Showcase Tournament or showcase camp?

[girliesmom]

DD's team is good but not a top Gold team. Most of the girls are D2, D3 material based on size, speed, talent. Only 1 can be considered D1 material at best. Some parents would like to see the team do 1 of the following showcase tournament in the Fall: Surf City October Showcase; or Demarini Elite Fall Showcase or Surf City Early Thanksgiving Showcase. However another group of parents would prefer their kids do a Headfirst Honor Roll camp. The 3 showcases are all highly attended but mostly by D1 coaches (yes there are some D2 and D3 coaches in attendance - but mostly D1) while the Headfirst Camps are mostly attended by D3 coaches with some D1 and D2 - essentially the reverse of the Tournaments. Also, the Headfirst camps allow for close interactions with coaches while the tournaments don't. Those who like the tournaments like it because there's a great number of coaches in attendance. But I'm of the school that quantity does not equal quality. Please note that 2/3 of the team is interested in playing college ball while the balance are just in it for fun. So I would hate to see those parents whose kids aren't interested in college ball getting dragged around to something they don't necessarily want to do. I get the whole team thing about sacrificing oneself for the good of the whole, blah, blah, blah. But money is money and I think it's important to be cognizant about that. So what would you suggest we do? Should we as a team play in one of the 3 showcase tournaments for the sheer number of coaches in attendance or should parents take their kids individually to the camps? (Not individual college camps. We are specifically referring to the Headfirst camps where players are seen by coaches on day 1 in a showcase style situation and on the 2nd day, coached by college coaches in a game situation). Which would give a better return on investment keeping in mind that we are more D2, D3 material? Note, regardless which route we go, players will reach out to coaches and invite them to watch them play.

Which route would you choose and why? Thanks!

 

[Rocketech1]

Most travel ball teams tell you at the beginning of the season what major tournaments they will be playing throughout the year. At the very least, parents should be asking these questions before they join a competitve travel ball team. Most teams I am familiar with have tryouts in August before fall season starts. Is it possible to switch teams before the fall if you're not happy with the tournament schedule.

 

[marriard]

DD's team is good but not a top Gold team. Most of the girls are D2, D3 material based on size, speed, talent. Only 1 can be considered D1 material at best. Some parents would like to see the team do 1 of the following showcase tournament in the Fall: Surf City October Showcase; or Demarini Elite Fall Showcase or Surf City Early Thanksgiving Showcase. However another group of parents would prefer their kids do a Headfirst Honor Roll camp. The 3 showcases are all highly attended but mostly by D1 coaches (yes there are some D2 and D3 coaches in attendance - but mostly D1) while the Headfirst Camps are mostly attended by D3 coaches with some D1 and D2 - essentially the reverse of the Tournaments. Also, the Headfirst camps allow for close interactions with coaches while the tournaments don't. Those who like the tournaments like it because there's a great number of coaches in attendance. But I'm of the school that quantity does not equal quality. Please note that 2/3 of the team is interested in playing college ball while the balance are just in it for fun. So I would hate to see those parents whose kids aren't interested in college ball getting dragged around to something they don't necessarily want to do. I get the whole team thing about sacrificing oneself for the good of the whole, blah, blah, blah. But money is money and I think it's important to be cognizant about that. So what would you suggest we do? Should we as a team play in one of the 3 showcase tournaments for the sheer number of coaches in attendance or should parents take their kids individually to the camps? (Not individual college camps. We are specifically referring to the Headfirst camps where players are seen by coaches on day 1 in a showcase style situation and on the 2nd day, coached by college coaches in a game situation). Which would give a better return on investment keeping in mind that we are more D2, D3 material? Note, regardless which route we go, players will reach out to coaches and invite them to watch them play.

Which route would you choose and why? Thanks!

In terms of the team - the showcase tournament.

Unless the Headfirst Honor Camp conflicts with the showcase, those parents who really want to take their kids individually there still can. I have not run into a travel/showcase team that has an individual camp as part of their team schedule. I have seen teams schedule around these camps when they know they have players attending, but not where it is a team activity.

 

[CoogansBluff]

All else equal, I'd say camp. At tournaments, the coaches generally watch players in which they already have some interest. If you've got any coaches at the tournament already interested in your players, then the tournament might be the better route. But if you're trying to generate interest, I would think the camp is the better option. You have more opportunity to be noticed and evaluated at a camp. My DD has been noticed at camps. She's never been noticed at a tournament by a coach that didn't already know her.

 

[CoogansBluff]

I have not run into a travel/showcase team that has an individual camp as part of their team schedule.

DD's team last season attended 3 camps as a team. Not saying that's a good idea, since it might be helpful to half the team and wasteful to the rest, but that was part of this team's plan to get players recruited. One camp was at a major D-I. Another was hosted by a D-III school but had coaches from 12 colleges ranging from D-I to D-III. Another was basically a 4-game scrimmage in front of the coaches from a mid-major D-I.

 

[slugger3]

All else equal, I'd say camp. At tournaments, the coaches generally watch players in which they already have some interest. If you've got any coaches at the tournament already interested in your players, then the tournament might be the better route. But if you're trying to generate interest, I would think the camp is the better option. You have more opportunity to be noticed and evaluated at a camp. My DD has been noticed at camps. She's never been noticed at a tournament by a coach that didn't already know her.

x2...

We've been to two Showcase camps.

The first one was set up as 1/3 individual performance, and 2/3 team performance. The team performance was through a mock tournament they had set up with the girls playing each others on mix/match pick-up teams.
My DD was contacted by 1 College Coach.

The second Showcase camp we went to was the polar opposite. And the one my DD and myself liked better.
It was probably 2/3 individual performance, and 1/3 team performance.
My DD was contacted by 4 College Coaches. I believe, all due to the fact that she was more able to display her skills more on an individual basis at the Showcase Camp.

At both Showcases, I didn't talk in depth to any of the College Coaches, only formalities such as "Good Morning", "Hello,..."how's it going" and what not. I was told by a friend who had been to some Showcases before to keep your distance and don't bother them.
I was told only talk to theCoaches if they come up to you and initiate the conversation.

The biggest difference that I noticed between the two Showcase camps, was that the camp that was more heavily weighed towards the individual performance, the College Coaches attention to the players was much higher more than the team/game based Showcase.
At the Showcase that was more individually performance based, I noticed many, many more of the College Coaches writing info down in the notebooks, versus the game based Showcase. The girls were able to display their talents much more in the individual based Showcase, and therefore get the College Coaches attention focused on them.

The 2 best examples I can give are as follows:
First, one of the stations had the girls hitting soft toss ball on an individual basis in front of everyone in attendance.
80 girls, many parents and ~ 40 College Coaches watching your daughter hit 10 soft toss balls on a 200' fence. The College coaches' pens were smoking on that station... The tension and excitement was unbelievable!

The second example was during the practice games that were set up. The girls were set up on teams by their colored jerseys, and "played" a game against each other with one of the coaches slow tossing ball to them from ~20'.
The girls were able to have many more at bats, many more base running/stealing opportunities and make many more defensive plays when doing this.
One of the DD's (not mine) made an unbelievable diving catch at the center field fence right, while running to the fence in front of 8-10 College Coaches. It was awesome! Every one of those College Coaches pulled out their pen, and wrote something in their notebook. I would guess it was the girl's number and jersey color.

Don't get me wrong, the tournament/game based Showcase was fun, but in my opinion, the girls got many more chances to show their talents in front of the College Coaches at the more individually based Showcase Camp.

 

[YOCOACH]

IMO, the most bang for the buck is the individual showcase camps. My team has been to multiple team showcase tournaments and our liaison has yet to be contacted by one coach that was interested in any of the girls from my team. I took the girls that were interested and accepted through the application process to one of the largest individual showcases in our area and I've had more than a dozen coaches contact our coordinator about these 5 girls. Individually, it cost them more than it would for a team showcase but the payoff for them, in the end, could possibly far outweigh what it cost them initially plus they may have the opportunity to play a game they love for 4 more years.

Through another team showcase my team attended, DW and I got to know the TD/Showcase coordinator quite well. We still text him to this day about recruiting questions and such. He told us, as well as everyone else that was accepted to this showcase, in the 20+ years he has been putting these on, he has had only 2 individual players be noticed by college coaches and recruited from the team showcase. The odds just aren't that good. However, in the individual showcase he puts on, he's had several dozens of players be noticed and recruited. Most importantly he said, everyone that attends either of these types of events must have a marketing plan in place for when the college coaches show up. The college coaches need to not only be aware that the individual players are attending, but where they are playing, what time they are playing, and most importantly, how those players feel they can help benefit their team if they are recruited. He also said that many college coaches like to feel as if they are getting to know these players through their emails so to make sure that their personalities really shine through their words.

 

[riseball]

DD's team is good but not a top Gold team. Most of the girls are D2, D3 material based on size, speed, talent...

So they have the goods to play for teams like North Georgia, USML, Texas-Tyler and Tufts but lack the goods to play for Robert Morris or Rhode Island? Interesting....

 

[girliesmom]

So they have the goods to play for teams like North Georgia, USML, Texas-Tyler and Tufts but lack the goods to play for Robert Morris or Rhode Island? Interesting....

Sorry... I don't understand. Are you saying that if the players are good enough to play for teams like North Georgia, USML, Texas Tyler and Tufts, then they're also capable of playing for Robert Morris, Rhode Island, etc? On the whole, we are smaller size wise. No big girls on our team - heaviest girl weighs 145 with helmet, cleats on soaking wet. We don't have anyone who consistently hits it out of the park. As parents, we all agree that only 1 girl would be capable of playing Div 1. Are we looking at this wrong? Advice please. Thanks.

 

[Jasmine_House2021]

can you guys name some of these individual showcase camps, you're referencing. Thanks