The Amateur softball Association—the National Governing Body of Softball in the U.S. announced today the top three finalists for the Seventh annual USA Softball Collegiate player of the year award. The award is for the most outstanding softball player in The NCAA Division 1.

An initial watch list was released on January 30. Then a list of 25 finalists was announced on April 9. These finalists were trimmed to 10 on May 7th, just before the beginning of the post-season competition.

Now, the three finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate player of the year are Tonya Callahan, Tennessee U, in the Southeastern conference, Megan Gibson who plays for Texas A&M which is part of the Big 12 Conference and Virginia Tech’s Tincher from the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

These girls have already received top awards in their respective conference and two of them have led their teams into the NCAA Super Regionals. Way to go ladies! Now hit it out of the ball park.

It goes to show that college softball is catching on across the nation. And there are great opportunities all over to play at a collegiate competitive level.

If you thought that NCAA softball was competitive on the field. Try landing a scholarship off the field.

That’s not meant to discourage you. It’s just that you can’t win if you don’t know the rules of the game.

Rule 1) Not all NCAA softball scholarships are full ride like football and basketball. Instead most are classed as “equivalency sports.” What that means, is that coaches share their lump sum between a bunch of different players on the team.

Rule 2) In Division I, a coach can divide 12 scholarships between the players. So it’s more like 25 partial scholarships instead of 12 full ride ones. Division II offers 7.2 full-ride scholarships that can also be divided into partial scholarships.  If you are one of those players that can hit the ball out of the park, then there are also full-ride scholarships.

Rule 3) There are 262 NCCA Division I and 253 Division II colleges that offer softball scholarships. That’s a total of 4,965.6 softball grants available in the NCAA.

How to play Hard Ball and get recruited:

Take me out to the Ball Game. Attend a couple of games where you want to attend to make sure the Division is the right level for you.

Join a Travel Team. Don’t just play for your high-school team, but play for a travel team which is usually made up of the top high school players in each state. College coaches are more likely to show up at these games, looking for talent.

Go to Camp. Most of the top colleges and universities (including junior colleges) run their own softball camps over the summer. It’s a great way to learn what will be expected at the college level, and meet and make contacts with the coaches.

Register. If you want to play for NCAA Division I or NCAA Division II softball don’t forget to register and by certified by the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.

Photo by:  Marc Liberts (flickr)

College softball is in full swing, with the 2008, Women’s College World Series, getting underway at the end of May.

In fact, college softball is the NCAA’s fastest growing championship. 

And  it’s one of the two only sports in the NCAA, which is exclusively for women (the other is Field Hockey).

More than 600 NCAA member colleges sponsor women’s softball programs and national championships for women are held in all three NCAA sports divisions (I, II,and III). The NAIA schools also have college softball teams.

The college softball championships which began in 1982, begins with 32 teams from 8 regions competing in a double-elimination round. The eight winners meet in Oklahoma city to play in the Women’s College World Series. The team enter a double-elimination, round robin tournament to determine the national champion.

In 2007, the winners of the Women’s college World Series were:
Division I: University of Arizona
Division II: SIU Edwardsville
Division III: Linfield College

The competition this year is fierce. Play starts back up tomorrow in Division II. The Pioneers open the double-elimination tournament Wednesday against Emporia State, the North Central Region Champion.

Anyone who says ‘you throw like a girl’ has probably never watched a college softball game before. So tune in.

Check back for tomorrow’s blog on recruiting and scholarships for playing college softball.