(NJ) Diamond Jacks

My son hasn't but has friends who have/do.  From speaking with the parents I've heard that the winter instruction/training is tremendous.  I've seen them play at Diamond Nation many times.  The A team is excellent and the B team well above average.  Because they have teams at every age group, I've heard that it is hard for a position player to break into the A team.

My son was invited to play for the 17u team ten years ago. Flemington was less than an hour away. At the time we decided the program was too new. I believe they’re part of Super 17s which is reputable. I would investigate where they play, who they know for college contacts, where their (locals, not ringers) players are going to college and their GA and FL PG track record. Are they contacting you or are you contacting them? Is it in regards to the A team? 

The reason I mention ringers is due to something that occurred at another program. Some programs will advertise name players who may have played one weekend as alumni. When visiting I saw three familiar names on this programs wall. One was a current MLB all star anyone here would recognize. Two others were Vanderbilt players (one was about to go in the first round and played seven years in the majors) I had played with their fathers. One was still a good friend. It didn’t make sense geographically they played for this program. 

I called the dad who is a friend. He told me this program had seen the three of them at PG New England. They were all given a free ride to play for them in GA and FL while throwing paying customers/players under the bus. 

I realize rhere are posters who believe getting thrown under the bus is part of baseball. I don’t believe being sold a pitch about recruiting, paying 5K then riding the pine in GA and FL where it counts is good business. 

My son played for them about 10 years ago.  He was on the A team which is important as others mentioned. They are part of the Super 17s and combined with the Tri-State Arsenal to play in some PG tournaments at the time.  He got to play with Mike Trout which was pretty cool.  My son was a position player and never had a problem with them bringing in ringers.  Definitely was a positive experience.

Used to be great when the 17s merged with Arsenal and they were one of the only NJ programs hitting GA, FL and the PG circuit. Now there are at least half a dozen organizations in NJ that are better just off the top of my head. The big time plsyers they have rostered are brought in or don't pay anything. Training is as good and it is nice to have a central location but when a program is turning out that many teams, lessons, etc it all comes down to money. Half the tournaments they play in are their own (free) but it is still very expensive. 

Like I said having Diamond Nation and the local coaches coming in and out is always nice, but there are better and cheaper options in NJ. We know players that have went that way and turned out alright but I thought they could have done better for themselves. If you have any more questions or would like to be pointed in the direction of some other programs feel free to PM. Mine have played for a few NJ teams and played against almost all of them at this point. 

I would echo similar thoughts to PAbaseball, I would give them more credit for the winter training them some. I feel they do a real nice job there. They aren't cheap but price is not main driver to everyone, if you are looking for a high quality product I do believe they will provide that. I would disagree about the B team being average. You either play for the A team or go somewhere else. 

The super 17 is dead and gone from any type of combined organization merger, it ended badly with many levels of hard feelings between organizations. 

just so you are aware the A is the Super17 or whatever age group you are in, the Gold is the B 

About 5-6 years ago, son played for a team in PA that would play in tournaments there. Parents from the "B" team told us that the "A" team gets all the resources, best practice times, and "B" team gets the shaft. Not sure why they'd stay if that's the case, but for what it's worth. I can say that they would always schedule soft teams to face their DJ teams in tournaments to position themselves for winning tournaments. They'd also regularly schedule our team to play there Friday evenings (NJ rush hour traffic, extra night hotel, etc...) when local teams could have played there much easier. Anyway, son's team beat them when they didn't expect to lose, and coach ran his 10 year olds (to teach them?) after the game. Maybe things have changed now, I don't know, but in general I wasn't impressed with how they treated people. 

My kids have played against them for years. The Super teams are generally good. Not sure how important the winter training is for you, as I know a lot of kids will get the majority of their training in on their own.

One thing I'd recommend doing is take a look at their teams (or any team/organization you're considering) that have just played the local PG events in NJ or NY. Are their 2020 teams playing their committed players (especially pitchers) entire games to win or are they getting kids seen? 

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