Advantages of Big Name Organization???

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Feb 26, 2016
283
28
Murfreesboro, TN
It all depends on who you want to get noticed by. A P5 D1 and a local D3 each require different approaches.

In my experience, Greenmonsters thoughts are spot on. Can you get noticed by the smaller orgs? Absolutely you can. Will UT, Bama, Washington, Arizona come see you? Probably not, unless you are playing against one of the bigger named orgs, in one of the biggest showcases on one of the main fields, EVEN if your DD is on their WATCH LIST. Will SouthEast State come see you if you are not on the main fields against a big name org? Yes they will, if they have heard from you.

Here is a specific example that we went through this past summer. Scenic City showcase in Chattanooga/North Georgia. Over 250 teams spend $975 (unless you are a Fury team) to play. 14/16/18U spread out over 8 locations up to 20-25 miles apart. Specifically for 16U, they were in 5 different locations. 2 different "brackets" Super and Open. The main complex for the Super bracket at Summit and the alternate main complex about 2 miles away at the youth parks. All of the Open brackets are out in the cow pastures (Camp Jordan, Jack Mattox, Red Bank).

Jersey Intensity, GA Impact, B'ham Bolts, etc big name orgs. were all scheduled on fields 1-4 at the Summit for the whole tournament. Guess where UT, Bama, Ole Miss spent 95% of their time at?

Indiana Magic, Bama XTreme, TN White Lightning, etc smaller name orgs while all good teams where "stuck" out in one of the "other" complexes. I think Centre, Blue Mtn College, etc made it out there.

Once again, this is just an example that I witnessed this year, your mileage may vary at different showcases (St Louis I was totally different because all of the fields are all together.)
 

WARRIORMIKE

Pro-Staff Everything
Oct 5, 2009
2,815
48
At the Jewel in San Diego
Its all about the work you put into this. We are finding this out now. We were on a good travel team but saw that college coaches tended to congregate around the big name orgs. Then we said "why?" Also came down to the coaches last name too. Would you see a Firecracker Rico team or a Firecrackers ? team . Rico has the history. Coach ? does not. Now the advantage of playing on a unknown team is if your dd is putting in the recruiting work she will be the diamond in the rough. So thats a great thing. We are going to a big name team now. They have the draw of recruiters and college coaches. We recently knocked down warriorangela to a 14U team because of colleges are looking more at 14u age group then any other division. Lets see how this chapter of softball works out.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
Will UT, Bama, Washington, Arizona come see you? Probably not, unless you are playing against one of the bigger named orgs, in one of the biggest showcases on one of the main fields, EVEN if your DD is on their WATCH LIST...

Having actually had players that I coached/instructed recruited to SEC/ACC/B1G schools over many years, based on my personal experience this is not an accurate statement. Again, if you have the goods, do the work, and they are interested they will come see you regardless of the location. If your recruiting plan is to be in the field and do something spectacular to get "looked at" then a Big Name org is a good idea. Ultimately you will still probably end up at Blue Mountain State where you can tell tales of your TB glory days playing for Team Big Name. :)
 
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Jan 4, 2012
3,852
38
OH-IO
Will UT, Bama, Washington, Arizona come see you?

Not wanting any of them come see.... We want UFS...FloridaState (this years WCWS 2017 winner) & USC to come to the backyard...or Central Fl... :cool:

Gonna stick with two Best....both "Jessica's" this year... Jake & JessB.... I got the next ShelbyTurnier for Central....UCF

Don't think I haven't had a ASA Hall of Famer in the Yard :cool:
 
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Feb 26, 2016
283
28
Murfreesboro, TN
Again, if you have the goods, do the work, and they are interested they will come see you regardless of the location. If your recruiting plan is to be in the field and do something spectacular to get "looked at" then a Big Name org is a good idea.

I agree with you. It certainly not a "one size fits all" way to get seen. But it does seem (to me) to tilt the favor in your direction to be on the larger orgs and the spot on the fields they have with these tourney directors.

My DD is not on a Big Org, but have done well enough to be on the good fields about half the time.
 
Oct 30, 2014
292
18
Seattle
Having actually had players that I coached/instructed recruited to SEC/ACC/B1G schools over many years, based on my personal experience this is not an accurate statement. Again, if you have the goods, do the work, and they are interested they will come see you regardless of the location. If your recruiting plan is to be in the field and do something spectacular to get "looked at" then a Big Name org is a good idea. Ultimately you will still probably end up at Blue Mountain State where you can tell tales of your TB glory days playing for Team Big Name. :)

In your experience how do you get these coaches to engage with you in the first place. Surely SEC/ACC/B1G schools get swarms of emails.
 
Feb 28, 2015
307
28
Heatbox
From what we've seen in our short time in the recruiting process.......If you are on a team that is beating some good teams and is qualifying for PGF each year and has some really good talent, coaches will find out and come watch. Letters help too. One Saturday we had 13 coaches watching our games and more stopping by for profile sheets. (We ran out of them). Going to camps of those colleges watching your games will help too. None of our girls have offers yet that I know of, but won't be surprised when it does happen. Also it helps to act like a coach is always watching whether you are a player, parent or coach. In the end every girl will have a different experience.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
In your experience how do you get these coaches to engage with you in the first place. Surely SEC/ACC/B1G schools get swarms of emails

The recruiting process is a lot like finding a job. One method is to post a resume, fill out applications and hope for the best. This is very similar to sending tons of emails, going to all the right showcases and hoping to get "looked at". Or you can get immediate consideration through a network connection. Someone who has a personal relationship with the coach, a former player, parent of a player, a coach who knows a coach etc. The true value of some of the "Big Name" teams is not in the name on the jersey but in the personal network of some but not all of the coaches. If you have been doing this successfully for a while, you end up knowing a lot of people. Take that same coach and place them with team no-name and they will still have their personal network and be able to get kids recruited. Conversely the new coach of Team Big Name only has the name of the team, they do not have the network. Kind of like the guy on the first floor at Trump Tower, he has the same office location as the guy with his name on the building, but certainly not the network. I work closely with numerous other travel ball coaches, a few with "Big Name" teams but most with teams you have never heard of but have a track record of getting kids to the next level. We work hard to get kids recruited regardless of of the name on their jersey. A good friend of mine from a national organization had a kid that we knew was a good fit for a school where I have known the HC for many years. He called me, I met the kid like what I saw and made a call. I did not get the kid recruited but I did get her a shot. She made the most of it and signed last month.
 
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Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Slight hijack: at what age does the name start to matter, to the extent that it does matter?
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
To the extent that a name might matter, common wisdom says you would want that as soon as you start the process. Unfortunately most younger TB teams, regardless of the organization are noobs with respect to the recruiting process. The most important aspect of selecting a TB team is to get with a coach that has actually gotten kids recruited in the past, especially if they have been successful with the schools your DD is targeting.
 
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