triplethreat:
Good points, although the air is relatively rare up there where the college coach has set his/her entering classes so far in advance that scouting 16U is off the agenda.
Anyway, I still prefer the idea of developing the Lasers Gold Invitational into the tournament where Ohio college coaches tell the TD who they want to see and where the TD selects the remaining teams based on merit. That would produce the greatest good for the most numbers of Ohio players seeking to play at some collegiate level. And I can't help but think that other college coaches will soon tire of watching the teams/individuals they scout play some relatively weaker Ohio teams.
Fact is, few travel team coaches have the connections, time, and money that Bill has to market their teams. Ted and I, for example, spend virtually all of our disposable income on softball items such as the NFCA College Courses (where we do get to be up close and personal with some very well known college coaches) and travel expenses (though we are lucky that the organization pays for our room, there is still the travel and the meals). And we do send emails to college coaches and to other individuals who have better contacts with college coaches. We just don't have the time or money, given our day jobs, to come close to the job that Bill does training and marketing his athletes. So we're more interested in our players being recruited by colleges that may not be high profile softball schools but that can offer softball money to help the girls attain a good college education. Phrased differently, we are looking for a wider array of college opportunities for a greater number of girls. And I think the Lasers Gold Invitational can meet that need fairly quickly, which in turn might lead to the high profile coaches eventually coming to the Lasers Gold event.
