quote:Do you think a Canadian RHP throwing 88 mph at the end of his Jr summer, would receive much attention in todays world, without participating with a travel program or doing a showcase, would garner much attention by just sending in a video? I'm saying somebody in the 90th percentile - not the 95th.
Yes he could but I think the travel team and showcases would add credibility to the pitcher. For example mu son pitched against the SR Brantford Red Sox at 17 yo and struck 5 out in 2 innings ! Coaches on the teams knew the batters who were former college players. BB is a small world !
Some colleges mostly Florida JCs wanted him to come and workout for them ! For example Pensacola which had 2 Canadians on the team. They were his star players. I had a news clip of my son beating their team which was the London District All star team. The coach I believe his last name was Martin called and wanted us to workout for him. Many coaches will not make offers off videos but many will if you show them what you can do/ Just throwing 88 is not enough as almost all teams have several throwing harder. You need hooks to make you stand out. My son's college team had 4 guys throwing in the 90s and still does.
All of our videos were taken at 17yo and my son was only throwing 82-83 ! Our goal was to get his college paid for through academic and BB money ! We didn't care about how prominent the team was which would have probably made it harder to reach our goal ! We cared more about who they played. Playing top teams was very exciting to my son ! If he didn't get what he wanted , he would have stayed home.
We used DVD instead of net because it was a physical reminder for the coach to look at it. We made it so the coach had a quick access to what he needed to see ! Lots of game action edited to get rid of wasted footage ! We had response from all but a couple schools !
Playing in showcases didn't really help some of son's friends anymore than my son ! Yes most of them played US college ball but not worth the extra money to us ! One was hitting 90 and was very good. He paid a fortune and ended up at a D1 in Arkansas and now sells cars while playing on a COBA SR team ! He also needed a realease to play COBA as my son did to play COBA. Both got releases. Releases are only needed of course if you are playing under the OBA umbrella ! You also have to realize that the team you want to move to may not want you to move as well as the team you leave ! If you get a spot you in fact are taking a spot that a resident is losing ! It is a two way street and you nwou;d not like it if an import took your spot away.
HS also has similar rules. Our HS was a magnet for top Basketball players. Lots of players wanted to play at son's HS but were blocked by a jurisdiction rule. Some even sold there homews to move into the jurisdiction ! The HS was a AA school that played AAAA against the best teams in Ontario like East Commerce . The rules were the same as BB ! OBA did not invent the rules but adopted them !