<p>For those of you who participated in baseball showcases (or parents of participants) such as Stanford, Headfirst, etc, what is the youngest age you recommend attending a showcase? Are the more prominent showcases primarily for HS students or are there showcases for 11-14 year old boys? Thx</p>
<p>Son attended Headfirst as a rising senior in 2009. I can see a little value in attending HeadFirst as a rising junior IF you are going to target these same schools as a rising senior a year later and you have a lot of cash handy. The exposure and connections with the coaching staff could be valuable if you are sure these are the schools you want to focus on. </p>
<p>HeadFirst was fantastic, and it opened many doors for us at that time. I’ve heard Stanford is a great showcase as well. If you are unsure that the HeadFirst schools are for you, then I probably would not attend as a rising junior, but I would as a rising senior. We used HeadFirst as a backup or contigency plan as my son was getting baseball scholarship offers but not from the right schools with his intended major. HeadFirst helped us bring that into focus and get the right offers.</p>
<p>Questions, please let me know.</p>
<p>PS…IMHO there is no age minimum or maximum for showcases. You “showcase” when you are ready to be seriously recruited by college coaches, and write a big check. You need to be in top shape and top form. College coaches will not be looking at 11-14 year old kids because their immediate need is next years recruit not recruits that are 4-7 years away.</p>
<p>Thanks for helpful reply.</p>
<p>I agree with Fenway South. I would plan the senior rising summer very differently from other travel baseball summers. Depending on academics, HeadFirst is really important. However, I would consider attending a showcase in advance to allow your son to get a feel for the level of competiton and process. My son had a real opportunity to speak in a more relaxed way with coaches at the Princeton and Cornell camps.</p>
<p>We have these same style showcase events in basketball,personally I think they are a waste, especially if your kid has any real talent and has been identified as having talent through the various channels of competition. I think getting in front of your target coach via his camp etc…is a much better way to get your talent level evaluated by that coach outside of that I think showcases hurt, because if you have talent and aren’t able to show it in the showcase you’ve just diminished your value as a recruit.</p>
<p>schoolhouse,</p>
<p>I understand what you are saying, and I agree your comments may apply to some people. There are various type of exposure for the athlete (national showcase vs a camp) would be one comparision. What may work for some peope isn’t going to work for all people. People have different recruiting requirements and they are not always athletic. My son had D1 offers that he turned down because they did not have engineering programs. HeadFirst showcase put us in touch with D1 Ivy, D1 Patriot. D3 NESCAC and D3 schools that offered my son a chance to play baseball and study engineering.</p>
<p>Both HeadFirst showcase and camps can be used in totally different situations…my son did both as part of a planned strategy. We used the HeadFirst national showcase to standout with his athletic talent AND high SATs and GPA. My son got 20-30 emails and phone calls after the HeadFirst showcase and had coaches chasing him down in the parking lot. From that list, he selected the schools he was most interested in (engineering schools), and we attended their camps. Fast forward 4 weeks later, an offer was made while at the camp (on the mound) and he verbally accepted. We would not have gone to that camp had that Ivy coach not seen him at the Head First showcase. That is a 100% certainty. </p>
<p>This is 180 degrees different than how we started our recruiting process with his travel team showcases and camps where they were only focused on athletics (he didn’t stand out because the coaches didn’t care about the grades & SATs as much). He was getting offers from D1 schools that did not offer engineering, and it really bothered my son. Could we have just gone to camps? Possibly, but to go to a showcase where you know you will stand out and get many interested coaches is much more valuable, and it gives you more options and leverage. So each is different, but can be used together in an overall strategy.</p>
<p>Recruited = passion + skill + exposure + persistence + luck</p>
<p>Fenway is spot on for the higher academic player. Reach out to him via PM if your child is considering the Ivy path. </p>
<p>For those players that may be a good/great student, but not Ivy standards, baseball can get you into colleges that you may not have considered. Be sure to check the colleges that attend Headfirst to see if those schools meet your academic/financial needs. Last I read, Headfirst raised the pricetag to $1000 for a 2-day event, so you want to make sure at least some of your target schools are attending. </p>
<p>At age 14, keewartson played in several 16U showcase events on college campuses as part of a team. It was a great way to get his feet wet before larger showcase events the following summers. </p>
<p>There are camps at colleges for the 11-14 yearolds that are reasonable and some even have overnight camps. This can get you started: [College</a> Baseball Camps - NCAA Baseball Camps & Showcases Nationwide](<a href=“http://collegebaseballcamps.com/]College”>http://collegebaseballcamps.com/)</p>