Can any team play in showcase tournaments, if they pay the entry fee?

My son has been asked to play on two teams: One team is an "academy" type that is very expensive to play on. They will travel every weekend to showcase tournaments.

The other team is being put together by a group of fathers, with boys who have played together either in high school or summer ball. They are going to also travel every weekend and go to showcase tournaments. This will be a fraction of the cost and they could possibly be somewhat competent.

My question is can any team get entered if they pay the entry fee or do you need to have some kind of special something to get entry into the Showcases?

Many if not most screen the teams and do it on an invite basis

bethinks, honestly, if your "other" team is as your describe, they won't likely be able to compete against the teams that do this regularly. The downside of that is that very few college coaches will waste their time watching a team with few to no prospects.

And, as TR indicates, most quality tournaments and showcases screen who they let in. It is in their best interest to have the top teams playing.

My opinion is that you're better off getting your son onto a quality travel team that is well known to college coaches, and have him play his butt off to justify the opportunity.

By the way....Welcome to High School Baseball Web!

This is completely dependent on the talent the team has and the level of the "dad" coaches. It must be a talented team with known players otherwise you will be at a disadvantage and have trouble getting into some tournaments.

That said my son is playing for a "dad" coach team and we placed 4th out of all high-powered academy teams at the USA 16U Nationals this year. There were a lot of these teams who had nowhere near the talent we had and placed out of the top 32. You have to be aware that some of the bigger academy teams have several levels of teams. Their top teams are studs and get the premier seedings, etc. Their other teams are just so, so and in some cases you need to earn your way up the rank. You need to make sure you know what team you will be put on as it makes a big difference. That said they get in tournaments but their pools can sometimes be difficult.

Like I mentioned our team was talented and recruited from a wide area and only the best were invited to play. The coaches had run 13-14U travel teams, had played baseball at a high level and knew what they were doing. So to answer your question it can be done but the circumstances need to be in order. A team put together from a small area would stand no chance at a national tournament and would have a difficult time getting into some events.

Thanks for the responses. This advice helps!