What’s the benefit in changing names?

[uncdrew]

Ok I thought you were talking about all age groups..they are very good at 16's and 18's...I know about Alford but not sure about their other 12's and 14's.

My whole world is 12U softball. I know amazingly little about the 18U and 16U teams.

 

[_MIA_]

My whole world is 12U softball. I know amazingly little about the 18U and 16U teams.

Fair enough

 

[DryHeat]

So, are you saying that small organizations will not be invited to play in top tear tournaments because of their name and the coaches have no connections? I am trying to decide if I should make the move. Current team has no recruiting coordinator, they don't know any college coaches, regional travel but enter in tournaments with very little competition. They are trying to get these things in the fall. To me it's too late to try and start now.

Big vs small is too much of a generalization. That team was a one-off. Just the one team with no "org". In all likelihood college coaches had no idea who they were. They went to a respected org that had automatic bids to some tourneys based on past performance. This org does a nice job getting kids the exposure they need. It was a good fit in this case, but there are bigger orgs that would likely have not provided the same benefit.

 

[clemenslee1]

So, are you saying that small organizations will not be invited to play in top tear tournaments because of their name and the coaches have no connections? I am trying to decide if I should make the move. Current team has no recruiting coordinator, they don't know any college coaches, regional travel but enter in tournaments with very little competition. They are trying to get these things in the fall. To me it's too late to try and start now.

This is what I have been told. Since DD plays on a one-off local team. That is in that situation.

 

[radness]

add this....
Two names I could mention that Branched off of SoCal Athletics
That would be Mercado Athletics and now Bengals by Briggs.

Even though new Jersey / org names they only have a few teams,
Still the name of the coaches gave them automatic luxury to be invited.

(Now Mercado Athletics has more teams)
( not sure how many teams Bengals have now)

 

[GunnerShotgun]

This is what I have been told. Since DD plays on a one-off local team. That is in that situation.

Some big showcases make you submit a resume to apply (to get in). If you have a great team this year but were average last year you will have difficulty getting in as an independent from what I have seen.

I have also seen the flip side of this in that if you have a lot of great teams in your club they will only take so many (fall showcases for example).

My observations are that you can be an independent team and get into the top showcases IF you had a good resume last year (which is odd since many of the players have changed). Always ask when joining a team which tournaments they are invited/approved, not just which ones they want to play in. They may not know yet but your final schedule should be close to the one proposed during the tryout period.

 

[Vertigo]

How many of these college coaches at these good fields are window shopping? I would want to play on the good fields because typically you will be playing better competition so you can get better. Doing it for the off chance that Patty sees you and is wowed seems shortsighted..

It’s not wanting to do it because a big P5 coach might see you, it’s wanting to do it because some of these top showcases have fields spread out all over place, so you want to ensure that the coaches your team has reached out to have a higher likelihood of being there. The coaches will typically go where several of their recruits / players of interest will be, not just one or two.

A good example of this was at Team NJ when dd was 15 and played on a very good local team. We were at fields no where near the main complex and although we had several very good players on our team, barely any coaches they had reached out to came. They were all at the main complex. The following year when dd switched to a more well-know org, it was like night and day. The local team at that time probably had more talent, but the new team had the name and the field location. We saw a huge jump in the number of coaches who attended our games.

 

[_MIA_]

It’s not wanting to do it because a big P5 coach might see you, it’s wanting to do it because some of these top showcases have fields spread out all over place, so you want to ensure that the coaches your team has reached out to have a higher likelihood of being there. The coaches will typically go where several of their recruits / players of interest will be, not just one or two.

A good example of this was at Team NJ when dd was 15 and played on a very good local team. We were at fields no where near the main complex and although we had several very good players on our team, barely any coaches they had reached out to came. They were all at the main complex. The following year when dd switched to a more well-know org, it was like night and day. The local team at that time probably had more talent, but the new team had the name and the field location. We saw a huge jump in the number of coaches who attended our games.

Ok. I was thinking something along the lines of a player (not the team) had contact with a coach before a tournament, sent schedule, etc. but I can see even in that case if everybody else that contacted him/her was playing 2 hours away they may not show up to see you..

 

[Vertigo]

The other thing one has to consider is that many college programs have extremely limited budgets to travel for recruiting, so they will go where they can get the most bang for their buck (eg showcases that attract the top teams).

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Like I said in my review of the Sparkler, I saw more coaches at the Denver airport than I did at any of the fields. The coaches were at the power pool fields and the IDT.

Last weekend in Atlanta was very similar. Everyone was at Lost Mountain, that is when it wasn't raining. BTW, terrible job by the TDs there. Six game guarantee, my foot. One of my daughters teams got three games because of all the weather issues.

Also, the LDs have totally watered down their name for money. He has teams all over the eastern seaboard now. Those teams pay between $50-$200 per player to the parent organization, depending on number of teams and age group. Do the math and figure out why they're expanding.