College Summer Leagues

The two leagues that come to mind right away are DABA, which plays all its games in the Dallas area and the Texas Collegiate League, which has teams in McKinney, Coppell and Tyler. That is a traveling league though, that has teams in Southeast Texas and Louisiana.

DABA is a great league. wood bat, with 25-30 games, in a 2 month period.

Does your son's JUCO place players? Most summer collegiate teams are already filling rosters pretty quickly, now is the time!

GED10DaD

Anybody heard of the Texas Showcase League? Apparently they added a collegiate league in 2011.

TSL: stay away.

DABA is more what you're looking for.

Thanks for the comments. Son's JUCO some players but seem to concentrate on 2nd year players. Just curious jmartin why you say that about TSL? If you feel more comfortable speaking privately PM me. Thanks again.

DABA: Great league for the college kid that doesn't want to play everyday and might need to work or go to summer school. Cost Around $600 per player

TCL: Great League for the player that didn't get to play a lot and needs innings. Cost $0

TSL: Saw 3 games this summer and it was not good. Cost around $1000 per player

Son is a Freshman on bb scholly at a D1 school in the Southeast. Coaches asked them their choices for summer locations recently and he said TX (stay at home for the summer) or the Coastal Plains League in the Carolinas. The TCL looks to be the way to go but I'll do some more research. I would like to hear about specific teams/coaches, etc...if anyone has first hand experience. You can also send me a PM if you want to take the conversation off line. Thanks

DABA is an overrated league to say the least. The only people who say that league is good are the people from DABA. DABA will have a lot more JUCO guys compared to the TCL. I do agree that it is much more flexible if there is a kid who can't be at all the games. In the TCL there are more d1 guys, some didn't play at all and there are some who were all conference players. So to assume that all players from the TCL didn't play or start is an ignorant statement. GET SOME FACTS AND COME BACK AND SEE ME! GET SOME FACTS AND COME BACK AND SEE ME!

Eagle Dad- See Newscouts post, except the TCL comment.

J Martin i saw the previous post. So I commented on how he was wrong. As a father I watched my son play in both leagues, I know from watching not from hearing like you people.

eagle- non of the college leagues are any good -as far as top players from colleges all over the country playing in them and the leagues being scouted heavily by pro guys..... you actually (oddly enough) have to leave Texas for that...

Those three college leagues are what they are... TCL is prob most like a big time quality league with tavel, players from a wide range of places, etc.. but even that is fading...

everything is relative...

J Martin I understand what your saying as far as the league is fading, but the league is only fading in north Texas. The league started in north Texas and there is only one north Texas team still around ( copperheads ). However the league is averaging over 700 to over a thousand at some other locations in the league. So yes it is fading in north Texas but if they can get three or four more teams that can average the same attendance as the other teams then they will be fine. Have you been at all 6 locations, do you know the president of the league? Who is the president of the league? These are things I doubt you even know but just ask some parent, because it sounds like that's all you do.

half my family are Aggies, so with that said, -you know that all Aggies know Uri- if you enjoy sports in the brazos valley area of Tx.

Take it for what it is worth on insight into collegiate leagues...

It's unfortunate, but sounds like from the discussion so far I should probably encourage my son to stay back east and play in The Coastal Plains League.

DD-
Call me at 2145511979. I can help.
shayne

Is the TCL still a strong organization? It seems a shell of its former self... Just curious.

GED10DaD

Just ask j martin he obviously knows everything. Gig EM!

quote:

Just ask j martin he obviously knows everything. Gig EM!

As do you

Thought I'd let the dust settle between EagleDad and Jmartin before I treaded back in. Given that the following is a true statement from a GM of one of the more prestigious college summer leagues, are there any other options for JUCO players?

"The NCAA hasn't helped JUCO's any-if a summer team has a D I or D II coach on their staff, the team cannot sign a JUCO-the fear was coaches used the summer to recruit players on the summer team. Did that happen? Sure, but not very often...but the NCAA as you will learn, is not a friend to athletes, and many rules just make no sense."

quote:

Originally posted by Outfielder: the following is a true statement from a GM of one of the more prestigious college summer leagues... the NCAA hasn't helped JUCO's any-if a summer team has a DI or DII coach on their staff, the team cannot sign a JUCO-the fear was coaches used the summer to recruit players on the summer team...

Keith - Jay's an awesome resource, I was hoping he could help. I hope Jordan gets an option soon.

GED10DaD

The TCL is not quite what it was a few years ago. It's a shame. It would be great to have a legitimate viable option for a collegiate league in the Southwest.

From firsthand experience, the TCL 'franchise fee' was ridiculously expensive. We researched this option 2 years ago. From the business standpoint, it would be hard to break even. Hats off to the teams down south that are making it work.

First of all, I know a little bit about summer league baseball...........with that being said, the best thing the TCL did was to move out of North Texas (with the exception of Coppell). The league is thriving outside of North Texas, and is looking to expand. It will never be in the same category as the Northwoods League or the Cape Cod League, but it's known for giving younger players from Texas and LA a good place to play ball.

quote:

Originally posted by 316sports:
The league is thriving outside of North Texas, and is looking to expand. It will never be in the same category as the Northwoods League or the Cape Cod League, but it's known for giving younger players from Texas and LA a good place to play ball.

Thanks 316Sports. Before my son was placed in August, I tried to do a little research on the TCL. It looked like the programs south were working and the DFW teams were not.

I appreciate the information and enjoy reading the college summer ball website.

GED10DaD

316, or anyone else, son who played DABA this summer is talking about staying up in OK next summer to play in a Tulsa league. Anyone have any info on the Tulsa league?

Based on first hand experience, it is true that the Central/South TX/LA teams in the TCL are doing better attendance-wise/financially. It helps when you are in a town where there is not much else to do on a summer evening, and you have a location where cold beer can be served. So if the bottom line is the bottom line, the Central/SE teams are in a better place.

But if winning championships, playing quality baseball, giving kids a taste of what slogging it out in the minors is like and sending alumni off to professional baseball is your bottom line, the North Texas groups had it figured out. In the eight seasons of the TCL, a North Texas team won it all seven times. The Coppell and McKinney franchises alone saw over 130 alumni get the chance to chase their dream in professional baseball. Nine Coppell alumni were on MLB 25 man rosters this past season.

It has been a tough go keeping it alive in this area, mostly because of all of the other baseball entertainment options in the area. Also, a large segment of the North Texas baseball attending public is engaged in their own summer baseball at the youth amatuer level. A few folks have worked tirelessly to keep it alive here, including running two teams at once. That same group is still working hard to find viable solutions to keep it alive in this area.