For Those Serious about Softball

Are you serious about softball and your teammates don't take it as serious as you do?

Does it seem like the player's on your team are more interested in the snacks after the game than about what's going on in the game or about winning?

Do you wish you could just play with players that feel like you do?

It's a very common problem.

Let me try to give you three ways to approach the problem and some cautions to watch out for.

# 1 Training

If you're really serious about softball, you'll go here to make sure you're the best hitter and player you can be.

Then the next thing to do is get the coaches and parents informed of proper training techniques like this site and others. Many times the kids and the leaders just don't know how to do it correctly and when they discover how much fun it is when they have success, they'll join you in your love of the game.

I'll be honest, even though I would try this approach first, be prepared to trudge through the season the best you can, knowing that there are options #2 and #3 available.

#2 All-Stars

For many of you, there is the chance to join up with the other kids who are more serious about softball and play in tournaments.

This is a good option for you when it's available. It's also more affordable than option #3.

But sometimes this option is not available and other times the kids are still not as serious about softball as you want to be.

This leads us to option ...

#3 (some) Travel teams

In some areas these teams are called Elite teams.

They are teams formed with the express purpose of letting serious players play on the same teams and normally they travel to other cities to play other like minded teams in tournaments and "friendlies" (full games against the other travel or elite team) or round robins (where everyone comes together and will play 2 - 3 games in a day playing each team once that day).

These teams can be very serious and competitive, ranging from teams that travel no more than 30 miles from their homes to teams that fly to tournaments out of state and almost every kid playing is going to be getting a college scholarship to play softball for their respective colleges.

In fact many of the tournaments are played for national championships and others bring the best teams together in the country. At many of these tournaments, it's not unusual to see college coaches and their scouts looking over the players that are serious about softball for their future scholarship offerings.

A couple of cautions

I would caution you about if you're truly serious about softball and want to go the travel team route -- Choose the right team for you and your goals.

Just because a team travels doesn't mean it has the same hopes and dreams you do. Some times these teams were created so "daddy" could let his daughter play in her favorite position. Some times coaches don't know how to get college scholarships, if that's your goal.



The other thing to know is if getting a college scholarship is your goal -- know where the college coaches hang out and find out if the team you're interested in will be playing in those places.

One example is that teams that rarely travel out of state will rarely be seen by these coaches and there are just certain tournaments that have a much higher percentage of coaches, like the 4th of July Colorado tournaments for the 16 and 18 year olds, that draw over 1,000 college coaches and scouts!

Another example, and this might go against logic, still involves choosing a team that will be seen by college coaches. I had the opportunity to coach at the International Student-Athlete games and met a number of young ladies who were serious about their grades and serious about softball. Many of them were tired of the kids who weren't serious about softball and were so good that they joined women's teams and 23 and under teams. That's one way to solve your dilemma, but think about your goals. If it's to get a college scholarship, remember that the key is to get in front of college coaches. How many 23 or older players do you think will be attracting college coaches? Maybe the 16 and 18-year-old teams in their area were weak, but these are almost exclusively the teams the college coaches watch.

Hope this helps you.

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