Weekend Disapointment in Pennsylvania !!

[slingnit]

Any tournament that is listed as a "Showcase" and can not provide a list of schools to be represented is not worth going to. And even then there are only so many games any one coach can watch. I do not know a thing about tournaments in the NE so I can't say who's who in showcases in your neck of the woods. And true, most of the coaches are there to watch kids they already have an eye on. It's not like they just go to the tournament, find a game and hope to see something they like. That's just not the way it works anywhere.

The reason coaches are there for the pool games and then leave makes sense. They only have so many days that they can recruit and have to make the most of them. During pool play they can make requests to see players in different positions, slap, steal or whatever. Depending on the tournament they may be allowed to bat out of order, resub, etc.... Once bracket play starts it is by the book and they cant sit around a whole game to see one or two at bats and possibly zero defensive action.

From our experiences the best bet for exposure tournaments for our area,other than national tournaments like the Ronald McDonald, were ASA and PGF qualifiers, especially in the Dallas and Houston areas(we are in OK). But regardless of where the tournaments are played the players, coaches and parents have to put in the work in order to get the attention of coaches at the tournaments. That means hundreds of emails, phone calls and text messages every week.

 

[flipper14]

The opportunity to exploit people through showcases, private lessons and college camps is growing at a high rate of speed.

I'm not saying all (or even most) of those profiting from those avenues are unscrupulous, but the fruit is ripe for the picking for those who are. You've got parents who want to do anything to put their kids in the best position to play college sports, and they'll pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars chasing that goal, and these parents and players are largely ignorant of the process. Learning the ropes is not easy because good sources of information are not readily available. Your travel coach or private coach that you trust is often ignorant of the process or won't level with you. College camps aren't worth the price unless you are a legitimate prospect for the team, you just want to go once for the fun of it, or you've just got a bunch of disposable income.

CoogansBluff, take this is shameless self promotion but I'm not going to pretend that "I heard about this company" or "a friend's child used this company." Earlier this year I launched a company, ProScoutSports LLC (www.proscoutsports.com) to evaluate and give advice to parents to find the best athletic path for their child. We are NOT a recruiting placement service. Instead, we evaluate your child (based on video and an extensive questionnaire) and guide you in the best path based on your child's abilities. If we think your daughter can play Division I softball we will tell you. If we think your daughter will max out at the junior varsity level at a high school of 2,000 kids we'll tell you that as well. We're brutally honest because we have no incentive to be otherwise.

As you mention, many coaches and private instructors are either unaware of the process or try to build up a player so that he or she will continue to take lessons. Our company knows college coaches, what exposures are worthwhile and what exposures aren't, what are the best travel teams in the area of the country where you live, etc. Our two softball scouts both played at coached at the college level at schools such as Kentucky, Virginia, UIC, Bradley, and Purdue, among others.

I encourage you to visit our site to learn more about our services. We want to find the best athletic path for your child and we have no incentive at all to be disingenuous in our evaluations. If your child can play, we'll tell you. If your child would be best served by playing a rec schedule, we'll tell you that as well. And when I write "you," I mean the collective you. Don't waste any more time or money trying to figure out the best path for your child to take.

 

[PA SB Dad]

we evaluate your child (based on video and an extensive questionnaire) and guide you in the best path based on your child's abilities. If we think your daughter can play Division I softball we will tell you. If we think your daughter will max out at the junior varsity level at a high school of 2,000 kids we'll tell you that as well. We're brutally honest because we have no incentive to be otherwise.

I have a "scouting report" for a player who is interested in playing for me next year (not from ProScoutSports, but another athletic profiling service based in AL). This player is going into her freshman year, is a pitcher with a 50 mph FB and 48 mph drop, who played on a B level team this year (C level the two years previous to that). She has listed several very good Div I and II schools on her wish list. She is being promoted as "an outstanding" college prospect. In this instance, the company is just not being truthful. I just don't understand how parents can be so easily fooled by these snake oil salesmen (disclaimer, I am not making this claim about ProScoutSports).

 

[flipper14]

I have a "scouting report" for a player who is interested in playing for me next year (not from ProScoutSports, but another athletic profiling service based in AL). This player is going into her freshman year, is a pitcher with a 50 mph FB and 48 mph drop, who played on a B level team this year (C level the two years previous to that). She has listed several very good Div I and II schools on her wish list. She is being promoted as "an outstanding" college prospect. In this instance, the company is just not being truthful. I just don't understand how parents can be so easily fooled by these snake oil salesmen (disclaimer, I am not making this claim about ProScoutSports).

PA SB Dad, our service is completely different. We don't share our evaluations with anyone unless we have permission from a parent and that would only be done if one of our scouts (our two softball scouts are both former DI coaches) has a coaching friend to whom she wants to send the information. We aren't making our reports public. They are simply for the parents and athlete to get a better understanding of where they fall in terms of talent. It is our objective to evaluate a young person and put them on the proper path. I've seen parents too many really good athletes have absolutely no idea about the different levels of travel ball, while I've seen others (more often than not) have a very inflated opinion of the abilities of their child. For kids who already have an athletic path established we can tell you why and at what level we think you may be able to play in college. We don't do showcases. There's no incentive at all for us to blow smoke. I've had multiple people tell me, "So your business model is to tell people what they don't want to hear." As crazy as it sounds the answer is yes. Here's our list of scouts and their backgrounds. We aren't sales guys sitting behind a desk. As I mentioned, our softball scouts coached at Kentucky, Virginia, Purdue, among others. Our baseball scout coached at the University of Michigan. They aren't going to ruin their reputations by trying to mislead parents about the abilities of their children. Can we make mistakes? Sure, any professional scout can. Yet we are also providing info from coaches and players who have actually been there and done that at the highest level.

Our two softball scouts are below:

Jennie Shollenberger ​has extensive DI softball playing and coaching experience. A Spokane, Wash., native, Jennie played three years at North Dakota St. before transferring to Portland State. As the starting catcher for the Vikings in '06, she helped lead PSU to an NCAA Regional appearance. Jennie remained at Portland State as an assistant coach for two seasons before spending five seasons as an asst. at Bradley University, where she worked primarily with catchers and outfielders. In 2009, the Braves advanced to the NCAA tournament. Jennie earned a B.S. in school health from PSU in 2007. She has since earned a Master's in curriculum and instruction at Bradley. Currently a Digital Marketing Consultant at Marquette Group in Peoria, she helps develop young athletes as a private softball instructor.

Brooke Monroe has extensive coaching experience, having served as a Division I assistant for more than a decade at Purdue, Portland State, Kentucky, Virginia, and UIC. A 3-time all-Big Ten selection as a catcher at Indiana, she earned 1st-team All-Big Ten honors as a junior. She finished her career among IU's top 10 in several statistical categories. A highly decorated prep player at Morton (Ill.) High School, she was inducted into the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. She earned a B.S. in Sport Management from IU, as well as an M.S. in sport administration from Purdue. Brooke lives in Chicago and works for an educational publishing/software company, working with 100s of teachers and students around the Midwest. She also provides private and group softball instruction.

 

[imsportsidaho]

I personally don't care they call them showcases as long as they run them as such. Since when has a new showcase been an instant success with a bunch of coaches in attendance. Support your local showcases and help build them.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[Cannonball]

I guess something that I'm struggling with in this thread is the role your TB team coach/organization is playing in all of this. When my dd hit the road at a young age in these showcases etc. we had a list in hand of colleges that had committed. We had/our organization had already contacted coaches we identified and let them know our schedule. When dd changed team/programs, the new organization did the same. So, that was typical for two organizations that my child played for. Also, my dd, my wife and I sat down with our TB Coach and he laid out programs that our dd had interest from and ones that he thought she could play at. IMO, that list was very realistic. Is this attention to detail not a part of some of your TB organizations? I've posted dd's recruitment video on here before. Sure it is too long. However, the reason for that is that she was getting interest from so many school BUT at different positions. Yup, even the part of the video where she played SS was because one college wanted her as a SS. That program does a recruitment video for every player. If these aren't a part of what your TB program offers, I'd ask why not. JMHO! OH, we didn't pay an exuberant amount of money for dd to play in this program.

 

[Greenmonsters]

I guess something that I'm struggling with in this thread is the role your TB team coach/organization is playing in all of this. When my dd hit the road at a young age in these showcases etc. we had a list in hand of colleges that had committed. We had/our organization had already contacted coaches we identified and let them know our schedule. When dd changed team/programs, the new organization did the same. So, that was typical for two organizations that my child played for. Also, my dd, my wife and I sat down with our TB Coach and he laid out programs that our dd had interest from and ones that he thought she could play at. IMO, that list was very realistic. Is this attention to detail not a part of some of your TB organizations? I've posted dd's recruitment video on here before. Sure it is too long. However, the reason for that is that she was getting interest from so many school BUT at different positions. Yup, even the part of the video where she played SS was because one college wanted her as a SS. That program does a recruitment video for every player. If these aren't a part of what your TB program offers, I'd ask why not. JMHO! OH, we didn't pay an exuberant amount of money for dd to play in this program.

Seems that many find that its much easier to call yourself a showcase, gold, or whatever team than it is to actually do the work! Regardless of how it should be v. how it is, the player (and their family) should be the one taking the primary role.

 

[Cannonball]

GM, yes, in the end, it is the responsibility of the parent. Look, every TB parent that has any expectation at all for their dd to play college ball knows the area TB programs. They know the cost and they know which ones stay local, travel on a regional basis and travel on a national basis. For example, my dd played for the Tomahawks for a couple of years. No, none of you have heard of them. However, she played and they won tournaments in Kansas, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee. The Tomahawks are the program that Amy Harre played for. Look her up if you don't know who she is. Anyway, they are a regional team that went up to 16U and everyone knows that. The team my dd finished playing TB for, Extreme Elite, played/plays all over the nation and has even taken a team to Canada. As a parent, simply do your homework and ask questions. You'll learn a not. I think that participation on websites such as this are also very beneficial.

 

[Greenmonsters]

GM, yes, in the end, it is the responsibility of the parent. Look, every TB parent that has any expectation at all for their dd to play college ball knows the area TB programs. They know the cost and they know which ones stay local, travel on a regional basis and travel on a national basis. For example, my dd played for the Tomahawks for a couple of years. No, none of you have heard of them. However, she played and they won tournaments in Kansas, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee. The Tomahawks are the program that Amy Harre played for. Look her up if you don't know who she is. Anyway, they are a regional team that went up to 16U and everyone knows that. The team my dd finished playing TB for, Extreme Elite, played/plays all over the nation and has even taken a team to Canada. As a parent, simply do your homework and ask questions. You'll learn a not. I think that participation on websites such as this are also very beneficial.

I wouldn't underestimate the value of DFP and like forums, which help can help shorten the learning curve. With the sharing of so many experiences it becomes apparent what is typical, possible, exceptional, and BS and ultimately allow parents/players to make better plans and decisions.