hopefulmom posted:My son attended this particular showcase in our area. The only reason he went was because he was already speaking to a RC that was going to be there and they hadn't seem him yet aside from video. I do think it was a money grab though. They were supposed to get one on one feedback from the coaches running the showcase, however, in my son's case, he was a pitcher and they had coaches trade off when they were watching the bullpen. So only one coach actually watched my son. I ended up sending an email to the director later to ask how is the information shared? If only one coach witnessed my son throw a bullpen, how did the other coaches know how well he did or didn't perform? The response was they share the information after the camp and IF there was something they were impressed by, they would reach out to the prospect within days. The only email my son got was in response to one that my son had sent to the RC that was in attendance to tell him it was good seeing him. But the interesting thing was - within about a month after the showcase, my son and I both got an email saying that based on the coaches review and his performance at said showcase, he had been invited to the National Showcase in Virginia (I think). So basically, he didn't have any coaches there that were interested enough to reach out personally to him, however they thought he had what it took to be invited to National Showcase? Red flag. But this was just our experience in the Midwest.
Happens all the time. Where do you think the showcases get their mailer lists? Largely from school camps and other showcases. A player is tagged to have attended "event A". Mass invites are sent. "We saw you at "event A" and liked what we saw. We would like to invite you to "event B" for another look and an opportunity to ..." blah, blah, blah. That's also why so many get this note even when they ended up not attending "event A". But how did they see me when I wasn't there? ... is a question asked here several times over.
You did it the right way. It us usually only worth while when there is some specific dialog with HC or RC from a school prior to an event. Even then, sometimes the coaches are still looking out for their assistants and trying to fill the events, so will encourage attendance.