Okay, so, I wanted to make a softball transfer portal tracker. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? It’s like the hottest thing in college softball right now, with players switching schools and all that jazz.
First things first, I had to figure out what this “transfer portal” even was. Turns out, it’s not something you can just Google and find. It is this secret database thingy that only the bigwigs in college sports have access to. Coaches and administrators, you know, the VIPs of the NCAA world. When a player decides they want to switch schools, they get their name in this portal, and then other coaches can see them and be like, “Hey, we want you on our team!”
So, I started digging around. I learned that the process is pretty straightforward. A player tells their school they want to transfer, and the school has two business days to put their info into the portal. Once they are in, it’s like a free-for-all. All their info, like their contact details and academic records, is right there for other schools to check out. Pretty wild, huh?
Diving Deeper into the Portal
I also found out some interesting tidbits. Like, players can’t just jump ship mid-season and start playing for a new team. Makes sense, I guess. And there have been some changes for grad transfers, but that is a whole other story.
The real juicy stuff is finding out who the best players in the 2025 class are, and if they’re in the portal. That is where the real action is. I also learned that the “window” for players to enter the portal opened on May 19th. That’s for all divisions, I, II, and III. So, I knew there would be a bunch of names popping up around that time.
Making it happen
- Gather the names: I had to figure out how to gather all names of athletes who are interested in changing schools.
- Build the Tracker: I needed to create a system to organize all this information. Spreadsheets? A database? Maybe a website?
- Keep it Updated: This was going to be an ongoing project. I’d have to keep checking for new names and update the tracker regularly.
Building this tracker was a real adventure. It was like being a detective, piecing together clues and uncovering this hidden world of college softball transfers. And let me tell you, it was worth it. Now I’ve got this awesome tracker, and I’m the go-to guy for all things transfer portal. Pretty cool, right?
