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Hello folks...

I haven't been the best friend of showcases in the past, but have listened to many of you and found many valid arguments you have presented in support of them.

I recently had a discussion with 2 Division I college coaches on the merits of showcases. Both of them agreed that the key ingredient for a successful showcase is to attract players and colleges from the same recruiting territories. I didn't understand what they meant, but now I do. I will try to explain.

Many colleges/universities don't have the full complement of scholarships, so they need to spend wisely. In the case of public schools, this means they have a pot of money to spend. And depending on a player's locale, will cost them one sum (in-state) or another sum (out-of-state) tuition. This apparently is not the case with many private schools. These schools typically allow in-state or out-of-state scholarships to cost the same with regards to the pool of money they have available.

For this reason, it is incumbent upon the showcase organizers to regionalize in many cases. It is for this reason that I take exception to many showcase tournaments. I have known players over the years here in MD to spend gobs of money going to FL or TX to play in showcases, only to find out later that the colleges in the mid-atlantic area weren't represented. For the exceptional player, this is not a problem, since that player will have opportunities to sign with the big-time schools anyway. But for the marginal Division I kid, the target market of the showcase folks (in my opinion), the long distance showcase seems like the wrong way to go.

Would appreciate others thoughts on this...
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larry - I think you raise an interesting point. I'm not sure I know enough to address it and its validity.

I will make one small point. But first our story. Our 04 son started with a local/regional showcase. He did well...got some interest from a local mid-level D1 school. He then tried a "more regional" (i.e. West Coast) tournament. He did well again and was then invited to a national showcase based on that. There, he did extremely well. From that many doors opened suddenly, including the door to the local D1 national powerhose school.

Point is...I'm not totally sure that the local powerhouse (15 minutes away) really noticed until he performed at the national showcase half a country away. Maybe they just wanted to see him against the best...I don't know? And I don't know that WE even knew how good he was until that national showcase. I just assumed there were many out there just as good or better.

Is this the path that others must take? No, clearly not. But it was a path that worked for him.

I'm often asked by parents now if their son is "good enough" to go to a showcase or play college ball. I answer that I don't know (which is true) even if I have doubts and I encourage them to "take their best shot." Thats what we did and it worked. Everyone deserves a shot and if it doesn't work, well then you gave it a try. Showcases are one way to gauge yourself that is better than most other venues. Just have a feedback loop (engineer-speak) and listen to the feedback and adjust what you do next...which may be to save your money and not attend any more of them.
A few things to ponder here

01-- many players from the Northeast head to the south southwest and west in search of that "bolt of lightning" --that one in amillion shot to play in warm weather--my guy did why shouldnt others?

02-- Many players and parents want to see their name in the ratings and rankings

03-- Some just want to go out of their region and see how their talents stacks up against the others in those warm weather regions

04--Coach Thompson--you seem to miss one big point in all this--the good showcase people know many college coaches and can recommend a player(s)and get interest for the boy based on their evaluation and their credibility with the college coaches.

05-- And who is to say that colleges from out of the region will not attend and recruit players--

just a few thoughts
Larry, the in state/out of state tuition is a valid point, and is one of the main reasons that I harp on academics so much.
Keep in mind that many states will waive out of state tuition for students meeting an academic criteria (say 3.5 GPA).
At the same time, a coach doesn't have to count academic money against his equivalency if the student athlete has a 3.5 GPA or is top 10% of his class or has a 1200 SAT 105 ACt score.

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