Buckeye Heat-Toledo got rejected I heard. They are still a 16-U team for 2009 and I would think would be one of the top couple 16-U teams in Ohio, if not the top team. Our Heat teams have fared pretty well over the years as far as getting into Compuware, so this was a surprise, although much less so after seeing who else didn't get accepted.
I've always thought that if I were trying to put together a new showcase tournament, the first step would be to seek out the top 16-U and 18-U teams in Ohio and the Midwest and try to get them on board. Once the top teams are on board, the college coaches will follow. There is nothing sacrosanct about any tournament location or sponsor, it's all about the quality of players in the tournament.
After the top teams are secured, then it's a matter of sending out info to the college coaches with a list of the teams entered. Finally, make it easy on the college coaches when they get there. If I were running a showcase, here are the things I would make available:
(1) Well-organized booklet with all team rosters and contact info for each player.
(2) If possible, a roped-off area for college coaches to sit at each game, with an area for their chairs and a bleacher available. Call this being spoiled or whatever else, but if the tournament is all about being a college showcase, shouldn't this be a priority? I can't tell you how many times in my few months as a college coach that I have struggled to get a good vantage point on a pitcher or a catcher, while all the parents have planted their chairs in all of the best spots for scouting.
(3) A tent at each set of four fields with beverages and maybe even light snacks if it can be afforded.
(4) A number for college coaches to call to check on rain delays. I have found so far that TDs seem to forget that rain delays and rain outs affect us as much as the travel teams and everyone else involved.
(5) If the tournament includes 12-U and 14-U, keep the 16s and 18s together at the same set of fields. As much as possible, keep the 16s and 18s at one park. That alone is a big factor. If the complex is set up with four fields that back into each other so multiple games can be watched at once, then that's perfect. From what I've seen, many college coaches like to watch one game at a time for a few innings or more and then move on. I prefer to find a spot where I can watch two or more games at once if they involve girls I'm there to watch.
(6) If the tournament charges an entry fee, please just give us a pass. Nobody charges college coaches, but at one tournament I attended in Seattle I had to explain every single time at the different parks that I was a college coach. Eventually I just walked right on by, even as the kids at the table were asking for my pass.
If I think of other things, I will list them here.
Oh, here is one other thing. Teams, put your team profile and any individual profiles in a folder on the fence either behind home plate or near the dugout. More than a few times this summer I would be there to watch a girl or two on one team and would get curious about a player or two on the opposing team, only to find out they didn't have anything printed. Before one game began I tried to get a roster of the team I wasn't there to watch and they had no roster. The coach was told and he walks by and asks who I wanted to know about. I told him that without a roster, I didn't know. He said he would e-mail me one. Naturally, that didn't happen.
