Purpose of showcase baseball teams

"Head coach's son caught and never moved until he was tired."
"Assistant coach's son played 2B. Never moved"

These two comments sum it up right there. I would encourage you to make the move now. Unless those two kids are top prospects in your area/state/class, it is a sign of things to come on that team.  Now not every dad coached showcase team is the same way. You will find some teams where the dad played college or pro ball and has a good understanding of the game and coaching with no daddy ball to go with it. Usually you will find these in larger organizations and not the one off teams created by the dad.

Go research some reputable organizations in your area. Reach out to their coaches. Go to several tryouts within those organizations. Even if you don't get on the top showcase/scout team, finding a team where playing time is provided is the most important. You can't showcase if you aren't on the field.

Thanks for the quick reply. And yes, this example of "daddyball" is even more harmful because it's showcase. It's not just for some Top Gun plastic trophy or ring.

And I don't throw the "daddyball" term around loosely. Some of my son's best coach's have been dads of kids on his teams. And if these kid were studs, I'd understand why they'd get more playing time, but to your point...you can't be seen if you're not getting any playing time...for better, or for worse. Let your play speak for you. And then let coaches/scouts decide.

He has a private workout tonight, a team workout tomorrow, another team has already offered him a spot and 2 other teams are in contact with him. We are definitely doing due diligence together on this so he can make the best decision for himself. Thanks again!

I stopped reading after “coach’s son”. Switch teams. A 2023 shouldn’t be playing on a team coached by a dad unless it’s not a very serious team.

Side-note: not sure I’ve ever seen a catcher come out of a game for being tired.

@SEBaseballDad99, if your kid is a 2023 and this was his first year of travel ball you are late to the party. So I would strongly recommend that you change teams ASAP. You can’t afford another wasted summer if the goal is to play beyond HS. Get to work on finding the best travel ball team for your son in your area. You might send a PM to MidAtlanticDad for suggestions.

Welcome!  We had varied experiences with travel coaches and teams, even in the same organization.  Some of the dad coaches were great, and some were not.  Almost all were terrible at communicating what the point of the team was, and how they were planning to use players.  Literally had only one coach (out of 6 or 7) who explained it to the boys, in a way we could all understand.

"Showcase" means showing players to college coaches.  If the players on the team are not yet in their individual recruiting windows (15U or 16U for P5 and top D1, 17U for almost everyone else), then teams are often run however the coaches want.  What they may not be telling you is, your son is not ready to be recruited, so it doesn't matter where he plays.  I saw this happen in 16U, a bunch of players quit the team, it was a bad situation.  Would have been better if it had been explained - but, maybe the organization knew that if people realized this, they wouldn't be paying the money.

You should ask all the old and new coaches not about playing time as such, but about whether your son has the ability to play in college, what level of college, what they think his best positions are, and what their plan is next summer (17U) which will presumably be his big recruiting summer.  Will he get to play his best positions in front of the right colleges?

Thanks for all the responses. I think he's ready to move on, but I just wanted to be clear about what we though showcase was.

And yes, the only coming out due to being tired...weird.

My son has played travel ball since he was 11. But, this past summer was his first experience w/ showcase. He played three previous seasons w/ another organization and the showcase events for last summer were a wash, so they just played D1 Top Gun events.

And thanks for all the info, anotherparent. He has reached out to other teams/orgs and he's asked questions about his ability to play in college. Hopefully with this workouts/tryouts this week, he'll get that feedback. I think even as a parent who is new to showcase I know there are many events that seem like a "cash grab" and sometimes these tournaments can be that way with little or no attention or coverage from the companies running them and college coaches. But if he does want to play, he'll need the chance to play where it's the best fit in front of the right coaches.

We are also looking at some prospect camps at colleges for the Fall so he can get evaluated by coaches at schools that he's interested in for academics and baseball.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

I stopped reading after “coach’s son”. Switch teams. A 2023 shouldn’t be playing on a team coached by a dad unless it’s not a very serious team.

Side-note: not sure I’ve ever seen a catcher come out of a game for being tired.

There are exceptions. I coached my son’s 16u (kids were all fifteen) team. Neither assistant’s kids or my kid received preferential treatment. My son was an all conference high school shortstop. Not on my team. I had a better shortstop.

The 17u team my son played on for two years had a dad coach. He knew his stuff. He had a lot of college and pro contacts. His kid just happened to pass through the program.

But the situation described in this thread reeks of daddyball and favoritism. It’s not how you get to college ball.  

@RJM posted:

There are exceptions. I coached my son’s 16u team. Neither assistant’s kids or my kid received preferential treatment. My son was an all conference high school shortstop. Not on my team. I had a better shortstop.

The 17u team my son played on for two years had a dad coach. He knew his stuff. He had a lot of college and pro contacts. His kid just happened to pass through the program.

But the situation described in this thread reeks of daddyball and favoritism. It’s not how you get to college ball.  

Right, but there are not many of those exceptions. There are 2 national teams I'm aware of where there is a dad coaching. In both cases I have heard nothing but good things. Generally speaking, someone should stay clear of teams coached by a dad. In your situation, and the 2 national teams I'm aware of, the teams/coaches had a reputation and people were begging to be on those teams.

SE Baseball … It’s not up to anyone but your son and you to put yourself in the right place to be seen by the right colleges. It starts with figuring out your son’s potential. Unless he’s a lock major conference prospect it’s not always easy to know. There sometimes isn’t a big difference between low end D1 and ranked D3. There’s some projection involved. Unless you have the knowledge and skills to make this unbiased judgement you need to find people who can.

Once you understand what level your son should be targeting you need to find a team that plays in front of those types of colleges in the right tournaments. The best teams to play for are those with coaches who know college coaches. They can make calls saying they have a player (your son) who would be a good fit for their program. Travel coaches won’t make this call unless they believe it to be true,

Once you understand your son’s potential pick conferences that play at that level. Within those conferences figure which teams are a good academic, baseball, financial, social and cultural fit. Make a list of about fifty colleges. The list will skinny down fast. Some colleges won’t be interested in your son. Your son will lose interest in some colleges as he learns more.

On your own (your son with your help) can call and/or email college coaches expressing interest in the baseball program and the college. He can ask what are the best events to get in front of them this fall and next summer. You can get in front of colleges in individual showcases without a travel team.

The part someone else could provide some help is how to choose a travel team. Both my kids were recruited by travel programs. They were approached with “we believe this is your level of talent and this is the level we can place them in college ball.” They never tried out for travel teams.

Since you can’t afford another mistake stay away from dad coached teams. Your son needs an opportunity to play his positions. But the most important aspect to getting recruited is pound the ball. You hit, you play somewhere.

Good luck.

Organization culture matters. Run from that whole organization they tend to attract like minded coaches cause they lack basic principles and ethics. Get a organization with a good ethics system and a good recruiting department. Go where they value talent above butt kissing.  Daddy ball (I dislike this term because some dads know their stuff-in this case I fell it’s sounds like a DB situation) gets worse at the showcase level. Go watch games see the coaching style you like. Stalk the coach. (I do no shame) if he have a good moral code he will be a better figure for your son. It’s not just about coaching it’s about developing a young mind with the necessary tool to continue the sports or be a leader in the field he choose to follow.

This is all incredibly helpful. I appreciate all the honesty and insightful takes here. With this past team, he took a chance playing with some kids he knew and what we were told just wasn't what was. We won't make that mistake.

And as far as pounding the ball, he does that. He can hit and I know that helps with finding a spot. Once again, I appreciate all of this. We will be taking it all in when it comes to which team he plays for.

Your son can't "showcase" his skills if he doesn't play. Latch onto another team where there is a need for what he can bring to the table.

I'm also in the Mid-Atlantic and have a good sense of what's around if you want to reach out.

Lots of solid advice above. I did not read if your kid has recorded metrics. Unless you have the resources, he should sign up for a local showcase to get them with video. It will be needed for his recruitment. Yes there are kids who play better than their metrics, but the evaluators (at least the many my kid dealt with)  want both and know they can get them. 

From my perspective, the purpose of a showcase/travel team is to demonstrate skills and leverage the showcase/travel coaches network of college coaches.   In my experience, travel and showcase are synonymous. 

Most recruits need help with college coach introductions and access to the next level of baseball.  Showcase and travel coaches who know what they are doing, also have a vast network of college coaches that they are regularly in touch with.   It doesn't take much research to figure out what travel/showcase teams have created a pipeline of talent to college programs. 

Good luck!

Thanks for all the continued replies. We have been researching and I've definitely pushed my son to be the one leading it. He had a great private workout last night with a team that has an established pipeline and a proven model for developing and showcasing kids. And there are college connections. They remembered him from a past event, had his metrics and retested everything and he improved in everything they had from November: inf velo, exit velo (tee and toss); catcher velo. They have sent him their packet (they invited him to join) and he's evaluating. He has 2 other private workouts this week and one coach reached out to him to work out w/ existing team. So we will see. I appreciate all the feedback.

I implied something in my previous post I didn’t flat out state. Do not throw spaghetti off the wall to see what sticks. Don’t rely on being discovered. Don’t rely on the travel team and it’s coaches to be discovered. It’s on the player. Be proactive. There are plenty of poster’s kids here who got to the next level at individual events rather than travel teams. But the best, and easiest way is to have an advocate. This is someone with contacts willing to make the call to college coaches. I’m talking about coaches, not recruiting services.

Every school on my son’s final list was contacted by his travel coach about his ability and advised to see him play.

My daughter (softball) was actually found at a tournament. But she played for a respected program and over performed in a tournament other coaches were advised to come see her play. It was a college she never considered because she thought it was beyond her athletically. But it was the top college in her preferred major. She didn’t mind ending up a fourth outfielder for four years considering the big picture, life journey it set her on. Unless you’re a potential pro prospect college ball is just part of a big picture, forty year plan.

@SEBaseballDad99, RJM is spot on with his last post. Many travel ball coaches will tell you that you need them to advance. Many private instructors will say that too. All the recruiting services will tell you that as well. All of that is a bunch of money grab bullsh$t. What you need is for your son to be a really good player AND to have the right advocate to promote him - one that has credibility and connections.

@RJM - thanks for the extra bit of context there. He is working hard on advocating for himself and finding the right people who will help him with that. That is the big key...who are the RIGHT people and that's what we're trying to reconcile to get it right this time.

@adbono - 100% agreed.

What are his metrics? People on this board can tell you where they believe he fits. My line of thinking is if you don’t know chances are it’s D3. Unfortunately there are a lot of D3 prospects who start out with the belief they’re D1 prospects. They waste a lot of time and money chasing the wrong targets. There’s also a fine line between low level D1 and ranked D3. There are plenty of former high school stars playing D3 ball for quality college programs.

Right now, infield velo is 84. Catcher pop time is 2.12. 60 time is 7.4. Exit velo is 85. He's working on all of his metrics, as he grinds.

"can he read the bat"

Bob

Doesn’t matter if he can read the bat or smell the wind, at 7.4 he is about 99% D3 unless he just mashes…and exit velocity of 85 isn’t that.

@old_school Well, he continues to work on his game. He isn't satisfied with where he is. If he doesn't make it, it won't be because he didn't work hard enough. But I appreciate the feedback.

Without seeing him play the metrics seem to lend themselves to D3. 2.1 is a decent potential D3 pop time. Hopefully, he physically looks like a catcher and blocks pitches well. His exit velocity combined with foot speed doesn’t lend itself to corner fielder masher. I’m wondering how a 2.1 pop time squares with a 84 mph infield velocity. 2.1 is above average. 84 mph from infield, so so. But, it’s guessing without seeing him play.

There’s nothing wrong with playing D3. It’s still college baseball. There are many quality D3 baseball programs. What’s important is finding the best possible educational, baseball, financial, social and cultural fit regardless of level to have a positive college experience.

Did anyone see the old “scouting report” on Pete Rose? He had the 6 tool.

Bob

To get back to the question of what showcase teams are for, they are to show players to college coaches.  Currently your son seems to project as a D3 player, that means his year to be seen by college coaches is 17U (i.e. next summer).  At any rate, he was probably not recruitable this last summer.  You could say that a "showcase" team was not what he needed.  They knew that, that's why they allowed it to be daddyball.  Were any of the players getting actively recruited last summer?

Ultimately, there are various ways you can run a team.  A HS team should be the best 9 play, because you're trying to win.  A travel team should be pay-to-play, that is, everyone tried out and is about as good as each other, and gets some playing time - dad coach or not.  A genuine "showcase" team should have players all at about the same talent level, who play when colleges are there to see them.   Where it gets to be a problem is if you say you are running a travel/showcase team like a HS team, using "best players play" as an excuse to give some people (coaches' kids) more time than others.

IMO there are good things about playing on a travel team, namely playing with and against good players, and having good coaching and development.  I wish travel organizations would promote those things as the purpose, rather than implying that it's all about recruiting.

Travel teams don’t promote development and good coaching because most travel orgs do hardly any of either of those things. They recruit the best players they can get and then play way too many games and travel way too much and too far away. That way they can can promote exposure and the best orgs advance their best players - but I would argue that those players advance themselves (because of their talent) more than the org advances them (with their contacts). There are exceptions I know, but in general the better players do more for the travel orgs reputations than the orgs do anything that helps develop or advance those players. Only the best travel ball coaches teach and develop. The overwhelming majority just put together a schedule and manage a roster - and that’s all they want to do.

@Consultant posted:

Did anyone see the old “scouting report” on Pete Rose? He had the 6 tool.

Bob

For all Pete Rose talks about not being athletic it’s all relative. He was an all state high school baseball and football athlete in a large state. He was only “not athletic” compared to other top MLB baseball players.

PeteRose had more than a 6th tool. He would bite the nails out of a wall and spit them back at the opposition if it’s what it took to win. Ask Ray Fosse.

@adbono posted:

Travel teams don’t promote development and good coaching because most travel orgs do hardly any of either of those things. They recruit the best players they can get and then play way too many games and travel way too much and too far away. That way they can can promote exposure and the best orgs advance their best players - but I would argue that those players advance themselves (because of their talent) more than the org advances them (with their contacts). There are exceptions I know, but in general the better players do more for the travel orgs reputations than the orgs do anything that helps develop or advance those players. Only the best travel ball coaches teach and develop. The overwhelming majority just put together a schedule and manage a roster - and that’s all they want to do.

My son was not interested in playing close to home. The travel team had practices and instruction. But the major alterations to his swing and plate approach was done in the offseason. The frustrating thing was I paid to have an instructor teach my son what he was tuning out from me.

What I was really paying for was the program’s reputation and contacts. When they called a college coach and stated there was a player to look at the college coaches showed up.

SE Baseball … Is your son a top student? If so, he should do a Head First Showcase in 2022. Northeast is done on Long Island.

https://www.headfirsthonorroll.com/

@SEBaseballDad99 posted:

@old_school Well, he continues to work on his game. He isn't satisfied with where he is. If he doesn't make it, it won't be because he didn't work hard enough. But I appreciate the feedback.

I am glad he is determined and he should absolutely chase his dream. The reality is he needs a big jump in metrics to spark the interest of D1s. He should go where he is loved meaning the team has a plan for him.  My 2022 C/OF kid has the D1 metrics and unbiased eyes projected him there. He really only wanted to play in a HA school and opted for a HA D3 as an OF with a chance to compete at C because they have a plan for him to be a major contributor to the team meaning play significantly. I truly believe there will be a significant spike of 2022 talent at Jucos and D3s given the crazy transfer rule and talent out there. I would suggest he look at D3 schools in parallel.

@SEBaseballDad99 posted:

@old_school Well, he continues to work on his game. He isn't satisfied with where he is. If he doesn't make it, it won't be because he didn't work hard enough. But I appreciate the feedback.

I hope he kills it! His matrix as a rising JR are fine, they just have D3 written all over them. That is not a bad thing at all, it is probably better then you would imagine.

@RJM posted:

For all Pete Rose talks about not being athletic it’s all relative. He was an all state high school baseball and football athlete in a large state. He was only “not athletic” compared to other top MLB baseball players.

Pere Rose had more than a 6th tool. He would bite the nails out of a wall and spit them back at the opposition if it’s what it took to win. Ask Ray Fosse.

Pete Rose was rookie in 1963...I feel like it is fair to say he is an outlier from 60 years ago. Pretty sure that isn't relative to normal conversation. Plus baseball work ethic aside he isn't the guy I would want my kids to emulate in any other part of life.

For every Pete Rose, Eric Kratz, Chris Coste etc there are thousands of squandered lives chasing a dream that didn't really exist.