.com (plus Parents tab)– Team and individual profiles– Skills videos– College contact information– Camps and clinics list– Downloadable resources and eBooks– Email templates

What Steps Do I Take Next?1. Mind the calendar

– It is Sept. 15– We play our first exposure tournament Oct. 11 (Demarini Elgin)– We may see some coaches at fall PGF regionals

2. Finish profile. Get own PDF copy

3. Finish skills video. Get YouTube link.

4. Set a schedule for sending out emails (and do it)– Two weeks before tournament, general fyi– A few days before tournament, game schedule

Q&A