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Free Market Economics
by Dave
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
I've been watching and listening for any mention of the current administration taking over the softball showcase world. There just does not seem to be anything out there. That means we are all at the mercy of the free market. So it is strictly a buyer beware proposition.
Some months ago, perhaps a year or more, I received disturbing word from a softball acquaintance of mine. This guy's daughter had joined a showcase team to get in front of college coaches. The team was playing a showcase tournament at which there was no elimination round playing to an ultimate champion. The thing was organized purely to get college softball aspiring kids in front of college coaches. The guy's daughter had done her homework, identified several schools she would be interested in, and contacted the coaches to get information and, ultimately, to get them to take a look at her. One of the coaches was in attendance but the girl was not in the lineup for that game.
I'm not sure if I remember this perfectly straight but either the college coach or the kid asked the team's coach if she could be inserted in the lineup for a few innings. The reaction of the showcase team's coach was somewhat odd. That coach informed the kid not only that she would not be inserted into the game, but also that the coach would always make all the decisions about who would play where and how much. He/she did not appreciate being approached to put some player in. The coach said he/she would always play to win and play whomever gave the team the best shot at winning, always, under all conditions!
That is disturbing to me. The best shot at winning a showcase game at a non-competitive tournament? Who is zooming who?
The world of showcase ball is very expensive with kids (parents) paying more to play on these teams than on run of the mill competitive travel teams. Typically, we are talking thousands of dollars before we even look at travel expenses. If you want to participate on a showcase team, you are definitely in for at least a thousand more than other teams and then, once you want to go to the full complement of events, well, by the time you are done, you may be out of pocket as much as ten large. At least one parent told me he had spent closer to 15 one year because he wanted to travel and watch his kid play. That's fine, if you can afford it but, well, you can go to college for less, especially if you get some academic and/or financial aid.
When I refer to "non-competitive" tournaments what I mean is, the world of showcases is varied. There are those with a set schedule at which winning games means absolutely nothing. There are some which conclude with an ultimate champion. There are many others where the only trophy is bragging rights to some sort of best record in bracket title. I suppose you could participate in the ones which end with a champion just like you would any other tournament, that is, try to win the things. I also suppose there is value to an organization which earns the bragging rights for winning a bracket. Perhaps you can earn games on a field where there are actual college coaches next year. Perhaps you will find an easier time recruiting players next year. But the ones which do not have any sort of winner or loser are an entirely a different matter.
When parents go into their pockets to pay for showcase teams, they are looking for exposure. Most of the time, they are choosing a team based on the salesmanship of the coaching staff rather than their technical softball skills. They want guys and gals who are on a first name basis with the college coaches. They want people who schmooze targeted coaches, take them out to dinner, know their kids first names, etc. They want to be on teams with good reputations, good reputations for placing kids. They frequently are not interested in the team's chances to sport an undefeated record or otherwise lay claim to best in state titles.
To be sure, sometimes kids join these teams with an eye towards earning a berth to ASA "A" or Gold nationals, perhaps even competing well once there, if not winning the whole thing. It can be a bit of a fine line. But while ordinary travel ball coaches have an allegiance to the full roster to get the maximum number of games for each and all, showcase coaches have that added duty to get the best possible exposure for all the girls who are paying the freight. Whereas a typical travel coach fields his or her lineup to get as deep into the tournament as possible, the showcase coach must also serve the more important goal.
I remember sitting through my very first showcase game. The pitcher for one team was rolling along nicely. She was truly outstanding, a likely D-1 prospect. I was mesmerized by her skills. Then came the fourth inning and the coach pulled her for a much less impressive kid. The team was in the lead something like 2-0 but the next pitcher quickly yielded some baserunners and then a couple runs. Neither team seemed to take much notice of the pitching change. Nobody seemed very upset or happy about taking or relinquishing the lead. I was dazed and confused. Why had the coach pulled her? Was she hurt? Had she pitched to some pre-arranged number of pitches or innings and now was her time to rest? I didn't know what was going on. But that coach had 4 pitchers to get in and just two games to do it that day. The games were time limited so he pulled his pitcher after 3 and put the next kid in. That's the way the cookie crumbles.
More recently a fellow wrote to me to complain that his daughter had joined what was called a showcase team. The team had brought several pitchers onto a slim roster. They went to their first couple of tournaments and had used just two of these girls. The other pitchers never so much as warmed up. His daughter was one of the "other pitchers." He wondered if he was getting upset over nothing. He wanted some advice. I told him to find another team and leave. But don't just leave and move on. Tell all your softball friends and acquaintances to avoid the team like the plague. Tell them exactly what happened. The rest will take care of itself.
That is the way the showcase world gets policed, by you and me, by buyer beware. The softball world is very small and if a team holds itself out to showcase girls but plays every game as if their reputation demanded victory, well, the next time they conduct tryouts, the talent pool will be significantly reduced. Who, in their right mind, with a full set of facts, is going to join a so-called showcase team which feels no loyalty whatsoever to the goal of actually showcasing their kids?
The truth is, this particular team does not play many true showcases. Rather they play a few real showcases and then mostly compete at run of the mill tournaments which call themselves showcases. These do not draw a lot of college coaches. They do not draw the best possible teams even from the local area. They are showcases in name but they are not showcases for bigger time talent. And the teams which attend are usually pretty petty, choosing to put winning over showing their kids.
A friend of mine told me about how he had his team playing showcases. I tried not to ask the critical questions about which college coaches he saw there. He noted that the teams they had played were very good and his team had done poorly. The second day of the tournament, they were stuck in a bad location due to their poor performance the day before. But I wonder how many college coaches were at the good site and I wonder how many of these teams were just there to fill out there schedule or tune up for the time when they will be playing national qualifiers. This guy's team was very young. And he was new to the very idea of "showcase" tournaments. He had signed up for this one merely because the organization running the tournament had called it a "showcase."
Showcases, like all products, run the full spectrum of quality. There are showcases which are really just dressed up 18U tournaments. They don't really draw any coaches. There are those affiliated with skills assessment camps with throngs of coaches in attendance. There are those which exist purely because they bring in droves of college coaches and the best teams year after year. Before you choose a showcase team and shell out your limited sheckles, you really need to educate yourself on the big, important showcases and learn which of these a particular team plans on attending.
If a team has a schedule made up up Jason's Car City Softball Championship and College Showcase, ASA/NSA/PONY A or B states, PBA softball extravaganza, etc., I would hope you wouldn't be mesmerized by the term "showcase" in their name. I would hope you wouldn't shell out $3,000 to play a bunch of pretty good tournaments within driving distance of your home. if you are going to pay more than regular travel, you;ve got to go to at least 2 to 3 bigger name events.
On the other hand, let's face the fact that many of us do not have the spare cash around to put our 6th graders, no matter how good they are, on a team which plans 6 out of state treks via airplane this summer. For many, a lesser interstate experience is appropriate. But I hope the prices are commensurate with the experience. If on one hand I have a team headed to 3 Gold qualifiers, 4 true big time showcases, and 3 other events, and on the other a team playing mostly dressed up regular tournaments, I would not expect both teams to cost $3,000 before travel expenses. If a team charges you $3 grand to play local showcases with no coaches around, maybe you're being taken.
In any event, if my daughter is involved with a true showcase team, I expect full lines of communication between myself and the team's manager. We all understand that our daughters need to stand up on their own, learn to deal with coaches on their own, and generally make their own way into the real world. But those fine and noble goals go out the window when we are talking about $10 grand for the year and multiple years going forwards.
The kid cannot enter into a legally binding contract. If I'm essentially purchasing an automobile, well, I demand lines of communication. And whereas I would not ever approach a coach to discuss my kid's playing time on a competitive run of the mill travel team, I'll be damned if my dollars are going to go to showcase 9 other kids while my daughter rides the pine and bides her time. Don't tell me that she needs to learn to pay dues and she'll be the beneficiary of other kids doing the same as she ages up. That's not the way it works. Check out your competitors.
In softball, as in other human pursuits, it is buyer beware. Showcase ball is no different. But showcase comes with a higher price tag. So before you buy the horse, look at the teeth. You want to know exactly the tournaments you'll be watching. You want somewhat firm commitments about playing time and an understanding that if a college coach comes around specifically to see your kid, the team's coach will be considerate enough to do what he or she can to get your kid in there.
You want to be able to talk to someone if you are not happy with the situation. Don't tell me parents must stay in the background with respect to this aspect. Yes we need to be neither seen nor heard when the college coaches are around but we have full right to talk to coaches and representatives of the organization about any topic. This isn't the high school team. This isn't 14U NSA ball nor any sort of regular travel team. This is showcase. Lots is riding on the opportunities here. There are alternatives to your team. I'll trust in your expertise but I am an active participant. This is a partnership.Labels: coaching, college, parenting
 
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