Those of you that listen to our Everything Fastpitch podcast know how much I hate the new transfer rules. You know how much I hate the transfer portal and how easy it is now for players to leave their current school. You’ve all heard me rail at the mass exodus of players leaving the program at Oregon with many of them following Coach Mike White to Texas.
Just so you know, I’m not the only one who has questions about the new rules and the portal. I have to share a story written about coach Mike Candrea from the University of Arizona and his sharing of his opinion.
Coach Candrea is widely accepted as one of the greatest coaches our game has ever seen. When they create a Mount Rushmore of fastpitch, softball there is no doubt Candrea will be on it. He has won eight national titles and coached many of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
On the website Arizona Desert Swarm, reporter Ryan Kelapire interviewed Candrea and his concerns were very similar to the same fears I have spent so much time commenting on in our space.
In summary, the key points Candrea makes are that:
1. The transfer portal has almost created a type of softball free agency.
2. Players transferring during the school year will have a devastating impact on their old school and teammates because their is no way for the school to replace that departing player.
3. That there will always be cases where a player transferring makes sense, but that there is a big difference between a player leaving at the end of the year versus a mid year.
Please check out the article if you want to have an opportunity to see more of Candrea’s thoughts. And you’ll see that I’m not the only one with real concerns about the health of college softball.
About the Author: Tory Acheson brings a wealth of knowledge to the Fastpitch Prep staff. He has coached at all levels of the game, including the last 25 years at the college level at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside, Tennessee Tech and Kennesaw State. He began his coaching career at the high school level spending 9 years Whitnall High School in Greenfield, Wis. and is now working as a professional softball instructor.
