What Quality Tournaments 14u-18u has your son attended ?

I am in NW Ohio....so I can help with some of the "local stuff".  Pastime tourneys have really gotten to be good, competitive tourneys over the past couple of years.  We played in several at 14U-16U.  Of course you'll run into a weaker team or two, but most of the teams are good.  Playing at the tourneys at bigger venues (U of M /Ohio State / ND) seems to draw the best competition as the lure of playing at the big stadiums is a huge draw. I'd also strongly consider Rick Goff's Michigan Major Elite.  He kind of got shafted by the USSSA guys, but his tourney continues to bring in big names from all over the midwest. Any of the Cincy Flames events are good as far as competiton and field...but be prepared to drive as much as an hour from your hotel....sometimes twice a day...lol.   You'll hear a lot about the Black Swamp tourney in NW Ohio...skip it..the competition isn't nearly as good as the other tourneys I've mentioned. When you get to 16U if you really want to play the best and not have to go too far from home, look into the Midwest Prospect League, run by the Indiana Bulls I believe....and the All Prospect WS run by the Midwest Pelicans from Cleveland.

Those are all very good tournaments. I will add Buckeye Elite (in Columbus), All american run by Ohio Elite on Memorial Day weekend (in Columbus and a really good one to start the season off), Midland tournament in Cincinnati.

As far as Pasttime I have had nothing but good results but I know of others that have not. I think Buckeye is correct, look for thier bigger ones, check on thier website who is registers and that will help. We played in a couple that had 40-60 teams, but at 16u we went to Pittsburgh and had 6 teams, other 5 were local and not much of a tournament.

Midwest Prospect league is a great relatively new thing vs tournaments. From outside looking in, looks like you get really good competition all weeknd long 

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These are all Good suggestions. They have good competition. But as your son gets older and starts playing 17u or even 16u you cannot just expect to be in these tournaments and be seen, unless you have singular talent. 

Make sure the schools that your son is interested in will be there and they know he will. 

I agree on the Pasttime tournaments.  The couple we did this year had great turnout and good competition.  Plus, 15U and 16U are combined so it's even more challenging for the 15Us.  And you can start dragging him around the campuses to check out other things besides baseball.  I think my son was kind of amazed at how BIG campuses are, and how some are like their own little cities while others are sprawling and mixed in with towns, like U of M.  If you are just thinking about exposure, you might want to check out a local PBR showcase next summer if you think he's up for it.  Most of the local D1s were there with clipboards and it gives you stats to see how he stacks up against a lot of other top players.  If these are schools he's interested in, it might be worth it to get in front of them.  

Just did Super 17 World Series at Diamond Nation in NJ. Really good baseball. Teams from all over NE. 

Thanks for the info guys. I just want to make sure the team that he will be playing for is in quality tournaments. At least now if I ask where they will be playing, I'll have idea if they are good tournaments or not.Those Past time tournaments added bonus of playing on college fields will be good for us. Hoppefully, I can find a team that will have a good mix of tournaments next year . 

Actually what you will find is most really good tournaments have a combo of HS and college fields. From when I used to book tournaments for my team, the sooner you get your entry fee paid the better chance of being on a college field. That is not an exact science but seemed to work.

I think you / your son should thinking how far from home he is willing to go to college and adjust from there as well. If he only wants to be 3 hours from home, No need to go to Perfect Game Juniper probably (although there will be those colleges within your radius there), If he is open to wherever, then being at those kind of tournaments really can help. Target where the colleges he is interested in go watch, make sure he tells them when he is playing and go from there.

From a 15U point of view, not a lot of colleges are watching unless your son is in very upper echelon, 16U, still upper echelon (top 20 in state of Michigan in his class). 17U is the key summer (between junior and senior year). 18U is for almost everyone of them after they graduate and they are already set where they are going. 17U and 18U are almost always not separated at tournaments.

Look into the Cinny flames baseball tournaments in Ohio. Its a mix of HS and College fields

all through out the Cincinnati area.  you might even get in  to see a cincinnati reds games one day. 

we just got back from Cincinnati this past weekend and there were about 72 team total at this 17U / 18U tourn.

You also have Lexington ,KY and Nashville Tenn. summer tournaments.

Joe

For flames, just as fyi, they charge admission daily. and even by game. Last year we had 2 games in one day at 2 different fields, We were expected to pay admission fee at both. they did not have an all tournament pass Most tournaments in Ohio (actually all but CABA World Series and flames that I have attended in last 4 years), there is no admission fee, CABA gave you opportunity to buy a tournament pass

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In terms of enjoying yourself at a tournament (pool play competition may not be very high) it is hard to beat the Slumpbuster tournaments run in Omaha during the College World Series.

We just went this summer. They do it during the week of championship series, Start Tuesday, end Thursday. Part of it as I understand is players get a ticket to each game of CWS championship series. Scheduling wise they make sure games will be done in plenty of time to go.  Competition this year was ok.

One team there  (MVP something), were part of a recruiting serivce and had college coaches as the coaches, Otherwise, this was not a tournament to be noticed by colleges.

That being said, we had a wonderful time. We went as an 18u team when all but 2 of our players were set for their college choice so being recruited was not high on the priority list this year. BTW, one of those 2 was contacted by a college coach that coached that MVP team, so you never know  

Was out at the slumbuster this year with a u15 team, talent wise it was fair but no better. That being said we had a great time, went to games 2&3 in the champoinship series and had a blast. it is a safe town, the boys walked the shops and stuff surrounding the stadium - it was well worth the time. I don't know that I would be in a huge rush to go back but am glad we went.

If you go make sure you go to the old market part of town, 3 or 4 blocks of food, shops a couple of nice bars, steakhouses, sports bars you name it.