Does it matter where a HS player is playing? Does he have a better chance of being looked at by college scouts if he is playing in Florida or Illinois?
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Welcome to the HSBBW,
Yes it can matter.
But if you have talent.
Show it to the right people in your area.
You can be a big fish in a little pond.
Are you can be a fish, a good fish? with a lot of other good fish in a big pond ( Florida ).
It all depends on how you look at it.
EH
Yes it can matter.
But if you have talent.
Show it to the right people in your area.
You can be a big fish in a little pond.
Are you can be a fish, a good fish? with a lot of other good fish in a big pond ( Florida ).
It all depends on how you look at it.
EH
As EH stated if you have skills they may find you, but if you want exposure, players in the Sunbelt states have an advantage in that they tend to play more months in the year and have larger events that more colleges come to find players. It also depends on where you want to play and what type of college, if you are looking to stay in the north, you can get exposure to the colleges around your area, if you are looking to play outside of the north and at one of the many stronger college programs, I would think the colleges in the sunshine states will most likely stay in their areas looking for players since there are so many good players to pick from.
If you have the skills and you want to take the chance of being found by going to a few events in the more popular areas, that is not a problem..
If you live in the sunshine state, you are most likely going to have a slight advantage of playing more and having college scouts tripping around in the high profile and local events you are attending.
If you have the skills and you want to take the chance of being found by going to a few events in the more popular areas, that is not a problem..
If you live in the sunshine state, you are most likely going to have a slight advantage of playing more and having college scouts tripping around in the high profile and local events you are attending.
quote:Originally posted by theEH:
You can be a big fish in a little pond.
Are you can be a fish, a good fish? with a lot of other good fish in a big pond ( Florida ).
It all depends on how you look at it.
EH
You have that right EH!
quote:Originally posted by Scott Lynam:
Does it matter ware a HS player is playing?
Not so much, but one of their first questions will be how are your grades?
You might want to start there.
Not fair to assume any northern program only has one big fish, and you don't have to go south to get a good college baseball experience, or exposure for that matter. The player and performance overrides location.
quote:You can be a big fish in a little pond.
What is the plural for fish??
Fishes.
Nobody said just one big fish.
Anyway Illinois is loaded with college ball.
There's a ton of teams and they play competitive ball.
EH
quote:You can be a big fish in a little pond.Areor you can be a fish, a good fish? with a lot of other good fish in a big pond ( Florida ).
--The first one is in a singular context, while the second one is plural.
Good baseball players come from all parts of the country but I'd have to say yes you would have a better chance of being looked at if you played in Florida.
Unless you live in a Baseball hot bed it would be to your advantage to attend a good showcase and even out the odds
Unless you live in a Baseball hot bed it would be to your advantage to attend a good showcase and even out the odds
quote:Originally posted by Scott Lynam:
Does it matter where a HS player is playing? Does he have a better chance of being looked at by college scouts if he is playing in Florida or Illinois?
Welcome! You've come to the right place to find an answer to your question.
If you are the right player for his program, it doesn't matter where you live or where you play HS. But don't expect to stay in your own little space to be discovered, if you wish to play in schools outside of your area. The best option is to be seen where most coaches gather for recruiting events, PG tourneys, Tournament of Stars, East Coast Pro, USA tryouts to name a few where hundreds of college coaches and scouts gather to find players. And many players are discovered at college camps as well.
My son lives in FLorida and the coach who signed him is from South Carolina. Go figure!
If you have the goods and get the proper exposure you will be in good shape--I have three boys who played college ball, we are in the Northeast-One stayed local one went to Carolinas to play and the third went to New Mexico
Hi Scott,
It is not the warm and fuzzy answer that some might want to hear, but it is my opinion that yes it does very much matter where you play your high school ball.
Both college recruiting and the pro draft have a strong bias towards warmer "baseball" states like Florida and SoCal. I'm not saying that they are wrong in doing this, just that's the way it is.
BUT, That doesn't mean that a player from a small state or a state that isn't usually considered to have a large talent pool is out of luck. It just means that you have to use a different set of techniques to gain exposure. This involves using a very efficient and cost effective plan to travel to where you can get the right exposure. I say cost effective because it can get very expensive and sometimes be a waste of time and money to just try and attend the "name showcases".
The good news is that it can be done for sure, I know dozens of players from our small town that have moved on to college ball.
I hope that helps!
It is not the warm and fuzzy answer that some might want to hear, but it is my opinion that yes it does very much matter where you play your high school ball.
Both college recruiting and the pro draft have a strong bias towards warmer "baseball" states like Florida and SoCal. I'm not saying that they are wrong in doing this, just that's the way it is.
BUT, That doesn't mean that a player from a small state or a state that isn't usually considered to have a large talent pool is out of luck. It just means that you have to use a different set of techniques to gain exposure. This involves using a very efficient and cost effective plan to travel to where you can get the right exposure. I say cost effective because it can get very expensive and sometimes be a waste of time and money to just try and attend the "name showcases".
The good news is that it can be done for sure, I know dozens of players from our small town that have moved on to college ball.
I hope that helps!
Good #2 post AnthonyMCBP! I agree with most of it, however........
There may not be the "depth" of collge recruiters showing up in the smaller baseball pockets of the Country, but, if you have shown the "tools" in the right venues, they will come. As far as the pro ranks, if they don't show up, it's not a biased issue, someones not doing their job as a pro scout.
I've watched this for the last 8 years in WI. PG and similiar events have raised the bar for identifying players in non-baseball areas and I think that you will find that as a result of PG and others efforts those "non-baseball" areas will be visited more often and by more schools. However that doesn't happen overnight. IMHO, on the whole, at this point in time, players and parents may get more out of showcases than colleges do. That is continually changing. Not only do more schools have to completely buy-in to the idea that PG and others are valuable recruiting resources, more kids in those areas have to participate in those events.
There are still too many players that have fallen through the cracks. Blame the schools.....maybe, blame the players........maybe. Bottom line recruiting is a 2-headed process. Until schools realize that there is talent in a certain area they will focus on areas that have "numbers". And, until players/parents accept the fact that there is more to recruiting than what goes on between the lines on the local scene, there will continue to be a vision that small baseball areas are overlooked.
To me the only people that complain they are being overlooked are those who took the incorrect recruiting trail.
quote:Originally posted by AnthonyMCBP:
it is my opinion that yes it does very much matter where you play your high school ball.
Both college recruiting and the pro draft have a strong bias towards warmer "baseball" states like Florida and SoCal.
There may not be the "depth" of collge recruiters showing up in the smaller baseball pockets of the Country, but, if you have shown the "tools" in the right venues, they will come. As far as the pro ranks, if they don't show up, it's not a biased issue, someones not doing their job as a pro scout.
I've watched this for the last 8 years in WI. PG and similiar events have raised the bar for identifying players in non-baseball areas and I think that you will find that as a result of PG and others efforts those "non-baseball" areas will be visited more often and by more schools. However that doesn't happen overnight. IMHO, on the whole, at this point in time, players and parents may get more out of showcases than colleges do. That is continually changing. Not only do more schools have to completely buy-in to the idea that PG and others are valuable recruiting resources, more kids in those areas have to participate in those events.
There are still too many players that have fallen through the cracks. Blame the schools.....maybe, blame the players........maybe. Bottom line recruiting is a 2-headed process. Until schools realize that there is talent in a certain area they will focus on areas that have "numbers". And, until players/parents accept the fact that there is more to recruiting than what goes on between the lines on the local scene, there will continue to be a vision that small baseball areas are overlooked.
To me the only people that complain they are being overlooked are those who took the incorrect recruiting trail.
Take a look at the Boston Red Sox. Three position players and one pitcher are from the Pacific Northwest. Jacoby Ellsbury (Madras, Oregon); Jed Lowrie (Salem, Oregon); Jason Bay (B.C., Canada); Jon Lester (Tacoma, Washington). There may be more.
Maybe I wasn't clear on exactly what I meant. We might be talking about different things here. The "studs" so to speak will get recruited and/or drafed no matter where they are. So of course there are examples of players from smaller or cold weather states that have been drafted or recruited. I would certainly consider someone that plays in the major leagues now a "stud". Elsbury, Bay, Lester could come from an igloo in Siberia and it wouldn't matter.
My point was simply that players that are not top rated talent or tools guys (as in not 6'4" with a 95mph fastball) and are in a non-traditional baseball state do in fact have to work harder to get the same opportunities as SoCal or Florida kids. These kids that want to hook on somewhere on the roster at maybe a DII, DIII, etc. can indeed do it but it takes a little more work.
Thank you, I appreciate everyone's knowledge and contributions!
My point was simply that players that are not top rated talent or tools guys (as in not 6'4" with a 95mph fastball) and are in a non-traditional baseball state do in fact have to work harder to get the same opportunities as SoCal or Florida kids. These kids that want to hook on somewhere on the roster at maybe a DII, DIII, etc. can indeed do it but it takes a little more work.
Thank you, I appreciate everyone's knowledge and contributions!
I was at my sons JC scrimmage yesterday and there were quite a few scouts. One was saying that there were 14 northen cal. players in the playoffs right now. Dont know each and everyone, someone can post and name them all. persoanllyI think N. Ca is pretty loaded with talent as well as so. cal.I would mention Ca. inclusively and not say so. cal. I am a northern Ca. parent, but I think its fair to say a lot of talent from N. cal.
It always amazes me when people think that the best players would have been found no matter what. While I agree that (sooner or later) the best players are usually found, that is the problem... will it be sooner or later.
And how could we possibly know that every good player is known to everyone or even found at all. After all, if no one found them, no one would know who they are.
States like Florida, Texas, California, and now even Georgia do have a big advantage. However, each and every year there are surprise players who show up after the early signing period. Some after the draft. If those players had been at the right place at the right time, they simply would have been found earlier. They might have had many better opportunities.
Using our state of Iowa which is far from a baseball hotbed. Since we started doing things 15 years ago all but one player drafted out of the state attended our events. Kids were going to college at schools like Southern Cal, San Diego State, Oregon State, Baylor, Notre Dame, LSU, Oklahoma State, Wichita State, Georgia Tech, etc. That just didn't ever happen before.
We had 5 kids on one Iowa fall league team in 2001 who were in the major leagues this past september. I really think some of those kids would in fact have gone unnoticed. Matt Macri (Twins), Jeff Clement (Mariners), Ryan Sweeney (A's), Brad Nelson (Brewers) and Joel Hanrahan (Nats) all played together against the best competition in the country in the fall.
If there is anyone from anywhere who is unclear regarding the importance of being in the right place, I highly recommend that they attend the pg wwba championship in Jupiter Florida later this month. I "guarantee" it will be a gigantic eye opener for those who think the... Stay at home and they will find you route is the best way to go.
Every MLB club will have between 10 and 20 scouts there. Nearly every top college program in the country will be there along with hundreds of others. Nearly every big time agent from Boros's group on down will be there with several people.
BTW, just today we got a preorder for tickets and scout information for "20" scouts from the Arizona D'backs. The Braves have ordered 17, the Royals, 18, the Indians 17, Yankees 16, Blue jays 15, Reds 13, Padres, Rays, Tigers, Rockies, nearly every team with at least 10 or more full time scouts including crosscheckers and scouting director.
I'm pretty sure they're not all going there just to see a bunch of players they know well. Every year there are some who pop up that no one knew about. Then those players become well known in a hurry. Wouldn't happen if those players stayed at home and waited for some 500 MLB Scouts, hundreds of colleges and a bunch of high level agents to come visit them and watch them compete against the local competition.
This is not about promoting what we do. I could care less which players show up. There will be plenty of good players to satisfy us and everyone else who will be there.
It seems that sometimes a local player gets a small scholarship to a local college and everybody steps up and says... see he didn't have to leave town to get recruited. But how do we know that the player doing things differently wouldn't have received a giant scholarship to a national power program or even become a high round draft pick, had he been better known? Like Jeff Clement from Iowa who was drafted out of HS but went to USC and then became the third pick of the draft signing for nearly 4 million dollars? That would not have happened had he stayed home and waited to be found. He and his dad would be the first to admit that.
And how could we possibly know that every good player is known to everyone or even found at all. After all, if no one found them, no one would know who they are.
States like Florida, Texas, California, and now even Georgia do have a big advantage. However, each and every year there are surprise players who show up after the early signing period. Some after the draft. If those players had been at the right place at the right time, they simply would have been found earlier. They might have had many better opportunities.
Using our state of Iowa which is far from a baseball hotbed. Since we started doing things 15 years ago all but one player drafted out of the state attended our events. Kids were going to college at schools like Southern Cal, San Diego State, Oregon State, Baylor, Notre Dame, LSU, Oklahoma State, Wichita State, Georgia Tech, etc. That just didn't ever happen before.
We had 5 kids on one Iowa fall league team in 2001 who were in the major leagues this past september. I really think some of those kids would in fact have gone unnoticed. Matt Macri (Twins), Jeff Clement (Mariners), Ryan Sweeney (A's), Brad Nelson (Brewers) and Joel Hanrahan (Nats) all played together against the best competition in the country in the fall.
If there is anyone from anywhere who is unclear regarding the importance of being in the right place, I highly recommend that they attend the pg wwba championship in Jupiter Florida later this month. I "guarantee" it will be a gigantic eye opener for those who think the... Stay at home and they will find you route is the best way to go.
Every MLB club will have between 10 and 20 scouts there. Nearly every top college program in the country will be there along with hundreds of others. Nearly every big time agent from Boros's group on down will be there with several people.
BTW, just today we got a preorder for tickets and scout information for "20" scouts from the Arizona D'backs. The Braves have ordered 17, the Royals, 18, the Indians 17, Yankees 16, Blue jays 15, Reds 13, Padres, Rays, Tigers, Rockies, nearly every team with at least 10 or more full time scouts including crosscheckers and scouting director.
I'm pretty sure they're not all going there just to see a bunch of players they know well. Every year there are some who pop up that no one knew about. Then those players become well known in a hurry. Wouldn't happen if those players stayed at home and waited for some 500 MLB Scouts, hundreds of colleges and a bunch of high level agents to come visit them and watch them compete against the local competition.
This is not about promoting what we do. I could care less which players show up. There will be plenty of good players to satisfy us and everyone else who will be there.
It seems that sometimes a local player gets a small scholarship to a local college and everybody steps up and says... see he didn't have to leave town to get recruited. But how do we know that the player doing things differently wouldn't have received a giant scholarship to a national power program or even become a high round draft pick, had he been better known? Like Jeff Clement from Iowa who was drafted out of HS but went to USC and then became the third pick of the draft signing for nearly 4 million dollars? That would not have happened had he stayed home and waited to be found. He and his dad would be the first to admit that.
PG,
I dont think anyone disagrees with the fact of the valuable exposure most players need to be seen,I certainly wasnt. I was just clarifying the S. Cal distinction from the N. Ca. distinction(staying loyal to my norcal roots lol)
Although my son attended many of these events and got exposure and some attention it didnt get him a big time shcolarship BUT and this is a BIG but, it did give him exposure and now that he is maturing and getting stronger a lot of that early exposure is coming back to be helpful. It can put you on the radar. Sometimes not with immediate results but it puts you on the radar no doubt. Also it just pushed my player to work harder because he realized how talented the players were. Lots of reasons to get the exposure.
I dont think anyone disagrees with the fact of the valuable exposure most players need to be seen,I certainly wasnt. I was just clarifying the S. Cal distinction from the N. Ca. distinction(staying loyal to my norcal roots lol)
Although my son attended many of these events and got exposure and some attention it didnt get him a big time shcolarship BUT and this is a BIG but, it did give him exposure and now that he is maturing and getting stronger a lot of that early exposure is coming back to be helpful. It can put you on the radar. Sometimes not with immediate results but it puts you on the radar no doubt. Also it just pushed my player to work harder because he realized how talented the players were. Lots of reasons to get the exposure.
Nice post, PG..............
Would you send me a ticket?
I'd like to go again.
Would you send me a ticket?
I'd like to go again.