When to start playing the Showcase Tournaments???

What is the rule of thumb to start playing showcase tournaments. It seems as if there has been a sudden change in the plans of most of the better 16U teams
out there. You can hardly find a good turn out of 16U teams unless you play the larger showcase trail. I have heard both sides of the argument that college coaches don't even want to look at the younger girls, but, if you have a
good team of true 14 year olds that are playing up @ 16U it's tough to find a
a good turn out of top teams unless you do the showcase thing. What do you
guys think??????

 

do the showcasers.

 

Showcase or NOT

The quality showcase tournaments bring out college coaches, no doubt. The coaches know that many of the best teams in the country or area will be at Dynamites, Rising Star, Firecracker, Bandits, etc. I think Howard and NSR are making headway with their joint venture. ASA qualifier and Nationals are a very popular hang out for college coaches. At the ASA Nationals in Ga this past August there were coaches from all over the country, I sat on a rock wall with over a dozen, talking and watching the Louisville Sluggers play the Cal. Chaos. There were well over a 100 coaches there including all of the SEC, most of the ACC, many of the Big 12, Big 10, Atlantic 10, and the SAC, CVAC, Peach, etc. I also saw a couple Pac 10 schools and many independents as well. Bottomline play the best teams U can find to play against and coaches will find those type tournaments. They want to see teams at any age that play smart softball and have dedicated players that work hard, hustle, show good sportmanship, and have fun playing the game. It does not matter where U play if your team plays dirty, uses four letter words, exhibit bad attitutes, they will not get the coaches attention long. There are just a hand full of teams in my many years of doing this game that exhibit poor impressions.

 

Well said Lady Blue ,Don't forget the Parents because Coaches recruit player and parents as one. Coaches like to see players play against tough teams win or lose. So the Showcase tournaments are a must.