This time of year everyone is thinking about recruiting. Colorado became the hub of all things softball for a couple of weeks because so many players and parents are hoping to be seen by college coaches. College coaches come out in great numbers to evaluate and find the players who will make up their future rosters.
Over the years, I’ve done dozens of recruiting seminars and have tried to share some of what I have learned with softball players and their families as they embark on this process.
There are many things that I hope these players and families will take away from these sessions but none is more important that what I call the 14 Commandments.
Why 14 Commandments? Well, it used to be 10, but I keep seeing new dumb things that makes the list grow.
What are the Commandments supposed to accomplish? To help the next wave of potential softball players avoid making the same mistakes others have made.
No. 1: Never show disrespect to your teammates, coaches, parents or umpires.
If a player doesn’t respect her own parents, how can any coach want to select them to be a part of their team? If you disrespect your parents, how can a college coach expect you to respect them? The answer is simple: They don’t expect you to respect them and they won’t recruit you.
Disrespect also shows a general lack of maturity that most college coaches don’t want to deal with. This evaluation also carries over to the parents of the potential recruit. If you are the crazy parent screaming, yelling, making a scene, disrespecting the coaches, you’re also likely to get your kid crossed off the list of many college coaches. The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.
The old saying goes, you only get one chance to make a good impression. Be sure you are making it.
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