Gotta laugh...the money-making tactics of big tournaments...

[RubberBiscuit]

And the air show that treated us all at the Sparkler was out of this world!!!

(The fires there had aircraft all over the place - especially interesting when Boulder almost started to burn - best wishes still go out to all those folks that got impacted by all those fires last year!)

 

[Jr10234]

Interesting to know the player fees for the all-star, but the word "academic" certainly doesn't belong.

Our team representatives were coaches daughters voted by the coaches, no wonder they played, you should have seen our player fees! Did i mention the worst of the three made the second round?

We traveled for both tournaments...and now I see those coaches going again. Lodging is $180 a night, and that is for dorm rooms, for the 10 nights was not for exposure but to see a coaches agenda take over. Wonder when he'll learn his D- daughter wont cut college grades....

End of rant..but good havens...was the all star fee really 1000 per player?

 

[Indiana]

OK last bit, I promise. Santiagos has the best breakfast burritos in the world. There are many locations so you will probably find one near your hotel or on the way to the ball park. Get a bunch (I think they're $2 each), wrap in foil and put in a cooler. They will stay yummy all morning. Santiagos also has regular burritos, tacos, etc - very fast, take out sort of a place. Best green chili I've ever had. The hot is VERY hot - I usually get the "half and half" - half hot half mild.

 

[Orange Socks]

"Congratulations!!! After careful review Triple Crown has selected you to represent in the 2016 Sparkler All Stars Game. The 2016 Sparkler All Stars Game will be your one showcase game and will be held at Christopher Fields on Monday or Tuesday, June 27th or 28th, 2016."

How do our DD's get selected for this event? Should we spend our money on white water rafting instead?

 

[JAD]

Putting the Fireworks aside for a moment:

From my experience the Sparkler has been a strong disappointment in the area of "exposure" EXCEPT for the Academic All-Stars games where it was the exact opposite.

The problem with the Sparkler is the IDT and Firecracker are more established, and the college coaches can only be so many places at once....

 

[CoachPete]

White water rafting! That being said the Christopher Complex during the Sparkler is pretty fun to take your kid to with all the vendors, and all-stars from the softball world. My daughter played in one of the Academic games last year and that still was just ok from a college coach perspective.

 

[InsidePitch]

DD played an All Star game at the Firecracker. There were a numbe of coaches in attendance in fact I watched the game standing next to Patty Gasso. The No 1 school DD was writing to was there and went to the backstop when she got up to bat. You still have to write to your coaches and ask them to come out.

 

[CatchersMom2017]

DD played an All Star game at the Firecracker. There were a numbe of coaches in attendance in fact I watched the game standing next to Patty Gasso. The No 1 school DD was writing to was there and went to the backstop when she got up to bat. You still have to write to your coaches and ask them to come out.

Thanks for this. I was hoping to see some non-sarcastic (I know hard for DFPers to manage this) opinions for these games. My DD was invited to both the All-Star and the Academic All-Star games for the Sparkler this year. DD was excited to be included in the Academic game.
I would like to hear more from those that have done these games at the higher age groups. As parents, club coaches, and recruiters. What should DD expect from the game? Format, coach interaction, ect. What can I expect to see? Besides a good game.

 

[Orange Socks]

Thanks for this. I was hoping to see some non-sarcastic (I know hard for DFPers to manage this) opinions for these games. My DD was invited to both the All-Star and the Academic All-Star games for the Sparkler this year. DD was excited to be included in the Academic game.
I would like to hear more from those that have done these games at the higher age groups. As parents, club coaches, and recruiters. What should DD expect from the game? Format, coach interaction, ect. What can I expect to see? Besides a good game.

Back to my original question---How do the kids get picked for these events? Recommendation from college coaches, TB coaches? Or does TC randomly pick players? Based on the game schedule for Mon 8am-8pm (guessing 8 games) and Tuesday 2pm-10pm (another 6) Let's say they have 12 kids on each team X 14 games=336 players. Am I thinking about this correctly? I know of two other kids on my DD's team that have been invited.

As others have said, you have to let the coaches know. If those coaches show up then I guess it would be worth it.

 

[MNDad]

Expect a fun experience playing in front of big crowds. It also girls a chance to meet & play with/against elite players from around the country. Girls are nominated by their coaches. I’m pretty sure anyone nominated gets an invite. There are several all-star games that take place all morning. It is NOT an exclusive event and it’s not swarming with coaches. That said, like any other event, if you contact coaches ahead of time and they’re interested you can get them to come watch. DD thoroughly enjoyed herself and while the price was outrageous, it was a drop in the bucket when added to the other costs of the trip.