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On Monday, we published our interview with 2024 Extra Elite 100 infielder Tia Milloy, who has committed to play at Oklahoma and will be the third in her family to play college softball.
The Redmond, Washington high school junior is following in the footsteps of her older sisters Amirah, who competed at Washington, and Kiki, who currently plays at Tennessee.
*** Click HERE to read that article titled Recruiting Q&A: Tia Milloy Commits to Oklahoma as the Latest in the Family to Go Big-Time in the Softball World
Of course, the parents were pretty darn good athletes themselves as Dad Lawyer Milloy played 15 years in the NFL and won a Super Bowl Trophy and made four Pro Bowl appearances while Mom Claudine was a two-time All-American track athlete at the Univ. of Washington where the couple met.
Extra Inning Softball Correspondent Joy Roeder, herself a mother of a talented softball player, took time to ask Claudine about the recruiting process for her daughters—what she’s learned and the advice she’d share with others going through it themselves.
Here’s what the mother of four daughters—youngest Breya, a 10-year-old, is also showing fastpitch promise!—has to say…
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How has the process of recruiting changed since your first experience with your oldest daughter Amirah going to Washington and then Kiki going to Tennessee and now Tia committing to Oklahoma?
The older two went through the recruiting process when student-athletes could contact college coaches at any time. There wasn’t a “start” date to recruiting such as the current September 1 of junior year.
I think the start date has given athletes something to work towards and not worry about being recruited before they are emotionally and physically ready to even think about the next level.
Kids who haven’t even been in high school or played high school ball should have those experiences before thinking about college.
You both have a lot of experience in the recruiting process both as athletes and as parents. What are some things you think are better now compared to when you went through it and what things make the process more difficult?
The current recruiting process has allowed players and parents to be more active in their process. Student-athletes now have to act in a mature way and be aware of what they post on social media so the accountability of young athletes has been a good thing.
The unfortunate thing is that the lack of recruiting at high school events puts a financial stress on parents. With college camps becoming a great way to be seen, families have to make decisions on how to make the best use of their time and expenses.
It’s potentially cutting out athletes who don’t have those resources.
Did all of your daughters visit multiple colleges or did they pretty much know where they wanted to go and visit one school?
We didn’t really know what we were doing with our oldest daughter Amirah and hadn’t bought in to a middle school age child contacting college coaches.
Having both of us played at a high level, we didn’t feel she was quite there yet. When we got to the point when she was ready, she unfortunately had some injuries that didn’t allow for her recruitment to be as open, but she ended up at an amazing place (Washington) and had a very successful career and an inspiring story.
What are things as parents you were looking for while visiting the schools your daughters were considering?
When you send your daughter off to college, you’re sending her as teenager. The one thing that we really look at is who is going to help finish up the process of raising her into a woman.
Scroll down to read more great insights …