When looking through the Seton Hall women’s softball team roster, one may notice that more than half of the players are from outside New Jersey, particularly from California or Texas. Of the 21-player roster, more than 47 percent of the players are from California or Texas with less than one percent from New Jersey. “California not only produces the most D1 softball players in total (1 out of every 5) it also ranks first in the relative percentage of high school players competing on NCAA l teams,” according to scholarshipstats.com. A study shown by the National Collegiate Athletic Association stated that only 1.7 percent of college students are likely to play Division 1 softball right after high school.
A great migration of talent from the west coast has changed the game in college softball. “There is a big difference – the kids out in Southern California just practice, train, and play against some of the best players not only in the country, but in the world,” said University of Florida softball coach Tim Walton. “The Southeastern Conference has used television exposure, new facilities and California’s own players to pry loose the West Coast’s stranglehold on the game.”
Softball America writer Maren Angus describes how she thinks for some students it is a chance to move away from home and create an identity for themselves. While for others, it could be that those were the only schools that were recruiting them.
“It’s definitely not new,” said Angus. “This has been happening for years! But, there are also East Coast players who go play out west. For example Julie Rodriguez plays at UCLA and she is from New Jersey.”
Some feel there may be a new parody across the country. For so long West Coast athlete had the ability to play year round due to the nicer weather conditions, but now there are more students from the East Coast stepping up and competing for the same spots.
“I picked an East Coast school because I wanted to live on the East Coast for once in my life to see if I’m missing anything,” said one of Seton Hall’s softball player’s from California. “I also wanted to be next to the city.”
An article from FloSoftball.com that describes the career of California native and Florida Gator power house Kelsey Bruder: https://www.flosoftball.com/articles/6330000-kelsey-bruder-brings-west-coast-to-east-coast-with-the-softball-project
There is no guarantee where the majority of D1 softball players may end up but as for right now, they are spreading all across the country.
Meagan Gonzalez can be reached at meagan.gonzalez@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @meagangonzalezz.