30 yard and 5-10-5

I'm not sure how old your kid is, but I would think skipping events would be sending the wrong message.  This isn't the NFL Combine.

Having said that, it is surprising they are having those drills, as those are not stats that are typically posted.  Is this a showcase, or is PBR doing a Scout Day for your son's travel team?

Why go at all?

Thanks CT.  It’s an open scout day.  PBR is relatively new and growing where we are.  My son is only 14 but we were told the event can lead to an invite to the PBR Junior Futures Games.   His last official 60 time was a 7.2 and the weather was terrible that day.   He’ll be working to get that to a sub 7 as his start is where he needs improvement so that’s where my concern regarding the 30 is.   

If he’s more quick than fast the shuttle is designed to show quickness, athleticism and change of direction. 

14 Yo class of 2023...is that 8th grade?  Just worry about getting better and having your son enjoy the experience. 

PBR Futures is a long way off and a showcase at his age won't mean anything.  TBH, I'd save my money and not go.  My son was invited 2 weeks before the Future Games, not 2 years.

So is the “Juniors” Future Games a waste of time?  I was told for 14u it’s PBR’s equivalent to Perfect Game’s WWBA.  

I'm very cynical when it comes to large showcase events, so please keep that in mind. 

PBR Futures is a very good event, if you're a top notch/P5 prospect.  We enjoyed the event, but my son was a late bloomer, so he wasn't going to impress the P5 schools at that time.  But I would not call it a waste of time, as he gained valuable experience, such as performing along side very good players and in front of coaches pointing radar guns at him.

So, based on that success, PBR naturally created a Junior Futures, for obvious reasons.  I'm sure it's bringing in more money, interest, exposure, etc.  And they have the sub-showcases, like your Scout Day as an entry point.

If your son is a stud, who has a chance at a very early commitment (there's pros/cons to that), then maybe it's worth going.  Or, maybe you want him to go, for the experience, which is understandable and why we went. 

Hope that helps determine if you think it's a waste of time.  All depends on what you're hoping to get out of it.

4arms posted:

So is the “Juniors” Future Games a waste of time?  I was told for 14u it’s PBR’s equivalent to Perfect Game’s WWBA.  

My son played in  the junior futures tourney.  Other than getting to play some decent competition and getting the pbr profile....that was about it.  He had fun and grand park is a nice facility.

4arms posted:

So is the “Juniors” Future Games a waste of time?  I was told for 14u it’s PBR’s equivalent to Perfect Game’s WWBA.  

Good competition is never a waste of time.  You'll have to assess if good competition, I have no clue on PBR.  There could be better places to spend your money.  Hard to give advice on that.

My son has never done a showcase.  Only one local D1 camp for $100 when he was a freshman.

My guess is that the facility is not large enough to accommodate a 60, which is not uncommon.  My advice would be to go and do the work required to get confident in the 30 and shuttle (a session with a good trainer will really help the shuttle time).  At least in our state, the PBR Futures roster was heavily skewed to kids that they had seen early in the process.

I would say that your son is an 8th grader and unless he is in the top 50 or so players in the country (you would know already), exposure is not something you need to worry about right now. 

Futures event is good, but not equivalent to WWBA. One is a tournament with 400 teams, the other is an invite only showcase. 

Personally, I would not pay for any sort of exposure until others identified my son as a prospect. I'm not saying the event will be useless, but if your son is that good have him join a highly reputable travel team and play with them at the 15u WWBA this summer. He will get attention there if his game holds up. 

Some good advice already.

Seems like yesterday and I was asking and worrying about the same things. My son was not on anyone's radar at 14 and he is now on spring roster of P5 program as a frosh RHP. When he was 14, he was the worst pitcher on the team statistically.

If I could go back in time, I would probably still have sent him to the same events with the exception of 1 or 2, because he had fun doing them. However, I can assure you that your son will not do any damage to his future opportunities because he runs a slow 30 or 5-10-5 as an 8th grader. Enjoy and let him enjoy competing and continue to put in the time/effort to get better. You will both enjoy looking back at his early results and seeing how much progress he made when all is said and done.

4Arms: Your son is still young. If speed is one of his tools that could play in HS (or college) it doesn't hurt to have the different speed yardsticks. My son's speed plays best with his home-to-first time, and it wasn't until his jr year of HS where we first requested Baseball Factory to time him at a Showcase. HTF was part of a subsequent showcase the next summer which confirmed the initial time. Son was at a PG indoor event where the facility was too small to host a 60 yd dash, so the players ran a 40 yd--like the football guys. Chock this up as an experience if it isn't too costly. Saber metrics is sooo big now in recruiting, more than when my 2015 graduated. Getting times early can help figure out where his weaknesses are and what needs work. For my son it wasn't so much his speed but arm-strength..was among bottom three or four in first showcase. Today his arm is one of the stronger SS arm in league. Have fun and enjoy the ride!