Diamond 9 Sun Classic

[WWolff]

For teams looking for great exposure to college coaches next fall, I think Diamond 9 Sun Classic in Orlando is a top notch event. We were given a great opportunity to play at Wide World Of Sports fields which I think is important and had 15-20 coaches per game at several of our games. When looking for how to get the most bang for your buck, I highly recommend this one. The competition was very strong with a lot of Gold Teams, 7 games guaranteed , a very fun atmosphere, and great weather. Well ok Saturday was a little cold. Based off our weekend which we played very well, we are expecting several offers to take place and have already had two happen.
I just wanted to let people know that Diamond 9 Sun Classic is well worth the price on many fronts!

 

[Run26]

Thanks for the review. In looking at the latest "verbals" it appears your org is doing quite well on the national scene and leading Ohio in recruiting.

http://www.goldfastpitch.com/verbals-by-school/

I didn't sit and count each Ohio verbal but Outlaws is certainly doing well. Congrats.

 

[wow]

Top five by number of commits


Beverly Bandits 53
Birmingham Thunderbolts 39
Ohio Outlaws 26
Lady Lightning Gold Team Miken 26
Impact Gold (Texas) 22

 

[Doom Leader]

We have had a lot over the last few years but have never made this list. Do you have to sign up for this???

 

[WWolff]

Run 26
Thank you for the kind words. There are a lot of great organizations in Ohio working hard for these young ladies.

I posted this as there have been several discussions recently about the best tourneys to attend for college exposure. Again this was a first class experience for us.


Tim give me a call 216-704-9908 Warren

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Top five by number of commits

Beverly Bandits 53
Birmingham Thunderbolts 39
Ohio Outlaws 26
Lady Lightning Gold Team Miken 26
Impact Gold (Texas) 22

FWIW, the travel team shown on these lists may not deserve all or any of the credit for getting the player recruited.

- Some players draw a school's interest while playing for one team and then commit shortly after changing teams. The new team takes credit - even when they hadn't played in any events with them yet.

- Some org's are very aggressive about updating a player's team on the lists. For example, Statman appears as a Tbolt even though she committed 2 years ago while with her longtime org, Lil' Saints, and just switched teams this year.

 

[flarays]

SoCal_dad - very good valid points.

Warren - yea you guys brought the cold weather down here...you are not allowed back. This event has changed dramatically since the first one. This year was interesting. The number of schools attending stayed about the same - but the number of coaches attending seemed way down. That said going from 295 to 200 is still AWESOME.

It will be interesting to see what comes out of the NFCA Conference next month as it pertains to the fall recruiting season. You just might see some changes - or absolutely nothing will happen if the voters can not come up with viable options from their focus groups. There are some VERY strong opinions on both sides of the table. But getting the masses to agree has been the obstacle in the past. Events like D9 are trying to position themselves as the fall anchor should the coaches general feelings be adopted.

Joe - what do you think?

 

[WWolff]

Mark
I think they are split on it so there will probably be no changes or possibly a reduction to 5 or 6 weeks of recruiting starting in the beginning of October. This is just based on all conversations I have had with coaches.
So just extend the December dead period into November and make all September a dead period.if you wanted to shorten it.

 

[flarays]

Mark
I think they are split on it so there will be no change or possibly a reduction to 5 or 6 weeks of recruiting starting beginning of October that is just based on all the coaches I have been talking with.
So just extend the December dead period into November and make all September a dead period.

Yep, but lets see if they actually can get enough votes. My bet is there will not be a change. I am going to try to sneak in on some of the discussions.....

 

[WWolff]

Just might see you there. Could be some heated discussions.
As long as the mid majors don't let the majors bully them I do not think it will pass either.

 

[JoeA1010]

Yeah, I would guess no change, but maybe some compromise. Personally, I hope it doesn't change. With no limits on number of days, a rare advantage for us at D2 is to be out there on most fall weekends when we're not playing. If the D1 schools can't be there, none of these showcases will take place.

 

[Maxx]

This is one of the proposals that will be presented to the head coach's committee at the convention:

There shall be no recruiting contact (unofficial visits, phone calls, text messages, recruiting conversations at camp) with a PSA until July 1 after their sophomore year of high school. There shall be no contact with a third party (high school coach, club coach, friend, teacher, etc...) regarding unofficial visits/scholarship offers. We'd like to move the official visit to their Junior year with the same parameters (13.6.2.2.1 and 13.6.3). We would also like to move the NLI Signing Period to their Junior year with the same parameters (13.9).
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Comments/concerns?[/FONT]
a. [FONT=&quot]Do we need to define the logistics of PSA so it blankets all the young players – no 8[SUP]th[/SUP] graders and below?[/FONT]

b. [FONT=&quot]Division I softball has had 79 transfers in the last year…[/FONT]
c. [FONT=&quot]What are the penalties? Who/what holds these rules accountable? Loss of eligibility for the PSA if they commit early and break rules? [/FONT]
d. [FONT=&quot]Not evaluating at tourney’s where there are 8[SUP]th[/SUP] graders and younger…hard because there is no minimum age for age groups currently[/FONT]
e. [FONT=&quot]Partnering up with Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, etc… if they are having the same issues to make this a stronger case for the NCAA[/FONT]

 

[WWolff]

I like moving the NLI to the Junior year. I think it may grow some legs but the no recruiting contact till after there sophomore year will be hard to pass.. The recruiting process is getting younger and younger and I do not think it is going to change yet.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

The coaches say they don't like recruiting players at such an early age and only do it to remain competitive. This is an opportunity for them to stop it if they really believe what they say. A big issue though is enforcement and the trend in the NCAA is away from regs that are difficult to enforce.

I also like moving up the official visits and NLI, but that may not go over well with the other sports.

 

[Lester]

The coaches say they don't like recruiting players at such an early age and only do it to remain competitive. This is an opportunity for them to stop it if they really believe what they say. A big issue though is enforcement and the trend in the NCAA is away from regs that are difficult to enforce.

I also like moving up the official visits and NLI, but that may not go over well with the other sports.

totally agree and have personally had this discussion with several coaches.