In The Huddle

EP#57: Take Division Out of It with Junior College Softball Coach Erin Sharpe at Northeast CC in Nebraska

• Study & Play USA • Episode 57

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Unlock the secrets of junior college softball recruitment with our expert guest, Coach Erin Sharpe from Northeast Community College in Nebraska. Gain insights into what truly matters in the eyes of a college coach: it's not just about stats but the fundamentals and batting techniques that make a standout recruit. Coach Sharpe discusses her thoughts on highlight reels and what grabs her eye in these videos. 

Navigate the dynamic world of college softball transfers as we delve into the intricacies of finding the right cultural fit for athletes moving from junior colleges to four-year institutions. Coach Sharpe shares strategies to evaluate compatibility with a team’s culture and addresses common questions from international athletes about the transfer process. Learn how the transfer portal operates across NCAA divisions and discover why JUCO offers more than just a stepping stone but a launchpad for athletic dreams. Coach Sharpe details how she assists her athletes with the transfer process and the lengths she will go to assist her players in this transfer. This episode is packed with practical advice and expert perspectives to guide both athletes and their families in making informed decisions about their college softball journey.

Speaker 1:

In the Huddle was created to give student athletes, parents and coaches an inside look at the journey through US college sport and all that comes with it the demands, the experiences, the excitement and the opportunities available to our student athletes from around the world Study and Play. Usa facilitates a comprehensive, customised approach for student athletes and families for their whole journey, from their high school preparation years right through to US college graduation.

Claire :

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of In the Huddle. I'm your host, claire, and we are joined today by Coach Erin Sharp at Northeast Community College in Nebraska. Coach Sharp is the women's softball coach. She herself is from New Mexico and is a former player in Nebraska herself, and now she has returned back to Nebraska to coach. Welcome to the show, coach Sharp. Yes, very blessed to be here. We're so excited to have you. I would love to chat with you.

Claire :

All stuff junior college softball and we get a lot of softball players that inquire with us and a lot of softball players that head over to America. So I'm sure everyone listening is going to be very excited to hear what you have to say. So thanks for joining us, thank you. So I'm going to hop right into it, as I always do. A lot of people that inquire with us want to know about the recruiting markers that a coach might want to see when reviewing footage and profiles and things like that. So, as a junior college softball coach, what kinds of things do you look for Like? What information do you need from a softball athlete in the recruiting process?

Erin:

Yeah, I don't really look much about stats, especially here in the Us. It seems as if they put every single game possible that they've ever played in um. So stats wise, I'm not really ever looking for that. I do sometimes look at exit below um. As far as batting um, if it's above 70, obviously those, those girls, are probably going to go more d1. But um, if we can get it close to a 70, I would definitely look at that. And then while I'm looking at videos, I really look towards the hitting portion of it. I see if they are closely aligned to what we work on here and the bat path that we have here, and then just kind of their fundamentals a little bit to see how far we have to work with um, see if it's something that is a big project or a little project in your view, what would be a big project, uh, somebody who doesn't have like solid fundamentals.

Erin:

um, I think sometimes here in the us we're getting a little bit away from uh, really like working on fundamentals from a young age. Um, so I think, just making sure they have basic fundamentals, knowing how to feel the ball, obviously good throwing mechanics too I mean, the amount of throwing that we do in college seems to really bother people's arms and they don't have good throwing mechanics. So I'm just kind of looking at that and then, as well as we can, With a highlight reel.

Claire :

What kind of stuff do you want to see in a softball highlight reel?

Erin:

I really like when they have just workouts of them in cages. Game footage is really nice because obviously you can see what it's like in the game, but sometimes just being able to see what it's like in the cage gives you a better idea too if it's good to work with or not.

Claire :

Good to know and with the different things that we usually recommend that our softball players include, we have, yeah, hitting in the cage. We have tee footage. We have base running. We have um, if an athlete can prove that they can hit home runs and have the ability to do so, we have always been told by coaches that that's a good thing to show as well, if you can prove you're able to to hit a home run. Um. We also have different one-on-one training that sometimes kids will include as well in their highlight videos. But the number one question we get across every sport is how long should my highlight video be? What are your thoughts on that question?

Erin:

um, I mean, you guys do it a little bit differently here, um, or there, I should say, in the us they seem to like make little clips and it's a whole bunch of little clips that you can just point out or select on. Um, I don't even know what Tiana's is, probably like two, two and a half minutes, three minutes or so. I think that really gets you. Um, I think also, if you're putting before each like segment like this is me batting, or so, so that way, if the coach really wanted to, they could go through and like start watching what they want to watch, I think that's just fine. I don't think there's really a time limit on that.

Claire :

Now, obviously, if you're getting to like 10 minutes long, then you're probably really pushing that, but other than that, yeah, okay, that's good, because normally I say as well, if a coach wants to fast forward, they can, and obviously all the exciting, amazing stuff's at the beginning anyway, regardless of sport, regardless of division that you're looking at going to. So, yeah, that's really good for people to hear that very strong opinions about which softball divisions are best and which ones are worth avoiding which I find fascinating because usually it's just word of mouth. People from Australia go over to America. They might have a good experience or a bad experience, and then come back to Australia and say, oh, don't go to that school, don't go to this division. So when someone is looking to go over to the US to play softball and if you were speaking to everyone listening who is a softball prospect, what advice would you have for someone who's thinking about where their right fit might be in America?

Erin:

I think taking the division out of it is the best fit. You've got to find what makes you feel most at home, since you are going to be so far away, what coaches you connect with the most, and find a school that say, if softball wasn't making you happy, the school itself would make you happy. So that could be across all divisions. I mean, each division is going to have their really good softball and their really bad softball. So I wouldn't really look at division, I would look more at school-wise.

Claire :

That's what we always say as well. So I'm really glad that you phrased that so well, because we always say that exactly same thing. Take division out of it. And something that I was always told when I was going through the recruiting process for my sport was if you broke your foot and your coach left on the first day, would you still be happy there? Yeah, it's true. It's true. Yeah, I remember hearing that as a ninth grader and going, wow, that's pretty intense of a statement to think about, but it makes so much sense. And now, working in recruiting, I'm like, yep, that's still still applicable today. So, yeah, I'm really glad that you said that. I'm also curious to know when you're having a chat with an athlete, regardless of what country they're from, and they're having a chat like this, like a meeting.

Claire :

We don't call them interviews, because we don't believe that they're interviews. That sounds very formal and scary. We usually call them chats or meetings. So when you're having a chat or meeting with a prospective person that you're looking to come to your team, what are some green flags and some red flags that you experience or you normally see when you're having these meetings?

Erin:

Yeah, just being really attentive, asking your questions. The worst thing you could possibly do is have us talk the whole entire time and then, when we go to ask if there's any questions, they're just blank. Then when we go to ask if there's any questions, they're just blank. Um, another red flag that I would say is if your parent is answering every question for you, um, I've, I'm recruiting the player as well as the parents too, but I want to know more about the daughter herself. I want to know what her personality is like. So if you take that away them, then I can't really get a good feel for that.

Claire :

Yeah, yeah, I agree. We normally say that it's good for the athletes to chat with you directly first, and then their parents can join the conversations later. But we feel like, as you're saying, you're recruiting them, so we're not in any of the chats either, because, naturally, we're not trying to get a scholarship. So it's yeah, you and the athlete. What are some things that you have found that are really good? Like, maybe think back to like one of the best meetings that you've ever had with an athlete and what kind of stuff happened in that meeting that you were like, wow, that was really good.

Erin:

I think just natural conversation. If you could go back and forth and build a conversation with the coach. Um, we're not all scary at the same time and you know it can be really hard to just like kind of let your guard down a little bit, but just natural conversation, and so that way it doesn't feel like we're just like throwing a spiel at you, um, and that way like we can feel more of a connection yeah, okay, that's good because I'm quite outgoing, so I feel like I've never had any issues with that.

Claire :

But I'm thinking about all the more shy people that we might be working with, as well as more reserved people listening to this podcast that are not comfortable in front of the camera, not comfortable speaking to a coach. So maybe even advice for them can be also to practice, like practice, having a conversation with a blank screen.

Erin:

Yeah, I mean it's awkward for us too. I mean I'll say it first. I'm not the best speaker either, but the more that, like the conversation goes both ways, the easier it is for both.

Claire :

Yeah, okay, that's awesome. I'd love to hear more about your experience moving from New Mexico to Nebraska Cause, as I was saying, off camera, we get a lot of people from Australia, which is one of my favorite places in the whole world is living in Australia. It's been amazing and the weather here is great, the people are great, lifestyle is great, and so normally we have a lot of people that will move to America and 90 percent of the time the weather is slightly worse, regardless if that's Washington state or New York or Chicago, like it's always slightly usually slightly worse, unless you're in Miami or something. So someone who's moved from New Mexico to Nebraska and played in Nebraska and is now coaching back in Nebraska, and played in Nebraska and is now coaching back in Nebraska what are your thoughts on or comments on someone saying I do not want to play my sport in the middle of the country in Nebraska?

Erin:

I mean it's more of a mindset. I mean, everywhere you go, you're probably going to have some really cold games. I mean, I'll say at first, like one of the coldest softball games I've ever played in was in dallas, texas, and that's considered the south um, I mean it's not going to be your average 60 degree weather all the time, but you do get different cultures. Uh, the people are really nice out here. Coming from new mexico, I could definitely say that the culture out here is very friendly compared to down in New Mexico. But yeah, I mean it's going to be cold.

Erin:

We have the indoor facilities to work through the cold weather. We do travel down south as much as we can to play in the early spring, but you're not always going to escape it either. Uh, last year we did get lucky and I think we only played two games in the 40s. Um, and there are rules too. So, say, if it's like, I think, below 32 degrees, if we're not allowed to play, so there are restrictions too. It's not like we're just going to go out there freezing cold weather, but yeah, and we also properly dress our players as well. Um, everyone's going to get proper equipment to be able to handle the cold too. It's not like you're just coming out here with a hoodie. I don't expect to play either, so yeah, that's good.

Claire :

I think some people imagine, yeah, moving over and having no warm weather clothes. And we always recommend as well, if someone's moving to a colder climate, to not buy any clothes in australia. Wait till you get to that city in in america where they actually make cold weather clothes properly, then buy it there instead of going like australian, yeah yeah. So when you're thinking about who you want to recruit and we were talking about this off camera as well with team culture, team culture, naturally for anyone, listening is important, regardless of what team you're on, what age you are. So when you think about team culture, what is something that's super important to you about making sure that your team culture is solid?

Erin:

um, just recruiting good people. I shouldn't have to harp on somebody to just be a good person, whether that's on or off the field. Um, if we can create that family like culture, then that's half our battle. So good, good, uh, culture girls that treat their parents and family good, as well as their teammates I think that's the biggest thing yeah, awesome, we we tend to work with some really nice people, so that's, we experience that a lot, which is great.

Claire :

How can you tell? This is a very direct question, but obviously I'm American so I always like asking the direct questions how can you tell if someone that you're recruiting is not going to be a good cultural fit for your team?

Erin:

I mean, obviously you're not. Sometimes they put on that front right away. Obviously, sometimes they put on that front right away. So I think just meeting with them more than once, obviously to try to get a better feel for them, seeing how they interact, whether they know you're there or not, too, is a big thing. Also, just knowing who they know as well, like who their friends are, sometimes you may know more about their friend, and if they're good friends with somebody else, that's not a good culture person. That kind of speaks on them as well.

Claire :

Yeah, that's very true, very, very true. With the recruiting process, we always talk about the transfer between junior college and a four year school. We get a lot of Australian parents in particular that say to us, when they've never met with us or don't know much about the pathway way, what are the likelihood of my kid actually transferring from junior college? Like, does that happen? And it always makes us smile because we know that that is the purpose of junior college to transfer, everyone has to leave. So what are your thoughts and what's your process with your team on helping athletes to transfer?

Erin:

Yeah, I think it just kind of goes back to the finding the right school for you. Definitely ask the questions of are you using your program to build athletes to go on and transfer, or is it just another two years to play? For us here at Northeast we're definitely in the culture of building athletes. Right now. I want to see them go on and play at a school that they never thought they could go to. So that's kind of where we're at right now. We want to work hard, build them up. I'm also not afraid to make connections. So if there's some school that a recruiter of ours really wants to go to in the future, I will do whatever I can to get them there as well. As far as connections Sometimes it is all about connections as well, but as long as they are good culture kids, I have no problem putting word out there for them in the future.

Claire :

That's awesome, and when do you normally start that process? So, if you're working with a freshman, when do you normally start having conversations with those athletes and four-year coaches about transferring?

Erin:

So with the freshmen now I'll start talking to them, see if they have an idea of what they're looking for in the future. I mean, sometimes that switches all the time we really hold off until fall of their sophomore year to really start talking to other coaches as well, just because, especially with the transfer portal and everything like that, it does get to get a little hard as far as talking so far out, especially with transfers.

Claire :

So yeah, okay, for those people who don't know that are listening, can you explain a little bit what the transfer portal is?

Erin:

Yeah, so the transfer portal is open to all NCAA students who no longer feel like their school is a good fit for them. They can enter the transfer portal and it's just as a big open web sheet, pretty much, that all NCAA coaches get access to. They don't have to have a special release or anything like that. So it's been pretty, pretty chaotic now that they've taken away all restrictions on it.

Claire :

So because we here in Australiaralia see a lot about the transfer portal just for division one, so I think that the media that we get here is all about the transfer portal for division one. But, um, I think it's good that people listening know that the transfer portal also exists for division two and division three and cwa as well. That's good.

Erin:

Um, I do think with the transport portal they're almost it's almost seeming as if like it's a better thing to go to juco right now. Um, you do get two years of playing in the belt. A lot of these girls that are entering the transport portal are girls that have, like, maybe sat for two years and want to go on. But as far as like a juco and compared to the girl that's in the staff for two years, they want to see those lifestyles sometimes.

Claire :

So that's why I'm a big advocate about, uh, juco software we are big juco advocates as well and that's why we're doing so many different podcasts about it. There's a lot of myths that we always try and bust, like we naturally, on netflix we had last chance you, and that didn't always put JUCO in a good light, and I remember when it came out and I was like, oh, I wonder what people are going to think in other countries about junior college. Now, as a result of this show, we have more people now considering JUCO than ever before because of how wild the restrictions are with the roster caps and everything like that. So we at Study and Play are huge advocates and there's a lot of myths that we want to bust about it. Do you mind quickly explaining the different divisions within the junior college system for softball?

Erin:

quickly explaining the different divisions within the junior college system for softball. Yeah, so we have D1, d2, d3, just like the NCAA, d1 can offer full-ride scholarships that cover housing as well. Where D2, we can only offer academic scholarships and then D3 is all academic scholarships from the school. So the difference between, obviously, d2 and D3, d2 is we can cover your full tuition as athletically. Where D3, they have to earn academic scholarships.

Claire :

Yep, okay, thank you for explaining that. We always try to explain that as well, but I like hearing coaches describe it so we know that there's athletes where you're saying before that the goal posts change, where they think they might want something, and then down the track it changes a bit and they think, oh, maybe I'm best suited for this kind of program. And a question that I actually asked someone that we are speaking about off camera. I asked another softball player on one of our podcasts. I said what are your thoughts on someone from another country saying I will not go to college in America unless it is NCAA Division I?

Erin:

Yeah, I mean, I think that's just limiting yourself. D1 is big. Everybody has that dream and there's many different ways to get there as well. For example, our conference itself, the ICCAC, consistently sends girls to big D1s after they get done playing here. So there's different routes. That's kind of like the big myth, like the D1 or bust, that it's even here in America as well. But I don't think you're giving yourself a fair opportunity to look at other divisions.

Claire :

Yeah, totally agree. And the other conversation we had as well with that athlete off camera was she was saying that she herself was D1 or bust and did not want to go to America unless it was D1. And then she said she looked back and she was like what was I thinking?

Erin:

It's a different mindset and at the end of the day, you're getting your school paid for. That's what you're using softball for.

Claire :

So I think sometimes you need to look at it that way, rather than just being with the big names on your chest yes, yeah, and I always say as well we a lot of the schools here that people know about are from merchandise that stores are selling. So we have kmart here who has, like these ten dollar t-shirts from cornell and duke and which I think is illegal anyway, but lots of branding from big, big, big, big D1s they all happen to be D1s and it's really interesting, having moved here and only seeing those schools represented in merchandise that's being sold in stores. So that's why I also think that this junior college podcast series that we're doing is so important, so that kids from all across the world can listen to coaches in junior college talk about how great it is and the benefits of it. And, yeah, I'm like super passionate about it, even though I'm talking in a monotone right now, but very passionate about that. And, um, yeah, we try and help as many people as we can, regardless of what route that is through. So, yeah, very, very much appreciate you taking the time to to talk about that.

Claire :

I also wanted to talk about something that might be a bit controversial, but athletes that we work with across all different sports as well as athletes that we haven't worked with that try the process on their own all different sports as well as athletes that we haven't worked with that try the process on their own. A lot of people here in Australia think that representing their country on a national team equals NCAA Division. I interest immediately or NCAA full scholarship and I was curious to know if you could talk a bit about that, of how people here thinking Australian national team representative oh, I must be straight away talking to division one um, I mean, it kind of just goes back to what these other colleges have um as far as needs, um, I mean, you're entering into kind of like a portal where there are just so many athletes that are trying to find those limited D1 rosters.

Erin:

So I think it's kind of like just also limiting yourself, thinking that that's like the best play that you can get, which in reality, like you have those power five schools that are going to be the best play, but kind of like what I was saying earlier, like we're going to have some really really good softball play here in the ICCAC that can compete against those really big B1 schools too.

Claire :

So yeah, yeah, that's good. Good for people to hear that and for someone whose dream is to play in college softball in general. What kind of advice would you give them? Whether they're in a ninth grader, a 10th grader right now, someone who's third year high school what kind of advice would you give a softball player listening to this podcast who really wants to be in the best softball form that they can be for the recruitment process? What kind of stuff would you recommend them to do?

Erin:

um, I would say the best thing that you could do is learn how to work through failure. Um, our game is just such a big game of failure if you really think about it, if you go up to bat 10 times and you get three hits like that's average when in the reality you failed seven times. So, just really being able to have the mental mindset, that like a so what next pitch type of mentality, just a strong mental and, yeah, working to failure, um, I would say also, just really learning fundamentals. Um, those never go away. Whether you're in college or not, you do fundamentals every single day. So just really getting used to it and never being too big to work off of a tee or just off your knees, working on glove work, I would say that's, that's my advice.

Claire :

Awesome. I'll have that as one of our blurbs to tell people when they chat with us about the US pathway. I'll take that snippet and say this is what you need to work on. Yeah, and the last thing I was going to ask you as well is there's a lot of support and one-on-one training that happens in America.

Claire :

As I experienced growing up there, I don't see as many athletes here working with people one-on-one, whether that's like a softball specific coach or a strength and agility coach. I was curious to know, in your opinion, if you think that one-on-one training is something that can be really good for athletes to do here in Australia, because so many people are doing that in America to kind of help even out the playing field a bit, to kind of work towards getting on the same similar level. To an American athlete who's been doing that kind of stuff since they were little, been doing that kind of stuff since they were little, what kind of things do you think that an Australian or someone who's listening to this podcast, not from Australia could be doing extra away from games, away from team training?

Erin:

yeah, I mean, um, lessons are such a big big thing right now. One-on-one lessons, whether that, that be pitching, catching your specific position, hitting is a big thing as well. Even throwing like there's one-on-one lessons for everything right now. I do think it gets you the eyes to correct some things, but then sometimes I think we kind of over-correct at the same time rather than just letting our bodies figure out what they're doing. But yeah, one-on-one lessons, I think sometimes you can over-coach a little bit. I think sometimes the best thing you can do is literally go into the backyard and play with some friends and stuff and you find out a lot about your body, rather than just going through lessons and spending a lot of money.

Claire :

Fair enough. Well, thank you very much, Coach Sharp, for chatting to us today. I hope everyone listening learned a lot about softball recruiting and things that they can work on as a softball player and the assistance that they can get if they come to Northeast under you to transfer and learn and grow as a person. So thank you very much for taking the time out of your very busy day to chat with us. We appreciate it so much.

Erin:

Yes, thank you for having me.