Hi all - My son is looking at going to 1-2 showcases next summer (separate from his club team) as a rising junior. We are looking at Headfirst and Showball and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experiences with either of those (or other ones with similar school profiles in attendance). He’s interested in D3, and is a catcher, if that makes a difference. TIA!
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My daughter did Showball and various college camps for softball and my son did Headfirst and Stanford for baseball.
This was several years ago, so the programs may have improved/gotten worse, but we thought Headfirst was much better organized with a better set up for coach evaluation and interaction both in the skills assessment and the controlled scrimmages. They were very meticulous that each kid got the same amount of offensive, defensive and pitching looks (although pitcher/fielders split their reps). There was plenty of time between scrimmages to interact with coaches. You also got realistic feedback based on those interactions (if the coaches came looking for you, you were in a good place!). The Headfirst session in NorCal right before the Stanford camp was an ideal set up because there was a huge overlap of coaches. If you caught the attention of a coach(s) at Headfirst, they would look for you at Stanford where the scrimmages are spread across multiple venues.
If he is on a good club team (e.g. a Wilson Premier team) he probably doesn’t need to go to Headfirst or Showball because coaches will see him at tournaments. He should absolutely reach out to coaches via email prior to tournaments this summer so they can make time to see him play.
With that said, both Headfirst and Showball are legit organizations and players are recruited from them. But, same as above, your S should be connecting with coaches before he goes to the showcase. He should start reaching out to coaches this summer if he is a rising junior (not sure?), especially if he is playing well (get film). He should NOT wait until next summer to connect with coaches/attend showcases (when he’ll be a rising senior?).
Lastly I will say this about baseball…many D3 teams, including the more selective schools, spend 35-40 hours per week in-season which includes missing classes because many teams play games during the week. It is a grind and can be difficult for some students to manage. Just make sure your S understands that the D3 commitment is not less than other levels. It’s also something to think about if he will be using baseball as a hook to get into schools that may be academic reaches for him.
Good luck to him (and you!).
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Depends on the club team and which colleges your son is targeting. S played for one of the top organizations in the Southwest (Alex Bregman is an alum) and the tournaments targeted tended to be SW based. Plenty of D1’s, D2’s and Juco’s, but very few academic D3’s. In fact, the head of the organization recommended my S to do the Headfirst/Stanford combo knowing which schools he was targeting – he also helped in reaching out to targeted school coaches in advance, especially prior to the Arizona Fall Classic which has an academic all star component (OP, look into that one as well).
The beauty of Headfirst/Stanford is you have a concentration of almost all Ivy, NESCAC, and other academic D3’s (e.g. Pomona, Caltech, MIT, Swat, Carleton, Grinnell, U Chic …) in one place.
Another thought for the OP, if your son is a rising junior, the camps are great to make initial personal contact and exposure, but don’t expect too much this early. S went to these camps as a rising junior and was able to set up a more personal relationship with several coaches, so he got on their radar, but the hard push did not happen until summer before senior year. Agree 100% though to seed the relationships through emails with links to skill and game video’s as well academic resume prior to any camp/tournament.
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Thanks to you both! He would be a rising junior NEXT summer (2024), so just thinking ahead. Sounds like Headfirst is probably the way to go. And I agree about the time commitment of D3 - my older son is a 3-season D3 athlete (XC and indoor/outdoor T&F) and it’s no joke! My younger son definitely knows what he’s getting into!
The advantage of Headfirst over tournament play is that under the rules it is a “camp” that is “taught” by the various college coaches. That allows for recruiting conversations that might not - depending on the time of year - be allowed at tournaments.
The key here, as noted by @BKSquared and @Mwfan1921, is: 1) to send emails to all the coaches working at schools that he likes before the camp; and 2) make the effort to speak to the coaches at Headfirst. There will be a good number of players at the camp and, to prevent falling through the cracks, players should be assertive about starting conversations with coaches.
As far as the time for baseball at the D3 level, there are no more than 40 games per NCAA rules. Some coaches arrange for a few games in the fall to get the full 40. For NESCAC teams, the number of games ends up being less, and you might see around 35 games excluding the post-season. Bear in mind that many of the games occur in Florida/Arizona/CA during spring break, so that amounts to a chunk. In the NESCAC, they divide the League into West/East and schools play 3 games over a weekend with a single NESCAC school. Local games can happen during the week, but there are rules about how early those games can start.
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Thank you for this info!
Curious as to how your summer shaped up? Did you do HF or Showball and if so, which one do you prefer and why?
I want to sign my 2025 son up for one this summer and as I’m doing my research, it seems a lot of his target schools won’t be at HF. Anyone else running into this as it appears all of the schools are at Snowball?
I have a 2026 kid, so we are waiting until next summer. We may do one of each once we know which schools are going to Headfirst (I don’t think their 2024 camps have come out yet). If you look at last year’s list, it seems like there are similar schools on both lists, at least if you are looking at smaller d3 schools. I didn’t really look at schools other than that.
I should say schools of similar caliber. Looks like most of the NCAC schools (in Ohio) and Centennial go to Headfirst, with a few NESCACs, and that most of the NESCAC schools plus some Centennial schools go to Showball?
We did HF West Coast and Stanford back to back summer of sophomore and junior years. We liked the back to back because most of the schools we targeted participated in both camps. There was a chance at a more extensive look over more games. HF has not scheduled for 2024, and I would be surprised if there were a drop-off in coaches/schools represented.
I also see these showcases as equal.
By far and away the best way to get seen by college coaches is to play for a good club team (eg wilson premier) that attends high level summer and fall tournaments.
Interesting & informative thread.
About 6 years ago, my nephew received all of his baseball scholarship offers on the spot at showcases. Prior to that he only played for his high school baseball team. (Selected Duke.)