Why Grades REALLY matter if you want to play in college

Here's another reason I'm calling College Recruiting the Hot Topic of the month: I keep getting a number of responses to the messages I'm sending out. Here's one that came in with some great information in it. The person who sent this in is a parent who's already been through the process. So for those of you just about to enter the high school years or are already in it, read what this parent had to say: Stacey,
Don't forget the tremendous advantages of going to camps offered by many colleges through out the country. My daughter got a walk on offer to the college she had wanted to go to for academics and athletics by attending their camp for 2 years. Although she didn't get a scholarship to start with, she will receive the same benefits as a scholarship player except the money. She has the opportunity to gain a scholarship based on her performance each year. Not exactly the perfect scenario, but it fits our basic requirements, Hopefully, her academics will bring some scholarship money to assist.
I don't think it can be stressed enough the importance of academics. Many of the best softball players will never see the field again, or attend the college they would be athletically sought after to attend because they haven't handled the academics in high school. The first question my daughter was asked after she received the phone call with the walk on offer was, "how are your grades"? A's or B's are fine, C's and D's aren't. If you can't handle high school academics, then you will not handle college academics. College softball programs can't afford to waste money on scholarships for kids who can't cut it academically.
Dennis Thanks Dennis. Dennis is absolutely right about the academic part AND also pointed out a very good point that I think gets overlooked a lot when the subject of college recruiting comes up. It's NOT only about the SCHOLARSHIP!!! I know the money is a big issue for parents, but for players it's such a great opportunity and learning experience just to be able to continue their career, continue learning life lessons, and continue forming relationships with players and individuals they meet as a result of a college softball experience. These are the things that will carry on into their future. These are the reasons knowing as much as you can about the college recruiting process is important. A scholarship is just icing on the cake. Scholarships can also be earned once you have a spot on the team. It's not a given, nor is it easy, but just because you aren't on scholarship when you start off with a team doesn't mean that it will always be that way. Don't be so narrow minded into thinking that "college recruiting" is only about the money and a college softball experience should be considered just because of an offer or should NOT be considered just because there isn't an offer. Like I said before, for players like me, and probably like the ones you are involved with, who LOVE this game, it's not about the money. If there were no scholarship offers, I STILL would have wanted to be on a team somewhere continuing to play a game I love. If learning as much as I can about college recruiting is going to give a player the best chance of being able to continue her career, don't you think it's worth your time and effort to get as much information as you can?