Showcase circuit and work?

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May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
How do you parents navigate the summer showcase circuit, and maintain your employment?
(serious question)

Our team is transitioning to playing a mix of tournaments and showcases,
and the more I learn about showcases, the more I become annoyed.

They all seem to run thursday-sunday?

If you don't work for a K-12 school district, with summers off,
how do most parents accommodate a schedule like this?

a 3-day work week for the majority of June/July just doesn't seem feasible to me.

Looking for advice.
Thanks!
 

TMD

Feb 18, 2016
433
43
We used a few options through my daughters exposure/showcase years:

- Vacation = softball...used vacation days for many thursday/fridays showcase events
- Depending on job and level of understanding of your boss, work remotely on Thursday/Friday showcase days
- Alternate with spouse on who takes the long weekend
- Send daughter with another teammate (our teams always had at least one girl staying with a teammate at away showcases/tournaments)

Do all of your showcases require travel? Pretty manageable if some are local and only a few require travel.
 
May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
We used a few options through my daughters exposure/showcase years:

- Vacation = softball...used vacation days for many thursday/fridays showcase events
Been doing this since 14U, unfortunately...

- Depending on job and level of understanding of your boss, work remotely on Thursday/Friday showcase days
I'm my own boss, and working remotely is only somewhat feasible.

- Alternate with spouse on who takes the long weekend
Seems like that will become a necessity. Unfortunately, distance to showcases might preclude the stay home spouse from traveling out for sat/sun

- Send daughter with another teammate (our teams always had at least one girl staying with a teammate at away showcases/tournaments)
Seems like that will become a necessity.

Do all of your showcases require travel? Pretty manageable if some are local and only a few require travel.
Distance to showcases will be anywhere from 2.5-5.5 hr drives

See responses inline above
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
How do you parents navigate the summer showcase circuit, and maintain your employment?
(serious question)

Our team is transitioning to playing a mix of tournaments and showcases,
and the more I learn about showcases, the more I become annoyed.

They all seem to run thursday-sunday?

If you don't work for a K-12 school district, with summers off,
how do most parents accommodate a schedule like this?

a 3-day work week for the majority of June/July just doesn't seem feasible to me.

Looking for advice.
Thanks!

It used to be easier when this was more a 16U-18U thing - at that point them going with others or even driving themselves to showcases becomes more and more feasible.

In general you drive or travel after work Thursday so you are only missing Friday. Or only one of you is. Or you let your daughter go with someone who is going. A lot of teams rotate who goes or have a parent who can travel that everyone goes with. Only for big showcase would I consider Thursday as well.

A lot of showcases say they are Fri-Sun - but then they don't get the numbers and it ends up Sat/Sun.

New rules are supposed to make Friday a non-recruited day. I am not seeing that having an effect just yet - the idea is less games Friday (if any) and more games Sunday. We shall see.

... and remember, unless you are a coach, it only important that your DD is there :)
 
May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
New rules are supposed to make Friday a non-recruited day. I am not seeing that having an effect just yet - the idea is less games Friday (if any) and more games Sunday. We shall see.

DD is a 2nd year 14U playing her second season of 16U.
So quite a bit off from driving herself. lol

We just played a Team NJ event this past weekend.
2 games fri, 2 sat, 1 sun.

DD didnt attend fri, because DD starts for her varsity volleyball team, and we had a game that evening.

there were zero coaches at games fri.

thus my "annoyance".
why start a showcase on a thursday, or even friday?

We got a real taste of what an esteemed showcase is like this weekend.
A new club in the mix, we got stuck on fields that had very little coach attendance,
and played pretty weak teams. Because we are a very young 16U team,
we chocked it up to "earning our stripes', and hopefully next year will be more fruitful.

for a showcase that requires teams to apply and be accepted to attend,
I saw a lot of pretty weak teams, along with some truly legit teams in the mix.
But this pretty much affirms my impression of the "showcase" circuit as being a giant money grab.
Games scheduled for thurs and fridays because so many teams are "accepted".
Limited fields to play on, means, you are forced to show up on a weekday, to play a single game that day.
With coach attendance now curtailed to weekends, what's the point?
 
Last edited:
Feb 4, 2015
641
28
Massachusetts
We just played a Team NJ event this past weekend.

A new club in the mix, we got stuck on fields that had very little coach attendance,
and played pretty weak teams. Because we are a very young 16U team,
we chocked it up to "earning our stripes', and hopefully next year will be more fruitful.

We were there as well. It's a great event, but you're right, to some extent it can be a money grab.

As a new club with limited exposure and reputation, you're probably going to have a near impossible time breaking onto the Edison Field complex. The list of clubs on those fields are a who's-who of the top large organizations. Most of these clubs have 3-6 levels of teams and the girls compete for those top teams. There were 4 complexes at Team NJ, and it's clear to the college coaches which is ranked 1 and which is 4. Unless your team is destroying the competition on the fields your on, you're probably not going to move up. And even if you are winning consistently, the clubs that run these showcases still don't change the teams around too much. This is one of the reasons why girls leave one club to go to the bigger clubs.

That doesn't mean girls can't write coaches to get them to come watch them play. It just means their chances of getting 'discovered' are much less than those on the #1 fields.
 
May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
Unless your team is destroying the competition on the fields your on, you're probably not going to move up.
we did out-class our competition this weekend, for the most part, by a lot.

And even if you are winning consistently, the clubs that run these showcases still don't change the teams around too much. This is one of the reasons why girls leave one club to go to the bigger clubs.
I'm starting to get a sense of how this showcase stuff really favors long-established clubs.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
There are about 7-10 teams in our area that comprise the softball Illuminati. If you don't know the secret handshake, your team will be banished to the nether regions and will be lucky to break in to the "Power Pools" in any given showcase. That goes for Fireworks, Boulder IDT, Ronald McDonald, D9, etc.
 
Oct 19, 2009
1,277
38
beyond the fences
OP- When we ran the showcase circuit, it was rare that a parent attended as many tournaments were out of state due to
work-other siblings etc.

Now- for everyone else- BE CAREFUL of which showcases you attend- some are legit very good exposure events.
Some are undoubtedly 'money grabs' be selective and network with experienced coaches regarding showcase events.

The problem I have is that some of what used to be very good tournaments, still draw lots of coaches, but the events
are so big the outlying fields can be 1+ hours from the main complex which is also turning these into 'money grab'

Be realistic with the players, the majority of 'good' TB players are not really D1 material for various reasons. This is not to say
they won't play in college, but need to look into D2 and D3 schools. I had an excellent SS who was determined to play in the SEC,
she was offered a roster spot (no $$) and is now in her 3rd year. She has played a total of 3 defensive innings and has
been used twice as a pinch runner. A true waste of talent, as she could have been a starter on several mid-major D1 schools.
Don't let this happen to you!
 
Last edited:
Mar 20, 2014
918
28
Northwest
Vacation days. Lots and lots of vacation days. DH and I haven't had a vacation that didn't involve a softball field since DD started travel ball. Wouldn't trade it for the all the vacations in the world!
 

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