South Florida Bandits

South Florida Bandits are an organizaiton that brings out very strong opinions. Both positive and negative. They have a very controversial man at the top.

They get a lot of kids from New Jersey and New York, as well as Florida. It ain't cheap unless you are a blue chip, then it could be free. They have entered multiple teams in the same PG tournaments, so there are different levels of talent.

Search this website and you might find some interesting articles. IMO they are definitely a buyer beware organization. Do your homework!

I was able to find their teams pool play records from last years underclass in Ft. Myerrs. They had four teams enterred and three of them went 0-3 and from the looks of the runs scored/allowed were all blowouts. their fourth team won their pool with a 2-1 record...

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Originally posted by fillsfan:
South Florida Bandits are an organizaiton that brings out very strong opinions. Both positive and negative. They have a very controversial man at the top.

They get a lot of kids from New Jersey and New York, as well as Florida. It ain't cheap unless you are a blue chip, then it could be free. They have entered multiple teams in the same PG tournaments, so there are different levels of talent.

Search this website and you might find some interesting articles. IMO they are definitely a buyer beware organization. Do your homework!

In the past the SFB have put out some very talented teams, and less than talented teams. If you are considering this team, I would agree with fillsfan, you need to look closely and do your research.

They had seven teams at East Cobb 18U this year. One of them won its pool with a 4-1 record. The other 6 teams went a combined 7 wins, 21 losses, and 2 ties. If you can figure out how to make sure your son gets on the good team, you might be okay.

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Originally posted by Swampboy:
They had seven teams at East Cobb 18U this year. One of them won its pool with a 4-1 record. The other 6 teams went a combined 7 wins, 21 losses, and 2 ties. If you can figure out how to make sure your son gets on the good team, you might be okay.

If your kid is a pitcher say, and because of the players behind him loses that doent mean there will be no interest in him. Ever notice the scouts behind the plate?? all they need to see is five or six pitches and there mind is made up, even though there are seven innings. Your kid plays center field and absolutely rakes the ball against say The East Cobb all stars, D-1 players all, and the South Florida team gets smoked 10-2, does that diminish your son, absolutely not, he did great. What they are doing is SHOWCASEING YOUR SON IN THE BEST POSSIBLE CIRCUMSTANCE. Wins and losses are irrelevant!!!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Swampboy:
They had seven teams at East Cobb 18U this year. One of them won its pool with a 4-1 record. The other 6 teams went a combined 7 wins, 21 losses, and 2 ties. If you can figure out how to make sure your son gets on the good team, you might be okUOTE]Wins and losses dont matter!! what matters is that your son is put in the best possible situation to shine and show his talents thats what Mark Holtzman does, albeit at a cost. You are paying him for who he knows as much as the baseball he gives you

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Wins and losses are irrelevant!!!

Not entirely true. A team that advances deep in the playoffs of a tournament probably has better individual talent and, thus, more likely to draw scouts and be seen.

The Bandits have the right idea about these showcase tourneys. They showcase the player. That's it. they don't care about the w/l. Your player will ultimately decides where he goes with his talent and desire. No my son does not play for them but I am very familiar with their organization and people and kids that have played for them. and gary bark is correct. He knows everyone!

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Originally posted by 2013 Dad:

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Wins and losses are irrelevant!!!

Not entirely true. A team that advances deep in the playoffs of a tournament probably has better individual talent and, thus, more likely to draw scouts and be seen.

You know thats probably right because Holtzman does have some strong teams with better players and some weaker teams not many scouts watch unless tghey are looking at a particular kid. Holtzman gets 5500.00 for his service and here in Boston the three kids that have used it two went to D-1 schools and the other to Belmont Abbey D-2 in the Carolina's I think it works best if your kid isnt a stud and needs a push to be seen and get to a good school academically with baseball helping him get there.

Funny the way people write. "Oh my son doesn't play for him" When in fact he is going to. Mark himself has him listed.
$5500 is a bargain I think it's more like $7000 and that's before you travel and/or play a game. Be prepared for $15-20k for the summer and fall

I am looking for a summer team
does the Bandits have a website ??
If you can let me know i would appreciate it

Southfldad you have a PM.

Cape Coast Canes 18U summer program is $550 a summer and plays in the 5 best tournaments in the southeast.....If your son is interested have him check out the website and shoot me an email gregplecki@hotmail.com

catch 23 I dont know who you were refering to but since you directly quoted me i would suspect it is me. My son has not played one game for the bandits. I do however know a certain number of players and coaches from the organization. If my son is listed on some team that is fine with me.

At East Cobb, most teams play four of their five pool play games on remote fields at local high schools, colleges, or parks.

A college coach needs a specific reason--a known team or known prospects or a team that is unexpectedly making some noise by beating good teams and getting good write ups in the tournament blog--to motivate him to venture out from the East Cobb complex where he can see four games at once (and eventually see every team once) to go a school where he can see only one game at a time.

You can keep telling yourself that wins and losses don't matter, but a pick-up team with a losing record and a roster full of unknown players whose parents believed they needed to pay thousands of dollars for "exposure" simply is not going to motivate large herds of coaches to migrate over ten miles of North Georgia hills to watch them play.

When a franchise enters a half dozen teams in the same tournament, the college coaches will figure out pretty quickly which one is the "A" team and which ones are there to help cover expenses. If your son isn't on the "A" team, don't expect the brand name of the team to get him any extra looks.

Even a "pickup team" can draw scouts away from the main complex if you are pro-active in getting your players to communicate their schedules to teams of interest. Coaches are there to see kids and if someone expresses interest they will most likely get a look, even if, from the coach's perspective, it's to see who's a contender and who's not.

I took a "pickup team" to East Cobb 4 years ago and had a very favorable experience with coaches coming to remote locations to see the team play. Several of the team's players ended up signing with colleges they first connected with there.

I understand the reluctance to be with certain teams, and I do agree that a team full of scout magnets is your best bet. But if that's not an option for you for any reason, I wouldn't want you to conclude that East Cobb is not worth the trip, because it is.

Midlo,

Agree entirely.

A while back, I posted a comment on this thread that noted the number and performance of SFB teams at one tournament last year. A poster responded by asserting that the won-loss records of the teams are irrelevant, which I thought was employing wishful thinking to justify a big expense.

My question was basically, "How are you going to get coaches to want to see your games?" You had an answer for your pick-up team, and, knowing your reputation, I'm sure you charged your players less while working very hard to get to know them and find suitable opportunities for them.

I certainly was not disparaging East Cobb in any way. I think it's a wonderful event from both a competition and exposure point of view. However, parents have to know the set up, and they need a realistic plan for getting the value they seek from the experience.

I remain skeptical that paying top dollar for "exposure" and playing on a mediocre team of strangers is a good plan, though it undoubtedly has worked for some people. Some people do win the lottery, but that doesn't make lottery tickets a good investment.

Swampboy,

Think I know what you mean, but talent draws interest whether it is the team or the individual. The key word - Talent!

People would need to understand the internal communication that drives scouting and recruiting efforts and they would have a better understanding of what happens at those large events. Every game played is scouted by people who have experience in recognizing talent. If a player is not identified the way it is... He would not draw much interest with 1,000 scouts and recruiters in attendance.

Another assumption that is incorrect... All scouts and recruiters hang out at the East Cobb complex. Well, usually there are more there because there are four fields within walking distance. But overall, a very small percentage of the recruiters hang out at the complex. In fact, I don't know of any that just stay there. I often see more scouts at a single high school field game than the entire total at East Cobb.

Coaches and scouts come from all over the country. They do tend to follow teams and players from their area the most. Academic schools (Ivy League, etc.) tend to follow the players with good grades. Smaller colleges tend to follow the not so well known teams, hoping a player slips through the cracks. And of course, the well known teams with lots of talent are followed the very most where ever they are scheduled to play. The pools are set up so that every team will play a couple games against one of these top teams. This is done to give the unknown teams the opportunity to become a known team and to give those players a better chance to be identified by decision makers.

I agree that paying a lot for exposure can be a mistake. Especially, for anyone who lacks the neccessary talent. Yes, I agree, winning games increases chances to be seen by more people in every tournament.

However, with all due respect, I would have a hard time comparing it to the lottery. It doesn't take any talent to buy a lottery ticket or to win the lottery. No scout or recruiter can pick out the next lottery winner. And there actually are some players who might be much better off investing their money in the lottery.

Another thing... I sometimes have a problem when people call certain events Jupiter or East Cobb or Ft Myers. I understand the obvious reference, but there are many events held at Jupiter, East Cobb and Ft Myers.

It wouldn't be a problem except we have heard from players and parents saying they played at the Jupiter tournament or at East Cobb. We check and find out they are not listed in our database. Truth is there are events held at those places that do not draw lots of scouts or college recruiters.

That said, I guess it's not that big a deal. We too often refer to the big one in October as "Jupiter" and so do many of the scouts and recruiters. No one ever thinks that Jupiter has been held in Ft Myers and San Antonio in the past, or that East Cobb is played in 3 or 4 different counties in Georgia.

PG Staff,

I'm not sure we disagree about anything here. I think I didn't make myself clear.

Please let me clarify a few points:

1. My comments were intended to address the very narrow question of whether it is a good idea to pay a premium price to play for an organization that will field six or seven or more teams that a) are chiefly populated by players who believe they aren't getting adequate exposure, b) haven't established a reputation by playing together, and c) have a high likelihood of posting a losing record in pool play.

2. I wasn't comparing your tournament to the lottery. I was comparing buying a lottery ticket to paying a big fee to play on one of these teams and hoping it will draw coaches/scouts even if the team doesn't perform well. If everybody on the team is motivated by the desire to get attention they previously have not drawn--and who else would pay such a high fee?--this strategy seems to leave way too much to chance. As the father of a below-the-radar guy, I prefer the strategy of building a long-term relationship with a respected local coach who will get to know his players, teach them to play together, choose the right time and manner to showcase each individual, and stick with them until he finds the right match for each. It's cheaper and more likely to be successful.

3. I also didn't say scouts/coaches just hang around the complex. I said they need a reason to go to the remote fields. Last summer, we showed up at a remote field and found it swarming with guys wearing polo shirts emblazoned with major conference school logos. Unfortunately, they were there to see a stud pitch in the game before ours. But they certainly do get out and about to see the players and teams that interest them. A team made up of unknown players--regardless of the talent level of the individuals--that isn't winning is less likely to give the coaches a reason to come see it.

4. I also acknowledge that PG events (See? I'm trainable. Didn't call it East Cobb.) create the ideal conditions in which serendipity can happen. My son got a lot of calls from coaches, including from the school where he eventually signed, who had almost certainly been drawn to his game by the reputation of our opponent.

Does that clear things up?