Again, we're talking apples and oranges to a certain extent. But maybe I have presumed too much in terms of the extent to which we've gotten out the message of what our team does for players. So, throwing caution to the winds, here goes.
As to teaching and instruction, I don't know of any team in Virginia at any level that offers access to a guy with Rich Graham's resume other than the Cardinals. There are many instances of individual sessions and small group sessions during our season cycle. I would suggest people who are interested check out Rich's resume on the RBA South web site and see for themselves if anyone else running any team anywhere else measures up. If this is how you will choose your 17u team I feel confident how any unbiased investigation will turn out.
As to regular, full-team practices, that is going to be a function of how local-centric the team is. Practices are not really a common characteristic of 16u-17u exposure teams. Team practices are more common for developmental teams at 15u and younger. For the most part, exposure teams are intended for players who have already developed their skills and who are also dedicated enough to work on their own and then join together for the team's games. I would respectfully submit that if you are a 17u guy and you are trying to play catch-up during the summer preceding your senior year, you have some tough sledding ahead of you. If that's what you're looking for, that's your decision. It's not a path I would recommend, though.
Generally, if you join a team like, say, the Canes, it's generally to get yourself onto a squad that has a bunch of scout magnets so that you can get yourself seen as well. The Canes are from all over several states, so the notion that they would just get together on Wed. nights to practice is not workable. RBA West, on the other hand, draws its roster either exclusively or almost exclusively from the Richmond area, and that makes practicing possible. The Cardinals have a mission statement that requires you to be a Virginia resident, but while we who run the team live in the Richmond area and we draw more from that area than from anywhere else, we have had numerous players from outside our area as well. Currently we have 2 from NoVa, 3 from the Beach area, and guys from places like Amelia, Dinwiddie, etc. We have also had players from Culpeper, Spotsylvania, Charlottesville, etc.
As to costs, I know RBA West Elite has joined the Cardinals in charging no player participation fees. However, RBA West's other teams do charge fees. RBA West does charge a fee to try out, while the Cardinals do not. The Cardinals also provide hotel rooms at no charge, and we coordinate options for free transportation as well. I do not know if those are included in what the RBA West Elite team offers. All in all, RBA West might come close to meeting what we offer on costs, but it's impossible to beat us. When we say "free" we mean "free."
As to contacts/recruiting, I guess the proof is in the pudding. We had nine 2011's on our roster last year and as of right now all nine are heading off to colleges where roster spots are awaiting them. That spanned all levels from Division I (4) to Division III (2) to Junior Colleges (2) to NAIA (1). Those figures do not include additional offers that were secured but declined, since some of our players had as many as four firm offers to weigh before choosing. We have 14 2012's on our roster and as of this writing 7 have Division I deals done. We are working very hard to keep our 100% placement record intact and believe we will do so.
I also do not know of any other program that offers guidance through the recruiting process to the extent the Cardinals do. The truth is that what you do on the field is the largest determinant your recruiting outcome, but it is far from the only factor. You have to consider academic level, prospective majors, family finances, and the handling of scholarship negotiations. If anyone else does what we do in these areas, I am not aware of it.
And oh, yeah, we win a lot. 75% of the time this summer. Taking just the PG/WWBA 17u week in East Cobb as a guide, we led that event in shutouts, we run-ruled four opponents, and we were the only Virginia-based team to win a playoff game there.
I'm not here to denigrate any other program. Given the success records of the Canes, Braves and now the RBA West Elite teams, we have an embarrassment of riches for the player looking for the right match. But I think we stack up pretty well. As noted above, we are not the right fit for every single player. And, we're only one team, so we cannot accommodate everyone. But we're pretty proud of what we've accomplished, given that we've only been around for 14 months now.