Let me start out by saying my observations are that of a new parent at a PG event. Additionally most of my perspectives relate to pitching since that is what my son does. However parents of position players can also glean some information based on my account of the event.
Having played baseball "back in the day" I was not expecting the need to take my son to various showcases/tournaments to promote his abilities. My old school way of thinking (which normally serves me well), assumed that "they will find him" because that was the way it was in my time. As a result my son did not attend any of the typical events many kids have been going to for years.
This is my sons senior year and we were told this summer that despite his talent, he was not on anyones radar because we did nothing during his junior year, and we had better get on the ball.
So we have attended a handful of events this summer and fall, not really knowing which ones would be the best ones to attend for exposure. Since that became our primary focus, I've been assessing the various events to figure out which ones offered the best exposure. Most of that is based on the number of scouts, their level of interest, the way a particular event is setup for them to see the various games, the staff running the event, etc.
So after having attended a half dozen events in the last 4 months to get exposed, I've come to some conclusions. Some showcases/tourneys are a total waste of time and money if your goal is to get exposure. At others, you will get more than your moneys worth.
For the purpose of this thread, I'd like to mainly focus on the Perfect Game WWBA World Championship just held a few weeks ago in Jupiter. I was told this was one of the "can't miss events", and after having attended, I would concur with that assessment. This tournament by far had the most coaches and scouts I've ever seen. For that matter it had more scouts than all 5 other events we attended put together. So on that alone I would highly recommend any parent needing to get their son on the radar to attend this event next year.
Of course there are other things to consider as well. At some showcases or tourneys it seems as if some of the scouts are just putting in their time. They can be easily distracted, and are not necessarily paying attention even when they are looking at a game. However I did not find that to be the case with this event. Most had event programs with kids names circled, or notes written beside kids they were interested in. Some scouts stayed at a particular game from beginning to end, especially pro scouts. As a matter of fact, the Toronto Blue Jays seemed to have a scout on every field at the same time. Every few carts that zipped around the facility were from their organization.
The game my son pitched in had a Toronto scout parked there, and he notated every singe pitch he threw. While that might seem like good news related to interest in him, I suspect it was more of a policy of paying attention to every kid in case they showed something special. Regardless of the reason it was refreshing to see so much attention being paid. Furthermore every single field had a Stalker gun set up so that anyone behind home plate could see the velocity of every pitch. Of course many scouts had their own guns, but for those who didn't, the main gun was there.
The staff from PG seemed to be set up at every field, and they also paid attention to the games. Even if one had to step away for some reason, the other was there to keep an eye on things.
Now some things are just the luck of the draw, because you might be on a field that not as many scouts are at during a particular game. You might also not be facing a strong team, hence less scouting interest. Of course you could be facing a very strong team, and then the scouts are 6 deep.
The days we were there my sons team faced some strong teams. Several had rosters full of committed D1 kids. The day we were not there, the opposing team was weak and at an isolated field, so very few scouts showed up to that game based on what we were told by fellow parents.
Since the event has no direct control over the scouts, some games are lightly attended based on the time and location, but again since so many scouts are there overall, you are bound to have at least a handful. Not all the schools your son might be interested will be at your sons game, so it is the luck of the draw. It would be impossible for every scout to attend every game. Still many had golf carts and were zipping from game to game.
As some knowledgeable people told me, events like these have no guarantees. Your son must perform when he gets his opportunity. All you can hope for is to place him in an environment that has scouts watching. I can honestly say that this PG event lived up to it's billing as a can't miss event. I will not hesitate in recommending this event to anyone hoping to have their son be seen by college and professional scouts. This is the only PG event I have ever attended, but based on how this one was run, I can only imagine their other events live up to what they represent them to be.
Feel free to ask any questions as I'd be happy to give something back to this forum.
Original Post
).
