Colorado Sparkler College Camp Sunday

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Feb 28, 2015
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Has anyone's DD done one of these? Did pitchers get to hit? Did you feel it was worth the $200? We're thinking of doing one of the multi coach Camps.
 
Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
I kind of feel like if your DD is not interested in colleges out West (we live in the SE), it's probably not worth it. But I'm willing to listen if others have opinions.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
I kind of feel like if your DD is not interested in colleges out West (we live in the SE), it's probably not worth it. But I'm willing to listen if others have opinions.

Have you even seen the list of the camps with the schools??? There are schools from all over the country doing camps at this event. I am pretty sure Georgia Southern is not located out west.
 
Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
Have you even seen the list of the camps with the schools??? There are schools from all over the country doing camps at this event. I am pretty sure Georgia Southern is not located out west.

Haven't looked recently. But last time I looked, there were a lot of Juco's out west and places she would not consider. I'll look again though.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
Has anyone's DD done one of these? Did pitchers get to hit? Did you feel it was worth the $200? We're thinking of doing one of the multi coach Camps.

I have mixed feeling about these. There are reasons to do these and then reasons not to:

Reasons to:
- If your daughter has had prior contact with coaches at schools she is interested in and they are going to be there, it is a great place to meet up with them for certain and they can specifically pay attention to what you are doing. Colorado can be a nightmare logisitically and while a coach might really want to come see you, the logisitics can be messy so they might not get there for your games especially if there is delays/weather/traffic/etc. At least at the camp you KNOW they will be there and you can interact.
- If your daughter is a true elite athlete or physical specimen that will separate her out. Hell, you don't even have to be all that good at softball - 6'2" is 6'2". True elite slapper speed is true elite slapper speed. True 65mph+ pitching is 65mph+ pitching. and so on... Not really a lot to do with actually playing softball. Just watch the NFL combine and realize that has nothing to do with playing for the most part - but players move up and down the draft board because they were 5'11" and not 6' or ran a 4.40 instead of a 4.50 or did 33 reps on a bench press.
- The camp has a reason to promote you specifically - a couple of times because one of the orgs DD trains/plays with ran the event, they SPECIALLY promoted DD (and teammates) to the coaches and they got put them into the 'top' groups in breakouts, so they got lots of looks that a lot of other players didn't get.
- You have a spare $200+ and you like to gamble. MAYBE a coach is looking and your DD gets lucky and hits a home run or make a spectacular play in the field or whatever. It happens of course - I have even seen it happen a few times - so maybe that is a gamble you feel is worth your time and money. Up to you.

Reasons not to:
If you one of the above doesn't strike you as a reason to.... then you are one of the herd paying for coaches to be there and paying money for the coaches to recruit one of the above players.

The other reason to do multiple school camps is early in the process so you can get comfortable talking to coaches, get a feel for the competition, see how it all works... Colorado is not the place for that.

DD stopped going to these sorts of camps early in her sophomore year unless a coach specifically asked her to. We did use one camp to gauge interest from her #1 choice - coach told her not to spend the money and come up for an official visit instead.

One last thing: Always remember the coaches are being paid to be there. Take Georigia Southern mentioned above... Their entire roster is Georgia/Florida girls and a few girls they recruited in the big Georgia Showcases (Champions Elite/Legacy/Memorial/etc). Not saying they wouldn't recruit a girl in Colorado - just saying their roster says they normally don't.
 
Last edited:
Dec 6, 2016
70
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My two cents - Full disclosure...my daughter hasn't been to camp at the Sparkler tournament, but played in the all-star game. There are 2 young ladies from her current team that did attend the camp.

We've been to Colorado twice for the big tournament (2nd year 14U and 1st year 16U). My daughter is a pitcher and plays for a top elite team. She played in the All-Star game and did really well. We didn't think anything would come of this game but we wanted to give her an opportunity just-in-case. No coaches were there to watch the game that my daughter was interested in. She did really well and was then chosen to play in the All-American game. We thought that would be awesome to get a ton of exposure. One big game where all the coaches would be. Another $200 for this game, as well. My daughter pitched awesome and hit even better...but no coaches were there to see it. Total waste of time and waste of money. Our team is now all committed but nothing ever came from the camps or all-star games in Colorado. We have had 2 young ladies commit to D1 schools because coaches came to a game to watch them.

The best money spent is going to camps at the school your daughter wants to attend and communicating with them often.

FWIW - My daughters team is all committed now. 11 D1 (SEC, ACC and other mid major), 5 D2, 2 NAIA
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
I will say that the Boulder IDT All Star Games are well attended by the college coaches, but it is very difficult to be chosen. You even get a okay tasting BBQ dinner as a spectator.

They have 4 fields going at the same time. Each field will have different graduation years. 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

DD was supposed to attend the TCS "All Star" game as a freshman, but her game got cancelled and got a black eye during warm ups! I thought it was a total waste of time and money. I only got back 75%. Triple Crown is all about the $$$$.
 
Mar 26, 2016
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28
It'll be rare to attend a camp with some of those schools at the same time.. As other have stated only if your daughter is interested in one of the schools.
 

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