Boulder

.....Hey hitit, think about this for a second, a college staff has a max of 50 "recruiting" days (correct me on the exact # of days), that they can be at tourneys.
So if LSU had three coaches for three days then they just used 9 days and what amounts to approximately 1 fifth of their YEARLY allotment.
I'd say that says ALOT in favor of going to these tourneys.

fish

 

There's room for plenty more "homegrown" players on North Carolina school's rosters.

That room will be created when these schools begin to believe that "our girls" are as good, or better, then the ones they sign from out of state.

One way to look at it is to compare rosters at the schools between baseball and softball. First, baseball rosters are larger due to the number of pitchers that are needed. A coach needs more "arms" so you would expect there to be a more expanded recruiting area, therefore more out of state recruits, to fill that need.
At UNC 54% of the baseball players are NC boys and this is a perennial national power team. The softball team, which is trying to reach the same level as the baseball team, is 52% homegrown. This isn't too bad, but there is still room for more NC girls to rise up and play at that level.
UNC-W, in both sports has the most invested, it seems, in "buying local". Baseball is at 87% and softball is at 79%!
ECU raises some questions. While baseball is in line with 67% of their players being from NC, the softball program has only 27%. There are actually more players wearing purple and gold that are from Hawaii then there are from North Carolina! They also only list 15 players on their roster verses the 19 listed at the other two schools.

Each of the coaches at these schools has to determine what will make them and their programs successful, their jobs depend on it!

I will say that personally I will be interested in seeing success at UNC-W because their "investment" in NC talent. Carolina's coaches seem to do a pretty good job of recruiting their home turf considering the level they are striving to achieve. At many of the other schools, there is room for our girls to earn roster spots, if given the opportunity.

 

Gman I agree with you the room is there for home grown girls, but will the NC schools utilize their talent. You are right UNCW and Carolina do a good job of working in their own back yard. I think for the most part, the state institutions do a good job. But take for example Elon, almost dead center of the state only 25% of their roster is from NC. Gardner Webb and Appst are both under 50%.The point I was trying to make was if a girl is able to go and be seen by schools from other states that may not have the talent pool we have, that girls might improve her chances of playing at the collegiate level.

 

Good point

84 teams with 14 (average) on roster per team, 40 were in final 64 Gold National field, that is why 200+ college coaches attend and come from all over the US, many find their future stars or at least get them on their list.
Plantation, Ronald McDonald, and Jersey that Rick mentioned have large followings as well and Rick is trying to get all his kids on best stages.

 

Larger tournament not necessarily better

"The only negative was we only played 3 great teams (Carolina Wildcats, Carolina Cardinals and a NJ team) out of the 7 games we played. At these 3 games there were plenty of college coaches, but at the other 4 games only a coach or two attended for an inning or two, because the teams were not true ASA type teams. So a team needs to make sure they are being matched up well in a showcase format, because it is better to lose a game 3-2 with a dozen college coaches watching then to win 16-3 with no college coaches watching." From the Ohioan above

The Cardinal Classic field is much larger than it was five years ago (when my DD played). The reality is the concentrated quality of the competition has suffered. Selectivity is the key to a successful high quality showcase. It's nice that more teams get to play but college coaches really want to see good vs good.

 

....isn't that why the TDs place the teams of equal talent on the same fields?

 

Take a good long look at this...

Gman posted -

"...There's room for plenty more "homegrown" players on North Carolina school's rosters. That room will be created when these schools begin to believe that "our girls" are as good, or better, then the ones they sign from out of state..."

DukeDog posted -

"...The Cardinal Classic field is much larger than it was five years ago (when my DD played). The reality is the concentrated quality of the competition has suffered. Selectivity is the key to a successful high quality showcase. It's nice that more teams get to play but college coaches really want to see good vs good..."

Exactly the reasons why BIGTIME college coaches save the recruiting money for out of state tourney's and look for girls they can not get at home. They know how to find girls at home, but when they have the NEED for something else (better?). Go to Boulder, live the experience, have a great time, do something not many girls you know get to do, and then go sign on with the school that recruited you 20 miles away so your Mom and Dad can see you play

 

In theory yes

Yes; but that process is less than perfect. It's very difficult to handicap large tournament fields. Of course, the same can be said about selecting a small tournament field.

The other 'elephant in the room' is the fact there are at best probably only about six gold quality travel teams in North and South Carolina combined. There are talented players but many are dispersed across teams who, collectively, are not gold quality. This makes the job of tournament directors very difficult.

 

The point is...

But, the purpose of playing Showcase Tournaments is to be seen? Correct? A player can still be on a loser and play against quality talent and still get signed.

If it's a quality Gold National team you want then have an invitatioin only tryout from selected All-Stars from the State Games, let a group of HS coaches selected players anonymously for the team outside of their regions to avoid bias and daddy ball, and let another group of HS coaches coach the team(s). Then you have a true NC breed National Gold team to barnstorm with and see how the TOP talent in NC stacks up nationally. As a footnote, look at organizations like the Shamrocks out of VA who have kids come from as far away as Florida to play for them. Forget practices. It's impossible, but they assemble some great talent and play at a very high level...nationally. Just go look at the list of colleges many of their former players have signed with. It's a Whose Who of DI schools.

 

Yes ECU does raise lots of questions. I could start a list a mile long of players in her own backyard that have outperformed her west coast/hawaii kids hands down over their college careers at other schools. I have asked many different softball folks why she rejects most NC players and I've yet to find an answer to that question. ECU should be recruiting within their region.