What’s the benefit in changing names?

[Agcy]

We joined an EC Bullets team two years ago when there were only 2-3 in the 12U age in Georgia. Now there are 10 or so.

The rumor is the head of the Org has two daughters that are finally now off playing in college. So he went from being an exclusive org that you had to mostly be invited to join to now if you have the money you can join. Costs $3,000 to use the name and have the right to buy their exclusive uniforms at their exclusively high prices. I can't blame him -- he did it for his girls, built the brand for a decade. Now he's cashing out.

It used to be you showed up at a tourney and feared the Bullets. Now I see some with pretty bad teams, bad records, etc. The brand has certainly tarnished.

I do fear that's happening in the SouthEast with Lady Dukes and Thunderbolts as well. Tons of new teams have sprung up in those Orgs near Atlanta and most aren't as good as what they were a few years ago.

Similar situation for us. My daughter got on a 14u team/org that was run by a dad that started with his daughters at 8U and was super focused on getting his daughters into college. That team evolved over the years to be pretty competitive with most of the girls playing in college (D1/D2/NAIA). He tried to carry on after his daughters graduated, but just not the same focus and energy when you are doing it for other's kids only.

Also, the in fighting of coaches that used his name/rep/facilities to get their own teams started then left the org when they had a critical mass of players and didn't agree with everything going on. Or would use the organization's try outs to only find players for their team (would call the ones they wanted before all the coaches would sit down and review together to 'get his' before anyone else could).

 

[Agcy]

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.

Did any of these coaches find new recruits while they were there or were they there watching girls that had already reached out to them?

 

[Vertigo]

Did any of these coaches find new recruits while they were there or were they there watching girls that had already reached out to them?

These were mostly coaches our team had reached out to; however, you will get a few who weren’t contacted who do stop by to watch.

When I was the RC and the coaches would come by (contacted or not), I’d ask all of them who they were there to see and what positions/year they were they looking for. I’d then point those players out on our profile sheet and give a brief summary of each. Some coaches would come up to me before leaving our games and would ask me to give certain players on our team their business card and ask me to have them look into their school and reach out. Each player would then get a summary emailed to them after the showcase of which schools were interested in them.

 

[NJZoo]

torpedo #8 said:
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


I basically had the head of an organization tell me this when we were going through tryouts. My daughter isn't in high school yet, but the guy basically said to think about 14U/16U and 18U when deciding on an organization, because his teams are playing on the main fields in Colorado and other teams in the area will end up at regional or state level showcases. I'm of the opinion that if a player has the talent, coaches will find them (especially in the age of social media), but it's certainly something that each parent and daughter have to consider.

We have seen a few teams in our area franchise over the past few years. An already successful organization franchised with the LD's a couple of years ago, so they have continued to produce quality teams. Although they also just announced affiliations in NY and PA, so we shall see how that goes.

 

[_MIA_]

Playing in front of coaches is never a bad thing for multiple reasons but if your kid wants to play in college relying on anybody else other than you/her to get her noticed/recruited is dumb imo (I also have the same opinion about their development as a player….)

 

[clemenslee1]

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.

Wonder whats considered a "Good Resume"? Who you played against?

 

[_MIA_]

Wonder whats considered a "Good Resume"? Who you played against?

Yes and if you were competitive. We were originally in Open at Sparkler this year but made the case that we beat or played close a number of teams that were in Supplemental or Power Pool so we got bumped to Supp. Hoping we can make a similar argument to get into Power Pool next year if we go but that might be a harder sell..

 

[clemenslee1]

Yes and if you were competitive. We were originally in Open at Sparkler this year but made the case that we beat or played close a number of teams that were in Supplemental or Power Pool so we got bumped to Supp. Hoping we can make a similar argument to get into Power Pool next year if we go but that might be a harder sell..

Ok, that's what I was thinking.

 

[Orange Socks]

I'm of the opinion that if a player has the talent, coaches will find them (especially in the age of social media),

This is a lie. Maybe only true for the top 1% of players. Please do not believe this. Lots of families thought if they sit on their hands, join the right team, play on the right fields that coaches would be falling over themselves to commit their DD's. I personally know lots of very talented players that did not do the work who ended up quitting or not going to the school they hoped for. They waited too long!

Do the work early to get on the coaches radar. Why? Because every other talented player is already doing it. and they will be first in line.

 

[radness]

IMO there is no benefit in changing names just to change names.

There is benefit in having a tb coach who has experience through the recruitment years understanding how to navigate a schedule and communicate to the players on the teams what all of their individual responsibilities are toward contacting colleges.


N0 TRAVEL BALL COACH
Will be able to get through to talking to every head coach of a college to make connections for the tb team.

99% of getting recruited is the responsibility of the individual player.