Baseball Factory / Under Armour

If he has a target school list, this is an opportunity to reach out to those schools and ask if they will be present.  If there is a school list posted for the event, you could ask specifically who (RC, HC, assistant to the asst equip. mgr., other) will attend and if there is a chance to meet up.  It is both a good excuse for communication and a chance for a look and a discussion if such a school will be in attendance.

This.

+1

I had to giggle...

my older son who was one of the managers on the baseball team (did not play) got an invitation several years ago.

For the most part its just a money grab, they kinda look for talent at first but in the end the families with enough cash to travel to the next event are the kids that make it. The really, really, good kids with no money don't advance.

To me this is a catch 22.  Yes this is about grabbing money but any event that showcases talent is about making money.  It's a business - if they don't make money they don't get to keep continuing.  The flip side is you're getting seen by the people you want seen by (assuming it's not the assistant to the assistant equipment manager LOL).  Anytime you are in front of the right people that's what you want.

So what do you do?  I think you have to weigh these questions

1.  Who will be there exactly?  Do your homework and call around to find out if someone important will be there or the asst. to the asst. equipment manager will.

2.  Can you afford it?  If this breaks the bank to get there then that basically means you're putting all your eggs in one basket.  If it costs a ton of money then it's not worth it.  You can take that same amount and spread it over to other showcases or camps of the schools you WANT to attend.

3.  Are you being realistic with your goals?  If you're D2 material and the only people who will be there are D1 then there's probably no need to go.  Flip side works here too.  If you're D1 and only people there are D3 and NAIA schools then no need to go.  This is a pretty rare situation because usually the spectrum of colleges will be there but this also ties back into number one - do your research.  Know who's there and how good you are.

In this case I've rarely heard anything good from Baseball Factory but if the right people are there, it's close to your house and it's only $99 it's not that big of a risk to go.  Now you said your son has already been offered by a D1 and have been seen by most, if not all these schools.  Now you got to start weighing the possibilities.  If he has a great showcase here then it's going to make the interest in him stronger.  Probably lead to more offers.  But if he has a bad day will it truly hurt him or have they seen him enough to know this is just a bad day - not typical of how he performs.  Honestly, at $99 if he wakes up that morning not feeling it then he can bail on the day and you've not that much money.  

But at the end of the day these are your decisions to make because only you know what type of situation you're in.

Ok after re-reading this - I didn't offer one bit of advice to Buckeye.  I think it's going to be a rambling day.  

So this is the second or third thread on which I read things dissing Baseball Factory.  I had naively assumed that they were sort of the equivalent to, but a competitor of Perfect Game. Can I assume they don't have the same high reputation as PG?  Sounds like it.  But I am not sure.

All of these companies are in business to make money, but it is a huge disservice to even mention PG in the same sentence with BF. BF is nothing like PG, all you have to do is search on Baseball Factory and/or Under Armour and you can form your own opinion, but there should be no doubt about where these two organizations fit in the baseball universe. 

I can sum things up for you like this... I have no issue spending the $600+ for my son to attend a PG Showcase this year, but am struggling with spending the $99 for the BF one.  Does that answer the question?

BF has held showcases at my sons highschool the last couple of years, only one or two of our highschool players attended. My son was not one of them. Thats my answer.