USAPREPS Mizuno showcase/camps

[NumeroUno]

Sorry if the money maker thing was out of line but it sounds like a lot of money to me but what do I know.

Good luck

[katrayher]

I kept getting these emails, I finally wrote back that I could NOT afford this camp and to remove me from the list. They contacted me again and offered my DD a "scholarship" to attend the camp. All she needed to do was write a essay stating why she wanted to attend their camp, a letter from our pastor or a counselor from school. We got the required paperwork together and waited. I contacted them once a month and received no reply. FINALLY they contacted me a week before the camp and had me fill out a recruiting form. Told me we were a go, and DD started to get excited. WELL we never got any info about when where why etc til 11pm the night of the first day of camp. So she missed all the first day activities. IE no video for her. I emailed the guy back and told him she would not be coming for the second and third days of the camp since she missed the first. I felt it would be uncomfortable for her to show up on day 2. He responded for me to contact him later in the week so we could see what happened. I didn't bother. I was very unhappy with the way they treated my DD, getting her hopes up for nothing. That is my personal experience with this company. BTW they got her info from her TB website. No one nominated her. Shady IMHO

[lvtwft]

I get their emails, and on the bottom they have a lot of schools logos and mention these are the schools that are coming (Arizona, Florida State etc). I looked at the list of schools participating in each camp and most of the ones they listed were not attending. I wrote them and asked why they would put teams in that were not coming but said they were...to say the least their response was not to happy.
He then went in to try to sell me that most kids do not go to big universities and getting my daughter seen by smaller schools would be the best thing to do...
Be it my daughter gets a chance to play softball after high school in a college setting, I would not be taking her to a place like this to get her noticed. I dont agree with the way they try to use the bait and switch, and did not like the response I got when I mentioned to them they should not advertise schools that were not going to their camps like they were...

Ill try ondeck Jessie...they seem a little more professional.

Wrote this on another thread, but the more I read of what this guy writes, the more I want to NEVER send anyone to his camps...
For some way you rub me the wrong way, on here and when you wrote me about the above.

[watchtonsofsoftball]

A few quick thoughts...

First off there needs to be more reputable camps other than OnDeck. I think OnDeck is great but there are so many more kids interested in obtaining a softball scholarship than they can invite. They bring the top colleges but there are many kids who either cant play at this level or dont wish to attend those schools for whatever reasons.

So what I'm saying is, the draw of coaches shouldn't be ridiculed by people on heybucket. This USA Prep/Mizuno thing would be great if they fulfilled what is promised. I dont know that it is or isnt. What Im saying is, hopefully they put the coaches that are REALLY attending and the parents (consumers) can make an educated decision about attending based on coaches attending and schools their DD's are interested in.
Yes we all want to see CAL, UCLA, ALABAMA, etc at these camps, but that means nothing if your dd doesnt have the skill set. I know SEVERAL coaches who put their name on camp lists and NEVER show up. You ask why? Its simple. If a kid thinks a certain coach will be there they are more likely to write the coach. Now the coach has a broader recruiting base by simply putting their name on a camp list. This is fact as I have brought it up and asked why I never saw them at these camps. Then these coaches invite you to THEIR camp to gauge your REAL interest.

I think its good this guy comes on heybucket and defends his camps. Who else has done that when we throw out "money maker"? It shows that he cares about his product at the very least. Obviously his reputation will be on the line at every camp. So he will either sink or swim. The lure of the scholarship will always allow newcomers.

[Dreamseam]

I think its good this guy comes on heybucket and defends his camps. Who else has done that when we throw out "money maker"? It shows that he cares about his product at the very least. Obviously his reputation will be on the line at every camp. So he will either sink or swim.

Whose reputation? We still don't know who the actual people that run these camps are, do we?
Who are they.
What are their qualifications?

[sr_design]

I'm the original poster of this thread. Thanks for responses given. Its created an interesting discussion. I'm for anyone that gets out there and trys to create a product and generates competition where there are willing buyers. ASA jumped in last fall with a couple of showcases and I've seen a few others pop up as well.

It's not an unreasonable request to know who is putting on these events and I would encourage the people at usapreps.com and any other org to publish that info along with credentials, etc. Transparency is vital and the info needs to be easily accessible on their website and in e-mails they send out.

As I see it if these various showcase/camps are well run and develop good reputations this can be a great thing for the teams/players/parents attending these and other events because the competition will encourage the established orgs to keep their product up, not neglect their customer base and help keep a lid on costs to teams.

[NumeroUno]

If what the NFCA has planned colleges will only be able to go showcases and recruit in June, July, August and September.

This may be coming sooner than you think.

[Trophy Hunter]

If what the NFCA has planned colleges will only be able to go showcases and recruit in June, July, August and September.

This may be coming sooner than you think.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are so many showcases in socal now that many of them are very lightly attended by colleges, and in effect not much more than glorified and expensive friendlies. A smaller window pretty much ensures better attendance by the schools due to a limited number of events.

So after Nationals in August the recruiting season will extend through September, and the players can maybe get a decent break from the constant grind. Although it's doubtful many organizations will give players any real time off because they need to keep those dues rolling in. It's also likely that the ex-showcases will be re-named "XYZ Meaningless Tournament" so the organizers can continue collecting inflated entry fees.

The biggest losers will be those who schedule all those sparsely attended showcases non-stop.

[pitcherparent]

I had the same experience as Katrayher. They told me my DD was eligible for a scholarship and to do all the letters, etc. Did them, and we never heard from them again. Tried emailing at least 5 times. Nothing.