I live in a very small town and go to a small school. I was wondering what i can do to get noticed. I'm the starting catcher on varsity.
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You will most likely be best served seeking out regional showcases. I don't recall reading what year you were, so depending on whether you are a Sophomore, a Junior or a Senior would determine for me how quick you would need to work up to one of the larger showcase events. Start small and low profile until you become comfortable with the format of the event. They are all fairly similar other than the number of scouts attending and exposure you will recieve.
I'm a Sophomore.
Then again I would start with smaller regional showcases. My Son is in Florida which is heavily recruited and we felt it to be very important to get our Son seen by attending showcases. We started off with College summer camps then a Pro-Day event, which is a smaller event, then did the Perfect Game Underclassman event. Also, try to locate a quality Summer Team. The games played with the Summer Team proved to be the best exposure. I would encourage you to attend a Christmas College Camp or regional showcase before the season starts (if you are in shape) then do your best to find a quality Summer Team. You may be able to locate some potential fits here on this website.
Holiday camps are a very good way to go because they are inexpensive and give the coahces a couple fo days to look at you. It also allows you to ask questions and show your interest in their school.
I was never a fan of the big showcases especially for younger players. 99% of colleges aren't even going to bother looking at a kid until after his Jr. year, so they don't really care what a showcase says about you until then. I've always felt showcases were overated anyway. Lots of $$, but I don't think that many players really get a much better deal out of them anyway.
I was never a fan of the big showcases especially for younger players. 99% of colleges aren't even going to bother looking at a kid until after his Jr. year, so they don't really care what a showcase says about you until then. I've always felt showcases were overated anyway. Lots of $$, but I don't think that many players really get a much better deal out of them anyway.
pfbear13,
You may be partially correct in saying colleges will not be that much interested in such a kid, but you are missing the point.
It is important that a kid at least be on the radar of these schools. And what better way to do it than creating exposure at a well-attended event? What would you have the kid do, wait until they show up at his school in Frosbite, North Dakota? Unless you play for a high-visibility school, this generally will not happen. Not today, when showcasing has become more the expected norm.
Secondly, showcasing while a sophomore establishes a base by which later showcases allow a college or pro scout to gauge progress.
My son did four showcases this year (his sophomore year.. he's now a rising Junior). I can tell you that from those showcases he has generated a lot of interest that I'm confident wouldn't have otherwise happened.
IMHO, a kid should showcase, but concentrate on those events that attract schools he may be interested in attending. Do some research to find the best bang for the buck. Then contact the college coaches and let them know you'll be there.
You may be partially correct in saying colleges will not be that much interested in such a kid, but you are missing the point.
It is important that a kid at least be on the radar of these schools. And what better way to do it than creating exposure at a well-attended event? What would you have the kid do, wait until they show up at his school in Frosbite, North Dakota? Unless you play for a high-visibility school, this generally will not happen. Not today, when showcasing has become more the expected norm.
Secondly, showcasing while a sophomore establishes a base by which later showcases allow a college or pro scout to gauge progress.
My son did four showcases this year (his sophomore year.. he's now a rising Junior). I can tell you that from those showcases he has generated a lot of interest that I'm confident wouldn't have otherwise happened.
IMHO, a kid should showcase, but concentrate on those events that attract schools he may be interested in attending. Do some research to find the best bang for the buck. Then contact the college coaches and let them know you'll be there.
That's great that it's worked out so far with your son. Personally, 4 showcases a sophomore seems like alot to me. Now, alot of my motivation is financial. I just don't know if it's money that's all that well spent. If you live close by and can go relatively cheap, I say go for it. It's really neat to be hearing from schools and reading your evaluations as a sophomore, but if the kid can play, the schools will find him just as easily if he waited until his Jr. year.
The double edged sword here is what if a kid is throwing 86 as a sophomore and 87 as a jr? Is that kid better off than the Jr. that shows up throwing 87 for his first look? My buddy's son was a varsity P as an 8th grader with LSU all hot and bothered about him. Now he's a back-up OF in college and it isn't anywhere close to LSU.
When my son attended a camp at Florida Atlantic during the summer of his Jr. year, they had a very informative seminar for the parents and they felt that showcases were over rated as well. Now, I am NOT anti-showcase at all. I just think people should be more selective and more prudent in how they spend their dollars. Remember, baseball scholarships are not going to be full rides for the most part anyway and many times the money is alot less than we think it's going to be. However, it's all up to what we think is best.
We spent ~$500 on my son's recruiting process to do some college tours, etc. It generated some interest from some southern schools and alot of JUCO's. It also ended with Buffalo making an offer he couldn't turn down. Is it the best baseball team? No, but the coaches are good and the program is improving and he started 50+ games a freshman. He's good enough to play at a better program, but he would most likely have been redhsirted last year and fighting for innings this year.
The double edged sword here is what if a kid is throwing 86 as a sophomore and 87 as a jr? Is that kid better off than the Jr. that shows up throwing 87 for his first look? My buddy's son was a varsity P as an 8th grader with LSU all hot and bothered about him. Now he's a back-up OF in college and it isn't anywhere close to LSU.
When my son attended a camp at Florida Atlantic during the summer of his Jr. year, they had a very informative seminar for the parents and they felt that showcases were over rated as well. Now, I am NOT anti-showcase at all. I just think people should be more selective and more prudent in how they spend their dollars. Remember, baseball scholarships are not going to be full rides for the most part anyway and many times the money is alot less than we think it's going to be. However, it's all up to what we think is best.
We spent ~$500 on my son's recruiting process to do some college tours, etc. It generated some interest from some southern schools and alot of JUCO's. It also ended with Buffalo making an offer he couldn't turn down. Is it the best baseball team? No, but the coaches are good and the program is improving and he started 50+ games a freshman. He's good enough to play at a better program, but he would most likely have been redhsirted last year and fighting for innings this year.
Pfb I agree with most of what you said. To me showcasing was a last resort and we were prepared to showcase only if we didn't get an offer that we liked.
We did a showcase at 15 put on by my son's Elite team and he got great comments from the recruiters but the fact is things change. Coaches will make you feel good and encourage you but they are not there to keep track of a 15yo.
Sometimes getting on the radar at a young age means very little. Many of the coaches arn't even coaching or have changed schools. I also believe you are only as good as your last outting. We attended a camp in my son's sr year and he got lots of interest,verbal offers,phone calls and some beautifull BB programs from several schools. Some were very good programs but he wanted warm climate schools. There were a couple schools from Georgia and Cal that were interested but not what he wanted. I preferred to market my son and either get an offer or atleast an invite to workout at the school.
PFB I know several of the guys at Buffalo, Canisius and Niagara. Yes the BB may not be as good as in the south but there are great opportunities at these schools as well. Several of the guys I know have been drafted.
We did a showcase at 15 put on by my son's Elite team and he got great comments from the recruiters but the fact is things change. Coaches will make you feel good and encourage you but they are not there to keep track of a 15yo.
Sometimes getting on the radar at a young age means very little. Many of the coaches arn't even coaching or have changed schools. I also believe you are only as good as your last outting. We attended a camp in my son's sr year and he got lots of interest,verbal offers,phone calls and some beautifull BB programs from several schools. Some were very good programs but he wanted warm climate schools. There were a couple schools from Georgia and Cal that were interested but not what he wanted. I preferred to market my son and either get an offer or atleast an invite to workout at the school.
PFB I know several of the guys at Buffalo, Canisius and Niagara. Yes the BB may not be as good as in the south but there are great opportunities at these schools as well. Several of the guys I know have been drafted.
I trust different players will experience different successes and much of it is base on how much of a prospect the player is. The recruiting process has evolved through the years and for higher prospects, the recruiting cycle is much sooner. Many of the top schools have most of there recruiting done by November early signing period with supplemental recruiting to fill in the holes created by the draft, injuries, academic challenges, or transfers.
I see the showcase circuit in different phases; some players use good showcases to get on the radar for the schools that might be interested in them. It may be a local or regional showcase with colleges in attendance that are looking to build their recruiting pipeline and get names and contact information. If it is the first showcase, the player may be there to get used to the showcase process (hopefully at a low cost), which is different than playing in a tournament or a game.
As the player is comfortable with the showcase format and at the top of their game, the player may choose to attend a much higher profile showcase, where there are many of the top schools and possibly pro scouts in attendance, hopefully they are a respected showcase where they provide or feed into a ranking and do documentation of how the player did where college coaches or scouts that did not attend, may be able to see a third parties option of how the player did.
If the player does well in these phases, they could be on the contact or follow list for colleges and pro teams.
For some players who are the highly recruited prospects, some showcases are for positioning against the top players in the country and are truly for ranking or pro scouting purposes.
There is a phase of over exposure for a player, when player goes to every showcase and schools see the player over and over and they have not progressed, this could be used against the player’s recruiting process as there is not much to the projection process for the school as they see the player has stopped growing or may have peaked.
Attending high profile tournaments are also a very effective and key way of displaying your playing skills. There are key tournaments that colleges and pro scouts attend to find or follow players in actual playing situations; there they will see how the player does in adverse game scenarios. It is best if you are on a strong travel team that gets attention and does well in the tournaments. Even thou they are looking for individuals, if you notice all tournament team individuals and tournament MVP’s mostly come from successful teams.
If you are a super player, you are going to be seen and you don’t have any worries about finding a school that you can play at, but for the masses, it is a numbers game that you have to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack, that obviously is easiest done if the college coach is specifically there to watch you and hopefully you have an opportunity to shine. That is where contacting the coaches and letting know you are interested in their school and where you will be playing and inviting them to come to watch. Hopefully you have done your homework and are targeting a realistic group of schools that you can play at, it might be a stretch but you have to realistic.
It can be a very exciting process of you deciding where you want to go to school and play baseball, but it also can be very frustrating, bottom line, make a plan and constantly evaluate the results.
Good Luck!
I see the showcase circuit in different phases; some players use good showcases to get on the radar for the schools that might be interested in them. It may be a local or regional showcase with colleges in attendance that are looking to build their recruiting pipeline and get names and contact information. If it is the first showcase, the player may be there to get used to the showcase process (hopefully at a low cost), which is different than playing in a tournament or a game.
As the player is comfortable with the showcase format and at the top of their game, the player may choose to attend a much higher profile showcase, where there are many of the top schools and possibly pro scouts in attendance, hopefully they are a respected showcase where they provide or feed into a ranking and do documentation of how the player did where college coaches or scouts that did not attend, may be able to see a third parties option of how the player did.
If the player does well in these phases, they could be on the contact or follow list for colleges and pro teams.
For some players who are the highly recruited prospects, some showcases are for positioning against the top players in the country and are truly for ranking or pro scouting purposes.
There is a phase of over exposure for a player, when player goes to every showcase and schools see the player over and over and they have not progressed, this could be used against the player’s recruiting process as there is not much to the projection process for the school as they see the player has stopped growing or may have peaked.
Attending high profile tournaments are also a very effective and key way of displaying your playing skills. There are key tournaments that colleges and pro scouts attend to find or follow players in actual playing situations; there they will see how the player does in adverse game scenarios. It is best if you are on a strong travel team that gets attention and does well in the tournaments. Even thou they are looking for individuals, if you notice all tournament team individuals and tournament MVP’s mostly come from successful teams.
If you are a super player, you are going to be seen and you don’t have any worries about finding a school that you can play at, but for the masses, it is a numbers game that you have to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack, that obviously is easiest done if the college coach is specifically there to watch you and hopefully you have an opportunity to shine. That is where contacting the coaches and letting know you are interested in their school and where you will be playing and inviting them to come to watch. Hopefully you have done your homework and are targeting a realistic group of schools that you can play at, it might be a stretch but you have to realistic.
It can be a very exciting process of you deciding where you want to go to school and play baseball, but it also can be very frustrating, bottom line, make a plan and constantly evaluate the results.
Good Luck!