Showcase team benefits if you don't like the colleges?

[KrisHur]

DD's team canvassed the parents for our interest in creating a "showcase" 16U team. They have promoted various showcases to the girls this year and I've seen the showcases the 18U attends..... Softball or no, the colleges attending are ones my DD would never consider.

I asked the coach, but didn't get an answer so thought I'd ask here, is there a benefit to joining a showcase team if you know your DD has zero interest in 99.9% of the colleges that attend them?

 

[Vertigo]

Most showcases we have been to have their lists of college “regulars” that attend, but also there are many who aren’t on the list who do show up because the players have reached out to them. It begins with the players reaching out to get the colleges they are interested in to come. Unfortunately, if this is a small, local showcase that is held the same weekend as a bigger, well-known regional showcase, your chances of getting non-local schools to show up are pretty low.

 

[benjey]

DD's team canvassed the parents for our interest in creating a "showcase" 16U team. They have promoted various showcases to the girls this year and I've seen the showcases the 18U attends..... Softball or no, the colleges attending are ones my DD would never consider.

I asked the coach, but didn't get an answer so thought I'd ask here, is there a benefit to joining a showcase team if you know your DD has zero interest in 99.9% of the colleges that attend them?

Short answer is yes but this assumes your DD has interest in playing college softball somewhere even if it is not at the schools who regularly attend these showcases.

Vertigo is absolutely correct that you can put the work in to get schools to show up and watch your DD play but a more important question you need to ask is does this team meet the needs of my DD? I am furthest thing from a team hopper, my DD is going on her 7th year with same team, but if your current team isn't meeting her needs looking for a better fit probably makes sense.

All of that aside if your DD has aspirations of playing in college she needs to be playing against other players looking to do the same and playing in showcases should facilitate this to your DD's benefit even if the colleges in attendance are not amongst her target schools.

Lastly there is a lot of collective experience in this forum. If you tell us what type of schools your DD is interested in you will get plenty of info about what showcases those schools attend

 

[Shiloh]

DD's team canvassed the parents for our interest in creating a "showcase" 16U team. They have promoted various showcases to the girls this year and I've seen the showcases the 18U attends..... Softball or no, the colleges attending are ones my DD would never consider.

I asked the coach, but didn't get an answer so thought I'd ask here, is there a benefit to joining a showcase team if you know your DD has zero interest in 99.9% of the colleges that attend them?

What type of schools are at these tournaments? And what type of schools does she want to attend? Where’s the disconnect?

 

[KrisHur]

The colleges at the local parks' showcases are not very strong academically - good for softball, there is at least one D1 that attends most of them, but not the kinds of schools that would be a good fit for her academically.

I get Benjey's , very good, point of playing to play against other girls with college aspirations. Sounds like the perfect reason for her to play there.

 

[Bernmoll]

Do all college scouts recruit girls only that they have seen play in person? Would it be an option for her to still join the team, you create videos/highlight reels and then have her continuously market herself hard to the various teams/coaches she is interested in? Does anyone have experience being successful this way?

 

[Orange Socks]

DD's team canvassed the parents for our interest in creating a "showcase" 16U team. They have promoted various showcases to the girls this year and I've seen the showcases the 18U attends..... Softball or no, the colleges attending are ones my DD would never consider.

I asked the coach, but didn't get an answer so thought I'd ask here, is there a benefit to joining a showcase team if you know your DD has zero interest in 99.9% of the colleges that attend them?

I find it odd that your coaches are asking whether or not the parents want to create a "showcase" team at 16U. Isn't playing in front of coaches the goal of playing at 16U? I would say just about every single tourney my DD played in starting Freshman until she graduated year had college coaches attending. And the tournament doesn't have to be called a "showcase" tourney for coaches to attend. You shouldn't need to create a "showcase" team, the team just needs to sign up for the right tourneys.

Families and players just need to focus on contacting the schools(ALOT!) they are interested in and as long as it's a good fit, the coaches will come.

 

[MNDad]

The colleges at the local parks' showcases are not very strong academically - good for softball, there is at least one D1 that attends most of them, but not the kinds of schools that would be a good fit for her academically.

I get Benjey's , very good, point of playing to play against other girls with college aspirations. Sounds like the perfect reason for her to play there.

That’s exactly correct. Coaches want their recruits to face the caliber of player they’ll see at the college level. If the team is attending any of the major national events it will help her. Many coaches are in Colorado over the 4th. If a school she’s interested in is at any of the CO tourneys your DD can get them to come watch her if she builds a relationship with them.

 

[radness]

DD's team canvassed the parents for our interest in creating a "showcase" 16U team. They have promoted various showcases to the girls this year and I've seen the showcases the 18U attends..... Softball or no, the colleges attending are ones my DD would never consider.

I asked the coach, but didn't get an answer so thought I'd ask here, is there a benefit to joining a showcase team if you know your DD has zero interest in 99.9% of the colleges that attend them?

Prioritize to fit the family/player
~In whatever way fits the family
*Academic goal
*Grades
*Talent level
*$$$$$$$

When someone says those colleges are not on my list.
It says
We have the resources to go where we want anyway.
Softball opportunity is not top on the list.

So with that.
Consider being a walk on and go to her choice schools camps to get a feel.
Just sayin' if the particular college is the priority, wether they have a need for her type of player may or not be there.
The choice to select only certain colleges could be closing the door on playing. It happens.

 

[KrisHur]

I find it odd that your coaches are asking whether or not the parents want to create a "showcase" team at 16U. Isn't playing in front of coaches the goal of playing at 16U?

Families and players just need to focus on contacting the schools(ALOT!) they are interested in and as long as it's a good fit, the coaches will come.

I imagine they canvassed b/c not all girls on that team wanted to play in college (or haven't given it any thought) and it's a significantly higher amount than we pay now (about $1k). This is just an exercise in curiosity, the new coach was a problem and after 3 years with this organization DD (and at least 3 other girls) moved on to new organizations or just quit softball altogether.

Your second point is the plan! She's made up postcards, profile sheets, videos and reached out to a few top choice schools and plans to attack them all this year (sophomore year). They came in handy as she used them to get "recruited" to her new travel team.