Headfirst Showcase

Yes. Some of the schools may be looking a little higher, but you should be in the wheelhouse for many as well.

 

Focus on keeping that ERA at least 1 below the GPA

 

 

I agree with leftyshortstop and Green Light.  It is in your wheelhouse, and there are more than enough schools that may be interested in him at HF.

 

In addition to his grades, what is ultimately going to matter to these HF College Coaches will be his baseball skills and SAT/ACTs.  If he excels in all three areas, he will have many choices.  Good luck! 

Thanks for the responses.  I should have mentioned that he has not yet taken any tests, but is preparing for the ACT in December and February.  Based on his practice tests so far, we're hoping for 31-33.  Pitches looking good right now, but fastball still in the low 80s.  He's fairly tall (6'1") and still quite thin (165 lbs) but trying to put on weight and gain speed.  I think he will.

In my opinion and based on my son's experience and that of his friends, an unweighted GPA of 3.0 is the floor for the type of curriculum the OP mentioned for schools at HF.

As also was noted, ACT/SAT scores and baseball skills are the other two pieces of the pie.  We found that these two mattered more than GPA.

GPAs are hard to compare nationwide. Standardized test scores are far easier to compare as are running speed, throwing velocities, physical size, etc.

More on HF...

http://m.washingtonpost.com/lo...661b0bb78_story.html

....and a key paragraph:

"Headfirst has a SEPARATE business aimed at high school baseball players. It’s Honor Roll baseball showcases feature dozens of coaches from elite colleges who scout players paying $995 for two days of action."

Just attended the Jupiter showcase and found it to be on of the better opportunities for our 2014. The whole thing was well run by a group of coaches that are passionate about what they do and how they do it.

If I had a nickel for every time I have heard a baseball parent PRAISE Headfirst Showcases I'd be.................well, you know what I'd be.

 

My son has never been to one as he is a freshman and they seem to focus on grades 10-12.  But it is on our list for next summer. 

With regard to the weather. No one can predict whats gonna happen next. So I think that you were just in the showcase was just at the wrong place and in the wrong time. I had my son joined HF showcase and was even doing hitting drills attached to his aids before their game while the rain is pouring. I know for a fact that when a parent sees his child under that situation, he'll definitely curse that event. But then, having them experience unusual events makes them stronger.

Big fan of Headfirst...son went the summer after his sophomore year and it opened many doors for him.

 

i do admit I hesitated when writing the $775 check (5 years ago) due to the non refundable nature of the showcase. Not only did I worry a out weather but what since I was signing him up 6 months a ead of the vent I worried what happen if he was injured and could not compete in the showcase. Luckily things went well.

 

i wonder if the weather had been better the OP would feel the same way?

My 2015 and I attended the Long Island camp a few weeks ago.  Some of what KFL initially said is true.  The Sullivan brothers, who own the camp, did speak about themselves and their accomplishments more than was necessary.  We did have great weather, so I can't complain.  It's surreal to have 90 college coaches roaming the fields, and coaching at bases.  Sadly, the majority of these coaches turned out to be volunteer coaches, or assistant coaches.  This means my son has been receiving plenty of e-mails letting him know how interested the school is in his performance, and, "Hey, come to our school's camp.  We are charging $295.00.  Would love to see you again."  They have us by the balls, and they know it.  We don't know if we should take the offers seriously, or not. The overall experience was good because my son was able to directly communicate with college coaches and as he heads into the stretch, that's made him more confident. 

gameplan,

 

At this point in the recruiting process you & your son should have a feel for who is truly, genuinely interested.  If he has the grades, skills, and it is a fit they may be very interested..ask questions if you don't know.  It is very typical for academic schools to attend HeadFirst, spot talent and then invite these players to their prospect camp so all coaches can see them.  You have to remember these schools are mostly Ivy, Patriot and many high academic D3s.  The high academic D3s mostly have limited recruiting budgets but have to recruit nationally.  This is their big event.

 

I think it is up to your son to ask these coaches if he has questions about his recruitability.  My oldest son received many calls, emails and invites after HeadFirst.  It was very clear to him who was most interested and what they could do for him.  We planned follow up visits to a handful of HeadFirst schools that were interested.  At the top of the list was the school he was most interested in from that list.  We knew they were extremely interested in him.  We drove 16 hours round trip because we knew it was a once in a life time opportunity.  He pitched at their prospect camp and he was offered immediately. As it turned out, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

 

Good luck!

We went last year for 2014 and I can give you our perspective.  The coaches that were interested in my son contacted him, and tried to set up campus visits.  Many others expressed interest at the camp itself, asking him to call.  A couple did say they really liked him and wanted him to come to camp for other coaches to evaluate him as well, but this was from direct calls from coach. Hope this helps.

As I've said before on this thread, "If I had a nickel for every time I've heard a great comment about Headfirst, I'd be.........Well, you know what I'd be." 

 

My 2017 son attended earlier this month in Long Island.  My son has done many camps and many showcases.  Headfirst is in a league of it's own.  About 95 coaches on hand.  Not sure of the breakdown but I'm going to guess about 50% D-1 and 50% D-3 (Just a guess).  Most of the smaller D-1s were represented by Head Coaches, and I'd guess most, if not all of the D-3s were represented by the Head Coach.  Your major D-1s had their Assistant Coaches there, and yes, some were Volunteer Assistant Coaches. 

 

Of the 244 boys there, about 65% were rising seniors, 30% rising juniors, very few rising sophomores. 

 

Most coaches there are from High Academic schools.  Schools where admissions departments want to see at least 2.5 years worth of grades, ideally 3.  Meaning many of these schools, especially Ivies, can't really commit kids until late in their Junior years.  One Ivy coach wouldn't give my 2017 the time of day as he was frantically looking to finish his 2015 class.  "Sorry kid, working on my '15s, step aside please."

I am a firm believer though in "early exposure, often."  More exposure TO the system than exposure FROM it.  My son was one of only 6 rising sophomores. 

 

The scene was one of a lot of players talking to coaches is what I remember most.  Assistants? Head Coaches?  Volunteer Assistant Coaches?  I don't know and I don't care.  It's great for the kid.  Saw many 16-17 year old ball players walk right up to coaches and introduce themselves.  Fun to watch as clearly it was a first time in life where these guys had to "sell themselves."  Great life lesson. 

 

Overheard many conversations like this, "Hey Coach, I'm John Smith from Toledo, Ohio.  I am very interested in your program.  I know you graduated 4 guys last year and you had a great season.  Do you have holes in your 2015 class that you're looking to fill?  If so?  What are you looking for?"

 

Coach replies, "Hey John, nice to meet you. Well?  We always need pitchers?  Do you pitch?"  or "Well John, we are looking for some middle infielders?"  Sadly, I often heard sort of a generic reply from a lot of guys like, "Well, I play outfield." 

 

 

It is imperative you bring skills and versatility to the table.  Even at a D-3 school and I mean no disrespect there.  Too many people think "anyone" can play at a D-3.  And that is not the case.  These coaches, even at this late date are not looking for mediocre talent to fill their 2015 recruiting class. 

 

So back to the OP, I'm sorry about the weather.  Yeah, that's a bummer.  But all players attending a Headfirst event must understand that they have to get out of  their comfort zone on the field AND behind the backstop.  They need to lay out in CF and they need to walk up to coaches (BY THEMSELVES, NO MOMS OR DADS, please!), introduce themselves, and start up a conversation.  Invite the coach to see you play in your next game which may be at 4pm that day, or at 9am next morning.

 

Nuts, to the poster who griped about these guys being "only Assistants, or Volunteer Assistants."  FACT: If you watched the 2014 CWS you saw a Volunteer Assistant Coach, coaching at 1st Base.  And I'm sure he was not the only VAS coaching 1st Base last season at a major D-1.  Let's cut that malarkey right now.  Any HS player who has a chance to spend 20-mins with any Volunteer Assistant Coach from any D-1 should take it. 

 

And if your son wants to connect with 95 college coaches over a 2-day showcase tournament?  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HEADFIRST.  HF accesses the player's body, mind, and soul.  See you in Long Island next year!

+1 with a !!! #1AC.  Took 2016 BucsFanSon this year and, like you, took him last year as a rising sophomore as well.  Well worth it (though not cheap) in the long run.  He got a ton of exposure, feedback and interest coming out.  Because of the experience last year, he was relaxed and confident on the field and with the process of approaching the coaches and what to say, etc.  Great post, and I could not have said it any better.

My 2016 attended the Long Island showcase a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it and got good exposure to a lot of coaches.  He walked up to a number of coaches and introduced himself and asked the coaches to watch him.  I could see that those coaches did watch him during his games.  Some coaches even approached him after they saw him pitch.  The day after the camp ended, he started receiving emails from college coaches.  Some were generic invites to their camps and others were personalized notes about how they were impressed with his playing.  He also has received a phone call from a coach.  I am thinking that he might receive some more calls after September 1st, but I am not sure about that.

 

While he is hoping to go to an Ivy League school, he has not heard from any of those schools yet.  We are thinking their timetable is a bit later, so hopefully, he will hear.  If he doesn't hear soon from them around the beginning of September, he will follow up with emails to them.

 

In addition to the exposure to the coaches, he also got a lot out of the talks by Ted, Brendan and Whitey.  They talked about the reality of playing college baseball and that it is not always a bed of roses.  My son has actually begun to think twice about some of his target baseball schools (some of whom were at the camp) as a result.

 

Yes, the camp is expensive, but we think it was well worth it.  My son has chosen not to play on any prospect teams and we think this was a better, more effective way of getting in front of the coaches at the schools he would like to attend.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that he ends up at one of his target schools.  If not, he will know it's not because the coaches didn't see him.   

My personal opinion is that you can get on radar as a junior, these schools spend there time looking for incoming seniors that may have been overlooked by other schools, or had specific interest in their school.  They don't want to waste their time. 

My better half took our 2015 down, after we considered  the value v. cost. Son high academic stats, but Ivy always a reach. But, since he's never played summer travel ball (due to outside circumstances) he's never been seen by anyone - so if he wanted to play in college, he had to get in front of the coaches this summer, and HF seems to offer the best opportunity for his target schools. Spouse took him to a PG showcase, first he'd ever done, then a regional tournament with space for a few extra players, then a college camp, then HF.

   By the time he got to HF, son had gotten a feel for talking with coaches. And, much to their credit, the coaches at HF made the event fun for the attendees - instead of feeling like the Tipton yearling sales in August, there was a lot of enthusiasm. Weather was near ideal, but son lost day #2 after taking a wild pitch to the side of the head at bat end of Day #1. Dandy case of tinnitus, so a pre-emptive trip to the ER rounded out the evening's activities. A lot of good pitchers there, but everyone is desperate to show their fastest, and spouse said there were quite a few beanballs, and fouls going between the 4 fields. 

   But even with only 1 day's exposure, and no record of stats to share, son got some good exposure, and has heard from several colleges - not all have his major, but there is time yet to pursue options. 

    Interestingly, son saw the coach whose camp he'd attended, sitting in the stands with sunglasses and floppy hat, incognito! Son spotted him immediately though, went over and said hi - he was watching another player, so son excused himself, and let him know he'd be playing the next game at the field next door. I said that likely the assistant coaches work the fields during the games, so the head coaches can do their work undisturbed in the stands, else they'd never get anything done! 

   But given the talent pool that attends HF, I'd have to believe the head coaches are mostly there, you just dont see them. It's always desirable to get a chance to intereact with them, but as long as they see you, you've accomplished most of what you came to HF for - to be seen and evaluated. Even for the one day of field play there, it was worth it for us.

I've bolded this word because we had several in-depth recruiting discussions with HF coaches who were incognito (at the event) 5 years ago.   A few of these discussions  were in the parking lot.  What I got out of this is some of the coaches can't get all their work done (see all the recruits they want to see & talk to) with their high academic school name on their jersey.  So, for part of the time they are incognito.  Apparently, they still do this.   Just because they are not in uniform 24 x 7 doesn't mean they are not watching.

Our son attended HF the fall of his Junior year.  We came away VERY impressed with the camp.  They did an excellent job with the format and educating players on what these high end academic schools are looking for.  Our son made contact with several coaches at the camp.  As with most camps the pitchers have an advantage.  They are in the spotlight and from my standpoint the position players really need to stand out to get attention.  The only other camp our son attended was Stanford and was also excellent.  

Agree heartily with 2 previous points (Bb4me and Fenway): 

 

My 2017 attended earlier this month and was approached after a game by a coach wearing school insignia shorts/polo/hat.  But then another guy approached him and they talked for a good while.  I waited at a distance.  I was trying to figure out who this "civilian" looking guy was; no insignias anywhere, just shorts/polo.  Later asked son and he said he was the AC from a major D-1.  Had no idea.  All the coaches I thought had to wear uniforms or at least insignia labeled clothing.  Guess not?  Turns out the Volunteer Assistant was behind backstop with the uniform on and this guy was undercover.  So yes, you never know who is watching!

 

2nd Point:  At most showcases, and Headfirst is a great example, being a pitcher definitely helps in the getting noticed effort.  If you are not a pitcher don't worry just do your thing but if you have an inkling to pitch at all?  Pitch.

Recruiters are always looking for pitchers.

 

This happens more than you think 

A big question re "incognito" or not at HF is whether it was Day 1 or 2.  My understanding is that coaches are required to wear their full uniform on Day 1 but not on Day 2.  When I was there last year, most all took advantage of that on Day 2.  I was not there this year but was led to believe it was same.  I also know one prominent HC who was there as his son was participating.  He was in street clothes, had an AC there in uni as well.  Parents were told he was there as a parent and to be respectful of that, but I know for a fact (and of course) he was scouting as well.

I think the title of this topic should be changed.  It's very misleading.  My 2016 attended this showcase in LI a few weeks ago.  We were very impressed, best I have seen.

 

Agreed.

 

The scoreboard says it all:

 

Headfirst Showcase Very Disappointing - 1

Headfirst One of  Best Showcase Camps Ever Been To - 55

 

 

 

Well that's simple enough to remedy.

Acquiescing to popular demand . . . I have edited to OP to change the title.

And after reading another thread running here, I must correct myself; re pitching going on there while son at HF - I'm sure there were no beanballs i.e. intentional hits, just some wild throws. Still not worth (to me) risking a second one within 24 hours, given the concussion risk at that point.

   Still learning, what I dont know about baseball would still fill the Google database...