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

[CatchersMom2017]

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.

My DD's club coach submitted her for the All-Stars games. I don't know what that entailed, didn't ask. The Academic game you have to qualify for. We had to submit DD's current transcript and her ACT/SAT scores. She also had a few short essay questions to answer. There is only 1 academic game listed. Pitchers/Catchers guaranteed 2 innings of play, all other positions depends on how many girls play that spot. I don't know how many all star games there are, I think it might be either 2 or 4.

 

[CoachPete]

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.

That's a great point, if she's going to enjoy it, then it's worth it. Back to the Academic Game questions: Last year they had games at 3 times on 6-8 fields at Aurora Sports Park. They divided teams into graduating year although a few were lumped together (2016-2017 for example). Pitchers each got 2 innings, there were 2 catchers in our game and they did a good job rotating fielders around. Because there are so many academic games it might be difficult to get the coaches your player is interested there. My daughter emailed a dozen coaches and one showed up for that game. There were four other coaches there with lists of who they were looking for.

 

[MNDad]

That's a great point, if she's going to enjoy it, then it's worth it. Back to the Academic Game questions: Last year they had games at 3 times on 6-8 fields at Aurora Sports Park. They divided teams into graduating year although a few were lumped together (2016-2017 for example). Pitchers each got 2 innings, there were 2 catchers in our game and they did a good job rotating fielders around. Because there are so many academic games it might be difficult to get the coaches your player is interested there. My daughter emailed a dozen coaches and one showed up for that game. There were four other coaches there with lists of who they were looking for.

Two of DD's teammates participated in the academic games. That's a little exclusive because you need to meet Some academic requirements. A few years ago when we were there I think there were about 20 All Star games and only one or two academic games. I did see several coaches checking out the academic games. At the all star games any coaches that were there were watching a specific player.

 

[cuzmail]

My 2 cents after 3 years of Colorado in June....

Sparkler Jr.
- Large out of town large tournament in a beautiful setting where you can take a family vacation. Wide variety of field quality and location depending on your seeding and record. Don't expect to see many (if any) college coaches. FWIW, I did see Mrs. Weekly at the first rounds of the JR a couple years back.

Sparkler Jr. Power Pool
- Worth the trip. Excellent competition, great facilities, and coaches everywhere.

Fireworks
- Good tournament. Nice amount of coaches.

Independence
- The place to be for 16U and 18U.

Of course, YMMV