Fall Ball vs College Showcase/Camps

I would do both if you can swing it.

2013 Parent,

Great question. Only you know your situation, but I can tell you what we did and our thought process.

We found more success with attending specific Fall camps that were interested in son than playing Fall travel baseball. As a matter of fact, son decided against playing Fall travel baseball altogether to pursue these specific opportunities. The decision to not play travel baseball was a very difficult one, as his travel team is nationally recognized. Son was getting offers in the Summer (while playing travel baseball) but the offers were not for the schools that fit him best. We did not have enough time or money to do both. There is little doubt in mind that this was one of the hardest decisions son had to make, but he made the right decision for him.

As a matter of luck, he received an offer & verbally committed to the first camp on his late Summer/early Fall schedule. They wanted him, and he wanted them. It has worked out extremely well.

Fenway is much more the authority than me but for what its worth I agree with him completely. Summer Travel was good for exposure but fall is crunch time for your guy to pick the schools he thinks he can do well in academically and socially, and then to hone that list down to schools with a baseball program that he will find attractive.

Besides the camps you will want to be going on campus tours and making sure his grades are kept up.

A fall travel team may put too much on his back in combination with that.

We are in a similar situation. My son has not played on a high profile team, just the local senior legion. They are putting together a team for the fall also.

My son has been asked to attend at least 8 different college camps. Some are personal invitations and some are "Dear Prospect" types where they may just want our money.

We are going to headfirst this weekend and then a Demarini Top96 in Mid August. After that we plan on going to the college camps that are a good fit and also show him some love, hopefully there are some that fit both.

BTW, the camps range from $100 for a one day camp to $575 for a weekend camp. Yikes!!

quote:

Originally posted by fenwaysouth:
2013 Parent,

Great question. Only you know your situation, but I can tell you what we did and our thought process.

We found more success with attending specific Fall camps that were interested in son than playing Fall travel baseball. As a matter of fact, son decided against playing Fall travel baseball altogether to pursue these specific opportunities. The decision to not play travel baseball was a very difficult one, as his travel team is nationally recognized. Son was getting offers in the Summer (while playing travel baseball) but the offers were not for the schools that fit him best. We did not have enough time or money to do both. There is little doubt in mind that this was one of the hardest decisions son had to make, but he made the right decision for him.

As a matter of luck, he received an offer & verbally committed to the first camp on his late Summer/early Fall schedule. They wanted him, and he wanted them. It has worked out extremely well.

Fenwaysouth, you have a PM.

Don't forget that you will have some official visits to attend while getting your application materials together. My son went on four official visits that fall. Each really kills a weekend. I recommend against fall ball for seniors. Get your college application going. Start on that essay, take the SAT one more time and go on official visits plus a couple of college camps. The pressure gets intense during the fall of senior year. Try your best to mitigate that for your son by not piling too much on the plate. JMHO!

Wow! I signed on to pose this very question as well!

Our 2013rhp attended one showcase earlier in July and is scheduled to attend another, perhaps more selective, later this month. He has received some interest as a result of the first showcase, but most are invites to individual school camps. He has also regularly e-mailed several coaches, as well as met a few during school visits. I thought doing the 2 showcases would be a good start, but now I think we will have to invest in some of the individual camps. Two questions come to mind though. 1. If he were to go to camp x, would coaches y and z (who may very well be instructing at camp x) feel he was not as interested in their programs? 2. Are offers made without one attending the school's camp or is it expected you would attend a camp of the school you are interested in?

Hope this all makes sense. At times this process is totally overwhelming!! It's definitely a roller coaster ride, but I'm double buckled and trying to enjoy every up and down, twist and turn, and hoping we come to a mutually agreeable stop at some point!

Thanks for listening!

quote:

1. If he were to go to camp x, would coaches y and z (who may very well be instructing at camp x) feel he was not as interested in their programs? 2. Are offers made without one attending the school's camp or is it expected you would attend a camp of the school you are interested in?

massbaseballmom,

1. I wouldn't look at it that way. It is an opportunity for your son to be seen by these coaches again. Your son can follow-up with any and all schools to tell them he is interested. I guarantee those coaches are looking at recruits other than your son. Your son's best chances are to be seen by as many coaches as possible.

2. Sure offers are made without attending a camp. However, at this stage in the recruiting timeline you can increase your chances by attending a recruiting camp. Many recruits have been seen at large showcases. Coaches have invited rectruits to get another look at them or to get the entire coaching staff to look at them in recruiting camps.

Good luck.

Fenway,

Thanks so much for your input. It makes perfect sense when you put it that way! Sometimes it's hard to see the forest through the trees, especially when we're in the middle of it. That's what is so great about this site. I know I can ask questions and get different perspectives.

MBM

Great timing for all the 2013s on this board!

Thanks Fenway, good point about how this gives the 'entire coaching staff' a chance to see the recruits.

quote:

Originally posted by BK35:
We are going to headfirst this weekend and then a Demarini Top96 in Mid August. After that we plan on going to the college camps that are a good fit and also show him some love, hopefully there are some that fit both. BTW, the camps range from $100 for a one day camp to $575 for a weekend camp. Yikes!!

You hit the nail on the head. Costs can mount so be sure not to waste your money where your chances of success are virtually nil.

As you might see in other posts I've made, I am not a big fan of the Showcase circuit, or should I say circus?

To me, the only sure beneficiaries of a showcase is a player who is a very talented pitcher or a lights out hitter who does not yet appear to be on anyone's radar for whom they want to be on.

Everyone else will just get lost in the background, not get noticed, and will have wasted the money spent on the Showcase, including the travel costs and most importantly the time.

If you have the itch for a Showcase and you are not in the category described, then my recommendation would be to do a Tops96 type event in your Sophomore year or at the start of your rising Junior year, and perhaps a PG showcase during the winter, or spring of your Junior year.

If you have the talent to be recruited then your real goal is to be recruited by a school that will best launch YOU on a sucessful adult course. This normally means good academics, great alumni networks,and good social atmosphere. Unless you are actual MLB material you should not be counting on that to get you through life.

So this circles back to knowing where you want to go to school, making that as deep a selection as possible, and then having a plan to go where those specific coaches will be. That may be their camps or you may learn that they will be at another's camp or a showcase in which case you can consider attending that showcase IF you make contact with the coach and get him to agree to specifically look at you there. For those not already past that point, it is those coaches who you also want to share your Travel schedule with for the summer of your rising Senior year.

Note that if you are targeting a D2 school, you can ask the coaches to actually work you out privately. No camp or showcase fees involved!

And so that leads me to my commentary that spending money on showcases just so you might strike lightning is actually a lower odds bet than buying a lottery ticket.

You have to know where you want to go in order to get there.

I will add one more thing that worked for my son and that was having him call the recruiting or head coach and let them know that he had time or money constraints but that he could make it to one day of the event if they were serious about him joining their program. You get two things out of this, 1. They will prorate the cost so you can be seen for less money. 2. You will find out how serious they are prior to wasting your time/money going somewhere where they might not have serious interest.

BOF, Coach told my son it was against NCAA rules to prorate cost of camp...

RedSoxFan21,

I agree with almost all your statements but I don't agree with your conclusion. There are all kinds of showcases that are geared toward specific baseball levels and types. To say going to a showcase (and having success) has lower odds than winning the lottery is an exaggeration.

You said you have to know where you want to go in order to get there. I agree 100%. The corollary statement to that is that you have to know what level you are and what level of talent the showcase will be (hint: look at the attending colleges). I think with minimal effort a recruit can determine what kind of showcase he could be potentially attending, and determine if it is worth the $. (another hint: check HSBBWeb for feedback on showcases)

I do think that many people bite off more than they can chew (yours truly included). Most kids & parents think they can go to a top level national showcase and hang with guys who are getting drafted out of high school or will be playing in the super conferences (SEC, ACC, PAC10). Usually, these national showcases are a wake up call for the kids to realize how many talented players there are nationally. Their plans to play at UCLA, South Carolina or Florida State need to be adjusted quite a bit. But, my point is that attending a national or even a local showcase is valuable feedback for those attendeding (not to mention it is fun) to help them determine what is most appropriate for their baseball level. To say all showcases are a lottery situation is just not true. "Showcasing" can be part of an overall exposure strategy, but it must be thought-out and planned to the players abilities to be most effective. JMO.

Thanks Red Sox Fan for the post....My son is a 2013 graduate and a lhp that has had success this summer with a good travel program. As a result he has gotten some interest from some D1 and D2 programs, but they do not meet the qualifications RSF detailed....
The obstacle facing my son is his velocity is low 80's so he has some work to do to attract the attention of the schools he would like to attend........For him the fall will be about improving his strength and skills and targeting the schools he wants to attend by participating in their camps and not playing travel ball this fall...
Very timely question and enjoy reading the different viewpoints....

quote:

Originally posted by gamefan:
BOF, Coach told my son it was against NCAA rules to prorate cost of camp...

I know it was routinely done for the 2012 class, but maybe they changed the rules. It is possible that a program interprets the rules one way or did not want to hassle. It is my understanding that as long as they use the same criteria for all players it is OK. I would certainly ask and I would also have my son come straight out and ask where he was ranked on their recruiting board. The more conversations you (your son) have like these the better idea you will find how serious a program is regarding him. Although programs use them for recruiting most are money makers so it would be a red flag for me if a coach says that they don’t prorate the cost. You can always call the NCAA to find out if this is true or not.

Fenway,

Agree with you about picking the right showcase. We spent a lot of time researching showcases/tournaments for our 2013 RHP to attend. In the end we chose only two, and invested other energies finding a good gym for him to work out in. As I mentioned earlier, the first showcase was successful, and we are hoping the next one will be even better. Just had no idea about doing the individual school camps or that the whole recruiting process runs into the fall. Naively thought all would be settled during the summer! Oh well, live and learn!

MBM

Fenway, I am sending you a PM.

quote:

Originally posted by gamefan:
BOF, Coach told my son it was against NCAA rules to prorate cost of camp...

I heard the same in our travels.

.

quote:

Originally posted by fenwaysouth:
To say going to a showcase (and having success) has lower odds than winning the lottery is an exaggeration.

With a name like fenwaysouth there is at least one good reason I like reading your posts!

I just want to clarify the statement I made and that you disagreed with. My full statement was:

"And so that leads me to my commentary that spending money on showcases just so you might strike lightning is actually a lower odds bet than buying a lottery ticket."

The key words in there were "just so you might strike lightning". As I said earlier, unless you are a lights out pitcher or lights out hitter, AND you are on that day, you're gonna get lost in the Showcase crowd.

But to your point, knowing how you stack up against the competition is a very valid reason for testing the waters.

.

Fenway, Sent you another PM.