It has become apparent in girls sports that scholarships are being earned outside the high school sports season.
Pauline Ferrall verbally committed this week to attend Eastern Washington University on a full ride basketball scholarship.
It's unlikely Ferrall would have gotten a sniff, though, from college recruiters without the help of playing on a summer traveling team.
Never mind her 6-foot-3 frame and 21 points a game average at Carmel. No one spoke to her until they saw her play on a travel team.
The same can be said about pitcher Caroline Main, who verbally committed to play at Canisius College in Buffalo on a softball scholarship.
Her dominating efforts for the Stevenson softball team went virtually unnoticed. But playing on a summer travel team changed that.
While the upside is exposure, the down side is burn out. Giving up your summer is a big sacrifice. And there are no guarantees.
Because the bottom line hasn't changed. Only one percent of high school athletes earn athletic scholarships
John Devine has been writing about high school sports in Monterey County since, well, practically since he was an athlete at King City in the days just after leather helmets. In PrepNation, John has even more in-depth analysis of the latest results and news he's brought to you in The Herald and in his weekly videos.
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1 comment:
It's not totally true that Caroline was not noticed when she played for Stevenson---I noticed her, and I live 3000 miles away! But it's true that College coaches put more emphasis on travel ball because the competition is of a higher level.
Meanwhile, Caroline has finished her freshman season here, with ups and downs, and will probably be the Griffs' number one pitcher in 2010.
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