Best in VA Showcase or WWBA 17u & 16u Tournaments

My son was fortunate enough to go to the BIV three years. That was when they let rising Sophomores attend, now it's just rising Juniors and Seniors.

With out a doubt best bang for the buck at BIV.

What you want to ask your son is where does he want to go to school? If it's a school that scouts at BIV each year, if so, than go there.

Where does he want to go to college and play ball?

CV

3up, I think it depends on where you think, after soul searching, your son really stacks up.

The WWBA events are much higher profile, especially for pitchers but also for others. If your son is a prospect for D-1 play, that would be my recommendation. Among other things it will help PG to get a bead on him as it builds his file. But the key is to open up multiple opportunities for your son, as opposed to just the few schools in VA who'll be interested in a player at his level, whatever level that may be.

I've never been to BIV, but my understanding is that it is a big D-3 scouting venue with some in-state D-1's as well. If you think that is where your son will best fit in the future, that may be a better value.

If you don't know for sure where he'll stack up, then go to the WWBA events this summer and see how it goes. The 17u event is crawling with scouts. The 16u is not as heavily scouted, but it will give you an idea of how he might do at the 17u in 2009.

My impression is that BIV is more focused on rising seniors, so waiting until next year shouldn't hurt him at all.

3-up Your son will get plenty of looks at WWBA. If he pitches like he did last year he will be fine. Beside you and I will have more fun in Hot-lanta than in Farmville. Go Braves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If he's playing for the Braves, that tells me something about his ability level. Considering that, and the fact that he's a pitcher:

Go to East Cobb.

Concur with MIDLO Dad.

Son went as rising junior. Did well, fastest 60 in the camp...got little in the way of follow up though.

My answer best to do both!

BIV best if you know the school you want will be there. If you don't know what you want WWBA is a better bet.

Problem with WWBA is -- there alot of fish and alot of fisherman...problem is if your son's swimmin in the small ponds (not at the main East Cobb complex) with small fish (not a great team) not too many fisherman are gonna go throw their line where you are.

Most of the best fisherman are fishin the big lake at East Cobb lookin for the Big Fish. Unless they are there with a goal of seein your son and he's on their list it's not so likely they'll pick him out of a crowd.

Sorry for the fishin analogy...just couldn't pass it up!

WWBA is a great organization but one should know that the BIG boys are there. Your coach is very key. At each event, WWBA asks your coach to list the top 3-4 players to look at. Pitchers are the attraction. Players that can rake are next. Remember that everyone swings wood so standing out as a hitter is a tough. Infield arms get noticed.

Midlo's son is a very good player. Big, throws hard..quite a presence. At WWBA, you'll see a handful like him and that's what attracts the scouts. I have said many times, if you're on a team with exceptional players, that's a huge advantage at WWBA. That good player that gets overlooked has leg up if he plays with the likes of Stadler, Mayers and Roberts.

I agree with Midlo on the DIII vs. DI when it comes to BIV. Players get tons of looks from good DIII teams there. You'll see Virginia DI's there but if you're looking for Tennessee, Georgia and Auburn...go WWBA.

In conclusion, MANY very good players go to WWBA and get lost in the crowd. Why? Lots of very good players. No detraction from there abilities but it's the nature of those events. Good luck in your decision. I would simply suggest honest reflection on abilities.

Having just gone through a summer of showcases including BIV, let me offer one dad's opinion.

BIV - Not worth it. We were very excited about going there but quickly realized most of the coaches were only looking for pitchers. Our HS sent about 7 kids, several of whom were All-District position players, but the only two that garnered any attention were two pitchers that pitched 0 and 12 innings for us that spring. A couple kids got calls from private D-3 calls in PA but that was about it. Instruction was nothing more than you'd get at a good camp back home. Dorms were spartan at best. Food was good. Every kids we sent cam back saying they'd never go to school there (not sure if this was the size, dorms, or lack of girls). I will not send my younger son to this one.

My best advice - Go to camps held by schools you son may want to attend. Most of them hold camps at some point during the year. We attended ODU - 3-day stayover camp. Son enjoyed it but said he wouldn't recommend it unless you really wanted to go there. JMU - Good 2-day day only camp. Would recommend this one. GMU - OK 2-day camp. Fun games played. CNU - TPX Top 96 camp - Well run camp with lots of schools. Salisbury 3-day camp - another well run camp with lots of MD schools.

We got most of our interest from the CNU and Salisbury camps and I'd highly recommend both. Lots of phone calls from both camps. Of course they are the two D3 schools and If your son is a solid D1 prospect your results may differ.

My very long-winded way of saying - Forget the fancy camps and go to the schools your son really has an interest in.

Thanks to all for the great advice.
CVSting, we have started asking the where & what questions about colleges...with Idonno being the most popular answer.lol
Vikingdad, thanks for the compliment and nice first post.
My son is fortunate enough to be on a good team that will certainly draw some attention. He stacked up ok last year when he pitched. But after 2 weeks in our "plush" extended stay hotel, we almost drove straight thru to get home.lol
I selfishly want him to play college ball in-state so I can still get to see him play! It looks like 2 more weeks in hot-lanta for us. Thanks again 3up

Having organized a team for last summer's WWBA 17u, I did not get asked to name top players at WWBA for PG. I do recall that happening at USA Baseball's Junior Olympics, but not at PG events.

I will say that the expansion of the summer 17u WWBA event did force more and more games away from the main complex. We were fortunate to have our second game at the complex, and we picked up a following of scouts who followed us the rest of the tourney, but it is kind of luck of the draw as to whether you get 1, 2 or 3 games there. You don't get folks just dropping in when you're 20 minutes away, while that is common at the main complex.

The key at WWBA is for each player have an idea of which schools he's interested in before he goes, and then e-mail the heck out of them before going and while there to make sure they know where you're playing. You may also get seen by somebody unexpected, but for the most part you need to be your own PR agent to take maximum advantage of the opportunity presented.

For a 16u player this is less critical, this summer is more of a learning experience. For the 17's, it's the start of the home stretch leading up to November.

So I guess it's safe to say that most D1's from Virginia will be scouting both events anyway.
That is a good idea to e-mail the schools you're interested in. Not only to give them the team summer schedule, but also let them know the day/game that you get the start at each event. I didn't think of that. It should be easy to do as the Coach always lets him know ahead of time anyway.

Too many people think that if you play, the scouts will find you. Well, if you throw over 90, maybe. Otherwise, you have to get their attention and then try to hold it. Too many kids wait too long to learn this.

Make it easy for folks to find you and learn about you. Everyone likes to have their job made easier for them and college coaches/scouts are no different.

A lot of players complain about BIV being too hard, but if you want to get seen by a team that is scheduled to being in attendance, there is no better place to seal the deal. You get 5 days to let a team see what you can do. You get a ton of games, 2 showcase BP sessions and over 50 coaches over the course of the week. Although I cannot speak from personal experience on the WWBA, it really seems like unless you have some buzz around you going in or are a pitcher in the 90's, its pretty difficult to actually get seen by coaches, simply because of the volume of players at the tournament.

As a two time attendee of BIV, I would reccomend it to anyone.

Just to add, I'm pretty sure that there are two sessions of BIV.

Well stated Midlo.

tcw, you're partly right, but only partly.

It undoubtedly helps either to be the player that there is buzz about, or failing that, to be on his team. I regularly advise players to get on the very best team that will play them. Being next to the kid the scouts are coming to see means they'll see you, too -- provided you are in the lineup.

It's also a fact of life that everyone needs several pitchers in every recruiting class, so no matter what venue you're talking about, pitchers will get the big attention and position players will have to fight to get noticed.

But if you are a position player and you want to get noticed, you need to go to where the scouts are, and then play your fanny off. And you need to do what you can to get folks' attention, as noted above.

One thing about BIV and the Commonwealth Games is that the numbers of schools coming is limited and thus, your horizons are limited. If you go to WWBA events, you'll be seen by schools coast to coast.

Our HS team had an outstanding catcher in the 2007 class. He did BIV and Comm. Games and did very well at both. But as it turned out, the D-1's in state just seemed unusually loaded with catchers that year. He and 2 other talented catchers in the Richmond area ended up with D-3's in the end. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I wonder what would've happened had they spent their summer maybe letting folks in other states have a look at them, so that there would have been more opportunities.

The one good thing about BIV is that if you pay you can go. There's a lot of politics involved with Comm. Games selections, unfortunately.

I took a squad to the WWBA 17u last summer, and over the course of the week I counted 25 colleges' scouts who talked to me about one or more of our players that they'd seen. Only a handful of those 25 were from VA. The other 20 +/- were opportunities that BIV would not offer you. And that's just the ones who spoke to me; there were dozens more in the stands making their own assessments.

But most of these were D-1's, not D-3's, so again, I think a big part of the decision is, at what level do you think you really belong?

One thing is seems people forget to mention is that there is a fair amount of luck involved, especially for position players. Even more so for the guys like my son who are not 6 foot an 190 or better.

At one showcase my son had 4 PO's in the OF. 2 were fairly easy chances the others required him to show range and ability (one was a big time grab). He got noticed, if he did not get those PO chances, chances are he would not have been noticed.

I believe that the players or parents should not get too hung up on the DI,II,or III thing. If the school is the right fit than that is the most important thing. Too many parents feel their kids have got to play D-I ball, and limit their kids options.

Here in Virginia it's pretty much D-I or D-III as D-II is extinct. Some Virginia D-III teams could probably spank some D-I teams. Some States such as Maryland and North Carolina have very good Junior College baseball as well. For reasons unknown Virginia does not have Junior College baseball.

Not every kid wants to go two or three States or more away from home. Some kids that are D-I capable are perfectly happy to be playing on D-III teams in State.

It all comes down to the fit.

CV

That is true.

What amazes me is that some folks will pay private university tuition in order to keep junior in baseball at the D-3 level, when with some work they could have gone to a state university in another state (less expensive than private) and maybe gotten 25% or more help with the bills to boot. If you wanted the particular school, that's great, but so often I see kids choosing a school that is really of no interest to them beyond the opportunity to play baseball. That's not "fit", that's putting the cart before the horse.

While JuCo's and D-2's are not much in evidence in VA, there are plenty in nearby states, and some of them are likely to be closer to home than many state schools would be (depending on where you live).

Not that it changes the point, but Virginia does now have its first JUCO program. Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville is making the transition to NJCAA. This year they will play their full community college schedule within Virginia, as well as a JUCO schedule of teams mostly from North Carolina and points south. I believe next year they will be full blown members of the NJCAA, competing in a JUCO conference/region and in JUCO for any postseason as well. Time will tell if that starts a trend.

quote:

Originally posted by cvsting:
Some Virginia D-III teams could probably spank some D-I teams.

For 1 game? Sure but only a very low tier D-I.

For a 3 game series? I doubt it.

Nice post CV Sting. I agree that a kid should not get hung up with D-this or D-that. Just to find a good fit and get a degree.