Well, we got back last night from the showcase. I write this to provide others with some understanding of our experience, and not to be pro or anti PG. In addition, our experience will most likely be a lot different than others, as my son is a 2014 catcher on an academic team. Players on other teams at the facility may have had a much different experience.
The day before the showcase we arrived, and PG had pre-registration, and a recruiting seminar at a local hotel. Since my son is still in school we did not arrive until late Friday night, and we were not able to attend.
Registration started at 8, and upon arriving at the Boston Red Sox Spring Complex everyone was informed what team they were on, and given a jersey color based on that team. Both the PG Academic and Sunshine East teams were at same location, but they did not ultimately play each other. All drills were videotaped, and the boys started by doing 60s. They were given plenty of time to warm up. After this was done the outfielder fielding-throwing drills took place, with catchers fielding their throws. Each outfielder would field a grounder or pop up and throw to home or 3rd. Thereafter catchers did pop time drills, with each catcher getting 5 throws.
After that our boys were given a break and told to come back at a certain time a few hours later for hitting. This is where we messed up. We thought there would be some warmup area to get ready for hitting before videotaping started, but we were wrong. In fact, they started early. My son arrived 30 minutes early, (after eating lunch and resting), only to be told that he was now up to hit. I'm not sure how many videotaped swings he got, but I think about 5. He -- and the rest of our team -- were clearly not ready as they had no warmup. I think it was a disservice to the boys and that someone at PG should have explained it better, but it is what it is.
After hitting each of the academic teams were pitted against each other on one of the fields in same vicinity as the other academic teams. Each game was 10 innings, with around 18 kids on each team. Each position player was in the field half the game, and the whole lineup batted as well, (so it was about an hour between at bats). Again, the kids still had not done any warmup hitting prior to the game. Each team had a PG representative that helped with logistics, but I'm not sure you could call him a coach. During the game there were anywhere from 1 to 10 coaches from the top academic schools in the country watching our game at any given time, and they would go from field to field being replaced by coaches from other great academic schools. There also are young men from PG watching the games, I assume giving their evaluation of the talent. I have no idea what capabilities they have, but they are young.
As for game play, if you have never been to one of these it is hard to explain the difference between this and a regular game. The boys know that the game does not mean anything, and although we as parents explain to them to pretend like it is a playoff game, its not. There is just not the same passion, and exuberance. The boys want to do well, but the adrenaline if not flowing the same. And given that it is an hour between at bats, it is harder to get into a sync.
The next day there is another game similar to the first against good teams. The boys were told to meet about an hour before the game by the PG representative. The boys were not told where to meet, and it was a huge complex. The PG rep. was not there at the designated time, (or at least could not be found), and we noticed as we walked in that some people were using the Red Sox hitting cages, (unlike the day before). I just told all the boys on our team that since you were not told where to meet, they all should to go over there and hit and hopefully the PG rep. would find them. They did, and it helped in the 2nd game. This game was essentially the same as the first. When game was over we left the facility, drove to the beach, had lunch, then got on a plane to come back to Dallas.
All in all I do not know whether we would do it again if we had to do it all over again. It is obviously not the same as a 3-day Stanford or Headfirst camp, but PG never described it as such. PG's clear goal is to evaluate as many players as possible at these camps, and it was our goal to get son on a few people's radar early in the Summer. I do not know if my son hurt or helped himself, but there are other days ahead. I talked to a few parents and we all had the same reaction. We wondered how the limited at bats and plays could accurately depict a kids ability, one way or the other. You can see how fast he runs, how hard he throws, his basic swing mechanics, his position skills, (or receiving skills as a catcher), but beyond that I'm not sure what else you can get from such a camp like this, and whether we should have just done this locally. We will see if it matters in the Fall.