WWBA 17u and LakePoint

Thoughts and comments from our week in Atlanta:

1 - Got to play all 7 innings.  Losing 3 games by 1 run in the last at bat had us leaving on Wednesday instead of playing on Thursday.

2 - Our boys played well.  As with all teams, seems as if pitching was ahead of hitting due to the wood bats, and the fact that everyone HAS pitching.

3 - Some of the fields that we played on were not up to par with what I would think of with regards to a tournament of this level.  And with talking with parents on other teams, we played at the worst one twice.

4 - Lake Point is a great facility, however we had to beg to get water for the boys, and then had to beg to get "cold" water for the boys.  No ice for 8:00am game.  Grilled Chicken sandwich was loved by my boys, however, they needed 3 of them for a meal $18.

5 - Same questions that everyone else has  with regards to scheduling and the "big" teams getting perceived preferential treatment that I have not seen an reply for yet.

6 - Thumbs down to one of the "major" team's head coach who didn't like an umpires strike zone during our game with them (which they lost I might add), so he spent an inning on the phone with someone, then proclaimed to his team's parents "he'll never do another game in this FXXXXXXX tournament again!!! BTW, saw the ump 2 days later, so the pull that you thought you had was very short lived.

7 - Umpiring was great for the most part.  Friendly and outgoing, and consistent.  Kudos to the ump at Campbell High School and his great "STRIKE" call.

8 - Kudos to those high schools that had concessions open AND did not price gauge.  First game sticker shock - can of diet coke and a snickers bar - $4.50, really.

9 - Loved seeing the good baseball when we were not playing.  Lots of talent out there.  Where was this in the 1980's.

10 - Doing a quick bar napkin analysis, this place is a cash cow and does wonders for the northwest Atlanta area economy.  What was I thinking about 20 years ago?

11 - One of the best side trips we took was floating the river as a team / parents.  Great time.  Not the same as New Braunfels, but still pretty cool.

Over all 8/10.

Thanks BOF for yourn reply!!!!  That was a great way to help us understand.

TPM, accomplishments were not the intent. There are 1000's of "very good ball players" I don't care and no one else does, more so that he said a lofty goal and realized there is more to achieving a goal than setting it (grades, ACT/SAT scores, school/player match, physical attributes, who you know) Trying to get a grasp on other components that are not obvious to the novice and to get other input from others who have knowledge they might be willing to share in a public venue.  It does not need to actually apply in this case, but can't learn if it is not presented and in turn might help someone who needs it. I have to ask what I have not learned yet thru experience or from reading here and other places.

I don't have a problem with any legitimate complaints about the event or the facilities.  In fact, we have the same complaint in some cases.  We are responsible for the tournament, we do not control concessions and many other things.  We actually use complaints to hopefully make things better in the future.

What does bother me is when someone gets involved in something without understanding how things work.  This is first and foremost a scouting event.  It is for kids that have talent and the ability to go on to the next level.  The best players will always get the most attention, that is just the way scouting works.  The teams that have all their players committed to DI colleges, won't see many college coaches, but will see a large gathering of pro scouts.  The recruiters are looking for players and have an idea who they want to see ahead of time.  While all this is going on, players not on anyone's radar are discovered and good things happen.  At the same time, many players do not get a lot of interest.

So many parents have an inflated idea of the importance of results.  Results are important to some degree, but it plays second fiddle to ability and tools.  Potential is more important than results. If after playing 7 games in a week in front of many different decision makers and scouts including the PG scouts, nothing good happens... Maybe it could be considered a waste.  Maybe this wasn't the best place to be.  You don't get drafted or offered a scholarship just because you attended a certain event.  It just doesn't work that way.  It doesn't mean it's time to quit, it is time to start figuring things out.  

Just for the record, so that parents on here with younger kids might understand.  This event is absolutely LOADED with talent.  Not sure there is ever an area of the country that is this concentrated with highest level talent during a one week span.  Chances are you will play against future first round picks and future Major League players.  For sure you will play against players committed to National Power colleges.  Most every player on both rosters of the college World Series played in this tournament.

I'm not trying to chase anyone away.  We want the best teams and the best players in the country. That is what this is all about.  I like kids, whether they can play or not, so it is not fun to see them disappointed. Please make sure your son has enough talent to fit in. Don't get confused by what you think!  Chances are you might be disappointed and start trying to find a reason why your son was overlooked.

For reference...

WWBA 17u since 2007 has had over 10,000 college commitments. Surely they weren't all on the map before attending. Surely many of them were discovered at the event.

In that same time period, 2,330 players have been drafted. Since 2008 232 players were drafted in the first round.

To date there have been 117 players from this tournament in the Major Leagues and that number is growing quickly.

This is what you are getting into when you attend this event.

So legitimate complaints I understand, but son got slighted or overlooked... You're barking up the wrong tree!  When the talent is there, it almost always gets noticed.  If it does go unnoticed, it will show up somewhere down the line.

PG Staff:

This was our first time attending one of these events.  Just for the record. It was a great event.   We had a talented team by any measure.  We did take it on the chin in terms of wins and loses.   But our guys competed their tails off.  Day in day out.  They would all do it again.   Even in some of our loses, some of our players got great write ups.  And a couple of our kids got major interest from some recruiters and a even a couple of scouts.  It was all that we could have wished for.   You guys are to be congratulated.    When the facility is finished, it's going to be an awesome environment to play in.  Like I said earlier, my son and I were tempted to hang around for the playoffs just to experience the atmosphere.  But we decided to go play instead. 

You can ask away, there are plenty of people willing to help.  Most likely your question may have been asked, that's ok that is why I suggest following along especially in the recruiting forum.

Yup, PG's post is an important message that many in the shoes of fanof22 can benefit from.  It is much more tangible and detailed than the usual short version "you have to have the talent".  I've said before - I think it would be great if there was a place to gather "golden posts" or "reference posts".  I know we have golden threads but sometimes it's just one post among dozens that conveys the powerful info.

Thanks again!  All the old posts help much.  Many of them are REALLY old though. Many are not applicable. Many of them are just not particular, to us at least. I appreciate the feedback and the opportunity to gain knowledge without making an avoidable mistake.........like asking a coach or scout. I would never, but someone might. Not trying to interefere. Just asking questions. Which come across as something it is not.

A good example is, for us at least..........(reach out to the coaches, keep them up to date, let them know you are interested, good fit, grades, test scores, small vs. big school, etc)

Then a different opinion from a baseball guy said to us you do not want to get put on a back burner.........they happen to see you, or do come to see another player and see you and your velocity is not great that day or that's the day your upper cut returns to your swing or some other catch.

Really,  thanks for the feedback

Well said PG Staff.  Even though not everyone always says it, your contributions to the site are a big big part of the value here.  The PG organization is so well run and does amazing things for a lot of young men.  Thanks for your hard work and contributions here, they are appreciated.

I am really having a tough time understanding just what it is that you are trying to convey here.

REALLY old advice? Really!

The really neat part about this place is that no matter whether a Webster is a coach, or owns PG, a teacher, a lawyer, an engineer, a doctor, mother, father, scout, most of us have all gone through the recruiting process (pro as well) once, twice or more. 

Yup, it's gonna happen, someone is going to come out to see your son and he may have a really bad day on the field. However, if that coach, or scout is good at his job he knows that not every outing is going to be perfect, and doesn't give up the first time, if he does, then you don't want your son to play for him anyway.  A very important thing to remember is that they see things very differently. Your son may have a bad day but that coach probably didn't have much interest in the first place.

Coach May is right on, you will KNOW, you will look back and be able to understand, and maybe someday you can give others some of your old advice as well!

I am glad to see that you "get it".

Keep us posted!

Agreed. I forwarded PGs post to my son and husband  who are at the 16u WWBA. This is his first time at a PG tournament so that post was really on point as are all of PG's posts. So THANKS PGSTAFF! 

Not trying to convey anything. Did I say the advice was old? I said many of them are REALLY old, the posts are old. Many of the posts are 1000's of topics/replies long and 6,7,8 years old and after reading thru them I asked some additional questions. Not only that, tech has to have an impact like it has in most of our industries, and possibly what was true 8 years ago is not the best answer today, but perhaps it is. I have no basis for comparison. 

I also said thanks for the feedback, thanks for the reply, and that PG reply was a great way for us to understand and that the old posts helped much.

I certainly hope I can look back and be grateful I asked  the right questions, early. And I am thankful that the majority of my questions were answered by reading thru years of posts.

My son has 2 years left. I may ask some additional redundant questions to get others perspective, not because I did not do the research first. Sometimes ah-ha moments come from different triggers in communications.

So thanks PG staff and thanks to everyone who generously contributes too!! My son is also reading here.

My concern would be how in the world is one college scout going to be able to cover 30 fields at any given one time?  Just not possible.

Our local FireCracker that we had in Winchester was very successful and we were thinking of growing it to 15-20 teams on 2 fields and then the local asst. coach at Shenandoah said this ... "Jeff, one field, one location works the best as I cannot be at two places at one time."  He said ... "I will come and get my seat in the pressbox and watch a lot of baseball and won't have to remove myself from my seat."

I said your right and everyone wants to play at R. Charles Hott Stadium on the campus of James Wood HS.

http://s306.photobucket.com/us...0Hott%20Field?sort=6

The last year my friend and I put on the FireCracker tourney, we had 18 schools come and scout it.  We were really pleased with the turnout and every team could see how many scouts were watching them play.

I shouldn't say this, but this comparison is more like raisin to water melon.

Why wouldn't the 600 plus scouts and college coaches just head to the Fire Cracker rather than waste their time in Georgia? They must have it all wrong! After all, it is a lot easier to just sit in the press box and not miss anything. Why would top teams spend so much money coming to Georgia from California, Texas, the NE, Midwest, and every other part of the country including Virginia's best players and teams.

I'm sure the Fire Cracker is a great event.  Compare it to something else!

BTW, that is a very nice field.

What happens when you get a day full of rain, and you have one dirt field? A bunch of upset parent, players and a crap load of wasted time.

I'm sorry I can't find when the other diamonds will be finished at LP . I figured this would be the fastest place for an answer.Hopefully my sons coach has us go down there next year. 

Feel your pain...all over again.

Last summer 17U WWBA (2013)....got only 3 games (out of 7) in due to rain.  For the entire week.  Remind the parents/team that it could be worse (esp if you only have ONE rainout!).  Go out and have a nice dinner and find that $1.99 movie theater in Marietta.

The next 4 fields are scheduled to be finished by late fall This year. The 8 after that will probably be ready in 2016 at the earliest.

We did ... we added extra games and ran 7 games per day with 2hr time limit for Sat and Sun the last year we ran it ... started at 8am and got off the field at 1:30am.

I am not comparing the two events, I was stating the fact that for our tourney, making it bigger and using 2 fields would not benefit the scouts who were coming to our event.

Bigger is not always better, IMHO.

Actually the NCAA approved a new rule that allows three coaches from one college to attend the same event.  So it would have been easy to cover every game on two or three fields.

In our case many schools do send more than one coach.  And every game they go to there will be players they want to recruit.  There are actually some of the top programs in the country that sign nearly their entire recruiting class out of this one event. Don't have to look much farther than this year's National Champs.

True.... Bigger is not always better!  But sometimes bigger can be much better!

When did the rule change take place?  Back in 2006-2007, only one was allowed.

So your right, a crew of 3 could cover quite a bit of games at one event with multiple locations.

I believe it was 3 starting this year. Been 2 since my son began this process 3 years ago, I know PG and others will have the answer I just wanted to be first LOL

Place has only 4 of the proposed 16 baseball fields done, and it's already, IMHO, a masterpiece...

It's just done so right, the experience was truly a 'WOW!' 

Hopefully, everyone's young players will get a chance to play there, it's just awesome.

Kudos to PG and Lakepoint... Amazing!