My son went to the 14u PG national 2 years ago. I honestly regretted it as he really didn't have the metrics to get noticed at that time. That was our first showcase experience. My son has been asking about going to a showcase for months bec a lot of the kids he plays with has been going to showcases since 12u or 13u. I told him that I'll take him to 1 small showcase by summer of 14u so that he can have a taste/experience as I think 15u is the time to start looking at showcases seriously. We asked his travel coach what local showcase to take him to. Next thing I know, I got an email from his coach letting us know that he got my son invited to PG National at Ft Myers. I didn't feel like I can say no at that point, and I don't want to communicate to my son that he doesn't deserve to participate in that kind of event. I think that experience opened the eyes of my son and we didn't go to another PG showcase till last month (local event this time) where he has metrics actually worth showing. Since that was his first showcase, he also didn't know about the showcase "tips and tricks" - things that you will not do in an actual game but would help your numbers in a showcase environment.
Another mistake we did was going to a PBR showcase in Jan when it was freezing cold and was not at his top shape yet. Everyone that attended did horrible. I don't understand why orgs would hold showcase in the middle of winter.
This is not to say that showcases are of no value at all. The college that is interested in him right now looked at PBR and PG profile first and circled catchers they are interested in based on their numbers/metrics. They then went to watch them play in the summer.
So here're my lessons learned:
- Don't go to PBR and PG showcase until you have numbers to actually show. If you don't know if your son have numbers to show, go to cheap non-PG/PBR events first where the numbers won't be posted to their PG/PBR profile (why? see second bullet below). Then compare it to the publicly posted numbers coming out of the PBR/PG showcases to see how your son compares.
- Once you go to your first PBR/PG showcase, it can be gateway drug as your kid will want to keep going to more and more showcases to chase better numbers now that the numbers are in their public profile.
- Unless your boys are elite, for 90% of the HS players out there, a local PG/PBR event is good enough. Your numbers/metrics are going to be the same whether they attend a showcase locally or in FL. The scouts and college coaches are going to want to see you play anyway. Get a good metric/number in a local showcase and the scouts will then watch you play during summer.
- If you are elite, you will probably get invited to the showcases for free as this is one of the ways these organizations market the showcase. They prey on the feeling of FOMO.
- There are ways to game the numbers by doing things you won't do in a game. I've since learned to not be as impressed with a kid's metrics in showcases until I see them in a game. Just bec a kid has good showcase numbers doesn't mean they are a good baseball player. Sometimes, the metrics aren't even "real" (i.e. kids squeezing more velo by throwing wildly or lower pop times by getting setup ready to throw already while receiving). I do think there are certain metrics that can't be gamed like exit velo (except you have to look at whether they are using wood or metal, or hitting off a tee).