Just for the record there are many players getting recruited at these tournaments. Players that were unknown before they got here. Not everyone that shows up gets recruited. It is nearly impossible to play in these events and go unnoticed. People would have to be behind the scene to know how this works.
BTW, also for the record, we do not sell teams to play in these tournaments. Tjere is no sales pitch! They come to us! Mostly the same teams every year and many of the top organizations in the country. There were nearly 200 teams that we turned down for the 17U championship. We simply didn't have room for them.
It seems odd that the same folks bitching about the parking and turf and other things are now bitching about all those supposed bad players being taken advantage of. Is there anything good about any of this? What's next? have all the negative points been covered yet. I fully understand that we are not Perfect! We actually make some mistakes! But it is very obvious that for some reason there are a few people here looking for every possible thing to make into an issue.
BTW, maybe it is true that the top 2% don't need PG events. However the facts show that nearly all of them have. It's all documented for anyone interested in the truth. Most recently, the MLB All Star game included 75% who played in PG events. Check the top college rosters and search to see how many played PG events. Check the draft every year, starting with the 1st round and see how many attended these events. There's a reason all those recruiters and scouts show up. It's because of a history of results.
I've read through this whole thread, sometimes laughing and sometime shaking my head. My son would love to play at LP or in any PG event for that matter. Will it ever happen? Who knows. It costs a lot to get there from our side of the country. I am sure there are quite a few kids from our neck of the woods that get to play there, but I cannot name any that we know personally. He's hoping to get on the local recruiting organization's radar. Get some invites to local tournaments and possibly a chance to play at a PG event down the road. It's all based on the player evaluation camp he participated in a couple weeks ago. I'm sure we could "pay to play" with another team. He gets those invites on a weekly basis in his email. However, I'm not ready to go down that road yet.
I am laughing at some of the turf comments. Several of the high schools in our area only have turf fields. Without those fields, many of our Spring games would never get played. My son has grown up playing on turf and has owned turf shoes for many years. He wears them several times each season. Our local mid-level D1 even has a turf field. It is the only practical surface.
As for entry fees, we charge them for our two high school level tournaments each summer. Thanks to those entry fees, our kids get to go the American Legion state tournament this year. They just won their league. It's the first baseball league championship for the high school team in 10 years. They are proud of themselves and excited to play for a state title. It may just be Legion ball, but it's what we have available.