The Dark Side of the Transfer Portal No One Talks About

The transfer portal.

Those three words elicit a wealth of emotions.

Many fans of college softball programs despise the transfer portal. Terms like “disloyal”, “uncommitted”, “afraid of competition”, “chasing their bag” are thrown out to explain why your favorite player is no longer with your college’s program.

Yes, there are players in the portal for these reasons, but for many players, entering the portal is a matter of finding a better fit, improving their mental health, securing increased playing time, or, in many cases, because they had no choice.

The unspoken other side of the portal is when a player is…in no uncertain terms told that they are no longer welcome back on the team, and they are “encouraged” to enter the portal.

This typically occurs when there is a coaching change. This is not a criticism of a new coach. They have the right to build their program as they see fit, but that might come at the expense of current players on the roster.

For example, I was at a recruit camp a few weeks ago. There was a pitcher there that I knew, and she was listed in the directory given to the coaches as “transfer portal eligible” (to protect the player and the program, their names will be omitted).

I knew this player from both local travel ball and local high school (I actually recruited her), and I knew she had committed to a school in California.

During a break in the camp, I asked her why she was there, as I also knew she was happy with her decision to attend this particular school. She told me that a new coach was hired, and within days of the hire, she received a text stating that she no longer had a roster spot, and while she could remain at the institution at her previous scholarship level, she would no longer be a part of the softball program.

She had to choices.

One, stay at the school and not play softball anymore, or two, enter the transfer portal.

She was not uncommitted to the program. She had planned on fighting for a roster spot, and she wasn’t chasing any NIL money. She was simply given no other options. So, she entered the portal.

Luckily, she has found a new home, albeit at a lower scholarship amount that at her previous school.

College coaches have two jobs: graduate athletes and win games. Sometimes winning becomes the No. 1 focus.

You can’t keep your job if you continue to lose, as college sports are now such a money-focused enterprise. So, coaches have to make tough decisions, and if coaches see that they can quickly improve by recruiting portal players, they will take that option.

In many cases, that comes at the expense of current rostered players.

So, before you throw out those negative terms when you are railing against the portal, remember, there are a lot of players there because they had no other option.