Question on showcases and attending coaches.

[MPsoftballDad]

New to all of this so if this but please help a dad out. My daughter is attending a showcase tournament this weekend and her coach sent her a list of schools attending. Or so we thought. It was a list of schools that have attended in the past. She emailed one that was supposed to attend but got a return email that they were attending another tournament. So she’s trying to send emails to schools that will attend but the list isn’t accurate. Why don’t they send accurate lists? Should she just send to schools interested and hope for returns.

 

[BT3100]

New to all of this so if this but please help a dad out. My daughter is attending a showcase tournament this weekend and her coach sent her a list of schools attending. Or so we thought. It was a list of schools that have attended in the past. She emailed one that was supposed to attend but got a return email that they were attending another tournament. So she’s trying to send emails to schools that will attend but the list isn’t accurate. Why don’t they send accurate lists? Should she just send to schools interested and hope for returns.

One thing to try is to locate the tournament's social media accounts. Many tournaments post the list of schools that have confirmed attendance. They usually update this as coaches confirm. Some post the list of coaches who've attended in years past. Nothing wrong with emailing coaches even if they are not attending, just to get her name out there.
One bit of advice that helped my DD was signing up for the service called Captain U. This cost us $20/month but allowed her to email coaches through their site. By doing this we could see what coaches opened her emails, and viewed her uploaded videos. As you get closer to September 1st of Junior year knowing which coaches are reading DD's emails will help you narrow down your selection of camps to attend. I'd say that even with spending $20/month for the site we saved a few thousand in camp fees as we were able to eliminate spending money on camps where the coaches never even read DD's emails. Today most D1 camps are $200-$250.

 

[Orange Socks]

Hopefully your DD has been emailing all the coaches on HER list of preferred schools no matter if they are attending the event or not. At this point she should be emailing her game schedule because she has already sent intro emails months ago...right?

 

[MPsoftballDad]

One thing to try is to locate the tournament's social media accounts. Many tournaments post the list of schools that have confirmed attendance. They usually update this as coaches confirm. Some post the list of coaches who've attended in years past. Nothing wrong with emailing coaches even if they are not attending, just to get her name out there.
One bit of advice that helped my DD was signing up for the service called Captain U. This cost us $20/month but allowed her to email coaches through their site. By doing this we could see what coaches opened her emails, and viewed her uploaded videos. As you get closer to September 1st of Junior year knowing which coaches are reading DD's emails will help you narrow down your selection of camps to attend. I'd say that even with spending $20/month for the site we saved a few thousand in camp fees as we were able to eliminate spending money on camps where the coaches never even read DD's emails. Today most D1 camps are $200-$250.

Her travel coach likes to be included in her emails. Is that available with Captain U?

 

[MPsoftballDad]

Hopefully your DD has been emailing all the coaches on HER list of preferred schools no matter if they are attending the event or not. At this point she should be emailing her game schedule because she has already sent intro emails months ago...right?

Yes, she has. She was frustrated because she sent out a bunch for this weekend and a number of them aren’t attending her event but going to others. They were on the list her coach sent her.

And it was her game schedule. She’s been consistently emailing the same bunch of schools that she’s interested in.

 

[BT3100]

Her travel coach likes to be included in her emails. Is that available with Captain U?

Yes you can add outside emails.

 

[Orange Socks]

Yes, she has. She was frustrated because she sent out a bunch for this weekend and a number of them aren’t attending her event but going to others. They were on the list her coach sent her.

And it was her game schedule. She’s been consistently emailing the same bunch of schools that she’s interested in.

Lessons learned. Don't rely on the list that the TD is promoting. To add, the person attending the event may be associated with said college but may not have recruiting capabilities. And that coach may not even show up to the field complex you are playing at and/or the same time your team is playing. There will be many more opportunities. The good news is a coach actually replied to your DD's email!!! That is a win!

 

[MPsoftballDad]

Lessons learned. Don't rely on the list that the TD is promoting. To add, the person attending the event may be associated with said college but may not have recruiting capabilities. And that coach may not even show up to the field complex you are playing at and/or the same time your team is playing. There will be many more opportunities. The good news is a coach actually replied to your DD's email!!! That is a win!

Thank you! Never thought of it that way!

 

[RADcatcher]

Good feedback in previous posts!

It could be said there is no such thing as sending out too many emails!
Even if they are going to a college who's not attending you are still letting a college know there's a softball player interested!

Btw, sometimes colleges are saying they will show up and you may never see them. Sometimes it happens they do show up but it's like a Sasquatch sighting. They're not always going to be sitting there making their presence known.

 

[WI Dad]

Instead of waiting for lists of what schools will be attending your daughter should have her own list of schools and email them weekly, that starts with an introduction email on who she is, what school she attends - grades, position and why she wants to attend that school. then weekly emails with a run down of what she did last weekend or working on, field locations, opponent (if you are playing against National competition) and game times in that locations time standard.

Film included helps with each of these, it doesn't have to be every play or at bat.... Would also email before attending any camps.

A lot of times coaches already have there list of kids there going to look at before getting to the tournament, and then will watch teams they have relationships already built with.