Tournaments / Showcases Questions

DD's team will be attending the Early Thanksgiving Tournament in CA in a couple of weeks' time. I understand that this event is a showcase, meaning coaches can request to see girls play. Our team is also attending the Colorado Fireworks in June and from what I understand, that's a tournament. This will be our first time attending both events, so pardon my ignorance. My questions are:

Showcase
1.) What if a coach shows up and wants to see 2 players who play the same position on the same team. I'm sure this is quite common, but how does that work?
2.) What if 2 different coaches show up at the same time and want to see 2 different players who play the same position? How would that work?

Tournament
1.) Do coaches request to see players play in certain positions at non-showcase tournaments such as Colorado?
2.) What if a coach shows up and the player is not scheduled to play that game or that inning?
3.) If a kid invites a coach to come out and watch her, what should she do to improve her chances of being seen by the said coach and not say, warming up or riding the pine?

I'll tell you how it worked for DDs team last summer but not all coaches do things the same

Showcase:
1) Both players would play and coach would switch them each inning so if one SS also played OF she'd alternate between SS and OF and the other SS would alternate between SS and her secondary position
2) Again, alternate them, very few kids only play one position

Tournament:
1) Never played in Colorado but coaches sometimes go to non-showcase tournaments
2) Our coach would put the player in but explain to the coach that the player was not scheduled to be in that inning or game but he would get them in the game
3) Email, email, email and if a coach responds with what game they will be at make sure your DD tells her coach that so he can make sure she is in that game.

Showcase
1.) What if a coach shows up and wants to see 2 players who play the same position on the same team. I'm sure this is quite common, but how does that work? Sometimes they’ll ask the coach to play girls certain positions or have her bat a couple times in a row. More often they’ll just watch the game.

2.) What if 2 different coaches show up at the same time and want to see 2 different players who play the same position? How would that work? Same as above.

Tournament
1.) Do coaches request to see players play in certain positions at non-showcase tournaments such as Colorado? No

2.) What if a coach shows up and the player is not scheduled to play that game or that inning? Don’t have parents freaking out that their DD isn’t in. Make sure she’s being a good teammate, cheering, paying attention to game. Reach out to coaches after the game and thank them for coming, even if they weren’t there specifically to see your DD.

3.) If a kid invites a coach to come out and watch her, what should she do to improve her chances of being seen by the said coach and not say, warming up or riding the pine? Bust her rear off at whatever she’s doing. They’ll be able to see a lot more during warm ups and between innings than during the game.

Both are heavily attended by coaches. The chances of two coaches wanting to see two players at the same position are slim unless your DD plays for a powerhouse. Write and be prepared. Practice hitting up and in for CA. Our kids were used to low and away and struggled a bit with the up and inside pitches we saw in CA.

girliesmom said:

DD's team will be attending the Early Thanksgiving Tournament in CA in a couple of weeks' time. I understand that this event is a showcase, meaning coaches can request to see girls play. Our team is also attending the Colorado Fireworks in June and from what I understand, that's a tournament. This will be our first time attending both events, so pardon my ignorance.

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The Colorado events are more like hybrid showcase/tournaments - teams go primarily for exposure rather than the competition. TCS has a very unique format where the first 2 games are showcase, then small truncated double-elim pools for bracket placement and then the tourney brackets. They also offer some optional practice games, however I don't know whether they are well-attended by colleges. Every team should decide where their priorities lie between helping their players get committed and winning.

Boulder IDT optional "practice games" are well attended by college coaches (especially on Tuesday) before the main event of 6 pool games and a single-elim bracket. It provides a lot of exposure opportunities since most teams will play everyone at least once a day during the 3 pool days and more if a coach wants to see them. Their pool play rules allow free defensive substitution and batting 10 in the line-up, however they do require maintaining a proper batting order.

It's really bad when your dd is the pitcher and the other team wants to see the other teams #4 hole batter. Happened to my dd. She struck the girl out, popped her up, walked her, then the girl hit a double. The brutal part, it was 4 plate appearances in a row. So, she just kept seeing pitches right after each other. I told my dd that she pitched a bang up job... and honestly, most coaches wouldn't be too impressed with a lone double out of 4 back to back PA's.

Or, if your dd is a catcher, they can spot a baserunner on first, and have her steal, to see her pop times and arm. They can set up any scenario, to see what your dd can do.

That's the kind of things you can expect.

See you out there!

SoCal_Dad said:

The Colorado events are more like hybrid showcase/tournaments - teams go primarily for exposure rather than the competition. TCS has a very unique format where the first 2 games are showcase, then small truncated double-elim pools for bracket placement and then the tourney brackets. They also offer some optional practice games, however I don't know whether they are well-attended by colleges. Every team should decide where their priorities lie between helping their players get committed and winning.

Boulder IDT optional "practice games" are well attended by college coaches (especially on Tuesday) before the main event of 6 pool games and a single-elim bracket. It provides a lot of exposure opportunities since most teams will play everyone at least once a day during the 3 pool days and more if a coach wants to see them. Their pool play rules allow free defensive substitution and batting 10 in the line-up, however they do require maintaining a proper batting order.

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There are also all star games which your dd may be asked to play in, my daughter played in the academic all star game and I saw more coaches there than anywhere else in the tournament. They do charge for participation in this game. My daughter was noticed there.

RookKev said:

... most coaches wouldn't be too impressed with a lone double out of 4 back to back PA's..

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Not to take anything way from your DD's performance but most coaches may not have been impressed had she hit 4 doubles. When you evaluate talent you look at the process, not the end result which is truly meaningless. Depending on the circumstances a coach may be truly impressed by a kid striking out.

doublenickel said:

There are also all star games which your dd may be asked to play in, my daughter played in the academic all star game and I saw more coaches there than anywhere else in the tournament. They do charge for participation in this game. My daughter was noticed there.

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My DD did an Academic game in Colorado last year. That day we saw more college coaches roaming around than all the rest of the week. She did get a few emails from interested coaches. I can say that I saw more coaches at the Fall St Louis Showcase than in Colorado.

DD has had coaches show up at both showcases and regular tournaments. It's all about location and more importantly communicating with college coaches.