Consultant posted:During my 17 years operating the Area Code games and Area Code tryouts, I attended every tryout from California to East Coast. We average 80-100 HS players each tryout [all selected by pro scouts]. Players paid $0. All tryouts and games on one field.
We averaged 60 college coaches at each tryout.
Bob
Bob is right on target. Area Code games are held in higher regard because you cant buy your way in. It takes an MLB scout reference to even get invited to an Area Code tryout. If you are fortunate enough to make one of the teams you play for a week in Long Beach in front of MLB scouts and college coaches. Pay for play events organized by Perfect Game, Under Armour, etc, attract good players for sure but not ALL of them are good. What a lot of parents don't understand about PG & UA events is that when coaches and scouts show up, they are there to see a few specific players that are already on their "list". It is against all odds that any player will be discovered and recruited because they attend WWBA (just as an example). A good PG ranking is a nice thing to have but that alone will not get anybody recruited or drafted. The way to get your son recruited is to have him endorsed by someone with "baseball cred" that has connections. That could be an MLB scout, a HS coach, a travel ball coach, an individual instructor, etc. The challenge is filtering through all the BS to determine the difference between who is telling you the truth and who is trying to grab your money (HINT : most are after your money). Once you figure that out you can develop your own roadmap. It is different for everybody.