The other day I was thinking about the myriad of showcase/travel labeled teams that we have down here in S. Florida. Out of all the teams that I've seen or heard of there is a large emphasis on getting the players to college but, little talk of having players on the showcase/travel team with good GPA's, SAT/ACT scores, community service, etc. Do you think a showcase team made up of exclusively baseball players with talent and academics would be something that would get attention from some of the academically elite schools? It seems to me that a recruiter could offer more to a player with academics and baseball talent. Your thoughts?

Interesting idea. Might work??

My guess, however, is that the very best athletes who are also the very best students would still want to play on the very best team they can...no matter the academic makeup of the team.

I have no doubt you could attract smart kids who are very good players for a team like this. Question is, could you attract a team that could compete at major events?

JBB
That is an issue but from my time at these major events there are some teams that are there to win, hell some at all costs. There are some there to showcase talent and playing time is divided equally regardless of the score/magnitude of the game. And there are some that have no business there except for a few players on the roster. i would have to decide where a team like this fell out if I was to put on together.

Jimnev - I like the idea if for nothing else it might be cool to have a team full of high achievers with similar aspirations who also support each other's aspirations.

Will it attract recruiters?

Perhaps. Maybe before attending a tournament or showcase where you know these recruiters might be, you send them an e-mail letting them know that all they need to do is watch your team without wondering whether or not a given kid is qualified. It might be enough to get a coach from Harvard or Princeton to take a peak if they might not have otherwise.

Either way, it sounds like it might be a positive experience for you and the kids even if it did not generate any additional recruiting interest.

There's a top end softball program called the A's in California. There's a minumum gpa required to make and remain on the team. While the idea is nice I doubt it matters if an academically gifted athlete plays for the team or any other team would make a difference to a higher academic college.

I belive the Headfirst Gamers fit this profile. There are probably others.

My son's team at the AZ Fall Classic had 5 kids on it that made the academic team and they had several academic oriented schools following them because they had a high % of high academic achievers on the roster. I think the AZ Classic started this game because of the interest and most of the scouts are there.

If you could put together a competitive team with a high academic profile it would be good, it would not if you had a high academic profile with a below average team.

I agree that they would have to be competitive. A bunch of smart guys that can't play doesn't offer anything to a recruiter. RJM, take the two Perfect Game Events Underclass/WWBA championship that just finished. If there is a team that has all the academic requirements to get into top academic schools and as ClevelandDad says those schools know that such team exists, I think you would find a large portion of those schools talent evaluators at the smart guys games. With hundreds of players playing at one time it provides recruiters the opportunity to focus on a entire team instead of 3 players on field A and 2 on field Z.

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I think you would find a large portion of those schools talent evaluators at the smart guys games.

I don't disagree. But I don't believe not playing for this team would hinder the recruiting efforts of an equally smart baseball player. Therefore, I don't see it's value to the player. The value is to the recruiter. The player can accomplish the same result by attending Head Start.

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The value is to the recruiter.

I think that was Jimnev's point. If he increases the value for the recruiter, he increases the liklihood that they might show up to watch one of their games. If they show up to watch one of their games, he has also increased the value to his players. I don't disagree that head first showcases also provide similar opportunties.

Yes Headfirst does a great job but they're in the DC Metro area. They do conduct an Honor Roll Camp here in Florida. I'm talking about tournaments like PG the USA Baseball etc.

It works in softball. There is a travel softball team in so cal called the American Athletics. To be on their every elite team you have to not only have D1 talent you must also carry and prove a minimun 3.5 gpa to keep your spot.



All of their girls go to college as that is their mission as a club.

There is a team here trying to do that. It is the East Cobb Patriots. I know they have a 16 and 17 year old team. Must maintain a 3.0 GPA to remain on the team. Just talking with one of the dad's on the team last night. They plan on making an Ivy League showcase circuit this summer (at least the 16 yr old team is).

Neither team is all that good to be honest with you. They are not BAD, just not top notch. I don't see that they have attracted any of the top level talent just because there is an academic requirement for the team.

I agree with a couple others on here. If you are top level talent, not playing on this type of team will not hurt you. If everyone wants you, you can go where you want - including the top academic schools. What I may see as an advantage is if the coach does like the above one and focus's his showcase events to those having the higher end academic schools in attendance.

Thanks for the input. I'm undecided if this is something that is worthwhile. I'd like to hear from some of the parents out there.

It could work but I think if an individual player takes care of business in the classroom he would be fine on any decent team. Playing on a strong team with a bunch of academic is a bonus. We stress academics greatly. Our 2010 team is a top team with very academic kids. Of the 27 players on that team only two are below a 3.0 and we have 8 players with a GPA of 4.0 or higher. All of our teams are in the same mold. We have developed a reputation of having academic players. I had an Ivy league coach said he preferred guys that were great baseball players that were smart and not smart guys who played baseball.