Camps or Showcases in Texas

I met some of the parents of the Senior kids from your High School at Area Code in Houston and you guys are stacked. We are only one year ahead so my two cents comes from reading this site and my experiences over the last two years.

First, get him on the best Summer Team you can find. These teams will get him the exposure in the Summer to get him on college/pro radars. In addition, here in the DFW area we have scout leagues in the Fall that were somewhat helpful, but unless your 2015 kid is a stud pitcher do not expect much in the way of looks. The most you will get is a check mark from scout to keep watching.

Realize that the next two Summers are what is important, so work on skills as a ballplayer. If not a pitcher number 1 is hitting because almost all coaches are looking for people that can bash the baseball. Every event we have attended focused on pitchers and bashers. Hope this helps.

Aleebaba gives great advise. Some places I would look that are not tough on the pocketbook are:

The Complete Showcase by Logan Harrington. Go next summer and you will get an honest evaluation and your son will get one on one time with a college coach.

UTSA pre-season high school evaluation camp. $50 and well worth it. Again, you will get an honest evaluation and your son will be in front of several different schools.

Good luck on your journey with your son.

Aleebaba, yes we are stacked. The only problem is we are stacked with 2014 and my son is 2015. Therefore I don't see him getting a lot of playing time until he is a senior. my concern is that might be a little late so I need to concentrate on camps and showcases around the state of Texas.

We are playing in the fall Kyle Chapman league but that's just a league and not the actual Kyle Chapman team. If we can get on that team that's a very good place to be because the director of Kyle Chapman usually gets all of his kids scholarships mostly D1.

It seems like the camps and the showcase events is the route to go. Are there any recommended services to use?

Thanks
Mike

Mike,

My son just finished playing in your district and has moved on to the next level. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat about what we learned over the past 4 years.

Being in Houston is a tremendous advantage because there are so many great recruiting opportunities. You can easily leverage HS, Summer Select, College Camps, and Showcases to your advantage.

The HS coach, summer select coaches, and the large number of college and pro scouts that work this area are the key assessors and promoters of the local talent. The recruiting services have little to no influence. The college camps and showcases can be helpful if you view them as just another way to be seen. The rankings and talent assessments they sometimes offer have little value to the people assessing your son. It is too easy for a scout to see a kid in Houston or access the extensive scouting network in the area to need the input from recruiting services or showcases.

Scouts don't spend a lot of time at varsity games. They usually showup during the first few tournament games in February and are mainly looking at pitchers.

Your son has a good coach that is well respected. His opinion will carry weight regardless if he is playing varsity.

Several of the Summer Select organizations in Houston play signifcant roles in the recruiting process. In my opinion the best organizations for recruiting are Houston Heat, Kyle Chapman, and Columbia Angels. You're from Houston and probably have your own opinions about the Banditos. The Raiders are also good. Getting on these teams is a recruiting process as well. They scout, recruit and develop players. There is a unique process for each team. Some hold open tryouts, others are by invitation only.

Junkball2, thanks for your post. Yes my son has played for the banditos for a few years. We just left them probably two years ago. I don't care all that much for Ray. My son will be trying out for the Houston Heat, the Raiders and KC. I know very little about the Columbia Angels but will look into it.

I'll PM you soon to get more info about your experience, thanks.

Mike

Junkball2 sent you a PM.

This year has been a very busy year for my 2014 grad positional player. After attending several tournaments and showcases I would say the Perfect Game events are the best for high school players even though for some the cost could be factor. You should consider a PG showcase first to have your son evaluated on his five tools. I have learned lot from this website and PG website to help me with a better understanding what coaches/scouts are looking for in a player. Make sure your son works on his arm strength and his 60 yard running time. The PG showcase will get him on the national map where his videos can be seen since coaches traveling times/budgets are limited and this will let them keep him on the radar to be seen. Regardless of your personal thoughts about travel team coaches at your son age it's all about the exposure,development and playing against the best competition. If you look at the travel team websites to see what colleges the players have been recruited to or if they are drafted this should you some idea of the success of the organization. However top travel teams have a lot of good players so make sure your son can compete because you can't be seen if you're not on the field. Baseball politics will always be thereat all levels so focus your energy on helping your son to improve his skills and game knowledge.