Southern showcases/combines

Great question and I'll look forward to reading some answers.  My 2021 would also like to play in the South, if possible, in part to avoid so many cold weather games.

It is important to find out if your kid is likely headed towards a D3 or D1 path, and I can tell you that as a parent there is no way I can accurately assess or project my son's skill level, I leave that up to the pros such as his travel ball coaches and trusted former pro coaches, players & scouts.

Some camps & showcases are more geared towards smaller schools.

SchollySearchn posted:

We live in Northern Virginia, my son is interested in schools located farther south. How does he get in front of them without having to go to each school’s own camp? Is it best to pinpoint the individual schools and then find out what showcases they plan to attend, or are there showcases where it’s generally known that he could get in front of “a bunch” of them eadult? 2020 has not narrowed down his list yet, and  realistically won’t be able to for a couple weeks yet due to end of school exams and baseball schedule. The NY Showball, both academic  and mega camps look to draw northeast, mid Atlantic, New England and just a smattering from elsewhere. I’ve not checked Headfirst, nor compared Showball’s Florida attendees (but adding a FL camp might break the bank. Not sure) 

thoughts?

 

Snowballs Florida showcase is pretty good.

But I am going to be very honest with you about playing in the southern region. If you look at rosters, you will find most players are regional. Here in Florida, besides reasonable instate tuition for state schools, coaches have an easier time awarding athletic scholarships  because of the Bright Futures Scholarships available from the Florida lottery. That means if the student  ( any) meets criteria they can have the tuition paid for  up to 100%. Miami recruits close to the university, and gives needs based endowments to most because many can't or never will afford the tuition as it is private, housing in South Florida is very, very expensive.

As for the many D2s in the Sunshine State league, except 2, are private with tuition exceding 50k a year. With only 9 scholarships available, most families are able to get need based grants, along with Bright Futures helps a lot to make school affordable. The most well known D2 program, University of Tampa recruits and gets D1 transfers. Because the state has very good JUCO programs, they feed into the state's D1 programs. 

So my point? It is that it has become harder and harder for out of state players to come to Florida as out of state tuition is very very costly. It makes more sense for a coach to recruit within state, perhaps those out of state within the region. But the player from the North, either has to be exceptional or folks able to afford 4 years for a degree that can be gotten anywhere.

I am assuming this would be the same for most state universities. 

IMO, it is a parents responsibility to guide the player in the right direction, which would be to attend school for the main purpose of obtaining a degree, baseball being the vehicle to which to help pay for part of it, not place the player and his family in debt that would take forever to recover.

No doubt the weather in the South is ideal. But my suggestion is to be realistic in your search. And keep in mind that the farther south that you go, the less programs you might find as the right fit. 

TPM - that is very helpful information, thank you.

Question:  if a player attends a Junior College in Florida for a year or two, do they then establish in state residency?

3and2Fastball posted:

TPM - that is very helpful information, thank you.

Question:  if a player attends a Junior College in Florida for a year or two, do they then establish in state residency?

No. The student will still be considered a dependent, thus it is the parent's residency that is of concern. There are exceptions, but unless he happens to get married or have a kid (among other things), the student will still be considered a non-resident. 

http://www.fldoe.org/schools/h...uition-purposes.stml

While there guidelines, I am sure that after 18, with a verified legit address, drivers license and registered car in state, it's possible. 

I believe that OOS tuition for FL Jucos is expensive. It might be a good path to a D1, but the obstacle would be getting recruited first. 

There’s more states than just Florida in the South. 

Maybe 2020 has a large trust fund and tuition is irrelevant.

Maybe we are planning on moving.

Maybe he has a health problem that would benefit from a warmer climate for a greater portion of the year but doesn’t preclude him from continuing to play baseball. 

Maybe we already spend winters in FL/GA/SC etc and residency isn’t an actual obstacle. 

Maybe the other parent lives further south and he would like to be closer.

One of these statements IS a fact. I’ll leave you to guess. I appreciate the warning, and your willingness to share your knowledge.  I’m still left with the question of the original post.

If anyone can give me suggestions, Thanks!! 

SchollySearchn posted:

There’s more states than just Florida in the South. 

I am just giving an example within my state. You seem to be just learning about the process, so I thought I would give you an idea how it works. You mentioned the Florida Showball camp. The one in October is mostly FL programs, more D2 than D1.  The one in november is mostly attended by northeast programs.

For the deep south, you might want to make sure that your son is familiar with those regions before any decisions are made.

Virginia, North Carolina have many great programs. I dont get why your son is not pursuing interest in your area.

Dont always think that the grass is greener somewhere else.

Huh? If you think that its that easy then check out rosters in the region you are looking for. 

So if one of those mentioned (an obnoxious reply)  is that you have deep pockets attend Perfect Games underclass showcase in Ft Myers.

TPM posted:

Huh? If you think that its that easy then check out rosters in the region you are looking for. 

So if one of those mentioned (an obnoxious reply)  is that you have deep pockets attend Perfect Games underclass showcase in Ft Myers.

 

I don’t think it’s “that easy” to find out an idea of who’s going to show up where.  That’s why I asked this in the SHOWCASE forum! Ya know- In case anyone  has attended some and thus have first hand knowledge of who was there. That’s all! 

I mentioned that “perhaps” there’s a Trust Fund. For HIM. Not me. Or the family. For HIS actual College expenses. What is obnoxious about that? I ALSO mentioned that I was looking at the Florida Showball BUT that “adding a Florida Showcase might break the bank”. So, please keep the judgement to yourself. Anyone who actually HAS a Trust Fund doesn’t necessarily enjoy a fabulous life - someone has to be DEAD in order for them to “benefit” from it.  

Thanks for the info RE: Florida Showball. And I’ll look into PG Ft Meyers. 

Maybe he wants to major in Marine Biology! There’s many reasons for someone to look outside of their region. Academics is one, actually. 

TPM posted:

SchollySearchn posted:

There’s more states than just Florida in the South. 

I am just giving an example within my state. You seem to be just learning about the process, so I thought I would give you an idea how it works. You mentioned the Florida Showball camp. The one in October is mostly FL programs, more D2 than D1.  The one in november is mostly attended by northeast programs.

For the deep south, you might want to make sure that your son is familiar with those regions before any decisions are made.

Virginia, North Carolina have many great programs. I dont get why your son is not pursuing interest in your area.

Dont always think that the grass is greener somewhere else.

TPM, I’m curious... I don’t get why you care why my son might be pursuing schools outside of our state.

We are primarily focused on researching interesting academic schools right now, and then asking “Could he play ball there too?” If the answer is “yes!” Then that school is added to a master list. Regional or not. 

I see that you are from Florida, and yet your son attended Clemson. Was that difficult in some way that causes you to discourage others now?

Interestingly, Clemson is a school my son is looking at since we have family that live nearby and are also alumni. Can you talk to me about how your son got to Clemson from FL? 

The FT Myers showcase is a good one, as well as headfirst, and Jupiter of course.  TPM didn't steer you wrong that most coaches look local, with the exception of the extreme upper D1's, they look anywhere they want because their name is known.

Unless your son is at the tippy top of the player pyramid, you may have issues showing coaches that he wants to be in the south and not Virginia.  My best suggestion is to go to camps at specific schools.  If you show up in Ft. Myers you could just be looking for a PG grade for a school in Virginia.  You show up at a Clemson camp, that is showing interest in specifically Clemson.

SchollySearchn posted:

TPM posted:

SchollySearchn posted:

There’s more states than just Florida in the South. 

I am just giving an example within my state. You seem to be just learning about the process, so I thought I would give you an idea how it works. You mentioned the Florida Showball camp. The one in October is mostly FL programs, more D2 than D1.  The one in november is mostly attended by northeast programs.

For the deep south, you might want to make sure that your son is familiar with those regions before any decisions are made.

Virginia, North Carolina have many great programs. I dont get why your son is not pursuing interest in your area.

Dont always think that the grass is greener somewhere else.

TPM, I’m curious... I don’t get why you care why my son might be pursuing schools outside of our state.

We are primarily focused on researching interesting academic schools right now, and then asking “Could he play ball there too?” If the answer is “yes!” Then that school is added to a master list. Regional or not. 

I see that you are from Florida, and yet your son attended Clemson. Was that difficult in some way that causes you to discourage others now?

Interestingly, Clemson is a school my son is looking at since we have family that live nearby and are also alumni. Can you talk to me about how your son got to Clemson from FL? 

Son was a draft consideration in FL, got a lot of offers from Florida schools as his tuition pre pay and Bright Futures brought his award amount to over 100%. However, son decided to go work under Kevin O'Sullivan ( now UF head coach and #1 program in country as well as last years CWS champs),  was the pitching coach at Clemson who recruited lots of high profile players from Florida, his home state. He was given almost a full scholarship to not go pro and not attend a Florida program. Thats how it works with top prospects.

Sully saw my son at WWBA in Jupiter a year before he committed there.

Understand that at that time 25% minimum and only 27 scholarships and 35 max roster didn't exist.

Why do I know about FL recruiting, you did read my bio, correct?  I am not making this stuff up. Do your homework, research ALL programs in FL, JUCO, D1, D2. And you can also do the same for states such as Georgia, South Carolina. These states tend to also recruit their state players, also because of lottery money which assists the coaches in their allowed budget. 

Son went back to finish his degree at Clemson 2 years ago. Good friends with all of the coaches, Monte Lee a great coach. Very small coaching world. Clemson actually has the ability to recruit top prospects all over the country, on their facilities alone. Just having relatives as alumni doesn't make a player attractive to them or any other program unless you are a direct relation and can receive alumni scholarship money. The player has to have the tools they require for their program.

You asked about  the Showball showcase. I gave you pretty good info. It would not have served your purpose, I suggested Ft Myers, PG.  I also think I gave a pretty good summary of how things work in recruiting. This isn't as simple as it seems. There are about 300 D1 programs and thousands in your sons grad year looking for opportunities. It's all about how the player can help the program WIN.

Cacogal gave you good advice, though I don't agree 100% about attending camps necessarily will get you a serious look at some programs. They are to make money for their volunteer assistants and added assistants salary. Make sure that it's a prospect camp not a general camp, when allowed. Get on a travel team that plays on college campuses. There are a lot of folks here whose sons got opportunities doing just that.

My final suggestion to you is to stop trying to challenge me, but spend your time more wisely worrying about the task before your son.

Any other questions you can send in a pm. Other than that, I think I have explained myself pretty well.

I forgot something. For everyone.

Dont send info to coaches unless you have info that would be of use to them.

My advice and always, go to a reputable showcase for a rating and ranking. This info is what peaks coaches attention to further take a look.

3and2Fastball posted:

Great question and I'll look forward to reading some answers.  My 2021 would also like to play in the South, if possible, in part to avoid so many cold weather games.

It is important to find out if your kid is likely headed towards a D3 or D1 path, and I can tell you that as a parent there is no way I can accurately assess or project my son's skill level, I leave that up to the pros such as his travel ball coaches and trusted former pro coaches, players & scouts.

Some camps & showcases are more geared towards smaller schools.

As you can see, I’ve only got a little bit more info than what I started with. He’s already playing on a high level travel team that will be playing at colleges, etc. and that my indeed be enough. But, I’ve begun to answer my own question anyway.  The event my son is going to in our own state Sunday will have a large number of NC, SC, plus Tulane. So it would seem, the colleges attending this showcase are recruiting out of state. I’ll get you the list if you’re interested. 

SchollySearchn posted:

The event my son is going to in our own state Sunday will have a large number of NC, SC, plus Tulane. So it would seem, the colleges attending this showcase are recruiting out of state. I’ll get you the list if you’re interested. 

If you are talking about the Dynamic Spring Skills Combine, you are on an excellent path. My RHP went several years ago (weather moved it inside, like this year) and it was well worth the money and time.

Good luck!

Yes the Dynamic showcase has attending schools in the  geographical area, which was my original suggestion for someone living in NVA to pursue.

FFXfireman posted:

SchollySearchn posted:

The event my son is going to in our own state Sunday will have a large number of NC, SC, plus Tulane. So it would seem, the colleges attending this showcase are recruiting out of state. I’ll get you the list if you’re interested. 

If you are talking about the Dynamic Spring Skills Combine, you are on an excellent path. My RHP went several years ago (weather moved it inside, like this year) and it was well worth the money and time.

Good luck!

Thanks, Yes, though because of a big family event later in the day, he’s only signed up for pitching so we can race back to Manassas in time.  It’s not only been changed to indoors, but moved to RICHMOND, as well!!  🙄