What would you look for..?

Thats a good question.

We too committed to a summer team, to one showcase and one summer camp. I thought the whole summer was laid out pretty solidly.

Then the "one" showcase resulted in an invitation to another one (more prestige)...which resulted in an invitation to another...and after the camp it resulted in an invitation to yet a better showcase and finally an all star game.

So my point is you may have to roll with the punches...sort of follow your nose.

I would say if you're committed to a team you like that is playing in good events (e.g. WWBA events)...then try to stay with them and squeeze in a showcase appropriate for your son's level somewhere in between.

The Jr/Sr summer was the "get it done" summer.

He started the summer with what some consider the high profile invitational showcase for our area. Then played two regional tournaments with his American Legion Team.

Mid-summer he went to the Stanford Showcase Camp (the best baseball program that he ever attended). Finished up with his Legion team with the state and sectional tournaments in early august and then a regional tournament in SoCal with a travel team before heading back to school.

In the early fall he did two invitiational "camp/showcases" at two of the larger state Universities (he decided that the schools were not the right fit even if they wanted him, which one did). He also did two regional showcases (one was good the other a waste of time).

When the summer was over he had played in nearly 85 games and been from one end of the state to the other. Hands down the best and most important event that he went to was the Stanford camp which resulted in him being recruited by the school that he is now attending.

Equally important to the baseball was him having adquate family time to unwind. Through all the baseball we as a family went to Hawaii for a week where my son played at least 5 rounds of golf (his way of recharging the batteries).

What would we have done different. He probably would now pass on playing for the American Legion team. The showcases, camps and the one tournament would have been enough.

That's easy...

Make sure you hit an Area Code camp, and get an invite for the Area Code tryouts, pointing toward making the Area Code team. Easily more scouts there than ANYWHERE else. Stanford Camp is good for kids with high academics, but don't forget to target camps at all schools where you have true interest. Your kids got to play baseball in between, so get on as high a profile summer team as you can, to hit at least two major PG tournaments and/or the Junior Olympics. Remember, he's got to play, not sit. Don't forget to let college coaches know where you'll be.

unless your son is a very young junior, Junior Olympics is for those just finishing sophomore year in high school.

Actually, the Jr. Olympics is for anyone who is 16 years old as of April 30th in the year they're playing. There were a pretty fair number of juniors on the team I sent to Arizona last year. The change in the birthdate cutoff allows many more juniors to play than was possible before.

Five of the boys on our team last summer are now seniors, most are juniors with a couple sophs and a freshman.

If I had to do it all over again, I think my son would have just went to Stanford and taken the rest of the summer off.

But hindsight is 20-20

These are good questions and points made.

KellerDAd, why do you day "just do the camp"?

Son was planning to do just that. That is, some camps, a couple of local tournament games with local team (very low profile just to stay on top of his game for the camps) and play golf and hit the beach with family and (different trip) with friends. He has hit the travel circuit hard for three or four years now and thought it might be time to kick back a little.

Then he gets a call from what appears to be a TOP Florida travel team that is interested in him. Seems to be a very high profile team (I'm still checking them out, but they were on top of WWBA tournaments last year).

Son has already generated pretty good interest from some top D1 programs. But won't know for sure how interested until July 1 next summer.

Summer team could be very beneficial if the current interest doesn’t develop into offers?

So the answer to the question "How important is summer ball the summer between Jr and Sr year?" seems to be it is more important to do camps and showcases.

My son played for a pretty high profile team last summer and it generated no interest his direction.

He played 5 days at Stanford and generated a bunch of interest.

Would I actually advise somebody to only attend a camp or two. No way. I was saying it in jest....but hindsight tells me that I could have had him stay at home all summer or go find a job.

In general I feel select teams enable you to "raise your game" through competing against the best competition. Showcases/camps give the opportunity to showcase that ability. Scouts I feel would like to get the best bang for their buck and where else can you find quantity and a good baseline of "who can do what" but at a showcase or camp.

Keep in mind that no matter where you play , you still have to "perform" !!!!