Circle City Summer showcase

[da60]

Canocorn and I may debate on the issue of pitching at 18u vs.16u, but I agree with the thoughts on recruiting and this showcase. There are a number of talented girls playing softball in Indiana, however, the major Division I programs within the state roster very few hoosier girls(with maybe one exception). The Division II, III and NAIA schools are a better representation of where the girls have an opportunity to continue playing. As far as playing in Colorado, some coaches must be delusional if they believe a player on their team is going to be discovered by showing up at the Sparkler or Fireworks. I've listened to several coaches spew this nonsense out during tryouts for their teams or during down times at tournaments. These are snake oil salesman not coaches. Their teams win about 6 games a year and never contend in tournaments. That said, there are some teams from Indiana who should play in Colorado, but only a select few. How can coaches and parents not want to see a local showcase succeed? Canocorn is correct, get on board, coaches and parents need to email whatever colleges their daughters are thinking of attending and encourage the coach or assistant coach to show up.

[Circle City]

I didn't realize this would cause such a heated debate. As onedownonetogo stated, yes there are the major tournaments going on at the same time in Colorado, but that should not affect the outcome of colleges for our tournament. We did our research before we jumped into this venture. Only 4 teams from Indiana went to Colorado last year. That leaves approxiamately 150 16u, 18u and 18 Gold teams just from Indiana. We also recieved feedback from Colleges, that felt that their recruiting would be impacted by the state of the economy and would probably center their recruiting efforts closer to home.

Whether we get 1 or 100 colleges to attend, will not be determined by lack of effort. We are being proactive in marketing the tournament to all colleges in the Midwest. But as Canocorn stated, the parents, teams, and players are the driving force on number of colleges that ultimately attend these events.

Thanks for information, and look forward to seeing your teams attend.
ISP

[looking in]

Canocorn,
I understand that parents and coaches must be involved in the recruiting process! But ask any coach what he likes the most, contact from the player!! Not mom or dad emailing and attaching her name! Also, do you really think that Homer Hawks or the Sparks get so many coaches coming because of travel coaches and parents? No, it's because they know it will have teams that are competitive and not a bunch of wanna be's! If you haven't heard, the Hawks is cutting it's field down by half after letting in all those teams in the fall that had NO business being in an event of that type! All i'm trying to say is it will take some time to build a reputation of being a good "showcase"!!! I hope like hell it works out!! Da60 makes a great point, think about the biggest studs in the past couple of years, where did most of them go!! VERY small D1 schools or D2 and NAIA!!In STATE! NAIA schools should be on everybody's radar!! They have tons of $$$$ to give out!! After all, all we can hope for is getting some money to help pay for an education!! Not many of our girls are going to make a living at this game! Unless they coach, and that's a reach! Again, i'm glad somebody is stepping up and trying it! Our team will more than likely sign up! We are open that weekend! Not having to travel is GREAT! Canocorn, you must be with the Akadema program!!?? Don't know much about them, but they appear to be working hard at it! Good luck!

[looking in]

Forgot one thing! Why do you have to be NSA registered? Is it because of the park or what? We haven't been NSA anything for a couple of years now!

[da60]

Looking in, I agree with some of your points. Your statement regarding Homer Hawks and reducing the number of teams does not fall on deaf ears. I made a similar observation in my previous post. I can understand the initial skepticisim of some regarding a new showcase, however, given the reality of recruiting in Indiana, a local showcase would serve the majority of our players in a better capacity(which I believe we are all agreeing on). You can only put faith in what Circle City is indicating; which is their orgainization will make every effort to initiate support from midwest colleges/universities. I also stand by my previous statement, coaches, players and parents should advise the college coaches of a tournament or showcase schedule and encourage them to attend. It would be nice to believe a number of NAIA, DIV II, and DIV III schools here in Indiana would also see the win/win in a local showcase. If some Div I schools send representatives so much the better. I have seen the pitching coach from a local Division I school at most of the local "showcases" this past fall.

[Circle City]

Forgot one thing! Why do you have to be NSA registered? Is it because of the park or what? We haven't been NSA anything for a couple of years now!

The reason for being NSA registered is strickly because of facility insurance purposes only. Even though each team is required to have insurance, that does protect the park from being sued. We would have prefered not to put that down as a stipulation, but ultimately had no choice. (it also helps in securing umpires)

Happy Holidays

[jag1]

I would like to add my two cents on this one...It really is too bad that the best, and often times, most deserving players don't get the most exposure to college opportunities. What the whole process has become, is who can market their kid the best to prospective coaches. In the last 3-4 years, I have seen kids with plenty of talent and the heart of a lion get passed over for kids that are less talented, but play on the more recognized teams and have parents/coaches who are salesman. To ascertain that 15-16 year olds(freshman/sophomores) should be e-mailing college coaches everday is ludicrous..! Any parent that would get caught up in all of that B.S., needs a wake up call......it's only a game..!!!

[Blind Squirrel]

... To ascertain that 15-16 year olds(freshman/sophomores) should be e-mailing college coaches everday is ludicrous..! Any parent that would get caught up in all of that B.S., needs a wake up call......it's only a game..!!!

You are so right.

John

[Canocorn]

I would like to add my two cents on this one...It really is too bad that the best, and often times, most deserving players don't get the most exposure to college opportunities. What the whole process has become, is who can market their kid the best to prospective coaches. In the last 3-4 years, I have seen kids with plenty of talent and the heart of a lion get passed over for kids that are less talented, but play on the more recognized teams and have parents/coaches who are salesman. To ascertain that 15-16 year olds(freshman/sophomores) should be e-mailing college coaches everday is ludicrous..! Any parent that would get caught up in all of that B.S., needs a wake up call......it's only a game..!!!

Jag1 - I agree. I know the kids your are talking about on both ends.
But Sports have become an american obsession, regardless of what sport. Remember 9/11 - they talked about how the football games would help us heal.
Not disagreeing with you at all, just stating the influence sports have on us, in the USA.
I remember the good ole' days where a kid could play three sports, and they were thought to be a great athlete. Now, those are few and far between.

[da60]

Jag 1, you make some good and interesting points. During tournaments I am continually amazed at the number of talented players on the field. A college coach would have to answer the question of why he/she recruited player A and not player B. We would all have to agree the entire sports recruiting landscape has changed and continues to evolve. I can't fault the "recognized teams"(which we are not one, although we are competitive when we play them) for marketing their very talented players. I hope this Circle City Showcase is a success and our hoosier girls have an opportunity to strut their talents in front of a number of local colleges.