USA Baseball NTIS tryout/showcase

My son went to one a couple years ago. There was a lot of sitting around as with all showcases. It is almost a certainty that the coaches running it will know several of the kids that are there; either through high school or summer ball. That's not to say they are not paying attention, just that an unknown better have some serious tools.

Good luck to your son!

My son has attended the USA Baseball NTIS programs for several years and here is what I have observed:

There are several districts across the country (12-14) that have been “franchised” out to regional directors who are charged with the responsibility to cultivate their territory (states) to put together the best team possible to compete in Cary NC. They use a series of local “showcases” to arrive at a number of teams to compete within the region from which they pick the regional team to send to NC. Each region is run/developed differently and probably depends on the tenure of the Regional director. We have seen it develop over the years and have its ups and downs depending who is involved at the local, state and regional level. The ultimate goal is to make it on the USA National Team, however, just getting to Cary NC can be a lot of fun. We have seen more and more College coaches in the later/last stage of the regional competition but have always been pleased with the turn out in NC. We got to see Brice Harper and team play at the 18U level one year at the USA Baseball complex and there were more than a handful of scouts present as you might imagine. When my son was 12 we played on the smaller fields in Cary. He had a college level coach track him down and congratulate him for shutting down a tough Texas team in relief. It was something he will never forget. Additionally, we have met and kept in touch with some of the best players in the country. The further you go in the world of baseball the smaller it gets. The whole affair is not cheap be can provide some valuable feedback and a lot of great memories. This year will be my son’s last year to tryout and we’re hoping to make the best of it.

Another side benefit is that even if your son does not make the final National team, if he does well, he may be considered for selection for the Tournament of Stars after his soph or jr year, which was one of the best events he attended, and free!!

Good timing, my 2015 has been told he needs to head to St.Louis this July and tryout for the NTIS/Mid-west. I was forwarded the link by a coach and it states these events are attended by college's. It's a 3 step deal....They have a $99 1 day showcase camp and then a 3 day showcase a couple weeks later, again in St.Louis. Are college's attending these regional showcases or is it just when/if you make it to Cary NC at the 3rd step. Not to be presumptious but I would assume the $99 1 day is to make a little coin and perhaps suggest some players don't quite make the cut and don't bother coming back for step 2 ???

quote:

Originally posted by 2Lefties:
Good timing, my 2015 has been told he needs to head to St.Louis this July and tryout for the NTIS/Mid-west. I was forwarded the link by a coach and it states these events are attended by college's. It's a 3 step deal....They have a $99 1 day showcase camp and then a 3 day showcase a couple weeks later, again in St.Louis. Are college's attending these regional showcases or is it just when/if you make it to Cary NC at the 3rd step. Not to be presumptious but I would assume the $99 1 day is to make a little coin and perhaps suggest some players don't quite make the cut and don't bother coming back for step 2 ???

Edited 1/22:
Several summers ago keewartson did the NTIS tryouts. There were several local tryouts around the state and players were nominated to go to the state level. From there, a Virginia team was selected for his age group to go to the regional NTIS event in Pa: 2 players for each position and about 4 additional pitchers. From the regional event, a team was selected to go to Cary, NC. If I can remember the cost along the way: $99/local, $199/state, $250/regional which included hat and shirt, $650-750? if you made it to Cary which included a uniform. There were about 125 players that showed up for the first event in his age group, then there were 6 teams of 20-22 players at the regional event. I found out at the regional event that some states only had one tryout, so yes, "a little coin" is made along the way. But those that make it to Cary, NC say it is one of the best events, and well attended by recruiters and scouts. Note also, some players get invited to Cary, without going through the NTIS process. Their website explains it pretty well. Our experience was there might have been a handful of college scouts at the state and regional level, not many.

Thanks for all the input. The organizers for “Team Northwest” were charging $250 for the event. Even at that price there were plenty of players trying out. For anyone else who had the same question, here was our experience:

Overall my son felt he got my money’s worth. He had a lot of nervous energy performing in front of so many evaluators. He will know what to expect for the next time. The showcase started with an hour long clinic showing the players what college coaches look for in players they want to recruit. They spent a lot of time going over elements of the swing the coaches are looking at to determine hitting potential beyond high school. There were coaches from Oregon State and Oregon down to some NAIA/DIII schools. I never saw or heard exactly what schools were represented. Maybe 15 coaches overall.

The organizers did a good job keeping the players busy until it was their turn to perform. On the first day there were many hitting stations they players rotated through until it was their turn to hit. The second day was pitching and fielding where the players sat around a little more since there were fewer stations they could work on fielding and they didn’t want the pitchers to throw too much but it was better than sitting and watching the snow fall outside.

I don’t expect college recruiters to be beating down our door after this event. A couple of coaches asked my son for his name which helped his confidence. Most of the coaches appeared to be focused on the kids who were a year older and seemed to have been at these types of events before. Hopefully by next year he will be on some of the coach’s radar. We will find out in June if his performance merited a spot on the team to fly back to North Carolina.

I guess it is one of the best event..in order to made it more progressive it requires slight improvisation..

 

swim training with fins

Save your money.

DT2 - I'm a little late in this reply (just noticed the thread) but I thought I'd chime in as my son has played in Cary each of the last two years for Team Northwest and we were also at the Team Northwest NTIS tryout at OSU.

 

On the tryout first: this particular tryout was not the least expensive way a player could get considered for the Team Northwest NTIS team.  Last year there were several smaller tryouts (I think they were $100 or so, maybe $125), and for a player to be picked for the team that went to Cary he had to go (or in the case of known quantities, at least be paid and rostered for one of the tryouts) to one of the tryouts.  This is important to note: the tryouts are relatively expensive, but USA Baseball requires them, and takes a cut of each player's registration fee; this is part of how USA Baseball funds its National Team and the Development program.

 

The OSU camp was different in many ways.  First, it was a two-day camp.  Second, it was (as you pointed out) attended by ten or so college coaches as well as 3-5 pro scouts, which made it a bit of a "hybrid" between an NTIS tryout and your traditional college camp.  Third, it wasn't just a USA Baseball tryout...players were being evaluated for ALL Team Northwest showcase teams (there are several Perfect Game events Team Northwest goes to, a Can-Am Showcase, and the USA Baseball National Championships in Arizona (formerly the Junior Olympics program) in June as well as the NTIS).  There are many more opportunities in Team Northwest than just the NTIS team, and the make-up of the various teams even at a particular age level does vary (most of us do not have the resources to send our kids to ALL of these showcases, even if they get invited).

 

I agreed with your assessment of the tryout itself.  IMO, the ratio of players to evaluators was too great, especially because I wasn't sure that the college coaches and pro scouts had the same interests as the Team Northwest coaches/evaluators in assessing the kids, or how their input was considered.  It seemed to me that the people more directly involved in running and coaching Team Northwest teams needed to see each station, and for that reason the lines weren't divided as they could have been, and there was more standing around.  I think that will change as Team Northwest grows - right now it is only a little more than a year old (previous USA Baseball NTIS teams were run by Baseball Northwest).

 

Somebody above said that coaches and evaluators at events like this tend to focus on the kids they already know and have heard about, and I think that is true.  If your player hasn't previously played for one of these showcase teams and is unknown or less known to the evaluators, I think it is best to go to one of the smaller tryouts, where there are fewer players and it is easier to stand out and be noticed.

 

Still, there is a stark reality at both these camps, and at the NTIS at Cary, if you make it that far: the kids who've already played at whatever the "next level" is have a distinct advantage.  The coaches not only know them and pay more attention to them, but in most cases it is only a formality that they will be invited back.  There may only be a handful (5-10, perhaps) roster spots that are truly in competition.  Of course if your kid comes in throwing like Nolan Ryan he may displace somebody, but the advantage is still there at the outset. [Again, with this particular tryout and Team Northwest tryouts in general, this is mitigated because there are 4-5 different showcase teams per age group that you could be named to.]

 

After two trips to Cary, that would probably be the biggest reason why we may not go back again if invited.  If your goal truly is to make it onto one of the National Teams (or a Developmental program), only eight kids will get that opportunity out of the NTIS (out of some 12-15 regional teams of 16-18 players - probably 250 kids).  And once you get there, you have one day of workouts and then only three games.  Far more kids are picked at the USA Baseball National Championships (which lasts a lot longer and has more than twice as many guaranteed games), and there are more opportunities because there isn't just one team per region that can go.  To me, there is a bit of a feel of some college camps - more or a money-maker than a real opportunity.

 

Having said all that, I am really glad we went at least once.  The National Training Center is gorgeous and the fields immaculate, there are hundreds of elite players there, and a very good college and pro scouting presence.  Is it worth it to go if it is your first time?  Absolutely.  After that?  Maybe, depending on a bunch of different things.  I'd pursue an opportunity to go to the USA National Championships first before I'd go to a second or third NTIS, and frankly, the competition and exposure at any number of PG showcase events is as good or better than the USA Baseball events, so I'd probably pursue a PG event before a second or third NTIS too.

 

Anyway, I hope your son had a good time, and best of luck with making one of the teams!

Just to follow up on this topic to be helpful(I hope).  My sons coach was able to speak with one of the regional directors. My sons coach had a son that made it down to NC @ 14U and was able to communicate with him directly about this additional step that has been added this year.  It appears as if this extra step may allow more kids to participate in the proccess with a couple new locations added for these 1 day camps.  Perhaps a better crop of talent would be selected to head to the 3 days showcase in St. Louis.  If indeed colleges are in attendance at this 3 day run in conjuction with the 17U group if you kids is good enough to make it to step 2 I have no problem with it.  Like anything else, you would need to be objective about evaluating your kids potential and the kids that may show up at your respective camp and how you maight stack up against the talent in your location.  Being in the mid-west, we see a lot of these kids anyway during the summer, so why not get an idea of how they stack up.  If you can make it through to step 2 I see that as an accomplishment in and of itself.

I'd have to agree with most posters - Save your money. Unless your son is known by the coaches, it is almost impossible to stand out. 

My son went one of these a few years ago, The first stage was pretty small (probably 50 kids) and used to filter out kids for an invite to the next stage. It was a one day tryout and pretty cheap ($99?). My son made it to the second stage. The second tryout was 2 days.  The first day was skills (60, outfield and infield - They had BP, but only 10 pitches per kid). The next day was a game.There was about 50 kids, which is way too many to evaluate kids properly. One other problem - They had 12-16 year olds on the same field in the same game. Not an effective way to run an evaluation. To my point, my son got to bat only twice in the game, he was HBP and walked - both times by a 13 year old (My son was 15 at the time).  Also, my son only played in the field 3 innings. He never had a ball hit to him at 3rd - BTW - He is a catcher and was behind the plate for only one inning. Nobody got on base, so he didn't have a chance to throw anybody out.  To make a long story short, my son was not selected and I was told that he "didn't play well enough in the game".  I'm not sure how anybody could have evaluated him.

When the roster/selected kids came out for the next step, I noticed one of the catchers that was selected was one from our tryout whose father happens to be a college assistant coach and spent the entire tryout talking with the coaches who were doing the evaluations.  Funny how that happens!  Save your money!

Honestly, these NTIS things are mostly fundraising for USA... for the most part they have already identified the players on all of their teams. Sure, they may find a needle in a haystack once in a while at these tournaments,  but as long as you don't get your hopes up, and realize that you're there to play in a nice event with some hopefully good competition - and that's it - then it should be a good experience.