SHOWCASE VS INVTATIONAL
- Thread starter eagle6
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An invitational means it's not open for any team to just sign up. You have to be invited by the organizers. A showcase means it's probably a set number of games for every team, rather than playing elimination games to a tournament champion. Showcase rules tend to be more relaxed as far as player subs and lineup. Theoretically, there will be college coaches in attendance scouting for players.
- Jun 1, 2015
- 501
- 43
One area TB organization does two college showcases each year (Father's Day and Columbus Day weekends). For us umpires, it's a BREEZE: No lineup cards exchanged, just a coin flip for home and away, free substitution on defense, courtesy runners/pinch runners for anyone - you want a girl to bat two times in a row because a scout from her #1 is there? Sure thing, coach! Just 1:20 drop-dead time limit. We officials are basically there to call ball/strike, fair/foul, safe/out. Usually 5 game guarantee for the weekend for the teams.
The only DISADVANTAGE of these games? Because they don't mean anything (in terms of no elimination/tournament) for the weekend, the games tend to DRAG since they are like competitive scrimmages. The teams know there's no standings or hardware getting dished out at the end of Sunday, so there's not that sense of urgency to start an inning or anything, so things do tend to drag as games go on.
The only DISADVANTAGE of these games? Because they don't mean anything (in terms of no elimination/tournament) for the weekend, the games tend to DRAG since they are like competitive scrimmages. The teams know there's no standings or hardware getting dished out at the end of Sunday, so there's not that sense of urgency to start an inning or anything, so things do tend to drag as games go on.
- Apr 16, 2013
- 1,113
- 83
Eric F pretty much said it. Regular showcase anyone can show up. Invitational means you have to be invited. Any invitational my DD's team has been invited to, was a dang good showcase. Top teams, real competition, and lots of college coaches around. You also have a long list of colleges attending, so you can make contacts ahead of time.
Maybe. Maybe not. My DD's team was invited to TC Nationals (invite only tournament) last summer, which was stacked with the top teams from the top orgs in So Cal. My DD's team is part of a well-known, but smaller org, and they aren't the top team for their age group in the org. I'm pretty sure we were a last-minute invite as bracket-filler. As expected, we got stomped by the top teams. They got to show off. We got good experience. We also got to get our team flyer in the hands of coaches that we probably wouldn't have otherwise seen, and I believe one of our '22s got some specific interest because of that event. We went into PGF better prepared than we would have been without that experience.
radness
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- Dec 13, 2019
- 7,270
- 113
As far as 14U showcases it has only been a couple years since they stopped early recruitment. So actually It is normal to have 14u showcasing. By the continued attendance of colleges showing up to watch 14U can say there is a reason for it still.
14u is an age bracket that has non High School players AND High school players in it, so it is not strange to start preparing for college type things.
14u is an age bracket that has non High School players AND High school players in it, so it is not strange to start preparing for college type things.
