Softball Scholarship Opportunities By the Numbers

Here are the latest numbers on collegiate softball scholarships, courtesy of the NCAA and NAIA:

Division I Softball Programs: 295
Division I Maximum Softball Scholarships/Program: 12*
Total Potential Division I Softball Scholarships: 3,540

Division II Softball Programs: 290
Division II Maximum Softball Scholarships/Program: 7.2*
Total Potential Division II Softball Scholarships: 2,088

Division III Softball Programs: 420
Division III Maximum Softball Scholarships/Program: 0**
Total Potential Division III Softball Scholarships: 0

NAIA Softball Programs: 192***
NAIA Maximum Softball Scholarships/Program: 10*
Total Potential NAIA Softball Scholarships: 1,920

The good news is there are nearly 1,200 four year colleges across America that field softball teams with the potential for over 7,500 athletic scholarships.

*Note that many programs choose not to utilize their maximum allotted athletic scholarships each season.

**Although D III programs cannot offer athletic scholarships they are very adept at lining up academic scholarship money for student athletes.

***Unlike the NCAA the NAIA rules allow coaches to talk to high schools athletes prior to the end of their junior year.

It is certainly a trend total with college softball programs to combine athletic and academic scholarships to as many of their recruits as possible. Very few players are on full athletic scholarships, so if your athlete is a great student her opportunities to play in college with substantial financial aid will be greatly enhanced.

Recent NCAA rules make it possible for member schools to now offer multi-year athletic scholarship commitments rather than just year to year renewals.

Remember with over 1,100 schools offering softball programs don’t limit your sights to regional programs or ones that attend showcases. As several D-II and D-III softball coaches have told me their budgets limit their ability to travel but they are always looking for top notch players. Many of these smaller schools will offer your daughter a great opportunity to both play ball and get a great education, so be proactive and reach out!

Thanks for reading!

 Watch John Kelly explain how to skyrocket your athlete's game day performance HERE.


Visit us on Facebook and "Like" us!

Follow @KellyEdge

Why Excessive Expectations Can Damage Her Success

Your athlete is likely under the burden of excessive expectations every time she steps onto the field, and these expectations can strangle and sabotage her performance without you or her even knowing it.

Expectations can be the 700 pound gorilla in the room and here is why. In a game that is built on failure fastpitch softball will inevitably kick your athlete in the stomach and test her ability to overcome adversity. Expectations that are unrealistic can be very damaging to her self-confidence and disrupt her performance by causing undue stress and anxiety. Let's look at the three most common forms of expectations your athlete may fall prey to:

• Parental Expectations - the most common and damaging for any player. Children naturally want to please their parents so excessive and unrealistic expectations placed on a child can cause her to try too hard causing mistakes. Mistakes cause increased ire by the parents and the vicious cycle of expectations accelerates further damaging the athlete's performance.
• Coach Expectations - often as damaging as those of parents because they likely rear their ugly head during the game and right after a mistake or poor at bat when a coach is most likely to use negative verbal or non-verbal communication to express disapproval of the athlete's performance. Many coaches are prone to expect perfection from their teams and players...which is a losing proposition as no team or player that has ever played the game is perfect.
• Player's Expectations- Certainly having an expectation for success is healthy for your athlete. expectation. After all she works hard at her game and thus should expect a reward for her efforts. However many players suffer from perfectionsim in which they expect that their game will always be without mistakes, outs or hits (if a pitcher). Thus every game is a set up for frustration, anger or sadness. This behavior and thought process is extremely dangerous and can have profound negative impact on all areas of her life. 

Give your athlete the gift that will change her game forever!

These three sources of expectations individually can cause your athlete to fall short of her performance goals. Collectively they can turn your athlete into a nervous wreck incapable of the mental focus and self-confidence necessary to succeed at the difficult game of fastpitch softball.

As a parent of a softball player and a coach (game and mental skills) I highly recommend that you be honest in assessing your own expectations for your athlete. The pressure you may be putting on her may be an unconscious one, yet she feels it just the same. In my new book, How She Thinks Is How She Plays, I cover in great detail just how difficult a game fastpitch softball really is and how excessive expectations act to diminsh your athlete's game, not enhance it.

Suffice it to say that a hitter has less than 1/3 of one second to determine the ball's velocity, location and movement in a strike zone that measures about six square feet. Is it tough to hit a ball...you bet it is!

My suggestion is to also have a discussion with your athlete to determine what expectations she has for her own performance to determine whether these expectations are healthy or unrealistic. Moreover softball should be a fun activity for your athlete where she can learn the many positive life lessons sports can teach her. Burdensome expectations only serve to make those opportunities for growth and joy blurred and unrecognizable.

Learn more about Winner's Edge Softball and the 21 Mental Performance Killers that sabotage your athlete's success and efforts to become the consistent peak performer college coaches want.

**Special Offer - take 40% OFF all our great mental skills training products for the holiday weekend. Offer ends Sunday, November 27 at midnight! Give your athlete the gift that will change her game forever. Just CLICK HERE and enter thanksgiving2011 in the "coupon code" box at checkout to get your 40% SAVINGS.


Visit us on Facebook and "Like" us!

Follow @KellyEdge

Does She Use Her Secret Weapon? Find Out...

There are several descriptive ways to say it: Aladdin's Lamp, The Genie, The X Factor, The Game Changer, The Secret Weapon, The Difference Maker, etc. As I write about often what determines greatness on the athletic field and how does your athlete access that on a consistent basis?

Why do some teams seem to have a "magical" season winning all the close games, getting all the calls and all the bounces while others struggle for consistency and success? Why do some players look effortless in their command of the game, displaying exceptional, consistent peak performance game after game while other players hit massive slumps or ride the roller coaster of success and failure almost without warning or reason? 

Certainly talent is an important component in the quest for greatness but talent is in no way a guarantee of greatness simply because an athlete is faster, stronger or quicker than others or possesses a greater command of softball specific skills than others.

Certainly physical preparation plays a huge role in determining greatness as success would be virtually impossible in a game as difficult to master as fastpitch softball unless an athlete and team spend significant time practicing the fundamentals of hitting, fielding, pitching and base running.

But here is where the analysis usually ends...with the physical. If we study almost any great athlete we will discover that the one thing that separates him or her from the competition is their mental preparation.

Simply stated your athlete's success and desire for greatness is found between her ears. And her ability to take responsibility for her thoughts, feelings, emotions and behaviors is the true secret weapon that either she uses to advance her game or destroy it.

On the field after 600+ games coaching (and countless I have seen on television) I have witnessed some amazing performances as well as pathetic ones from individual players and teams. I always marvel at the unsung hero of the World Series; usually a guy with limited success during the season who transforms himself into a monster when it counts the most. Why does this phenomenon happen so frequently and what creates the World Series greatness? Here are 10 attributes of greatness your athlete needs to demonstrate to become her team's World Series hero:

1. Laser Focus
2. Expectancy for Success
3. Ability to Overcome Adversity Quickly
4. Supreme Self-Confidence 
5. Trust Herself
6. Give 110% Effort
7. Super Relaxed
8. Utilize Mental Imagery to "See" Her Success Before it Happens
9. Not Burdened by the Expectations of Others
10. Focus on Their Effort, Not Their Results

All of these ideal attributes require mental skills training in order to be consistent in her approach to the game. These attributes of greatness take time to cultivate and will not happen through physical training alone. Mental skills training can give her the tools to insure her the best opportunity for consistent success and greatness in a difficult game.

The upside of proper mental skills training will be a player who can utilize her secret weapon at will to consistently elevate her game from good to great. Her mastery of the game will accelerate as will her desire and joy for playing it.

Your athlete has a powerful secret weapon located between her ears. Is she using it to insure her greatness?

Happy Thanksgiving and thank for reading!

***Thanksgiving Special Offer***

 
40% OFF all Winner's Edge Softball products through Sunday, November 27. Just enter the coupon code: thanksgiving2011 at checkout to get your 40% savings! Start shopping now!

Learn more about how your athlete can develop her secret weapon today with The Game Changer Program: A Mental Skills Blueprint to Make Her the Best She Can Be, or John Kelly's new book, How She Thinks is How She Plays.

Check our our new $1.97 Mental Skills Training Audio Lessons. Spend a little, gain a lot!

Follow @KellyEdge

What Defines 100% Effort for Your Athlete?

As I write about often, there are so many maddening elements and factors contained within the game of fastpitch softball that your athlete has absolutely no control over. However she does have absolute control over the two most important factors in determining her success: her effort and her attitude. You see as your athlete climbs the ranks of fastpitch she will begin to master most of the routine "mechanical" aspects of the game. The game gets faster and more precise (and more fun to watch!) as most girls reach 13. But it is at this point where the rubber meets the road and the cream begins to rise to the top.

As a game coach I recognize that in most games my team plays, at the 14u level, either team can win. In southern California it is rare at this level when we see a team which can't field, pitch or hit well enough to win. What this means then is that the outcome of the game all comes down to execution and desire; both of which are triggered by thoughts.

So the question I ask you is, what defines 100% effort? How far is your athlete willing to go to give all she has physically and mentally to be her best and help her team win? How much is she willing to trust herself to step outside of her comfort zones and elevate her game to the next level? These are questions your athlete needs to be asked and she needs to ponder.

Certainly it starts with her own desire and motivation, but it also includes playing for a team in which the bar for achievement and effort is high; a team filled with players of like mind all giving 100% all the time.

In our first bracket game yesterday we let a team we got up on early 3-0 come back and tie us in the last inning. With two out and the winning run at 2nd base the opposing hitter crushed a ball in the right centerfield gap. As the ball was clearly going to split my two fielders I blurted out "ball game." To my amazement my right fielder launched herself onto a full out-stretched dive, barely catching the ball, then rolled over violently but still maintaining possession. It was an ESPN caliber "web gem" to be sure! That catch and the subsequent "mental' momentum it created propelled us to a 7-3 win in the International Tie Breaker.

My player had a choice to give 100%. She could have easily not laid out for it, the ball would have dropped and we would have been eliminated from the tournament. However she chose to trust herself, to be the ultimate teammate and leave it all, literally, on the field. He effort was the catalyst for that win and the next win as well (after which the rest of the tournament was rained out). Would your athlete have had the courage to make that play?

Like I tell my players you have the choice to be as good as you want to be. But "wanting" requires sacrifice, courage and sometimes pain. From a coach's perspective, particularly a college coach, a play like my right fielder made yesterday would get his or her immediate attention. If she wasn't on the recruiting radar before that catch she certainly would be after it.

Here are my Big 4 "100% Effort" Game Changer Traits of a consistent peak performer:

1. Always willing to do what it takes physically to make a play: this attitude precludes even the thought of hesitancy or "will it hurt." To these athletes the only comfort zone is no comfort zone. This is the "warrior spirit" every coach loves to have on his or her team.

2. Always prepared mentally to make the play: this attitude requires attention, anticipation, expectancy for success and a mental toughness only found in the best players. These athletes force themselves to concentrate and stay mentally engaged each and every pitch, each and every game.

3. Always have a game plan: this means never stepping into the batters box or in the circle without a clearly defined plan of attack. As a batter know the game situation, know the umpire's strike zone, know the pitcher's tendencies and plan accordingly. As a pitcher determine the hitter's strengths and weaknesses and pitch accordingly, including set up pitches and waste pitches when ahead.

4. Enjoy the game: when a player brings a smile to her game it can ignite not only her own performance but her team's performance as well. When she expects to enjoy the game and expects to succeed at the game giving 100% is easy and a natural by-product.

I have defined what 100% effort means to me. Ask your athlete the same question and see what she says. Or have her write her thoughts in her softball journal including how she intends to give 100% physical and mental effort. Then see if she is willing to walk the talk on the field!

**Remember...the practice field is the perfect place to exert maximum effort. Once her muscle and mental memory patterns are formed there it will be easy for her to duplicate this effort on game day.

Announcing the new $1.97 Difference Maker mental skills Audio Lessons. How can you lose?

Change her game forever with The Game Changer Program: A Mental Skills Blueprint to Make Her the Best She Can Be for less than the cost of one hitting lesson!

Follow @KellyEdge