NFCA Discussions on slowing down early recruiting

[JAD]

Showcases are HUGE money makers for the organizer, which is why they keep adding teams and younger age groups when field space allows. Showcase registration fees can be 5X as much as a regular tournament, but the big showcases have waiting lists of teams wanting to participate.

 

[slingnit]

Lots of good discussion. I don't think they should eliminate fall tournaments. Fall tournaments often provide a nice way for seniors who haven't yet signed to get picked up. That said, I could see limiting fall tournaments to 18U only. I don't see the point of showcasing a 14 year old in the fall of her freshman year.

If that 14 yr old has the goods she may very well be verballed or close to it by her freshman year, if not sophomore year almost definitely. The other problem is that coaches are watching 16u as much and in some case more than 18u tournies. So if you limit it 18u only then you will definitely see more 13-16 kids playing up.

 

[coach james]

The problem with limiting tournaments to 18U is that many teams, including the one my dd played on have players that are 14 and 16U on them. My dd started playing in the fall exposure tournament here in St. Louis when she was 14 against 18U competition.

18U in my area is very limited in my area, my DD played 16U/18U showcases this fall as a freshman. She had some great experiences this fall which will definitely help prepare her for the future.

Same problem here. When DD was 12u, my team was stacked with a ton of great players, by 14u we were skating by with 11 or 12, and by 16U it was a nightmare finding players. They've all started getting jobs and boyfriends or cars. The only way we could even field a team is to make it 18U and combine the 2-3 kids left on the 3 travel teams in our area that were between 14-18. And even after doing that, we still have to find subs on every tournament. The only other option is to commute to a larger city...
So if these directors limit showcases to girls truly 17 or 18 years old...we'll be SOL

 

[Indiana]

Everyone here has made some very good points, ones that I hadn't thought of from my perspective. I was thinking in terms of a compromise of sorts in lieu of dropping fall recruiting all together, but there is no easy answer. Everyone made such good points against my "18's teams only" idea that I agree it wasn't a good idea.

Another piece of the discussion that I think is an interesting idea is not charging coaches any sort of fees to attend. It's sort of "which came first" question. Do talented teams play in the showcases because there are popular college coaches attending or do the coaches attend because there are talented athletes? Therefore, who should pay?

The "preferential parking for coaches" is one that I laughed at at first, but it makes sense if you picture a coach trying to hustle as quickly as possible between different games and venues.

The "coaches only area" in the discussion gave an interesting window in the world of coaches attending these showcases. I'm feeling very empathetic towards what they must go through to recruit, maintain a team, and win.

 

[InsidePitch]

I was under the impression they had the preferred spots already. TNT and NE's finest rope of spots for them.

I don't think they charge coaches to attend but might charge them for the player profile books.

As far as not recruiting during the fall. Someone will still play and some coach who is missing some key pieces will show up to watch.

I think the attending teams should start saying NO to Thursday and Friday games during the school year but I don't expect that to happen either.