What showcase to attend

I recommend making a list of possible colleges, finding where they will be, then map a strategy. If your son just attends showcases for the sake of attending, he's either a stud that can't go unnoticed or you're throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. A showcase in the northeast that requires a recommendation is SelectFest.

philsfan


What year in HS is your son?

I would strongly recommend the Head First Showcase (National Honor Roll Camps) if he is a strong baseball player and strong student. Our experience was extraordinary, and I know many folks feel the same way. They are not inexpensive, but if your son is a strong baseball player/student it will be well worth the time and money.

http://www.playheadfirst.com/s...l_honor_baseball.jsp

Ditto on the Headfirst Showcase....if you are a good student it maybe the only show case you need to do.

He's a 2011. His academics are Ok but not great. We will have a better idea of where he will fit when we get his ACT scores back later this month. I don't honestly see him in a high academic school. Even if he could get in, I would be difficult for him to keep up.

He has started to get some feedback from the showcase that he did. I was just wondering if we should build off of that or would he need to get greater exposure or be seen more often?

I agree completely with RJM. Blindly doing showcases is neither cost effective nor time efficient. Go to one of the many sites online like college board that narrows down colleges based on your desired major(s), geographical areas , likes etc. Once you have a list, you can go to those schools baseball web sites. From there you can see what players are in what positions and how many approximately will be opening in 2011. You can e mail the coach directly if your son is interested in that program. It should come from your son, Not you. In addition, most of the colleges run summer , fall and winter prospect camps so you can attend those directly at lower costs than an overall showcase if you are interested in a particular school. In addition, you can search those schools on the web for various showcases that they do attend and focus on those if you feel you want to go PG, TPX or other major showcases.

I've often wondered about something when so many people suggest figuring out which school they want to attend and then going to their camp. Like that is the perfect approach for getting recruited.

1. I want to go to LSU or Miami. Do I just go to their camp?

2. How do I know how much scholarship money I can get from some other school that is very acceptable but not on my list of favorites? Do I just settle for whatever the school holding the camp offers? What if equal school B would have offered me twice as much as camp school A?

3. What if the Big School isn't interested in me, but some other similar college, not on my list, might be very interested in me?

4. What if I'm a catcher and the school I want to attend has 5 underclassmen catchers and won't be recruiting a catcher. Should I go to that camp?

5. What ever happened to attending camps for their original purpose?... To learn something and improve your game.

6. Do I just keep attending camps until someone recruits me? Or would it be better to go somewhere and get in front of a bunch of colleges and let them decide if they like me?

7. Typical college camps will talk to kids they are already interested in recruiting and get them to their camp... Am I one of those?

8. Why do so many think that you pick them rather than they pick who they want? Which is the way it really is. There is leverage when more than one college wants you.

9. I always wonder just how many end up playing baseball at the exact college they most wanted to go to. Seems to me it's just a handful and those players are exceptionally talented with many offers from various schools to consider.

10. Why do all those college coaches bother going to all those other events and recruiting kids when they can simply recruit the kids out of their camps?

I do agree that blindly going to a bunch of showcases is definitely not the answer. Just like players, coaches and camps, there are good and bad showcases. I would recommend thoroughly researching each and every event you might be interested in. I would suggest talking to several of the top college coaches and ask for their opinion on various events. Ask them which events they follow. Check and see what has happened to those that have attended the various events. Check and see what happens after the event is over. Is there some kind of reporting system that scouts and college coaches actually follow?... or is it just over with. Is there some type of history to that event or is all the information just conveniently forgotten?

The Area Codes, East Coast Pro and USA Baseball are three of the very best. Find out where most all of those kids went before and after, in addition to attending those events. You might find a common thread. Everyone wants to see competition, the best vs. the best... where is that most likely to happen?

I think college camps are great, some better than others, of course. Some will even have coaches from other smaller programs in attendance. But if you are interested in the ACC, SEC, Pac10, Big 12, or other big conference. you will need to go to a lot of college camps in order to get in front of all those schools. Going there to be recruited should not be the major reason for attending. Go there and learn, get better, and have some fun. It will be a lot less stressful that way.

We tend to hear the success stories, but the thousands who were unsuccessful are a bit more silent. This is true on all fronts... Camps, Showcases, Tournaments, Tryouts, etc.

Philsfan:

Two of the better showcases to attend in our region are the Area Code Tryouts (mine attended in Allentown - Yankees) and SelectFest. My son attended both on back to back weekends right before July 1 and received a lot of interest- even without making the AC team. Both events had 60-75 college scouts as well as pro scouts. Area code tryouts are free and SelectFest is very reasonably priced compared to others. Of coarse both events do require recomendations. If you are going to be at certain events, make sure to let the colleges of interest know before hand.

Thanks for the info. He will be playing on team that does the WWBA in Ga and Fl. This gives me a idea of how to complement those events.

Make sure you use your contacts on the club team to get him invitations that some of these showcases require. Usually they will have connections at one or both.

philsfan, here is one in Collegville, Dec 30. My son is gonna go to this. Lots of local schools invited. I'm going to try to confirm who will be there, as the date approaches. I'll keep you posted. (I have no affiliation with the facility.)

http://www.pennsylvaniabasebal...holidayshowcase.html

The 2 WWBA tourneys are the best by far for coaches to see you. Just make sure you let anyone your interested in know when you play. I f you haven't been to one of these the amount of Scouts is unreal!! There is also a PG showcase in ealy summer that I think helps them pick kid's for THE showcase in Minnesota.

We got an email from a D3 Coach in Mass. regarding the Head First Showcase. He saw my son at Top TPX & reccomends he attend the Head First. My son has a 4.15 GPA & is doing very well at baseball , he is a 2011 grad. Most coaches are amazed when he tells them his GPA, then they look at his size ( 5-10 190lbs), & BA etc. It wasnt great as a Soph .434, 3 HR, 12-2B, 6-3B 45 RBI in 40 games

Why are the Head First so reccomneded?

quote:

Originally posted by Johnnyv22:
Why are the Head First so reccomneded?

Go to their website and look at the schools. Pretty much self explanatory. They have been doing it the longest and have the best reputation for this type of event.

http://www.playheadfirst.com/_...ochure_HonorRoll.pdf

Hey, Johnnyv22, I'm sure your son must be very bright, but be careful when you report that GPA. No one has higher than a 4.0 on the GPA scale. Maybe you are saying he has all A+, but the best schools in the country don't grade higher than an A, or don't consider an A+ to be any better. Just a minor comment so as not to draw ??? if a coach sees higher than a 4.0.

RedSox...you go higher than 4.0 when you get into AP classes. The very top students being over 4.0 is very common.

Question on Headfirst...do they do some sort of rating/posting of attendees for schools that don't happen to attend the camp you participate in? Or, if the full value really just with the schools that attend the camp you do?

Hmmm, GPA higher than 4.0 never seen in College so I'll take your education as being relative to HS only. Much appreciated.

RedSox.... I would assume he's talking about a HS GPA since he's asking about what college showcases to attend.

My son is a 2011 grad in Florida and he has a 4.5 GPA due to honors and AP classes so it is possible.

So what GPA do you start to be considered a strong student for an academic showcase and college?

It does sound different. Coming from Michigan where HS GPA's are based on a 4.0 scale and in NC you can receive additional credit for AP and Honors courses it is common to have a GPA higher than a 4.0.

It must make the admissions at university's mreo difficult when you haev to compare students across different spectrums.

Just a follow up as my son just finished the process at hi as did Fenwaysouth's son. For admissions purposes the weighting of AP's (my son had 7)on GPA is not taken into account. They used only the core - unweighted GPA. However, "Strength of Schedule" is an even more important factor than GPA. That is, did your son take the most challenging courses offered at his school? To consider this on top of weighted GPA would be double dipping according to admissions officers. Admissions considers challenging course-load separately from GPA because some schools only offer less challenging opportunities for kids. Some kids are challenging themselves the best they can based on what's offered and shouldn't be penalized(keep in mind that strength of HS is also a factor). Additionally, AP test scores, while voluntary submitted will be considered, so this is a way to double dip. Get a 4 or 5 on the AP exams and you are proving you can do college work.

This is important. When you send in your weighted GPA - admissions just unweights it before they even start the application. The top schools don't even consider non core courses. Send in the weighted GPA anyway. They are used to seeing it that way. Don't stress - admissions people and coaches are pros - they know how to read a transcript and they've seen it all before so you can't BS them and they don't miss things.

Finally, HeadFirst changed the whole recruiting landscape for my son. That is the place to be with those academic numbers.

Sorry - first sentence should say "highly competitive academic schools" (ie,Ivy, Nescac, etc.).

RedSoxFan21 - I don't think there is any real threshold. Its a combination of core unwieghted GPA (3.5ish?) SAT scores, and AP/honors.

Anyone have experience with the Wake Forest Showcase? How was it?

Last year we were looking at Florida schools and we did two in the summer. Clutch Performance Baseball and GetMyNameOut.com(He ended up commiting to a college in North Carolina, go figure!!!)
Both were run well, well attended by coaches in the Southeast and were fairly inexpensive($99-$200 range)
The college that ended up offering him was at the GetMynameOut.com Orlando showcase in August.

I would suggest go to showcases in regions where you would like to play. You'll be guarenteed to at least be seen by the schools you would like to attend.