PG Jr. Nationals

Hunter10,

You are walking in high cotton.  Check out the roster for the 2012 Jr National Showcase.

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...ters.aspx?event=1252

More than half of the players on the list show college commitments, including about 2/3 of the RHPs. And, the schools aren’t too shabby, either.  If an early college commitment is your goal, you might want to give it some serious thought.  If not, you might want to think about the 2014 National Showcase; that one is a huge deal for colleges and MLB scouts.  These two showcases run back-to-back in Minneapolis, but I can’t tell you how many schools are there for both events.

I’m going to guess that your son put up a big FB number at another PG event.  If so, you can always invite those SEC/ACC schools to come see him pitch this summer, too.  You might get quite a bit of interest that way.

While travel costs are not insignificant, this will be the smartest money you ever spend.  First of all, you will make it unnecessary to attend any other showcase events, though you may want to attend the National Showcase the following year even if your son is committed by then (which at this point would be quite common for someone who attends the Jr. National).

To my understanding, only the first wave of invitations has gone out.  What that means is, PG regards your son as one of the top players they are aware of in his class.  You should definitely cultivate this as it will open doors for your son well beyond what you may have imagined. 

This is one check where you try not to think of all the reasons not to do it.  This one you find a way to make happen.

Hunter10,

My son was lucky enough to be invited to the JR National event last year.  It will give your son more exposure than any other Showcase you will ever go to.  The competition is among the best in the country.  It really gave my son a realistic view of where he stood compared to others.  You will need to fly and get a hotel but a rental car is not necessary.  There is a train from the airport to downtown.

Good luck!

Thank you for all this valuable information. We are fortunate that he has this opportunity to further showcase his ability at this venue. We will definetly continue to discuss the pros and cons. He is a RHP just starting his Soph year.   Will stay in touch.  

proudhesmine,

Is the Metrodome in downtown?

Yes, the Jr. National and the National are both held at the Metrodome, which is in downtown Minneapolis. The new Twins field is Target Field, about 1.3 miles away from the Metrodome.

We have not been to the Jr. National, but we watched the National main event a couple of years ago. Wow, the talent level was amazing - the very top prospects from all over the country. Obviously most of those players went on to play at top colleges and/or be drafted.

Julie

By the way, the Twins have a homestand during the Jr. National and National main event. If you head over to Target field for a game, you might get a chance to see a couple of HSBaseballWeb members' sons playing for the Twins... Darin Mastroianni (son of itsinthegame) and Vance Worley (son of DB2BMom).

Julie

Being new here with a freshman that is showing real potential, could someone explain the process for  PG invitation. I understand that for some showcases you just fill out the invite, but isn't there more info required? This will be my sons 1st year playing high school but played for a recognized travel organization last summer and fall, did well.  15 yrs old, 6'4" LHP.

The first key, of course, is to be sufficiently talented that other s feel you belong in the top 300 players in a particular class in the entire country.

The second key is to get that brought to the attention of Perfect Game.  This could happen if you participate in PG events like the WWBA tourneys or any of their open showcases.  But it often also happens based on recommendations from trusted sources, subject to verification by PG's staff.

It helps if your son plays for a travel program whose manager is known to be a reliable evaluator and also someone who doesn't try to push someone in who is not really at that level.  Obviously everyone would like to go, but again, the idea is to start identifying the top prospects in the country, so there has to be some indicationt that you belong in that group.

I hate to say this, but a very large number of players get an invite to this PG event, especially if you've been at a PG event in the past and were either on a winning team, you made an all tournament team or your team's program - like East Cobb - is well respected. They say it is "invite only", but all you really have to do is ask and PG will verify your ability by calling a coach of yours and then you'll get an invite (i.e. PG will take your money!) 

With that being said, I'd still go as it is a well run event, typcially has a good talent base and does have a pretty large number of scouts attending. And good or bad, your son will get a video on the PG website and will get a assigned a rating by PG.  Both will be on their website for all to see.  One word of caution - As a 2015 grad, he could "not show as well" as the 2014 grads. In the end, he'll be lumped in with the 2015's so it should be okay, but just let him be aware that he will be compared the kids in attendance that day, and a large number of them will be 2014s...

If your son gets an invite to East Coast Pro or the Area Code games, those I'd go two without question.  Kids at these two events get invites from pro scouts and pro and college scouts attend.  (My son was a East Coast Pro last year and I'd say there was 300-400 scouts in attendence) Money doesn't get you into this one...

Sorry, but that's just wrong.

First of all, I know plenty of kids who have applied for the Junior National, or been nominated by others, and not gotten an invitation.  This event is a precursor to the National and, in today's world of earlier and earlier college commitments, it's a highly sought after event.  The ratio of guys who want in to guys who get in is pretty high.  (Make sure you're not confusing this event with an open showcase, where anyone can pay to get themselves evaluated, and no one pretends there's any exclusivity involved.)

Second, a 2015 is not going to have to compete next to a 2014 at this event.  The 2014's are the guys at the National Showcase.  The Junior National is held Tues/Wed, the National is Thurs/Fri.  So, the 2014's and 2015's are not even on the field on the same days, much less at the same time.

I do not know what it is, but it seems like there's a disease that crops up here repeatedly with people who go after PG based on its supposed hunger for your dollars.  As if being in a for-profit business automatically makes you untrustworthy.  And over and over, it turns out that in order to support these accusations, people have to end up saying things that are easily shown to be just dead wrong.

 Midlo Dad

Thanks for the clarification. Our son is well aware of the competition he will be facing and playing with. Julie, we will definetly try to catch a game while we are there as we have decided to give our son this opportunity.He just got the win in his 1st Varsity start tonight. We appreciate all the advice we get here. Will let you all know how he does.

Hunter10,

"He just got the win in his 1st Varsity start tonight."

That must have put a smile on Dad's face - I know it's making me smile right now! Congrats to your son on this very fun milestone!

Julie

Julie, Thank you.Yes it was so fun to watch and his Grandad was there to see him. It was a special night for evevryone. Proudhesmine, we certainly will check it out, we like spicy foods.

So, my 2015 also got an invite to this event. We sorta assumed it was a mass invite as well, but after reading this thread, maybe not. My question is how do kids balance invites and events like this vs. playing with his summer travel team? We do not have our summer schedule yet, but I would assume we play most weeks this summer, and being a team player, how would he explain to his summer coach he will be at an individual event? This is our first summer with this team, but I do know this team attends the big PG events, WWBA in East Cobb and will go to Ft Myers and Jupiter, and in the past has routinely been playing on the last day, so there should be plenty of eyes on his team. Is it better to attend an individual event or the team events, or should kids do a mix of both?

PL,

First, the Jr National is on a Tuesday-Wednesday, so that shouldn't interfere with his weekend tournaments.  Second, I recommend that you let the travel coach know about it. He'll probably be happy that (at least) one of his kids was invited.  Don't be surprised if others on the team are also going.

I don't think you need to worry about too many other individual showcases if he attends this one.

Pink/Hunter my 2015 son is in the same exact situation. Received the Invite to Jr. Nationals but unsure if we should/could go. We could still be in State finals around June11th. His HS team has won 3 State Championships in a row so it is very possible. Last year the Championship game was June 9th. Also we question being away from the summer team. Also the expense to travel to MN and then East Cobb a couple weeks later. I assumed that he got the invite due to his excellent performance in Jupiter this past fall but who knows. OH BOY THIS IS HARD!

LeftyDad/PL, We have decided to accept the invite. After the responses on this website we felt as though this was an honor and our son has worked extremely hard, he feels he will be more than ready for this experience. His summer coach also told him it was a great honor to be invited and it will have great impact for his summer team with having a teammate representing them in the PG Jr. Nationals. Its good all around.