When to attend showcase?

Rob,
I think there is always some “benefit” from showcasing. While it may not be essential that a player that young showcase, there are some benefits in my opinion. Each family will have to determine if it is worth the expense. I disagree with your statement about not being able to project what a 14/15 year old player will be when he’s 18. There are some young players that are quite projectable at that age. I think a smaller, local showcase would be good for a talented 14/15 year old player if nothing more than to get his feet wet in the showcase circuit and start the process of getting his name out. Showcasing also allows the parents to get an unbiased evaluation of their son’s talent, a very crucial piece of the recruiting puzzle.
I think parents of talented players should constantly evaluate their son’s talent and make “investments” in their future. Problems arise because many parents are clueless about their son’s talent. They tend to see things as they WANT them to be…..not as they actually are. No matter what age you decide to showcase your son, be sure you check out the showcase’s reputation before you write the check.
Best of luck,
Fungo

A lot also has to do with whether or not the boy is playing JV or varsity and why.

In some cases the boy is on JV because of solid players ahead of him at the varsity level---his coach can hopefully tell you the facts on the boy.

If the boy is not on varsity due to the simple fact that he does not belong on varsity yet then it might be well for him to forego showcases until such time that he is a solid varsity contributor. Too much too soon can destroy the boys confidence.

Fungo makes a great point about the parents--- for them a showcase can be key in their glasses getting the proper color lens.I think showcases can be more important in the initial stages for the parents than for the player. The sooner the parents realize the talent level of their son the better off they, parents and son, will be.

It is not an easy judgment to make but you want it to be the correct one coming out of the box.

Tom Rizzi
www.collegeselect.org

Agree with Fungo and TR. We signed my 13yo '09 up for a weekend camp at a local D1. The camp turned into more of a showcase than a camp as they sent players who didn't sign up early enough to get into the showcase they had held a couple weeks previously to this camp and changed the format on the second day to a 14 inning game. It was almost entirely '05s and '06s other than my son. The first day of camp was a useful experience and he held his own surprisingly well but it was also obvious that he was a boy among men. I talked with team's recruiting coordinator who agreed with me that there wouldn't be a benefit to having him play in the game as he would be overmatched and it wouldn't be fair for the kids trying to make a D1 team, even though their chances were slim in any case, to get their at bats against a kid throwing 65 mph.

On the other hand there's a 14yo playing varsity at our HS this year who could hang with any of the players who attended that camp and many of the players were all-conference, etc. so it has to be done on a case by case basis.

CADad:
That must have been an experience... showing up for a camp and all of a sudden he's in a D1 showcase!

My kid is an 09 too.