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Hello all, looking for perspectives about comparing the three (Stanford, PG Academic, Head First) showcases from a scouting/recruiting perspective with college coaches attending. Headfirst lists the coaches that will attend; not sure if the others do? My 2017 is a MIF and RHP and is drawing interest from several high/mid D1s including IVY and has enough of GPA, test scores, etc to qualify academically. Considering the cost of registration, travel, and lodging, we would be ending up making a choice of one of the three. Any feedback is always appreciated. If there is a prior forum that has addressed this with recent postings, appreciate a heads up on that as well. Thanks.

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Phanatic: Here's another one close to where you are at Catholic U--a number of Ivies here and high academic. (Top96 Academic) $400 less than HF. Definitely worthwhile if a number of schools you are vetting are in attendance. The list of schools is on this linkhttp://www.top96.com/_event_display.php?de=5343

Dates are July 6th and 7th. Another showcase one in the works (Redbird posted) in late June VA/DC area.

Good luck!

 

Phanatic:  The HF and Stanford Camps are filling up quickly for many of the positions (MIF fills fast), so if you have not signed up your son yet, availability may dictate which one you go to now.  My 2017 is not as strong as it sounds like yours is, but I would guess your son will have success at any of them he goes to.  We opted for HF as the first priority because it sounds like there is a better opportunity to meet coaches at the schools your son is really interested in.  Feedback we got from the Stanford camp is that it is a much larger scale production and less opportunity for meeting the coaches. No doubt the top players get their opportunity to talk to coaches who may be interested in them, but not so sure about the others who might get lost in the crowd.

It also helps if your son knows what his major will be and that can help filter out the schools.  My son is determined to do  engineering.  So I did a search through the schools at HF and found about 20 that have engineering programs, and about half of those are D1 and the other half D2-D3.  From that list he is going to narrow it down to about 10 coaches to e-mail before the camp starts to introduce himself and express an interest in their school and program.  We heard HF takes the time to make the coaches stand up and show themselves to all of the players at the beginning of camp, so there is no excuse not to find them if you are looking for them.  Filtering it down to about 10 programs makes it much easier for him to focus on a match.  No sense in wasting time talking to a Liberal Arts school coach.

P.S. One great strategy I saw elsewhere is to go to HF the days before the Stanford camp.  Many of the same coaches are at both camps, so it would give an extended opportunity to have the player meet the coach first at HF and then follow-up with him at Stanford.  I recognize that is a huge financial commitment, but if it results into admission and some merit money at a top academic school, it would certainly pay off.  And in some cases, it would be cheaper than travel costs to multiple showcases since they are back to back in the same area.

There is another alternative - Coastal VA Baseball Academic Camp (coastalvabaseball.com).  It is scheduled for June 23-24 in the DC area.  Field specifics should be released soon.  I chose those dates because they get the Academic kids on college radar screens sooner, which allow for more evaluation and discussions with coaches.

All of my camps contain a showcase portion and hands on instruction from the college coaches.  I actually guarantee your son will have every opportunity to show what he can do.

In just over one week, we have secured the following schools:

Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, Davidson, Elon, Bucknell, Navy, William & Mary, Furman, Franklin & Marshall, Bates, Holy Cross, Gettysburg, Wesleyan & Hamilton (more will be coming)

Oh, and each player will get a Play In School recruiting video as well as a written eval by a college coach.

Find more details at coastalvabaseball.com

 

There is another alternative - Coastal VA Baseball Academic Camp (coastalvabaseball.com).  It is scheduled for June 23-24 in the DC area.  Field specifics should be released soon.  I chose those dates because they get the Academic kids on college radar screens sooner, which allow for more evaluation and discussions with coaches.

All of my camps contain a showcase portion and hands on instruction from the college coaches.  I actually guarantee your son will have every opportunity to show what he can do.

In just over one week, we have secured the following schools:

Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, Davidson, Elon, Bucknell, Navy, William & Mary, Furman, Franklin & Marshall, Bates, Holy Cross, Gettysburg, Wesleyan & Hamilton (more will be coming)

Oh, and each player will get a Play In School recruiting video as well as a written eval by a college coach, all included in the price.

Find more details at coastalvabaseball.com

 

Louise posted:

TwoBoys.....I thought that too - bummer PG academic is the same weekend (June 4th) as SAT subject tests and for my son the same week as high school final exams!

I'd like to add my frustration with this as well.  The best time to take these subject tests, which are standard fare for most high academic schools, is immediately after the semester ends.  For most of our kids that's late May and early June, so the June 4 date is problematic.  They aren't offered again until October.

One thought about this, however:  If all PG events end up measuring the same stuff, and each kid has his numbers registered in the PG data base, maybe this isn't as big a problem as it looks?  

At HF they not only have the coaches stand in front of the players on the first day (and wave to them as they are introduced) they also provide a booklet with all of the coaches in attendance with their picture.  I saw many player/parent combos going over the book, looking for coaches and then going up to them to talk.  As a few have pointed out, there were a few extensive threads on HF and Stanford not that long ago and many of us just had players attend one or both of them last year.  Our 2016 only attended once in Aug but I'm happy to answer any HR related questions (if I can) via PM.   

One more note on the difference between HF and some other events that 2016 attended last year.  He attended as a PO at an event on LI about a month before HF.  Pitching was in a bullpen after all the position players had done their drills and BP in front of all the coaches.  The coaches moved over to the bullpen and sat on bleachers set up behind the catchers and radar guns were set up with displays to show the velos.  It was two pitchers at a time.  They were all D1 coaches (Northeast schools) who had been paid to attend.  It appeared to be mostly underclass players and as one after another went hitting 77, 78, 79, I could see the coaches rolling their eyes to one another (parents were right behind or too the side).  There was no interaction of any kind with them and it seemed like they couldn't wait to leave - and I didn't blame them as it was about 90 degrees out and there wasn't much too see.  2016 went to get an "official" record of his velo since he didn't go to PG last year and because he was going to  camps at two of the schools in attendance the following weeks.    

In contrast, the entire two days at HF is built around interaction with the coaches.  They are introduced up front, they are participating in every game or walking around between fields as the games are going on and there is no reason you can't find and speak to the coach you want to (if he's there).  There is a much different feel to the camp that you'd have to see to understand completely.  Trust me, I hated spending that amount of money after all that we spent the prior to summers and my wife thought I was crazy - but after she admitted it was the best money we spent.

 

Edit to note that the camp that redbird posted about looks like a good one with a mix of D1 and D3 schools that matches the kind of mix you'd see at HF (but obviously a lower number in attendance).  

Last edited by MKbaseballdad
redbird5 posted:

There is another alternative - Coastal VA Baseball Academic Camp (coastalvabaseball.com).  It is scheduled for June 23-24 in the DC area.  Field specifics should be released soon.  I chose those dates because they get the Academic kids on college radar screens sooner, which allow for more evaluation and discussions with coaches.

All of my camps contain a showcase portion and hands on instruction from the college coaches.  I actually guarantee your son will have every opportunity to show what he can do.

In just over one week, we have secured the following schools:

Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, Davidson, Elon, Bucknell, Navy, William & Mary, Furman, Franklin & Marshall, Bates, Holy Cross, Gettysburg, Wesleyan & Hamilton (more will be coming)

Oh, and each player will get a Play In School recruiting video as well as a written eval by a college coach, all included in the price.

Find more details at coastalvabaseball.com

 

^^ this is a pretty good deal.  If I had a 2017 or 2018 looking for high academic showcase, locally, I would attend.  The PIS video is worth the cost of attendance alone. 

This is an informative thread.  If there are updates from folks who have gone (especially to HF or PG Academic) in the past 1-1/2 years, please post.

Son is young 2020 MIF - finally growing and getting stronger.  Pretty good contact hitter with some power; good hands and footwork, though not outstanding.  Goes to a rigorous HS.

There is HF in Jupiter the first weekend of November and PG Fall Academic Showcase Oct 14-15.  We could go to both (PG showcase is during fall break) but would like to get any additional insight.  

Headfirst, Headfirst, Headfirst. We did others but looking back Headfirst is all we needed to do! If you are targeting high academic D3 - which my son was - most interest came the summer between junior and senior year so this fall would be very early for a 2020. If you are looking for D1 then probably not too early but I will let others weigh in on that

Texas1836 posted:

This is an informative thread.  If there are updates from folks who have gone (especially to HF or PG Academic) in the past 1-1/2 years, please post.

Son is young 2020 MIF - finally growing and getting stronger.  Pretty good contact hitter with some power; good hands and footwork, though not outstanding.  Goes to a rigorous HS.

There is HF in Jupiter the first weekend of November and PG Fall Academic Showcase Oct 14-15.  We could go to both (PG showcase is during fall break) but would like to get any additional insight.  

Too early for a Sophomore to attend high academic camps such as HF or Showball Camp. The PG Fall Academic could be the best option as a sophomore.  Your son would be able to get a PG grade and a big showcase experience both at the same time.

 CAUTION:  At the PG Academic, if your son doesn't have any measurable that stands out, he'll get an average grade and likely not be noticed.  If he made some exceptional plays in the games and was nominated as a "top prospect" he'd get on the "radar", and he'd get invites to other PG top events.  And getting an average grade at PG is fine, because that could be where he is, and as he grows and improves his skill set he'll likely get a higher grade when he returns to a PG Showcase.  This will document improvement.  BUT, if he doesn't really have anything to showcase yet is this a worthwhile investment?  Maybe deploy the dollars toward dedicated strength/speed programs and improving his bat, glove and throwing motion in the off season.  He has the next 6-7 months to get in beast mode, then play spring HS ball and attend the PG Spring Academic with something more to show???

The PG Academic Showcase doesn't list colleges attending.  It's a broader base of strong academic schools, to include power conference academics and Harvard types.    

Early in the high academic recruiting cycle they're looking at Pitchers first, and those that have measurables worth noting and are projectable.

Suggest:  get his club coaches or an instructor to measure his exit velo, throwing velo from the IF or OF, and his 60 time. Compare those to last years PG Fall Academic sophomores workout results.  What were the measurables, write ups and grades of the Top Prospects? Great info out there to help guide your decision.  

Also, if money no object, I would still follow suggestions above, because your sons grade will now be in the public domain to be referenced by colleges.  Figure the measurables out before you commit to any showcase or camp this early in the high academic recruiting.

(in a rush to get this out, so apologies in advance for any grammar faults)

 

 

I tend to agree with pretty much all that Gov said, but it also depends on your kids skills and where he wants to go to school. For instance, if your kid will show well and he wants to go to a school like Duke, and they will be there, I would go. Duke already has 12 commits for 2019s which means they are likely starting to look down the road at 2020 already. If this is your situation it cannot hurt, unless he is undersized or not strong physically, in which case he will not get much attention.

 

Texas1836 posted:

...

Son is young 2020 MIF - finally growing and getting stronger.  Pretty good contact hitter with some power; good hands and footwork, though not outstanding.  Goes to a rigorous HS.

There is HF in Jupiter the first weekend of November and PG Fall Academic Showcase Oct 14-15.  We could go to both (PG showcase is during fall break) but would like to get any additional insight.  

Agree with the sentiment of others...  your description of your son has him young, still in the midst of growing and developing, not a D1 prospect and focusing on high academic schools.  Those schools recruit late.  Your son will likely be much better next year, even if only by physical maturation.  Let him develop.  Maybe, attend a local showcase or two to get comfortable with the format.  Target those events for next year with some goals in mind and maybe some school research under his belt.  Have him work hard toward improvement between now and then.  The payoff will be far greater.  Meanwhile, encourage him to immerse himself into the HS experience, baseball and the rest.

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