Showcase Baseball... too many teams???

Good Points Coach 27... If I have to spend alot of time instructing a pitcher on mechanics, etc... during a tournament, then that pitcher is not ready to showcase at that time. I can see doing some tweaking with some subtle things or making adjustments at the plate, but major instruction just cant happen. We have taken kids and workied with them with issues but the short weekend tournaments dont set themselves up to warrant that.

 

Thanks coach. You've answered my question.

 

BTW Coach 27, who is AP?

I was referring to showcase in general, not a particular team or person. I appreciate your response. By your comments I get the impression you coach Impact.

 

AP= Andy Partin

 

I coach HS

I have helped out Impact a little this summer coaching the 07's. To me a showcase team is about going out picking up the most talented kids you can get " of course you want to make sure your guys are great kids too " and letting them showcase their talent to college coaches. Their might be groups that spend alot of time on instruction and thats fine. This will obviously limit the amount of time you can spend playing. Its up to the parent and the player to determine what you want out of your summer baseball situation. If your looking for a ton of instruction then find a program that spends alot of time on instruction. If your looking for a team that spends its time putting its kids in front of college coaches then look in that direction. I only talked about Impact because that is the showcase team that I am most familiar with.

 

Basically that's what we have done with the Copperheads. We cannot devote enough instructional time as I do with my HS team, just not enough hours. Freddy wants to do more instruction with them, but there's only so much time. So that limits him with what he can do. We give them the opportunity, it is up to them to have worked on their games and improved. Especially when our players are as spread out as our are. We have had practices, but once we started playing, we played every weekend except for 1 all summer, so that limited/cut out any practice time. Like I said it is up to the players to work on improving their games, and making adjustments.

 

Coach Evans and Coach 27,

Thanks for your comments. All of it is good information and advice. Much appreciated.

On Andy Partin and who he is, I didn't put it together. I never even knew he coached. Thanks for sharing.

 

I have just joined this board. I have found the threads to be very entertaining and informative. I guess I need to jump in and give my two cents worth.

I have experienced showcase baseball for the first time this summer. My son played for Coach Evans. Our experience was a good one. I will say that I saw ALL kinds of talent this summer. Not all of it would you consider "grade A" talent. So in that vain, maybe there were too many showcase teams. But..... you saw very talented kids at every tournament. I saw very few "loaded teams".

Coach Evans did not have time to instruct our kids. He did let my son know what to work on during the week when he saw flaws in his mechanics. I did not expect anything more with the format of the team and the schedule.

We went into the summer knowing that we would do something different with my son in the fall. He needs more instruction and conditioning to get to the level he wants to get to. Very few get to the level they think they can. My son's attitude, persistence and desire to get to that level is an education in itself whether he gets there or not. I'll support him all the way.

I also see a Catch 22 between the loyalty of the player and that of the showcase team. We spent kind of a "lame duck" summer because we were upfront with our plans for the fall. Be loyal to who your playing with if you expect to be promoted. But....also be aware that better players come along and your son goes down the depth chart..... it is a real life education though. You then have to do what is right for your son. So... more showcase teams is an advantage in that situation.

I think I stayed with the subject of the thread.

 

Welcome to TBR BSCoach. Don't worry too much about staying on topic. It is not something that we stress. Feel free to enter into all of the topics that interest you. We have fun here and hope you experience the same.

 

A different perspective ?

I recently found this board and have really enjoyed following some of the directions of your posts. I feel like I need to appologize for being a coach of a team my sons plays for. He has played baseball and enjoyed it since he was 5, like many of the kids I know that are playing high school baseball. I know a few of the guys who are posting here and have coached against some of them at one time or another. I have no pipedream that my son is going to play D-1 college ball or even play college ball at all. He's a 4.0+ student who loves the game and is surrounded by alot of guys on our team that are great boys. If he never picks up a baseball after high school, the circle of friends he has as a result of these past few years is invaluable.

Over the years I have seen way too much "daddyball" and my son has had to work alot harder for his opportunities as a result of that. I'm hoping he will see the advantages of working hard for what he gets out of life. I also realize this is the exception as opposed to the rule when Dad's are making the coaching decisions.

I was searching some of the baseball sites in hopes of stepping our guys out of U%#SA tournaments and trying to get them in a late fall showcase tournament (16U), I would not want to expose our guys to a situation where they'd be looked upon as "not belonging". My main reason for that is because I have 3 or 4 guys that are ready to take that next step (not my son)but as a TEAM we are very solid. My hopes would be one of those 3 or 4 would be seen by a coach who could take them to that next level. Even though our group has played together and been fairly successfull for a few years, as a coach, I realize I have done about all I can. We are now playing only fall tournaments to keep the guys in a competative situiation, seeking out good teams hoping this will allow them to get better. Every guy on our team participated in either jr. legion or their HS summer team. Finances and funding is always an issue for the families that don't have the means to get their kid in an elite program. We are playing alot of baseball at a minimum expense. The difficult part for me is seeing the falloff at a few of the triad area high schools as far as coaching and providing an enviroment that is conducive to getting better. Even though I don't have a college baseball pedigree or MLB background I understand the game and how it should be played from an attitude and effort standpoint. I know I have some talented guys who want to get better, some of their HS programs aren't helping them do that. My guys have been committed to winter conditioning/hitting and pitching the past two winters and we'll probably do that again this year. Am I doing my 3 or 4 guys who are good enough to play showcase a disservice by continuing to field this team?

With some of the comments made in previous posts, I would hope those that are more fortunate could understand what it's like to to be on the outside looking in. Please take my comments as positive ones, I have been fortunate enough to participate in quite a few national tournaments and have always found that NC is one of the stronger regions for baseball in the entire country. Keep up the good work.