Showcases

Fusion

Is there somewhere you can go to see the pools?

 

This is the way this team has done business for years

Did your P/C fall for the coach's shmooz? If they did they had better be prepared to fend for themselves on the recruiting trail!

 

PUT ON THE SHOWCASE

Apparently, the way to get to play these top teams is to actually put on the tourney and place yourself in these brackets even when you are actively recruiting players to fill empty spots.

Gold Pool Red
1 Cabarrus County Challengers
2 Carolina Curve (Bowen)
3 Team TFS
4 The Crushers
5 Carolina Cardinals
6 Carolina Flames (Edenfield)

Gold Pool Black
1 Cape Fear Storm
2 Denver Dazzle
3 Carolina Crushers
4 Carolina Cobras
5 Hampton Roads Vipers
6 NC Dominators Elite

Gold Pool White
1 Carolina Raiders
2 Carolina Lookouts
3 NC Lady Lightning
4 Fire-N-Ice
5 Knockouts
6 NC Dominators Gold

A Pool Green
1 Carolina Crush
2 Carolina Rebels
3 Lady Blues (Threatt)
4 Randolph Rage
5 Maryland Legends
6 Galaxy Stars

A Pool Yellow
1 Capital City Shockers
2 Catawba Valley Storm
3 NC Spinners
4 Foothills Xtreme
5 Harnett Heat
6 Carolina Cougars


A Pool Orange
1 Lady Sluggers
2 Lady Blues (Reaves)
3 Carolina Flames (Bridgers)
4 Carolina Curve (Holt)
5 SC Hurricanes
6 NC Challengers (Wright)

A Pool Purple
1 Carolina Curve (Spain)
2 Sugar & Spice
3 Lady Blues (Fagala)
4 SC Bandits
5 Diamond Warriors
6 NC Challengers (Stewart)

Also schedule that coveted pool to play all of their games at a separate venue on both Sat & Sun while leaving all the underlings at the complex with the larger number of teams. Hey, why have to actually compete to have scouts pay attention to your teams when they can be a captive audience.:apfbbt:

MAMA DUCK

 

Put on a showcase

I'm sure this will be considered in next yrs schedule for some teams.

 

Showcase

I believe the Cobras have a very good team but dues must be paid. Blues, Curve, Challengers, Cardinals, and Flames, have all played 18U for several years and have played all the top tournaments locally and nationally. They have been successful at the 18U level for all these years and therefore earned their spot. Yea, U have done well this year and my hat is off to U but all these other teams have a track record of kids playing college ball which U will have soon as your kids graduate and get those chances.
Good sportmanship, ethics, and life lessons are a part of softball, none of us are perfect but we can always strive to be better each time we go out to the park. Arguing umpire calls, calling people out, "raising hell" at umpire calls does not help things. Usually U can point to several reasons why U lost a game and not an umpires call! They are human just like U and yes we are disappointed when they make a call we feel was wrong but we as coaches make many decisions we wish we could change.

I sincerely wish your club the best as U truly have some awesome talent. Keep focused on the kids and let the other stuff go!

 

Well Said and very much to the point

 

I personally do not think one team earns anything over another team. They all work extremely hard. I have talked and worked with many college coaches. We had 5 ladies sign this year and each college coach without question were looking for "quality players" and could care less what team they played for. The college coaches that we worked with are not concerned with who is winning a tournament or particular game. They are interested in the ability of the individual player. I have 9 former players currently playing college ball.

As I stated earlier one of the particular teams coaches (that some say "earn" or have paid their dues) actively recruits other teams players during showcase tournaments. I don't think that earns him anything other than the fact that college coaches are aware of his unprofessional tactics. And yes our p/c did sucumb to the sales tactics. I only hope they don't go down in "flames".

 

Comments

Sorry I can't list all the teams, should have includes Triangle Lightening, and all the 18U's that compete regular. U may have been doing this a long time and may have all the answers, I certainly don't but if U have been to Plantation or Colorado and even some National events and don't think some organization have earned spots, U are mistaken. Have U noted who gets the top three fields at Plantation each and every year. U are right, coaches are looking for the best players but are drawn to the organization with history of having good teams, like it or not. I have experienced it over the past four to five years trying to get us to the top bracket and top fields. Will make one last comment, we had to win our brackets at showcases to move up the bracket game, especially at the out-of -state events. The more U beat the top or perceived top teams, the better U are noticed. Don't know whom U are, don't want to offend, just giving my experiences which can be totally different from yours. Both can be right depending on the college coaches or situation. Best to your team.

 

Double-edge Sword

There is another reason that getting into the elite group of teams at high-profile tournaments is difficult. Tournament organizers want to attract the top teams from the region or around the country. If relative unknown teams (or coaches) are allowed to play and do not perform well, the reputation of the tournament and the tournament director can suffer. That, in turn, can create erosion in the confidence of college coaches who attend the event. So, a tournament director is going out on a thin limb when inserting an fairly unknown team into the top brackets. Winning local tournaments is not enough. It's not unlike a player getting to the major leagues. He first has to play in the rookie league, then single A, double A, triple A before he reaches the bigs. Without knowing the competition a team has played against, the big tournament directors cannot take a team's record as the only measuring stick. They need proof and that comes in the form of "let's see how you do in this bracket this year." Do well and you move up and gain credibility. LBlues and others who have earned their way there will tell you that the competition at the highest level is something to behold and entering that arena is not for the timid or foolhardy. It is Advanced Softball 501 and only the best deserves to be there.

 

No offense taken. I'm just sharing my experience which has worked well. If you play in college showcases and there are college coaches there and you are a great athlete trust me they will notice you. No matter how far you do or don't advance. You may not think they are noticing but they defnitely are. Also I have found that it's also just as important for a player/family to market their DD to the particular schools they are interested in. That's how you get a college coach to a tournament to see you. Marketing well and marketing early is a big key to getting recruited. Coaches prefer the "personal" contact rather than thru hiring a service.

This is the way most young ladies will get on a college team. It is the few that actually get seen at a "big" national showcase and get recruited to a large school. There are many positive experiences to be found at DII and below. The majority will find themselves at these levels if at all.