14U Showcases

[BrianTx01]

Can we please stop these? I know the obvious answer is don't sign up for them but they are becoming more and more common with less and less alternatives. Batting out of order....getting a second at bat after a walk. If there was a college coach watching I sure didn't see them.

14U should be about getting good reps and having fun.

 

[gdc03120]

Naive as I am to most of the TB world outside of officiating, I've never heard of a 14U showcase before. College showcases, absolutely. We have a local TB organization that holds one twice a year (including this weekend), and as an umpire it's a double-edged sword: Relaxed rules means less for us to focus on in terms of lineup changes and all that, and a simple 1:20 DD time limit. BUT because there's no major sense of urgency to get on/off the field (because they aren't fighting for trophies, etc), it makes the time drag on. Plus if you're playing on a field where no scouts/coaches are watching, it doesn't exactly make it the most exciting ball during the tournament (regardless of how good your team is).

A 14U showcase makes no sense - a basic tournament - pool play and a bracket - is the easiest/best way to go here, IMO.

 

[radness]

Can we please stop these? I know the obvious answer is don't sign up for them but they are becoming more and more common with less and less alternatives. Batting out of order....getting a second at bat after a walk. If there was a college coach watching I sure didn't see them.

14U should be about getting good reps and having fun.

What area/state do you live?

How far is your team willing to travel
to non showcase events?

Asking because there are pretty much 'Hubs' of softball now.
In these area's showcase events will continue because 14u are already in high school.
Have to remember college prepping is part of goals.

And you are right
The obvious answer is
Travel schedules are up to individual teams.

 

[radness]

Think it's important to look at it this way

if there wasn't any showcasing events that 14U players could go to.
There would be some 14U players/teams that would certainly move up to 16u (and possibly too early)
*because showcasing is an opportunity!

The other thing would be
if players didn't experience going to showcasing at 14u, when they get to 16u
The players and PARENTS would have a BIG (imo,late) learning curve.

*Especially with all the money that's being spent and
*Especially for the people that are focusing on College and softball.
That people understand how to prepare themselves accordingly. With things like players bios, videos and how to contact colleges!
What it's going to be like to be playing in front of college coaches.
It is a learning curve.
Takes getting educated about what it's going to take for the individual player and family to accomplish these goals.

It is also a learning curve for coaches that have not been through this recruitment Showcasing process before.
The travel coaches have the task of putting together player sheets and communicating about what showcasing is about.
14u is a good place to see how prepared the coach is in preparing the team!

 

[Westwind]

Now that we are done with the disaster of the early verbal, I don’t see much reason for 14u showcases.

Yes, college coaches still look at a (very) few kids at that age but they can still do that at nationals and other high profile tournaments.

Right now some of you are thinking “But our org head said they ARE lookin at our 7th and 8th graders.” My response is to feel free to choose what you want to believe.

And don’t shoot the messenger but if a player is really that good, they shouldn’t be playing 14u anyway.

14u showcases are for the convenience of org heads that want all their teams playing in one place. Most of them are hosting tournaments themselves and all these good ol’ boys do each other the favor of playing in each other’s events. Meanwhile parents get fleeced and have to drag their kids all over Gods green earth on school days.

This public service announcement is part of a series brought to parents in an effort to lessen the effects of the Softball Industrial Complex.

 

[Strike2]

And don’t shoot the messenger but if a player is really that good, they shouldn’t be playing 14u anyway.

Truer words were never written here.

 

[Strike2]

An org based where I live has grown a couple of 16U/18U summer showcase events into a fairly big deal. All the teams are at one nice ballpark, and it's pretty well run. Recently, they added a 14U division at another park in the same metro area...charging almost as much. It wasn't nearly as well executed, and nobody is there except parents. Aside from a summer trip to play some different teams in some VERY hot weather, it's worthless.

How do these stop? When teams stop signing up for them.

 

[radness]

I think the format
being tournaments where teams are guaranteed five and six games and can plan ahead for the competition is fantastic. Some of the rules and guidelines of how they do the showcases, these may need to be altered but I like the opportunity for everybody to play more games or at least as many games as each other.

As far as colleges showing up
I see colleges showing up for 14U showcases,
Yes I'm going agree that probably has to do with the level of teams that are playing,
That said
I wouldn't take away that opportunity from that level of players.
Nor other aspiring players
Of any level.

 

[ang2bmd]

Depends on how good your 14u team is. We had a ton of coaches at our 14u games this past summer

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[MNDad]

Now that we are done with the disaster of the early verbal, I don’t see much reason for 14u showcases.

Yes, college coaches still look at a (very) few kids at that age but they can still do that at nationals and other high profile tournaments.

Right now some of you are thinking “But our org head said they ARE lookin at our 7th and 8th graders.” My response is to feel free to choose what you want to believe.

And don’t shoot the messenger but if a player is really that good, they shouldn’t be playing 14u anyway.

14u showcases are for the convenience of org heads that want all their teams playing in one place. Most of them are hosting tournaments themselves and all these good ol’ boys do each other the favor of playing in each other’s events. Meanwhile parents get fleeced and have to drag their kids all over Gods green earth on school days.

This public service announcement is part of a series brought to parents in an effort to lessen the effects of the Softball Industrial Complex.

I would have rather they just addressed the junior high offers than severely limiting the information colleges can share with HS age PSA’s. The unofficial visits were a great chance to talk to coaches and players and get a feel for campus life. I understand not wanting schools to shower recruits with gifts, but the three event tickets they used to give away wasn’t excessive.

I think 14U’s playing up depends on what parts of the country you’re in. Around here teams and players tend to stay down with their ages. 10 years ago it made sense because there were more than enough 14U teams full of elite players for competition. Now it seems even the top teams only have a handful of elite players. Maybe that’s already run it’s course in other areas and the kids have to move up to face the competition necessary to become elite.