Hopefully, the previous post demonstrated that the chances of getting a scholarship to play college baseball aren’t very good. Sometimes I think parents talk about the baseball scholarship as a way to justify the amount of time and money their family is spending on baseball. Claiming that it’s all to pay for college is an easy and obvious excuse.
(Skip to the end of the post to see the list of all D2 Baseball Schools for 2023) NCAA Division 2 is the smallest for baseball colleges. It has only 265 members compared to 309 for D1 baseball and 390 for D3 baseball. However, unlike D3, D2 baseball schools offer scholarships although not the same amount as D1 schools. D1 schools are limited to 11.7 while D2 have a max of 9. However, an advantage Division 2 baseball colleges have over D1 schools is that they are allowed to have tryouts. What better way to find out where you stand with a coach than by having an actual tryout?
At the end of my son’s last high school summer baseball season, I was struck by the number of players who had graduated and didn’t know yet where they were going to attend college. I heard a lot of talk from parents about “maybe walking on” to various teams and see what happens. These were good players, the majority better than my son who did know where he was going.
(In 2023, two resources have disappeared from the list of Helpful Athletic Resumes and Player Profile Templates. Given the number of resources already on the list, I decided to just replace those that have disappeared. If you don’t like any of the samples you see here, you can easily find others on the web.) There are plenty of samples of athletic resumes or player templates on the internet. After all, it seems just about every recruiting website has one posted. It’s just tedious going through all the search results to find something useful. Well, I’ve just saved you the trouble–you can thank me later.
(See the end for the updated list for 2023) When high school baseball players start thinking of playing at the college level, they naturally start with the NCAA D1 baseball schools. NCAA D1 is the most competitive for baseball and provides the most scholarships. Yet it might not be the right division based on their athletic abilities and academic requirements. Nonetheless, players need to start the recruiting process somewhere and it can’t hurt to start with D1 baseball colleges. Just keep in mind, chances are that’s not where you’ll end up.
(List at end updated for 2023.) There are 338 women’s D1 soccer schools in 32 conferences according to the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE). The average number of participants per team in 2020 was 29.4 and the NCAA allows a maximum of 14 scholarships for D1 women’s soccer. This is more than allowed by men’s teams, 9.9, and more than all others sanctioning bodies except the NJCAA which allows 18. Soccer is an equivalency sport which means singles scholarships can be divided among multiple players. Therefore, players receiving full-ride soccer scholarships will be in the minority.
As softball players start deciding which gold teams to aim for, they’ll start asking themselves what their chances are of getting a softball scholarship. And if they aren’t, I’m sure as parents start to pull out their checkbooks to pay for playing on these teams, they’re considering the question. After all, it would be nice if there was some financial return on all their investments in lessons, teams, and travel. However, if you’re planning on using softball to pay for college, you might want to develop a plan B option because the odds aren’t great.
(See the list for 2023 at the bottom.) There are 206 NCAA D1 soccer colleges for men in the United States according to the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE). The NCAA allows colleges to offer a maximum of 9.9 scholarships for men’s D1 soccer teams which is less than the 12 allowed by the NAIA and the 18 for JuCo programs. Since Soccer is an equivalency sport, single scholarships can be divided among multiple players meaning few, if any, players will receive full-ride D1 scholarships.
High school softball players looking to compete at the highest level in college will be targeting NCAA Division 1 colleges and universities. These schools offer the most scholarships and the most competitive level of play and is the second largest of the NCAA softball divisions. A list of all D1 softball colleges is at the end of the post.