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BlueTornadoLive‏ @BlueTornadoLive Richlands has held the opponent scoreless SEVENTEEN. TIMES. THIS. SEASON. Astounding. They’ve given up ONE goal (@leegeneralslive on Monday) since April 19th. That’s 18 games ago..... Just incredible how well coached this team is. PHOTO Emalie Bawl28

BlueTornadoLive‏ @BlueTornadoLive FINAL!!!!!!!! Richlands 8 @LHSsoftball6 4 Richlands has won the Region 2D softball title for the 2nd year in a row!!!!!!!!!!! BlueTornadoLive‏ @BlueTornadoLive Richlands will host the Region C runner up at Rhonda Blevins Field in Richlands on Tuesday. Date and time TBA.

Varsity season is over for us now. After winning the first regional playoff game in school history, LHS bowed to perennial power Western Albemarle in the Region 3C semifinals. Son averaged about 20 minutes per game and did score a goal. Not a bad outing for a sophomore. But sitting the bench was very, very hard for him and it really had an impact upon his level of enthusiasm for the game. He's accepted an invitation to take a different direction in terms of travel soccer this fall, which could have some really great benefits for him if he wants to pursue them -- but he seems ambivalent about that at best. On the academic side, he is enrolling in the early college option this fall -- which means that he should graduate in 2020 with both his high school diploma and an associate's degree. He is appropriately focused on the challenges associated with that (he will be taking the highest offering of Calculus available -- roughly equivalent to what Engineering and Architecture majors have to complete in their freshman year at Virginia Tech). He's also broadening his consideration of college choices. He now says he wants to stay in Virginia, but he's open to all options. And on a recent visit to another school, he commented favorably on the fact that it is considerably smaller in size than Virginia Tech. He continues to get a lot of correspondence from college soccer coaches -- but the most persistent ones are either outside of the Commonwealth or they are smaller colleges that don't really rate at the top of his list in terms of academics right now. If he changes his mind and decides that he is really serious about soccer, I think he might still have a shot (a low percentage one at that) of being offered a spot on the roster of a Division II or very low tier Division I school. But I don't see his worldview changing. And I am perfectly fine with that. Meanwhile I'm observing a couple of other kids who have expressed an interest in playing college soccer, and I'm perplexed by their experiences. The really talented player I mentioned previously has gone to the effort of putting himself out there and setting up the online profiles -- and he is getting very little response. My hypothesis is that it's because he doesn't stand out in terms of size and speed -- he's small and quick, just like most stereotypical forward players. Another local kid who is very talented looks like a lock to play Division III ball but is getting no attention at all beyond that level. So at least in soccer, here's what I think I'm learning about the college recruiting process: 1. The top programs (Division I and perennial powers) already have their own talent acquisition process in place -- and it skews rather heavily toward international players and the most elite level of travel ball players within the country. 2. The rest do the same thing. But are satisfied enough in taking the leftover talent that is not culled by the top programs and/or taking the best travel players on a descending scale and a more regional (or state) basis. 3. Most programs beyond the top tier have algorithms in place to identify and invite outliers at an early age (based on whatever data or combination of factors that they have identified as having value). These are invited to camps where they likely compete for the spots on the roster that are not occupied by players at the two previous levels described above. Depending on the level of the program, I'd guess that players in this tier have a 25% or lower chance of ultimately being invited to play -- and there is little or no possibility of receiving a scholarship offer. 4. It also appears that a lot of Division III schools will often harbor one or two spots for the very best regional players in their particular area -- probably in an effort to generate or maintain some level of local interest. So from a Virginia perspective, unless you are a player on a Champions League level travel team, you hit one or more of the data points established by a program's search algorithm, or you're a major producer for a travel team that plays in a Top 6 league (as defined by VYSA), college soccer is a long shot with a probability somewhere less than 5% for even the most talented players. I do think that players who fit in my category #3 above would be compelling to follow, but my operating theory right now is that (like my son) they tend to weed themselves out of the process. If/when I see anything different, I will share it.