Son has a conflict between AC try-out and Summer Team Tourney

When my son was 17 he was invited to an area code tryout. It conflicted with regular season Connie Mack games and his coach discouraged him from attending although he really wanted to. I think he still regrets not participating. We were never quite sure we made the correct decision, afterall a significant purpose of playing on the team was for exposure, yet we were asked not to attend the tryout which would have provide excellent exposure.

The Area Code tryouts are a great opportunity. Shame on a summer coach for discouraging a player from attending.

quote:

Originally posted by biggerpapi:
The Area Code tryouts are a great opportunity. Shame on a summer coach for discouraging a player from attending.

Have to agree with this. What's the point in having other players if you can't use them once in a while.

Talk to the summer team coaches, work it out. If there are negative consequences from their options to attend A/C's then (IMHO) that is a strong indication there is a problem with the summer team/organization. In the end, as a parent, you have the obligation to do what is right for your son(s). And, even thought they are young, the opportunity may not be there in 2012. There are no guarantees....

GED10DaD

quote:

Originally posted by floridafan:
We were never quite sure we made the correct decision, afterall a significant purpose of playing on the team was for exposure, yet we were asked not to attend the tryout which would have provide excellent exposure.

Very good point! There will be approximately 100 scouts from MLB and colleges if this tryout is anything like the one my son attended. Very few weekend tournaments can provide anything close to that exposure. A good coach, who knows what is going on, will understand this. The one's that don't get it, are probably a waste of time.

Any travel ball coach who knows ANYTHING about baseball encourages his kids to get to an Area Code tryout. In fact the best will be calling the local scouts to make sure his best kids are there if they are not invited.

Something does not add up here.

Holsombach, sent you another one. that was my fault.

Thanks for the replies, The tourney last for 5 days, I'm thinking son(s) could pitch Wed. or Thurs a few innnings and then still be ok for Sunday.

One thing I have learned over the past couple of years is that you need to do what you want to do ( I mean your son's) Don't let some one else tell you what to do. These opportunities only come around once. Let the kids decide not the coach. They are going to remember this stuff for the rest of their lives.

I have a different opinion.

While I was asked for my input, attending was no issue, but was not aware that it conflicted with games.

We always taught son that team obligation came first, and in HS he gave up his opportunity to go to Area Code because he was involved with serious Connie Mack summer ball. He essentially gave it up for the team, it never made a difference.

I would talk to the coaches (your sons not you) and explain and try to work out a schedule, as they are pitchers and you don't want too much too soon.

If it's not meant to be, and your kids are good, they will have other opportunities. It might be a different situation for your older one. The younger one is still young, has time.

Some people think that doing all of this stuff is necessary, it's not. And while one does have to do what is right for their players (everyone) keep in mind the player that sacrifices for the team usually is the winner in the end.

JMO.

Thus the conflict, we have never missed a game with our summer team. I'll tell the boys they need to explain to their summer coach the situation, and see what he feels they should do. He might want them to take full advantage of the AC try-out. I think there is another player on our summer team that is going to miss a game or two this summer to attend a college camp. But I don't know the specifics, just heard about it in passing.

AC AC AC AC AC AC AC AC AC

Area Codes is by far the very next best thing to doing well at Jupiter.

Go to the Area Codes. Get to whatever else next.

Here in California, there are Area Code tryouts and there are also Area Code camps, which promise that a few campers will get invited to the real tryout. An invitation to an Area Code tryout should not be turned down, while an invitation to an Area Code camp is very much a long shot. The tryouts are very good (and free) exposure.

In my opinion, skipping the Area Code tryouts in favor of a travel team doesn't make any sense, and I think any travel team coach that would encourage skipping the tryout is doing a real disservice to his players. Certainly the top teams in this neck of the woods actively encourage their players to take part.

As for placing a higher priority on the travel team, well, if a player is invited to the Tournament of Stars, or trials for USA Baseball, or the Aflac game, would we advise him to skip those opportunities in favor a travel team schedule? Put bluntly, player almost never skip these, nor do they skip the Area Code games. By far the best way to get invited to play in the Area Code games is to be selected out of tryouts, and skipping the tryouts implies skipping the Area Code games also. Go to the tryout.

it was a few years ago that we did all the showcase stuff. back then most were free by invitation, the AC event was very well attended by both coaches and scouts. i'd say at least 75 in attendence that day.

it will get you more exposure than you can imagine, in my opinion anyway.

Don't think twice about it..Area Code tryouts and here's why.

I writing this morning from my hotel room in College Park Maryland waiting for our son's last ACC game of his freshman year. He ended up here because the head coach saw him at Area Code tryout.

The college and pro exposure was unreal the day he attended and by the way his summer coach had no problem with him going.

quote:

Originally posted by 3FingeredGlove:
As for placing a higher priority on the travel team, well, if a player is invited to the Tournament of Stars, or trials for USA Baseball, or the Aflac game, would we advise him to skip those opportunities in favor a travel team schedule? Put bluntly, player almost never skip these, nor do they skip the Area Code games. By far the best way to get invited to play in the Area Code games is to be selected out of tryouts, and skipping the tryouts implies skipping the Area Code games also. Go to the tryout.

I do beleive that one of the sons is youth USA age, the other a bit older, this his junior or senior summer? I didn't know that really young players are chosen to attend AC.

I received a pm from the OP, that they were asked to try out as they were familiar with the coaches where the tryout will be held, did I think that it would be a good idea to expose them (especially since one was so young) to it this early. I said yes, go for it. Absolutely. Now I am wondering if it was really for my advice or just to let me know his kids got an invite. I mean it's pretty obvious that you don't pass up an invite like that, right?

However, since that pm, things have changed obviously (nothing mentioned about the conflict), so considering the circumstances that I am aware of (being young) I suggested in my reply above to sticking with the travel team.

During my 17 years of involvement [1987-2004] with the Area Code Games, this situation was rare. The summer team coaches have similar goals. "They desire opportunities for their players".

If a pro scout recommends a player, the player has tools and talent.
The objective of a player attending the AC tryouts is for the scouts
to provide a supporting evaluation of players in a specific scouting area. A player can no longer "hidden". Having the 40 college coaches attending is a bonus for the player.

However Bobby Jenks *Montana] and Albert Pujols were selected for the
Goodwill Series and AC games by player agents. We respected the
evaluations of the player agents.

Delmon Young was 13 and he played on the 1999 AC team with Connor Jackson, Jason Kubel, Aaron Hill, James Shields, Mike Nickeas, Sergio Santos and Chris Cordeiro all future ML players.

Gerald Laird was 15 years of age when he was selected. The tryouts are a great opportunity for parents to observe the unique relationship between scouts, agents and college coaches exchanging information on players. With the $$$$ involved, ML teams do not
want mistakes.

Bob
Founder of Area Code Baseball and Goodwill Series events

Attending or not attending an AC tryout or the event itself is NOT a make or break situation. In some cases where the player needs more exposure, I am sure it is invaluable.

This is a different day and age, IMO, the AC games are just another scouting event for ML and college coaches. Correct me if wrong, but the AC game of today is NOT the AC of days when there were no big tournaments, showcases, extensive travel and oh yes the internet. Draft rules are different also, no?

Gerald Laird, pretty good catcher still, he's Yadi's backup.

1st son incoming jr. just finished soph year 2013 grad

2nd son incoming soph. just finished freshman year 2014 grad

I know they are young, but we are going anyway, doing the best we can, soaking up the entire experience , hopefully having a great time, competing as hard we can, meeting people and whatever happens, happens. Hopefully someone will say "hey I like the kid, young but promising.

We encourage our kids to attend the area code tryout if invited. We actually communicate with scouts on getting players an invited to the tryout. I understand the commitment to the summer team but each player needs to do what is right for them. We have players attend college camps, PG showcases and other events and we work around it. One thing we don;t allow is playing with another team. Having attending the AC tryouts and games just about every year I would say it is must do. We would like to go the Connie Mack world series or win any tournament but as a program we feel helping each player with their goal is of more importance and the basis of our program

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
Attending or not attending an AC tryout or the event itself is NOT a make or break situation. In some cases where the player needs more exposure, I am sure it is invaluable.

This is a different day and age, IMO, the AC games are just another scouting event for ML and college coaches. Correct me if wrong, but the AC game of today is NOT the AC of days when there were no big tournaments, showcases, extensive travel and oh yes the internet. Draft rules are different also, no?....

It seems to me that you're saying that since DK didn't attend the AC tryouts, and it worked out fine for him, and since you believe that the AC games aren't as important as they used to be, then the AC games don't carry a lot of value.

To be blunt, none of us should be evaluating baseball opportunities based on how the event compares in importance to yesteryear. Scouts and coaches live in the present. Nor should we draw much conclusion from the actions and results of one very high profile player. I agree that attending a AC tryout isn't necessary. One of the more familiar posters here has a son who didn't attend the tryouts, because he knew he had little prospect of making the team-- he isn't a draft prospect coming out of high school. But the key is that he already had excellent exposure for a variety of reasons.

Now think about a player who has just completed his sophomore year of high school, and is invited to the tryouts. Sure, he can wait one more year, but what if he is injured the following year and can't participate? Every year we see players who end up having less opportunity to play in college, because an injury prevents them from demonstrating their ability. In that situation, attending the AC tryouts as a sophomore (or even freshman) would provide a credible reference. Yes, the player can get a similar effect from attending a showcase that offers believable ratings (e.g. PG), but only if the player does well at the showcase. And the AC tryouts are about $500 cheaper. Probably even more important is the player who isn't too injured to participate, but is down on velocity or 60 yd time or can't generate his best bat speed.

I believe that there is a campaign-like aspect to getting recruited or even drafted. It is never too soon to get name recognition-- assuming the player has ability. And an invitation to the AC tryouts means that a knowlegeable evaluator sees ability. [BTW, just like political campaigns, where most of the hopefuls find that they don't have sufficient support to get elected, a baseball player may find that he needs to adjust his sights and expectations. This is also valuable, but not particularily germane to this discussion.]

Players should take the opportunity to participate in invitational (truly invitational) events whenever they arise.

From my perspective, it is about goals. Travel baseball is about exposure, and AC tryouts is about exposure. AC gives your son greater exposure, therefore he should try to go to AC to get the best and most exposure possible.

I look at travel baseball a little differently now than I did a few years ago while we were involved in a national level team. We thought it was about the team.....and it was to an extent as long as everybody's goals were the same. That extent ended when an individual had an opportunity to extend to levels beyond the team (ie USA baseball tryouts, junior olympics etc...). These individuals were encouraged to go to these events by the coaches, and showcase their talents....and they did. I think you need to do what is best for your son's long term baseball future. Your son should be able to advocate these thoughts to the travel coaches. If the coaches don't understand, their goals are not in your son's best interest. Carpe diem.

3FG,
Has nothing to do with what my son did or did not do, what someone elses does either. I want parents to understand that sometimes you can't get it all in, and sometimes you can, sometimes you are not asked, sometimes you are, and that missing any huge event is not going to make you or break you. If you work hard, you will get the opportunity.

You better believe that when my kids made commitments, they kept them. Parents do things differently these days, sorry, I am old fashioned in my approach to parenting.

The OP sent a pm and asked for my advice (did he ask anyone else also)that they were asked to attend, even though he was told they were too young. So what did I think? I said go for it, at the time (a few days before), it was not mentioned that they had a tourney commitment. I fully encouraged him to take advantage. He was afraid that perhaps his sons would be too young and be embarrassed. I still encouraged. The pm went back and forth a few times, and I have given the OP advice on several occassions as to good advice for his sons.

However, if he had already made up his mind, got advice, why did he come here asking? Why not just ask those he has in a PM?

I mean seriously, what conflict was there, if he had gone to the coach and they discouraged it than there is a conflict, correct? I wasn't so sure of exactly what the conflict was, but I did think that he needed to let someone other than me know his sons were invited.

So TPM, it sounds like one those posts where "My kid was asked to attend private tryout with Stanford coach" Should he go, or attend his sister's birthday party"? Good for you for setting the record straight.

Sorry to see you take it in the chin here. Now you have to admit your son is a blue chipper and to us with mortal sons, you cannot compare between the two. You are one of the few lucky American parents who's son was called to play for more than food money.

As I've stated before, son attended AC tryouts and was recruited because he was seen there. Now for the AC games themselves, Bryce Harper was there same time as son, he is two years behind him so if the younger player is a future blue chipper, they get invited. Seems MLB can't get enough of seeing the sure bets. Our son got no benefit by attending the AC games. They were as advertised, many scouts and very good mostly top ten draft picks.

So it appears no more can be said of OP question as he has made the tough choice to attend.

quote:

Originally posted by Pop Up Hitter dad:
So it appears no more can be said of OP question as he has made the tough choice to attend.

This has nothing to do with what my player did, or where he is at. We did what we felt was right for him and we didn't have to gather 10 different opinions from people who knew nothing about him as a player, but I am glad you see where I am going.

All players should be so fortunate as to have that conflict.

My point is, I don't want people that wish they had that conflict to think that this is a MUST do. IMO, it's not.

I am with fenwaysouth, it should be about goal setting, and working towards certain events that may benefit the player. Obviously this is great exposure, but playing in big tournies also provide great exposure.

According to the OP this is a "national" travel ball team. And the HS they attend is one of the best and champions as well. Plus younger son has had scouts talk to him as well as D1 attention.

Only the parent can decide what is right for their particular player, and do it at the right time.

If you ask 10 people you might get 10 different answers, as all of our players are different.

I gave my opinion based on past posts and that was provided to me about the players, the HS team and the travel team. I think if you all go back and read you will see that his son is on the radar.

It was 1998, Josh Beckett arrived in Long Beach from Houston, Texas. He had many opportunities to attend "showcase events, however he selected the Area Code games as the the only event to attend.

The scouts requested that I pitch Josh Friday night at Blair Field.
There were 300 scouts in attendance all with their radar guns pointed to the pitcher's mound. His 3 innings resulted in consistent 97 mph.

That night on the Rangers team were three 1st round drafts pitchers.

Each summer, I received over 400 phone calls from parents wanting to know "how do I get my son into the tryouts or games".

There were times when I considered to "close" the games to scouts only, however my informal committee of 4 pro scouts and one Scouting Director advise me to continue as we did in 1987.

Bob
PS: Thank you for writing "Three finger". I hope we can meet June 30 at the Stanford Camp.

After reading all of this a few times I went back again and read the original post. Call me dumb, but I just don't see the conflict. Common sense says go to the tourney team and tell them exactly what you stated in the original post. It is a respected team so they understand the significanse of the invite. Chances are, they have others from their organization playing as well. Good chances they will support your decision, but give them the opportunity to respond. After all, they will (or do) know you and your sons alot better than any of us.

No Question - you go to the Area Code Tryout. The reason a kid plays select/showcase baseball is to be seen. In all liklihood, the most concentrated collection of college coaches and MLB scouts that he will be seen by will be at the Area Code Tryout. The fact that the team's coach wouldn't know that is surprising. My son was invited to the Area Code tryout following his Soph year, and it made all the difference in the world in getting seen and in leading to several D1 offers during his Jr year.

quote:

Originally posted by AllBackYard:
No Question - you go to the Area Code Tryout. The reason a kid plays select/showcase baseball is to be seen. In all liklihood, the most concentrated collection of college coaches and MLB scouts that he will be seen by will be at the Area Code Tryout. The fact that the team's coach wouldn't know that is surprising. My son was invited to the Area Code tryout following his Soph year, and it made all the difference in the world in getting seen and in leading to several D1 offers during his Jr year.

I think it unfair to blame the coach, he probably wasn't even aware that they were going until he changed the summer schedule so in all fairness, he is to be given the benefit of doubt.
I don't see a conflict here either. Perhaps sometimes we as parents need to stop and decide for oursleves what makes sense and what doesn't.

Just a suggestion.

The boys talked to the their summer coach, he said that he already knew they had been invited, and wondered if they were plannning on attending.

Also added that they could play in the field if they wanted to in the days prior to the showcase, whatever they wanted to do was fine with him and he wants to hear how it went when they return.

See, all that worry for nothing! Now, go win an invite to Long Beach!

I doubt we see an invite, but it will be good for them to exp. it