Explain the difference in all the CO. Tournaments. IDT, Sparkler, Firecracker.

[GunnerShotgun]

I see more D1 coaches recruiting 14u rather than 16u at this point.

 

[Rocketech1]

Jake and I are currently working with a very talented 2020 pitcher and I was approached by a very good team about her playing for them at PGF in California. Although she is not committed I explained that she is pretty much set on going to school in in the South East, no more than a 1 day drive from home. I was told that she should really make the trip and play PGF for the exposure. I asked why after going to several camps at schools she was targeting she and her family should drop a couple grand to go to PGF in California I never got a clear answer. Just that it was the best of the best and there would be lots of coaches there. She has decided to pass and attend some more camps and go on some visits.

I can think of a few reasons a) she is only 14/15yo and might not know what her choices are since she hasn't been exposed to west coast teams and west coast colleges (i.e. she doesn't know, what she doesn't know); b) If you are a top pitcher (or player) you should want to play some of the best competition and talented teams in the nation; and c) Huntington Beach (CA) is not a bad place to spend your summer vacation. The bottom line is don't limit your options by only looking at one geographic region if she wants a college scholarship from a top school.

 

[riseball]

I can think of a few reasons a) she is only 14/15yo and might not know what her choices are since she hasn't been exposed to west coast teams and west coast colleges (i.e. she doesn't know, what she doesn't know); b) If you are a top pitcher (or player) you should want to play some of the best competition and talented teams in the nation; and c) Huntington Beach (CA) is not a bad place to spend your summer vacation. The bottom line is don't limit your options by only looking at one geographic region if she wants a college scholarship from a top school.

For whatever reason kids from Florida are reluctant to leave the SE. On the flip side kids from California seem to be willing to go anywhere.

 

[Rocketech1]

For whatever reason kids from Florida are reluctant to leave the SE. On the flip side kids from California seem to be willing to go anywhere.

I guess they are sheltered and don't know what they are missing...

 

[flipper14]

I see more D1 coaches recruiting 14u rather than 16u at this point.

That's correct. Of the 40 players on those three 16U Bandits teams mentioned earlier all but about six have already verballed.

 

[MNDad]

Very true! There were only 4 TX teams in the 18 Gold Bracket this year. As I looked over the Sparkler/Fireworks brackets I see the rest of the TX teams playing each other. I don't like the idea of travelling all the way to CO to play the same teams that you have played the previous 3 weekends. I really enjoyed seeing and playing against some of the best Non Texas teams from around the country. Don't kid yourself. Softball exists outside of CA, TX, FL and GA, and they are pretty darn good! My neck is hurting from watching so many HR's!

Another note: You will see some of these teams getting the best kids not only in their immediate areas, but they also recruit the best players from surrounding states. Whereas in TX, you are "typically" limited to the players in the area that you are based. (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio/Austin) unless they want to travel. Like SoCal, your practice facility may only be 15 miles away, but it takes an hour to get there.

They’re going well beyond surrounding states. DD was invited to play with teams in GA, MO and WA. Only played for the GA team. I really wish we would have said yes to the one in MO. It seemed silly to go that far away at the time. Other kids here played for programs in GA, AL, IL, KS and NC and I’m sure there’s more now. There must be money in it because some will pick up expenses to get girls to play for them.

 

[Orange Socks]

They’re going well beyond surrounding states. DD was invited to play with teams in GA, MO and WA. Only played for the GA team. I really wish we would have said yes to the one in MO. It seemed silly to go that far away at the time. Other kids here played for programs in GA, AL, IL, KS and NC and I’m sure there’s more now. There must be money in it because some will pick up expenses to get girls to play for them.

There is a certain program that is in a Southern state that starts with an A and ends with an A, sounds like a yellow colored fruit that hangs in bunches and the name of the team sounds like blunderdolts. Pretty hard clue to guess.

The team must not be fully funded because each player has to pay a whopping $300 per year according to their website. Travel for the players is taken care of and they have very luxurious facilities too! And yes, not only surrounding states are represented, but many much further away. We'll be seeing them next week in Austin, and possibly playing them if our team can get a win in our first round in the seeding bracket. I don't know if there is money to be made, but there is money to be spent for those people that love the sport enough drop serious coin.

 

[MNDad]

There is a certain program that is in a Southern state that starts with an A and ends with an A, sounds like a yellow colored fruit that hangs in bunches and the name of the team sounds like blunderdolts. Pretty hard clue to guess.

The team must not be fully funded because each player has to pay a whopping $300 per year according to their website. Travel for the players is taken care of and they have very luxurious facilities too! And yes, not only surrounding states are represented, but many much further away. We'll be seeing them next week in Austin, and possibly playing them if our team can get a win in our first round in the seeding bracket. I don't know if there is money to be made, but there is money to be spent for those people that love the sport enough drop serious coin.

Yup, that's one of the teams I was talking about.


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[slugger3]

I see more D1 coaches recruiting 14u rather than 16u at this point.

I completely believe you...but how and why?

Are they trying to lock in a "14U Future Phenom" that might pan out?
Are they hoping that the skills this 14U girl has, will progress at a pace that will be acceptable for their program, by the time they reach college?

I'd really like to know what percentage of these verballed or recruited "14U Future Phenoms" actually sign with the coach that was recruiting them at 14U.
I'd also like to know how many of these girls that are recruited at 14U, have skills that go stagnant, and do not progress to the D1 level.
How many College Coaches out there spent endless hours recruiting a 14U player that doesn't pan out?
To me, that is a huge risk to take...but apparently the risk of NOT recruiting them is much higher.

 

[Momo'sDad]

"Hey, guys - don't forget about me!" - Signed, Sparkler Jr.

We had a really enjoyable time in Colorado Springs. It was an expensive trip, but I thought there was value in being able to play so many teams from other states. I'm not at all happy that the team has to travel down to SoCal this coming weekend to face 2 teams that are in our area, 1 of which is the other team in our organization. Even though the field is small, that could've been avoided. We did not have that problem at all in Colorado.

From an exposure standpoint, no, there was not a lot of scouting happening with the 14s in Colorado Springs, but the OnDeck jamboree held in Aurora before the tournaments had several coaches in attendance.

To complete the answer to your question, the Sparkler Jr is the baby of the group and a good place to get your feet wet. TCS events are definitely a for-profit concern (nothing wrong with that), but in my opinion, they are almost always well-run and this tourney was no exception.