Son has been invited to both these camps in California and we are trying to decide which would be better. I am hoping that some of you have had experience with one or the other and can give some advice.

We attended showball in San Diego in August. For the money, I'd advise staying away. We were very disappointed, especially after being to UA and PG events.

Son went to showball summer of '08. The college programs they promised to be represented were indeed there, but it was pretty obvious that it was not a serious recruiting event for them.

A couple of the programs sent their volunteer assistant coaches. It seemed as if the programs were paid to be there and so it was a spiff to the junior coaches from the programs.

I wouldn't do it again.

what's UA?

BC Dad,

Most of the answers to your questions about camps on this forum are going to be answered by those who are in the back pockets of Under Armour or Perfect Game. These are very large organizations with huge brand names and of course.... in the end are businesses and want your money.

What these proponents fail mention while plugging their camps is for your son to be on the "Under Amour National Team" you'll have to go to a so called "try out" (which costs money)...Then if he's good enough he'll make the "national team". They make it sound prestigious but let me tell you from experience EVERYONE makes the team. The only real qualification is if your able to pony up $2500 or more. Or we could talk about Perfect Game for all intensive purposes is just a rating system that you pay $550 dollars for.

I can only speak from experience and tell you that the Showball guys run a great camp. My son received the exposure and instruction that was promised. ALL of the coaches there were very helpful. I can tout them but you'll have to do your own research. I'd start by calling the Division I coaches that will be there and ask about their program from a credible source not a message board.

quote:

ask about their program from a credible source not a message board.

Wow! Welcome to this "non-credible source" message board!

Oh boy. Here we go.

Kendrick

Nice job in making a first impression...Welcome to the board...now that we have you as member I am sure our creditability will improve.


You are certainly entitled to your POV but you do not have to take shots at some very good people on this board.

BCDAD,

The advice that I was given is to take my son to the camps where my son may attend college or would be interested in attending. We went to the Stanford canp and are attending the Arizona State camp on the Nov. 13th. These are his two top choices to go to school. We were invited to the same events you are speaking of just like a ton of other kids. Find out where your son would be interested in attending, then have his HS coach or summer coach make some phone calls. I wasted a ton of money before I learned this, do not decide for him, make him go to his coach and they will give him the answers as to which colleges may be a good fit for him. Good luck in this part of the process, enjoy this with your son it will go by fast.

Between my 2 sons, I've been to plenty of events and I found all events beneficial and useful. This ranges from Perfect Game to Baseball Factory to Showball. However, I never took my boys to the "Big 3". From my understanding, that is 3 schools joining forces to hold their own camp. If you want advice on Showball, I can offer that. As my previous posts mentioned, they were the greatest experiences my boys had while showcasing. The bottom line is that they put you in front of 15 schools and give you an opportunity to play on a major league baseball field. While there may be 2 or 3 volunteers present, I've learned that even the volunteer assistants are extremely influential in the recruiting process. Nonetheless, I can proudly say that my oldest son received a scholarship to Nevada after one of the Showball events. Before that event at At&t Park, my son had never even heard from them or received any interest whatsoever. Even though I'm a little bias because of my son's sucess, I would recommend Showball. Then again, everyone has to make their own decisions.

One last thing I learned during the recruiting process. Your chances of playing college baseball increase when more schools watch him play.

Thanks for all your advice, we are still unsure but will be looking at other options as well. Being from the Pacific Northwest I am not sure of many other options that are out there at this time of year.

quote:

Most of the answers to your questions about camps on this forum are going to be answered by those who are in the back pockets of Under Armour or Perfect Game. These are very large organizations with huge brand names and of course.... in the end are businesses and want your money.

quote:

Or we could talk about Perfect Game for all intensive purposes is just a rating system that you pay $550 dollars for.

kendrickharrington,

I understand that there might be some who would say they have had a bad experience with us. We are not the answer for every single person. However, you are welcome to your own opinion.

On the other hand, we weren’t even part of this discussion. Is your dislike really that strong?

Why did you make the above comments? I suggest you follow your own advice below, about us, before fabricating things?

quote:

I'd start by calling the Division I coaches that will be there and ask about their program from a credible source not a message board.

I guess, your comments did come on a message board. And speaking for myself, I always try to give much more than I take. And I would be the first person to tell people... We are not for everyone.

Regarding the two programs mentioned, I'm not familiar with either one. For sure I have no reason to say anything bad about either one. I have no experience with them.

BCDAD,
If you have a High School Coach that does not have great contacts or just does not get it done, you might want to consider one of these events to see where he stands. Being in the northwest like us you might need to think about Baseball Northwest events,University of Washington, WSU OR Oregon. Look on their websites they have a ton of offseason camps. If he stands out he will get noticed.

You will get various opinions on all of these camps and showcases, if your kid is a stud they will find him. GOOD LUCK

If you want to PM me you can got some info on some camps and stuff my kid went thru.

I am not going to get into the "either or" debate..... because your son should participate in everything he wants to that you can afford and are willing to do. There are some great experiences out there.

I will tell you that if your son wants to go to all three of the Big 3 (UCI, Fullerton or LB State) then go to that camp.

If he only wants to go to Fullerton then go to the Fullerton Camp. Likewise with the other schools.

The Big 3 is an excellent idea if your son would be happy at all of three of the schools.

I know of no one who attended a Showball camp to weigh in.

I do know we did not do an UA event because it was cost probhibitive for us ($1,850 for Junior Olympics, same for Pre-Season All American). I really wanted my son to participate but we could not pull that string.... I dont know what the pricing is now (could be more or less). I will tell you that BB Factory and UA both have quality people in their organization. We spoke with several.

As far as the PG stuff goes, well I am a big fan.

The comment of "just a rating system for $550." is a bunch of bunk. Go find my comments about what my son got out of PG in the recruiting thead. PG is an excellent organization run by quality people. Son went to several... Not one bad. Son did better sometimes than others but that was on him not PG.

There is a caveat though.... If your son is not a top performer then there is no camp that will benefit him. Performing poorly will take your name off of a list just as fast as performing well will add your name to a list.

I feel like I have to say something here. I have been to like 6 Pg events and have been evaluated as fairly as I could have been. I am not a Showcase pitcher. I am stronger in the 6th than the 1st and just can'tbring it in the 1st without losing what I do. It is what it is. saying that, I think the way I was rated was right on. I wasnt a 6 but I have to give them credit. They really do run the best showcases there is. You just as a pitcher have to be on.

BCDad,

We're also from the Pacific Northwest and my son went to the San Diego Showball in August this year. It was a great experience and he has been contacted by one of the colleges coming out of that event.

We liked it so much, we're heading down to LA for their event at Dodger stadium, as well. I debated about this originally. In the end, we decided to go, not because he's improved so much in the last 4 months, but because there are some different schools present that haven't seen him yet. It's also a chance to see my daughter at LMU!

From my personal experience over this past year, any chance a kid from the NW has to get in front of multiple colleges at one time is generally a good idea. They just don't come up here enough to really get a look. There are some showcases that, from my research, we will avoid. But Showball has been good for us.

Hope this helps.