Are Showcase tournaments obsolete?

You also need to do the research on the "showcase" you are attending. I've noticed that more and more tournament organizations and TDs are slapping the moniker "College Showcase" in front of their event to entice teams to come play on the hope of being "discovered"

Make sure you know what college coaches have committed to coming as opposed to a list of coaches that have been contacted....

I would not say they are obsolete, but the dynamic is definitely shifting. There was a time back in the day where coaches spent a tremendous amount of time on the road, attending showcases and chasing recruits. Over the past 2 -3 years I have heard many coaches talk of budget cuts and other factors that have seriously curtailed travel. I think with so many showcases it has reached the level of the absurd, and some coaches are just over it. In addition digital media is a bigger factor.

Camps seem to be the trend with coaches wanting the recruits to come to them. Some schools down here collaborate and they will hold a camp with 4 - 8 colleges attending. I know of some very strong programs that will attend only a handful of showcases and will have camps for very specific grad years. I received a letter from a top 10 DII program that stated very bluntly that they do not have the time or funds to travel to see all of the potential recruits and are holding a 1 day camp. They go on to say that last season 80% of their roster had attended one of their camps. It goes without saying that these camps, most costing $100 or more are a great source of revenue for the programs. And I personally would rather it go to a school program than a TD. We tell our kids to relentlessly email and attend camps. If there is a coach that is truly interested and it is choice between going with us to a showcase or the camp, go to the camp.

The last 4 so called "showcase" trounaments DD's team attended, i've seen barely a handful of coaches.
One tournament advertised a whole bunch of Colleges that "might" attend and suggest each player contact the college(s) themselves.
I don't know how many players contacted colleges, but we barely saw a few coaches but what seems to be omnipresent is that head-hunter.

yep. i guess that dynamic is defnitely shifting.

marriard said:

No... you must do all the work to GET the coach to want to come to your showcase.

They aren't just going on the hope to see someone - they re going because they know there is someone or a group of someones that they specifically want to go see. They will come see someone new if they want to because you emailed them, contacted them. sent a video. replied to their queries, sent schedules, etc, etc.

Too many parents think 'go to showcase, coaches will be there and my kid will be seen' - that is the WRONG way to think about it. It is "Do all the work, coach will come to specifically see DD play at showcase venue X"


You have to put the work in. Being at a camp may be part of the work needed for a specific target college.

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There are instances where a college coach may watch a game and see a player they want more info. on, but in most cases I say marriard is absolutely correct. So showcases still have their place of importance and purpose.

FastPitchCat said:

i'm talking about USSSA, NSA, ASA showcases, not the more independent ones.. thanks for the link BTW. interesting info

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Does USSSA, NSA and ASA even run showcases? All the big ones we attend are independent. IDT, Atlanta Legacy, Champions, Scenic City, Wounded Warrior, Demarini...

yep. here's a sample in my neck of the woods
NC USSSA
Summer's End Showcase
Prepay by 9/4

All teams will play 5 round robin pool games and then a single elimination tournament in each bracket.
$375.00 6GG 14U - 18U 9/17 - 9/18

FastPitchCat said:

All teams will play 5 round robin pool games and then a single elimination tournament in each bracket.
$375.00 6GG 14U - 18U 9/17 - 9/18

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I guess you get what you pay for. The tourneys that have netted us 50 plus coaches are in the 1k range. IDT is 1700 or something. NE's finest is around 900.

I don't see many coaches during the bracket play and that is probably because of the unknown time issue. All star games at some of the bigger tourneys like Firecracker, IDT and NE's Finest are heavily attended by colleges. In the end your kid needs to go to camps and email.

marriard said:

Yep, they come to these also. Our 16U team had 10 coaches at one game in a USSSA Elite tournament (not even a showcase) last year because they did ALL the work - and we are not even a well known organization.

Note: our now 18U team has 6 girls verballed/signed/whatever you want to call it. None to D1 - all to D2 or NAIA. The others are all planning to sign at D3 schools. I am pretty sure they have got more opportunities and money for these girls than some of the more flashy orgs have done for better players.

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I think that is awesome!


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