Showcase Advice for Coaches

[let it be fun]

Had a coach come to watch a fast girl play at a showcase. She hit and ran and stole bases and then ran and stole more bases. When she got thrown out or scored, she went right back on base to run for someone else. The other team knew she would try to steal but that was fine. That college coach came to our game to specifically watch one player and she requested to see her run bases and steal so we did that. Coach had her stopwatch out and got a lot of good data on that player. The other team was great about it. College coach wanted to see her in the outfield, at 2B, and at catcher (even though she caught in HS and not for our TB team) so she played all three positions. Side note: the player ended up committing to another school. I don't see as much of that anymore which is unfortunate. Some tournaments that bill themselves as showcases are also qualifiers which completely misses the boat to me. A tournament can't really be both. If a coach comes to watch a specific player it is the TB coach's job to get that player on the field. If the players and parents understand that the coaching staff is trying to help the players get signed they will all jump on-board. Sometimes a player has to sit because a coach showed up to watch a specific player. The player who sat will get her opportunity when a coach shows up to watch her. Coaches and parents get your players to contact coaches and invite them out to watch. Keep contacting coaches even on weekends when you know the coach won't be there. Give them updates on your season. A coach is far more likely to go watch a player who has been in regular contact and has maybe attended a camp at their school or a clinic that they have coached at as opposed to a player who sees a coach is attending a showcase and then emails that coach right before the tournament.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

3) Please let the college coaches talk to the players before your meeting with them. Sometimes we need to get to another field or facility.

Do you make that request or are you suggesting TB coaches always do it?

Regardless, you need to be careful you don't violate NCAA recruiting rules about contacting PSA's at competition sites. Here's D-III rule:

13.1.4.2 Practice or Competition Site. Recruiting contact may not be made with a prospective student-athlete before any athletics competition in which the prospective student-athlete is a participant on that day of competition until the prospective student-athlete is released for that day by the appropriate institutional authority (e.g., prospective student-athlete’s coach or comparable authority). Further, telephone calls or electronic communications may not be made with a prospective student-athlete at the site of organized competition involving the prospective student-athlete by athletics personnel who are attending the competition or who are aware of the competition. [D] (Revised: 1/11/89, 1/10/91, 1/11/94, 1/9/96 effective 7/1/96, 12/19/13, 1/17/15, 1/21/15, 1/16/16)

D-I rules are stricter and don't allow contact until released after final game on last day.

 

[Anthony Vertuccio]

Do you make that request or are you suggesting TB coaches always do it?

Regardless, you need to be careful you don't violate NCAA recruiting rules about contacting PSA's at competition sites. Here's D-III rule:

13.1.4.2 Practice or Competition Site. Recruiting contact may not be made with a prospective student-athlete before any athletics competition in which the prospective student-athlete is a participant on that day of competition until the prospective student-athlete is released for that day by the appropriate institutional authority (e.g., prospective student-athlete’s coach or comparable authority). Further, telephone calls or electronic communications may not be made with a prospective student-athlete at the site of organized competition involving the prospective student-athlete by athletics personnel who are attending the competition or who are aware of the competition. [D] (Revised: 1/11/89, 1/10/91, 1/11/94, 1/9/96 effective 7/1/96, 12/19/13, 1/17/15, 1/21/15, 1/16/16)

D-I rules are stricter and don't allow contact until released after final game on last day.

I am aware

 

[SoCal_Dad]

I am aware

Your suggestion seems problematic if coach just delays the team meeting since they're not really released.

You didn't answer my question. If you let the coach know you want to talk to a player and you're pressed for time, they could release that player early and meet with the rest of the team.

 

[Anthony Vertuccio]

Your suggestion seems problematic if coach just delays the team meeting since they're not really released.

You didn't answer my question. If you let the coach know you want to talk to a player and you're pressed for time, they could release that player early and meet with the rest of the team.

ok fine...your right...I don't know what I am doing...thanks for the education

 

[CatchersMom2017]

11) Don't let anyone walk - if they will let you re-bat, re0bat.

....And if your parents are NOT used to showcases, sit them down and tell them how it is going to be.

DD was in an academic showcase a couple years ago. In 1 at bat she was HBP 2 times and walked 3 times on the third walk the umpire made her take a base. After each incident she politely asked the ump if she could stay and attempt to HIT the ball.

 

[Maxx]

At showcases we used to skip warm ups after the first inning to maximize game time.

Sometimes college coaches get more of an opportunity to evaluate in between innings than they do during actual game play. Kids who don't take warm-ups seriously are missing out on opportunities to display their skills. I always watch warm-ups before games. Once games start, I am scanning the fields for something that stands out. In-between innings is a great time to show your stuff.

 

[Orange Socks]

4) Don't waste too much time arguing calls. It wastes time from letting us see more players play. A coach argued for 5 minutes at one showcase and I and some other coaches were saying move on already

Last fall I was watching a showcase game with several college coaches in attendance including one very high profile Big XII coach. There was a questionable call against a well known TB franchise team(not the marquee A team) and the coach comes unglued, stomping around and just making a spectacle of himself. The Big XII coach turned around and said "I will never recruit anyone from that team" under her breath and walked away.

These TB coaches tell the parents to sit quietly with a smile on your face and cheer positively, but the behavior of some of the coaches is worse than some of the parents. Although, I will say that 18U parental behavior is much improved over the 10U parents.

 

[riseball]

Sometimes college coaches get more of an opportunity to evaluate in between innings than they do during actual game play. Kids who don't take warm-ups seriously are missing out on opportunities to display their skills. I always watch warm-ups before games. Once games start, I am scanning the fields for something that stands out. In-between innings is a great time to show your stuff.

It is 95% with high humidity. You were on the field 10 minutes ago and now you need to get loose? Is this 18U or a pick-up game at the retirement home?

 

[GunnerShotgun]

The Big XII coach turned around and said "I will never recruit anyone from that team" under her breath and walked away.

Good for him/her but that is not the norm. The college coaches want talent and they recruit from teams with jackass coaches all of the time.