How common is it to be "discovered" at showcase/camp events?

Hi Smoke, I know you know my sons story. He was noticed at the Standford camp hit well but not really stand out IMHO. Started to get emails from coach of D3 shortly after. Did have a couple of other coaches that saw him at Stanford check back on the status of his shoulder injury. None of these coaches approached my son at the Stanford camp.

It just depends what the coach is looking for, and what your kid has to offer. I went to a Junior Day camp at a D3 School (had D1, D2, D3, NAIA coaches, etc.) and threw, not much interaction. A week later at another showcase, the head coach of the D3 school I was just at approached me and wanted more information, gave me the pitch, and he didn't even know that I had been at the camp at his school the week before. My point is that is just depends, make sure after the event he follows up with a "Thank you for the instruction, is there anything you can add that I can work on, I've done some research on your school, etc." A couple of times after that email the coach would respond and say "Thanks for your interest, I'd love to see you again at this camp" or "We would love to have you up for a visit."

How common is it to be "discovered" at showcase/camp events?

In terms of HF, I think it is very common.  Son was approached by coaches he knew and coaches he didn't know.  He also approached coaches he wanted to meet.  We found that it worked best if the coaches had information about him prior to the event.

There was a lot of follow up and activity after the HF showcase.  Son was overwhelmed for a couple weeks, but it is was a good overwhelmed.  He had a real good feeling that he would be going to one of the HF schools. 

Good luck to "K", and please let me know how it goes!

Our experience with HF mirrored Fenways (though it was eight years ago).

S was throwing 87 (LHP) at HF, but was smallish. Immediate contact from coaches who had him already on the radar; the calls began immediately after camp ended (literally while driving home) from coaches he hadn't targeted.  

With the HF camp, tell your son to volunteer to run the bases - they are always putting runners in (due to a walk/hb, but the batter remains in the box); the coaches love to see the kids running the bases (the green light is always on) and there are lots of chances to show off speed (and have fun). (S specialized in the ten hopper to the pitcher so didn't get on a lot by his own but stole lots of bases when he was already on first as a volunteer runner.)

Also, have all your HS transcripts and official test scores in pre-sealed envelopes to be passed out like candy to as many coaches as pique his interest.

My son used to attend a summer camp at the local D1 (mid-major). The recruiting coordinator always told the same story... a catcher showed up for their Christmas break camp. Kid was a HS senior, they had never heard of him, and he had no offers from anyone. He impressed them so much that they offered and he eventually started for them at catcher. But since he told the story every time my son was there, it seemed as if it was the only time they ever "discovered" an unknown talent at one of their camps.

On the other hand, this particular school always had representation from a D2, and a D3  program at their camps who assisted on the field. I'm sure some kids who hoped to play at the D1 were discovered by one or more of these other programs.

I think it was me who said son was approached right at HF (right after his game was completed) and then received most of the follow-up a few weeks later.  Just chiming in to say 2016 was most definitely "discovered" at HF by most of the schools that recruited him after.  I believe the only school that saw him play prior to HF was the school he's going to - they told us they saw him pitch earlier in the summer at a tournament his team played in.  There is no way for me to be sure but I'm positive that the HF performance put him on the radar of the schools who contacted him after.

I know a kid who got "signed" to a D1 SEC school his freshman year of HS almost purely on how he did at a PBR showcase.   The SEC school certainly wasn't scouting him as a 14U kid the year before, he hadn't played any PG Tournaments or anything like that.   He put up amazing numbers in the showcase and one thing led to another

My 2018 RHP, while on a local travel showcase team, did a local PG showcase in the end of August 2015 and, within weeks, was asked to guest pitch on a very competitive and well respected team at the PG Underclass World Championship in the beginning of October. Since then, he did two D1 camps and a Dynamic Combine, in addition to a couple travel games with his showcase team.  Just from what he's done, he has gotten quite a bit of attention and a couple college offers.

The process ain't perfect, but it's done well for my boy.

Left HF Sacramento a few hours ago. My son had a bit of a rough go of it in the morning game but did well in the afternoon and ended his camp with his second triple.  Coach of an east coast D3, who had introduced himself to both of us yesterday and pretty much said that he wanted my son, walked past me after the triple, smiled and said, "I REALLY like him."  That felt good but I don't think the school is a match.  Kid  talked to a few other guys and got lots of props, so it'll be interesting to see what comes of it.

BTW here is an interesting tidbit. Yale coach, in a public session, said that when he gets an email from a new kid, grades are the first thing he looks for, and the second is video.  He'll watch any video that's sent, and if he likes what he sees, he'll google the kid looking for more.

smokeminside posted:

I want to continue to thank everyone on the board that has continued to help us along our journey.  We have no idea where 2017 is going for college but we do know he is going to do  the double dip of Headfirst this Friday and Saturday, and Stanford Camp Sun-Wed. 

He's written the coaches (and they've written back) at the schools he's interested in, and he knows he'll have to work the "room" when he gets to these events. Fair enough.

I'm wondering, however, if any of you have experience with coaches coming up to your sons out of the blue and initiating conversations?  If so, did your son need to hit three dingers, or have a 90 plus fastball, or a sub-6.7 60 to get the party started?  How did those conversations start and progress?

Also, on a recent d3 thread someone mentioned that their son got one offer at the camp he went to, but the rest of the activity occurred a week or two later.  Does that jibe with others' experiences?

To your point about the 60, today I was sitting next to a coach from a D3 school my son has no interest in. Without identifying my son, who was in the game we both were watching, I said, hey can I ask you something? How much do you pay attention to the numbers you see at these events, and do you have benchmarks for particular positions? For example, my kid's a MIF- what 60 yard time do you need to see?  He said, yeah for a MIF I'd like to see 6.8 or better, but I'm not going to even look at that number unless I like his hands and his arm.  And if I really like him I can look past a slower time as long as it's not too bad.

Talked some about corner guys as well, and about how it's a much wider range with OFs depending on whether they are mashers or not.  Speaking of which, I'm really sorry I didn't ask him about exit velocities.   

JCG,

The coach interaction is what I (as a father) really liked about HF, and made the experience unique for us.  At that time, my son was just coming out of his shell, and the I think the interested coaches were able to draw him out.  Previously , my son interest & offers from other programs and that was great experience, but I think it all came together for him at HF as recruits are expected to engage coaches.  He had some rather unique conversations (in the parking lot) with competing schools that would ultimately lead to a coach's phone call on the ride home.  That phone call led to his eventual commitment a couple weeks later.

Our experience was that every coach was accessible as well as the HF staff.  My son had a 15-20 minute side conversation with Brendan Sullivan (HF CEO) that I will never forget.  It got my son pumped up, and helped him see the forest from the trees.  Our experience was 7 years ago, so I'm interested to know if they are still using the same format, formula and getting the same results for their customers.  From what I've read over the years that is the case.

Good luck!

Very common. For many D3 schools showcases like HF are their primary way of recruiting.

And when you get the magic letter from Yale on September 1st of your Junior Year it states,  " Welcome to the group of 700 athletes that we are looking @ for the class of 2014".  (this was sons' year)  However, on the bright  side son received these great bimonthly emails that guided him thru the recruiting process and timelines that he could apply to his entire recruitment with all his schools.  Mentioning this to show the magnitude of the net cast to find the chosen few.

Also, son had to complete the Athletic questionnaire multiple times for each school that was actively recruiting him.  Asked the Admissions team from Penn @ a Big East Recruitment Fair in CA & they said, "Each semester the admissions office wants their  baseball coach to ensure the prospective  STUDENT /athlete is on track to pass admissions when it truly matters~Spring semester Senior Year. (Could be completing the questionnaire 5-6x per school with transcript & current sports stats)

 We kept a 5" three ring binder tabbed by school & printed off a copy each time a questionnaire was completed.  Also kept a running track of the email correspondence both with Admissions & the Coach on the Tabbed Divider for each School.  Saves a tremendous amount of time.

As a side note, Son graduated with a 3.99 with 5-6 AP/Honors courses and he still was viewed as an @ risk.  Here is why they look @ Academic Stamina:   Sons' D1 team was off campus the first 20 of 25 days the season started in February.  This includes weekends!  Be sure your son has the skills himself to Compete Academically while on the Road.

fenwaysouth posted:

JCG,

The coach interaction is what I (as a father) really liked about HF, and made the experience unique for us.  At that time, my son was just coming out of his shell, and the I think the interested coaches were able to draw him out.  Previously , my son interest & offers from other programs and that was great experience, but I think it all came together for him at HF as recruits are expected to engage coaches.  He had some rather unique conversations (in the parking lot) with competing schools that would ultimately lead to a coach's phone call on the ride home.  That phone call led to his eventual commitment a couple weeks later.

Our experience was that every coach was accessible as well as the HF staff.  My son had a 15-20 minute side conversation with Brendan Sullivan (HF CEO) that I will never forget.  It got my son pumped up, and helped him see the forest from the trees.  Our experience was 7 years ago, so I'm interested to know if they are still using the same format, formula and getting the same results for their customers.  From what I've read over the years that is the case.

Good luck!

I found the experience to be the same as yours and I think that they are still going above and beyond for their customers - our experience was last summer.   As I've indicated before - 2016 had interest onsite from one Midwest school and not much else other than standard interaction with the coaches on the field.  He did really well there so I was concerned that the lack of interest onsite meant that his grades might be an issue.  I contacted HF and they were very responsive - they pulled up the scouting reports (which they keep on pitchers) and reviewed with me over the phone.  Their take - he had a very positive scouting report and coaches would be calling.  And they did.  It just took 2 weeks.  

The recruiting journey was littered with opportunities to spend money with little or no return on investment. Headfirst was by far our best investment of that journey and if I had to do it over again I'd most likely have 2016 attend more than one week so he could be seen live by as many coaches as possible (and not spend as much on travel and tournaments if it was possible to work out).  

MK, agree but I would note that with the exception of Ivy and Patriot League schools it's probably not a good place to be seen by D1's.  There were 2 schools at the camp that my son is interested in, and those coaches seemed not to be paying any attention to anyone but others coaches. There was one other who did seem engaged, but he told my son before the camp that they were done with 2017's.

JCG posted:

MK, agree but I would note that with the exception of Ivy and Patriot League schools it's probably not a good place to be seen by D1's.  There were 2 schools at the camp that my son is interested in, and those coaches seemed not to be paying any attention to anyone but others coaches. There was one other who did seem engaged, but he told my son before the camp that they were done with 2017's.

When my son was going through the process as an '11 I saw a statement from six (non Ivy, non Patriot) D1 programs they would no longer be participating in Head First. Maybe they decided it wasn't a good place to see D1 prospects.

I did see the Ivies and Patriot League Schools there last year.  UVA was there as well as Duke.  But, by the time we went my 2016 had moved on from looking at D1 opportunities and was really just a D3 prospect so it wasn't as much of a concern.  He would have taken interest from one of the Patriot League schools but he knew at that point that it was unlikely. 

JCG posted:

Left HF Sacramento a few hours ago. My son had a bit of a rough go of it in the morning game but did well in the afternoon and ended his camp with his second triple.  Coach of an east coast D3, who had introduced himself to both of us yesterday and pretty much said that he wanted my son, walked past me after the triple, smiled and said, "I REALLY like him."  That felt good but I don't think the school is a match.  Kid  talked to a few other guys and got lots of props, so it'll be interesting to see what comes of it.

BTW here is an interesting tidbit. Yale coach, in a public session, said that when he gets an email from a new kid, grades are the first thing he looks for, and the second is video.  He'll watch any video that's sent, and if he likes what he sees, he'll google the kid looking for more.

JCG, my son and I were there at the showcase too. I didn't know you were coming, otherwise will definitely shake hands and say hi. Which team were your son on? 

I was at the same parent seminar. The Macalister coach said D3 has very limited budget and staff, he's the only paid coach. They only look at the current recruiting class. Yale coach also said he doesn't talk to players until he sees the junior year transcript and sat/act scores. So my 2018 probably didn't get much attention. But it's a good experience working with and talking to coaches. He's amazed that some coaches even knew his name before he introduced himself! And if the skills level is representative of D3 pool, then he's very confident now. He thought the teams were at similar level or a little bit below his 17u travel team.

Okay, I can now answer my own question.  Yes, a kid can get "discovered."

Several coaches who we had not been in touch with before approached my son.

Best experience he's had at  a camp so far, primarily because of its coach to kid ratio ( 60 coaches/125 kids).

smokeminside posted:

 

Best experience he's had at  a camp so far, primarily because of its coach to kid ratio ( 60 coaches/125 kids).

Don't sell your son short if he got that kind of attention.  ;-)

Re: "Getting Discovered" at showcases or camps:

2018 has (had?)  sights on HOOPS and/or baseball for college.   We went to a mid-major BASKETBALL camp this weekend.  Physically at 6-7/205 he fit right in, competed hard, and hustled. Both I, and he, noticed throughout the day as the coaching staff from host college and guest coaches were pulling the occasional kid off to a corner of the gym to chat them up.  You know the deal.  Usually they were kids I too had noticed as having skills and projectability at next level.  But after 1.5 days of ballin' 2018 only got the cursory handshake and the "thanks for coming" back slap at end of camp.  Hey, that's life.

TURN BACK CLOCK ONE WEEK:  2018 was at a mid-major BASEBALL camp.  He is a PO.  Was starter on mound for afternoon game and threw 2-innings, mediocre outing, but host school PC pulled him aside after outing and with game still going on, talked with him for 45-minutes, straight.  This was in addition to the 10-mins same guy gave him upon walking on the field at beginning of camp.  In all honesty, this type of stuff happens to him often at baseball camps/showcases at TARGET schools (mid-majors, some academic D-1s).  It has NEVER happened to him at a BASKETBALL camp/showcase; anywhere, at any level.

On the drive home 2018 pointed out the difference in his reception by coaches on the baseball diamond versus on the BASKETBALL court.  It hit him hard.  Real hard.  One of those "Ahaaaaaaa!!!" life moments.  Looks like the hoops in college ship has sailed?  Will still play for HS next two years, but year around will now be 100% devoted to pitching,  and no longer pitching AND hoops.

Sobering moment for son.  It hurt me to see his "Hoops Dreams" take such a hard hit.  But it is only by going out and tossing your hat in the ring at these events and competing with others that you see what you are made of and where your true talents and gifts lie.  Or not lie.

Bogeyorpar posted:

JCG posted:

Left HF Sacramento a few hours ago. My son had a bit of a rough go of it in the morning game but did well in the afternoon and ended his camp with his second triple.  Coach of an east coast D3, who had introduced himself to both of us yesterday and pretty much said that he wanted my son, walked past me after the triple, smiled and said, "I REALLY like him."  That felt good but I don't think the school is a match.  Kid  talked to a few other guys and got lots of props, so it'll be interesting to see what comes of it.

BTW here is an interesting tidbit. Yale coach, in a public session, said that when he gets an email from a new kid, grades are the first thing he looks for, and the second is video.  He'll watch any video that's sent, and if he likes what he sees, he'll google the kid looking for more.

JCG, my son and I were there at the showcase too. I didn't know you were coming, otherwise will definitely shake hands and say hi. Which team were your son on? 

I was at the same parent seminar. The Macalister coach said D3 has very limited budget and staff, he's the only paid coach. They only look at the current recruiting class. Yale coach also said he doesn't talk to players until he sees the junior year transcript and sat/act scores. So my 2018 probably didn't get much attention. But it's a good experience working with and talking to coaches. He's amazed that some coaches even knew his name before he introduced himself! And if the skills level is representative of D3 pool, then he's very confident now. He thought the teams were at similar level or a little bit below his 17u travel team.

 

That would have been good! He was on #1.  Yours?  Sounds like he did great.

Smoke - ditto!

#1 Assistant Coach posted:

................................................

On the drive home 2018 pointed out the difference in his reception by coaches on the baseball diamond and on the BASKETBALL court.  It hit him hard.  Real hard.  One of those "Ahaaaaaaa!!!" life moments.  Looks like the hoops in college ship has sailed?  Will still play for HS next two years, but year around will now be 100% devoted to pitching,  and no longer pitching AND hoops.

Sobering moment for son.  It hurt me to see his "Hoops Dreams" take such a hard hit.  But it is only by going out and tossing your hat in the ring at these events and competing with others that you see what you are made of and where your true talents and gifts lie.  Or not lie.

#1AC,

Obviously you get it and your son gets it.  While the realization may sting at first, your son now knows which sport to focus his energies for the next level, your money ;-), and which level of college baseball is most interested in him.  There is a huge silver lining here and your son discovered it before most do.  I really like the fact that he's done his athletic due diligence with high school basketball and baseball.  He is a multi-sport high school athlete.  Coaches love that.  As always, JMO.

"And if the skills level is representative of D3 pool, then he's very confident now. He thought the teams were at similar level or a little bit below his 17u travel team."

That would not be a good assumption, for many D3 programs, remembering there are over 350 at that level.

JCG posted:

That would have been good! He was on #1.  Yours?  Sounds like he did great.

 

Smoke - ditto!

Mine was on #4. Unfortunately #1 and #4 never played each other. #4 played #2 and #3 twice. I was wondering why they didn't do round robin? Also the first day and second day pitching rotation were pretty much the same, so my son faced the same pitchers both days. It would have been fun to face different pitchers.

Bogeyorpar posted:

JCG posted:

That would have been good! He was on #1.  Yours?  Sounds like he did great.

 

Smoke - ditto!

Mine was on #4. Unfortunately #1 and #4 never played each other. #4 played #2 and #3 twice. I was wondering why they didn't do round robin? Also the first day and second day pitching rotation were pretty much the same, so my son faced the same pitchers both days. It would have been fun to face different pitchers.

Yes, true about pitching, but on the other hand, I can see the value in having the teams that finished late on day one to get a late start on day two.

Interesting. We played #4 twice, and #s 1 and 2 once each.  No repeated pitching. But that was second session.

It may be hard to have different pitchers every game, but they should be able to mix up the teams like they did our session.

We were grateful to get out of there early, btw.  HOT.

Pitching is tricky at events like this.  They have POs attending and pitching two innings first day (5 batters each inning I think it was) and then they are scheduled to pitch again on day two.  And then they have position players who play the field and also are mixed in to pitch.  HF did a good job of monitoring the pitchers and pitching them the amount of innings they could throw.  Their pitching coordinator was at the gate (on Long Island) checking with each pitcher on how they felt, how many innings they could go each day.  So while it may have seemed like it was an exact repeat of the pitchers it may not have been planned that way - they may have had to mix things up based on the report from the player on day 2.  

On day two of 2016s session last year he was scheduled to pitch innings number XX of his game and it was changed when he arrived because another pitcher choose not to throw that day.  It threw the schedule off.  It seemed like the teams were rotated though.  We were there for three games (we left after his morning game on day 2) and they played 3 different teams. 

smokeminside posted:

We were grateful to get out of there early, btw.  HOT.

HOT for sure. Warning for people coming from outside of CA or the sunbelt -- be prepared for 95-100 degrees heat with nowhere to hide. I haven't heard of any complaint about weather before, but that may be because 60% of participants come from CA and are used to the weather. I'll submit a feedback to Brendon Sullivan -- please move the west coast camp to Seattle. We had ~75 degree with breeze the whole week.

Anyone know the August weather in Long Island?

Bogeyorpar posted:

smokeminside posted:

We were grateful to get out of there early, btw.  HOT.

HOT for sure. Warning for people coming from outside of CA or the sunbelt -- be prepared for 95-100 degrees heat with nowhere to hide. I haven't heard of any complaint about weather before, but that may be because 60% of participants come from CA and are used to the weather. I'll submit a feedback to Brendon Sullivan -- please move the west coast camp to Seattle. We had ~75 degree with breeze the whole week.

Anyone know the August weather in Long Island?

Wasn't it 120 on the field the other day at the CWS...  

Even though it is very hot, miserable for the parents and tougher for the catchers and fielders.  Warm weather is great for the pitchers.  You can pitch long and stay loose.  But that is coming from a poster with a name sunwalkingvalley.  It is actually interesting when the mild coastal teams come and play us in the valley heat, some kids struggle.  On exceptionally bad days there can medical care that is needed as well.

real green posted:

Bogeyorpar posted:

smokeminside posted:

We were grateful to get out of there early, btw.  HOT.

HOT for sure. Warning for people coming from outside of CA or the sunbelt -- be prepared for 95-100 degrees heat with nowhere to hide. I haven't heard of any complaint about weather before, but that may be because 60% of participants come from CA and are used to the weather. I'll submit a feedback to Brendon Sullivan -- please move the west coast camp to Seattle. We had ~75 degree with breeze the whole week.

Anyone know the August weather in Long Island?

Wasn't it 120 on the field the other day at the CWS...  

 

There's CA and there is CA. Yesterday I was in Paso Robles, CA, where it was 104, talking to son #2, who was in Sac, where it was 105.  A couple hours later, I got to Santa Barbara to visit son #1. Here it was 70.  Stanford should be pretty livable this week.  BTW Headfirst Sac would not be bad if there was any shade at all.

A friend's kid was playing in Peoria, AZ, yesterday, where it was a balmy 112.

It should be hot and humid on Long Island in Aug but not hot like you had out on the west coast.  It's usually in the 80s.  It will really depend on the weather pattern at that time on how humid it will be and/or if you end up with a 90 degree day.  The odds of it being 105 are very low on Long Island.

My grandson, a 2017 catcher, hit a triple one day and a grand slam the next day at Headfirst this week. I would think that would get some attention. This is my first post but I will definitely let others know what I hear from him as far as any contact from coaches in the coming weeks. Thank you for all the advice!

I should say so! Welcome to the site!!