Camps vs Travel

Tough call.  I would lean toward playing for the best travel team, as you will get a lot of exposure and a lot of playing time against top talent - that is the best way to improve your skills, plus it provides a decent chance to be noticed by a recruiter during live game conditions (versus being a "number" at a showcase or camp).  Then if the budget permits, maybe focus on a couple of specific camps and showcases where you are already on a coach's radar?  Many families struggle with this.  There is no right answer, but to me a very well known travel program would be preferable to attending random camps/showcases.  A blend of both is probably the best answer but not always practical.

In my opinion 100% play with the best team.

Play where your son will learn the "real" game and improve his reaction.

Bob

When playing for arguably the best travel team in the northeast, the team and its players will draw RCs et al. But if you're not in the lineup or getting mound time, it's a waste. The moral of the story: play for the best team possible where you will be in the lineup.

Are you in the lineup a lot with the team you play for now?  Would you play that much or more with the "best team" that I'm guessing you have to pay vs. not paying now.

If you get good quality reps (and a high number of them) on your current team, meaning playing good competition; good pitching , solid defense, batters who can hit, etc.  Then in my opinion...save the $$ and use that to go to showcases and camps.

Our youth team wasn't free, it was $150 a year, which covered tournaments and uniforms. There were other "high end" but expensive teams, and all our coaches were dads. But they had all played college baseball, all had HS or college coaching experience, and I would argue that my son learned enough baseball to be well prepared when we did put him on the expensive travel team after his freshman year.

When that happened, I felt like the travel team went to places that worked well for them. We were pretty choosy about the showcases and camps, on the other hand, making sure that coaches we cared about were there. That seemed to me to make them more valuable than the travel team.

Playing for the best team in your area is a no brainier...

the choice is a little murkier when it is playing for a lower level team vs doing camps/showcases

Play for the best team you can get on the field. They will play the best competition you can face. Facing the best competition will prepare you to be your best when colleges coaches are watching. Don’t waste money on camps unless they are prospect camps. 

Different view here, as 2017 son played for arguably the best travel team.  It really depends on your goal, or more specifically your list of colleges where you would like to go.  Son had plenty of exposure on the travel team (i.e., even double digit coaches at WWBA at a random field over an hour away), but did not play in front of the schools he wanted to go to for the most part.  

So if you are looking at high academic schools, or a specific geographic area, then you may need to supplement in order to play in front of the schools that matter most to you.  

Son took three prong approach:

First,  Perfect Game & Baseball Factory Showcase to get measureables which compared him w/ his class.

Second he did showcases where MANY coaches were in attendance with schools he was targeting: Showball, Headfirst, Top 96 (Now Under Armour). The "bang for the buck concept"--still had wide net cast at this point.

Lastly he attended college specific camps for schools that were specifically recruiting him and with which he got much feedback.

(Son's travel team was American Legion, so the Showcases listed in #2 were extremely beneficial.)

As with pretty much every question that comes up, it depends on the individual situation. You didn't mention your age/year in school. That is something to consider. Type of colleges you are looking for - high academic, top D1 "baseball school", etc... It's never good to sit on the bench. If you aren't playing it lessens the chances that recruiters will see you play. Be realistic with how much you might sit on this top travel team. Also, if the travel org has multiple teams at your age, which team will you be on? Some B or C teams don't go to the same high visibility events that the "A" team does. And we haven't even talked about finances of the team, travel, etc... So your answer is, it depends. Good luck!

I have probably said this a hundred times on here.  Being identified as having the necessary talent is the most important thing.  Where and how that happens doesn't matter.  I want to be careful because we are very close to so many college coaches.  The camps are very important to the coaches and the program.  Some of these camps are extremely worthwhile, and others are not as good.  You should never leave a camp without having learned something.  If that happens it is a bad camp.

Most every player that is recruited out of a college camp is one that displayed his talent and was identified "before" he attended the camp.  In many cases he was invited "told" to attend the camp for the specific reason of receiving an offer.  So then the college can say they recruited X number of kids from their camps and it is true.  But the truth is, in most every case, these kids had already been identified before the camp.  The camp becomes a part of the recruitment, as the college already wants the player.  College recruiters don't just stay at home and wait to find players at their camp.  In fact, the camps are like days off for most college coaches.

Recruiting is hard work and long hours with little sleep.  Away from home, lots of travel and living in hotels, eating fast food.  Getting pestered by parents at times.  Heat, rain, early mornings, late nights, it doesn't matter, there they are.  Geez, after writing that I just realized... we need to do as much as we can to help the scouts and recruiters.  Some might think being a scout or recruiter is a glamorous job.  But any glamor involved doesn't last long. 

I think it is great to attend a college camp or two.  The goal should always be to learn something that might improve your game or your knowledge.  Many of these camps can be very beneficial and you might even get some very valuable advice regarding what you need to do.  Over all, it is a poor way to go about getting recruited.  Maybe it would work better if looking for a DIII college.  Typically they don't have the recruiting budgets to see as many players.

Now if you happen to be extra special and show up at any college camp as an unknown, they will want you, but they will be very surprised as well.  Check and see what the very special players do and you will see most all of them playing travel ball.  Look what the early round picks out of HS and the top college players did.  I know that everyone is not that type of player, but it does tell you something.  

By all means go to a college camp or two.  Anything is possible, but if they haven't already seen you play don't expect to be recruited.  Expect to leave there with more knowledge.  If it is your dream school, all that much better, you will know whether or not you need to find a new dream school.  There's always more than one dream school if the first one isn't interested. And finally, you might want to remember this... options are a great thing, you will never know what your true worth is until you have lots of options.  Even if your dream school wants you, they should have to compete with others that want you. 

One more thing... Don't think that the above or anything else you hear is the gospel.  There is no mandatory path to a players success.  Certain things might help, but there is no recipe or one way to reach the top.

From my viewpoint, travel baseball and camps were two very complementary activities that were essential to my sons recruitment across a broad range of D1 and D3 schools.   There should be no "versus" in the question.   So, I think you should continue to do both activiities when they make sense.

As for the travel question.....playing for travel team A or travel team B is where you want to focus the question.  Play for the team that is going to help you get the development, exposure and assistance needed to reach your goals.  Simple as that.

As always, JMO.   Good luck!

PGStaff posted:

I have probably said this a hundred times on here.  Being identified as having the necessary talent is the most important thing.  Where and how that happens doesn't matter.  I want to be careful because we are very close to so many college coaches.  The camps are very important to the coaches and the program.  Some of these camps are extremely worthwhile, and others are not as good.  You should never leave a camp without having learned something.  If that happens it is a bad camp.

Most every player that is recruited out of a college camp is one that displayed his talent and was identified "before" he attended the camp.  In many cases he was invited "told" to attend the camp for the specific reason of receiving an offer.  So then the college can say they recruited X number of kids from their camps and it is true.  But the truth is, in most every case, these kids had already been identified before the camp.  The camp becomes a part of the recruitment, as the college already wants the player.  College recruiters don't just stay at home and wait to find players at their camp.  In fact, the camps are like days off for most college coaches.

Recruiting is hard work and long hours with little sleep.  Away from home, lots of travel and living in hotels, eating fast food.  Getting pestered by parents at times.  Heat, rain, early mornings, late nights, it doesn't matter, there they are.  Geez, after writing that I just realized... we need to do as much as we can to help the scouts and recruiters.  Some might think being a scout or recruiter is a glamorous job.  But any glamor involved doesn't last long. 

I think it is great to attend a college camp or two.  The goal should always be to learn something that might improve your game or your knowledge.  Many of these camps can be very beneficial and you might even get some very valuable advice regarding what you need to do.  Over all, it is a poor way to go about getting recruited.  Maybe it would work better if looking for a DIII college.  Typically they don't have the recruiting budgets to see as many players.

Now if you happen to be extra special and show up at any college camp as an unknown, they will want you, but they will be very surprised as well.  Check and see what the very special players do and you will see most all of them playing travel ball.  Look what the early round picks out of HS and the top college players did.  I know that everyone is not that type of player, but it does tell you something.  

By all means go to a college camp or two.  Anything is possible, but if they haven't already seen you play don't expect to be recruited.  Expect to leave there with more knowledge.  If it is your dream school, all that much better, you will know whether or not you need to find a new dream school.  There's always more than one dream school if the first one isn't interested. And finally, you might want to remember this... options are a great thing, you will never know what your true worth is until you have lots of options.  Even if your dream school wants you, they should have to compete with others that want you. 

One more thing... Don't think that the above or anything else you hear is the gospel.  There is no mandatory path to a players success.  Certain things might help, but there is no recipe or one way to reach the top.

 

And I would assume that a camp invite to a player that may end up getting an offer at the end of camp would look and feel different from a generic camp invite?

smokeminside posted:

And I would assume that a camp invite to a player that may end up getting an offer at the end of camp would look and feel different from a generic camp invite?

Yes.

Not all Travel Baseball is equal.   The top teams that go to Jupiter, WWBA, Prospect Wire in Nashville, and funnel their players towards Area Codes and PBR Future Games etc are extremely valuable in terms of getting seen and recruited.

The B teams, C teams, lower level travel teams are much much less valuable in terms of getting recruited and seen.  They can be helpful in development and experience to eventually get on the top travel teams, possibly, but in general you have to really weigh the costs and benefits with teams like that.  They might help you get a D3 or JUCO spot but do you really need to spend $2500 plus travel costs, yearly, to get a D3 or lower level JUCO spot?  I don't know, it depends on the individual, but in a lot of cases maybe not...

A small, very small percentage of players are headed towards top D1 Power Fives and MLB drafts.

These days, so much of Baseball is about the measureables.  60 time, Exit Velo, arm velo, spin rate, launch angle etc...  The money spent on a lower level Travel Team might be much better spent on Speed & Strength Training, hitting/pitching instruction, a Perfect Game or PBR Showcase, and college camps.

You have to ask yourself: does it really matter if you face 75 mph fastballs at a lower level Travel tournament or in a local Legion game?  There are all sorts of ways to play lots of Baseball all summer long without being on a Travel Team.

Ultimately a big part of what matters is your 60 time, your Exit Velo, your arm velocity and your overall game during the summer before your senior year and the fall of your senior year.  Everything you do prior to that time is about getting you ready for that time period.  Even the early commits have to step up and prove themselves as rising Seniors.

Get on the best team possible and where you can play!  Even if one is on a tier 2 team there is still opportunity to be seen while playing the tier 1 teams.  I remember my 2015 was contacted by 2 RC after his team was playing a top tier team.  

JABMK posted:

Get on the best team possible and where you can play!  Even if one is on a tier 2 team there is still opportunity to be seen while playing the tier 1 teams.  I remember my 2015 was contacted by 2 RC after his team was playing a top tier team.   

In general, I would agree with that for 16U and 17U.  Before that?  It really depends on a lot of factors...

Best advice here, play on the best travel team with other players close or better to your ability and age to showcase your skills.  Talk to the team managers before you make any decisions, the best programs have coaches who will help you to find the right program.

I recommend teams that play small tourneys on college fields.  This is a very good way that a college coach can watch.  They may even refer a colleague to you.   Son received quite a few offers from different tier D1 programs based on playing on college fields in our geographical area. 

Once again, read over Jerry's post.  Attend college camps for the experience and to learn something. Attend  small prospect camps when invited, don't rely on attending a camp to get noticed.  It more than likely isn't going to happen.

This is one of those topics where it is possible that, in some regions of the country, times have changed so quickly in the last 7-10 years.  Lower level Travel Ball is the new rec ball, featuring kids who really should still be playing Little League/Senior League, except they have fancy uniforms and their parents pay $2500+ to be on the team....