Kent State Showcase Camp

[Outwork]

Thoughts? We attended two morning sessions and were completely stunned at the amount of athletes that were in attendance- seemed to be more in attendance than last year- total meat market

 

[Dad_of_27]

We were there for two sessions this morning too. It seemed like pitchers and catchers were being watched but it didn't seem to me the fielding was getting much attention other than the coaches who were hitting and throwing the balls. Can't say much about hitting because you couldn't see much from where the parents were sitting. Great experience though.

 

[BA824]

Lots of players lots of coaches. Girls need to do their work and contact coaches of schools they have interest in to help getting looks.

 

[flygirlsdad]

Hopefully it was a good experience for all the players that attended. I wonder how this compares to Banditfest which was this weekend in Chicago.

 

[number5]

DD was there, but after the pitching was done in the morning, looked as if most of the coaches weren't seen again. Could be wrong, but I didn't see very many after that. I do agree the girls do need to do their homework.

 

[classicpride]

Kent camp is first come first served so not based on any skill evaluation. Kent has many DIII, some DII and a few smaller DI coaches in attendance. Great way to be seen by the majority of the coaches that are going to have interest in this set of players.

Banditfest is a highly selective limited showcase. Athletes require recommendations to be selected. Coaches are from the larger DI schools such as SEC, ACC, Big10 with about half the MAC schools and some other smaller DIs in attendance. Completely different set of eyes and talent level than what you see at Kent.

For the preponderance of athletes, Kent is the better option as those are the schools that they are going to be look at by. For the elite athlete the Banditfest is the better option.

 

[KLL]

Thank you to all of the college coaches who were in attendance at the KSU Showcase Camp and to the athletes that participated this year. There were actually 100+ college coaches in attendance from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan, and Indiana. There was representation from all levels with the majority of coaches being from Division II and Division III. The reason it looked like there weren't as many coaches after the pitching sessions was because they were spread out throughout the field house. Some of them were working offensive and defensive sessions and many of them were near the cages watching hitters. A list of coaches who were in attendance will be posted Tuesday at www.kentstatesoftballcamps.com.

The numbers of athletes participating in each session has stayed the same for the past 5 years. We added an infield session and an outfield session in 2011 to accommodate the number of kids who were on the wait list. The registration for this year filled up in less than 2 days and there were many kids on a wait list that did not get in. The goal of the camp is to allow kids an opportunity to work with college coaches, for the athletes to get instruction and feedback, and for college coaches to get a chance to see kids get several reps that they normally would not see in a game setting. Additionally it gives coaches a chance to see if an athlete is coachable and if they are able to make adjustments when asked to try something new.

What we as college coaches are seeing in today's softball athlete is a lack of fundamental skill, especially on the defensive side. I wish we could run more camps that had a focus on skill execution but that is not what today's parent or athlete wants. They want to go to a camp where they will be seen by coaches. Our goal with this camp is to accomplish both. The coaches like being able to work with athletes and the athletes want to be seen by the coaches. The athlete also sees the immense competition that exists in getting recruited to play at any level. Less than 3% of the athletes playing HS or travel softball will have an opportunity to play softball in college. The recruiting information session is designed to help educate parents and kids about the recruiting process.

I can't say thank you enough to the coaches who return every year to work and recruit. They make this camp go. I also want to thank the travel ball and HS coaches who continue to support the event. Our goal is to make it beneficial for both the athletes and the college coaches. We try to make it one of the best run camps in the country that benefits all levels of athletes and college programs.

 

[ificanbelikeu]

Kent camp is first come first served so not based on any skill evaluation. Kent has many DIII, some DII and a few smaller DI coaches in attendance. Great way to be seen by the majority of the coaches that are going to have interest in this set of players.

Banditfest is a highly selective limited showcase. Athletes require recommendations to be selected. Coaches are from the larger DI schools such as SEC, ACC, Big10 with about half the MAC schools and some other smaller DIs in attendance. Completely different set of eyes and talent level than what you see at Kent.

For the preponderance of athletes, Kent is the better option as those are the schools that they are going to be look at by. For the elite athlete the Banditfest is the better option.

DD has attended both, Banditfest was definitely a different animal talent-wise.

 

[chixdad]

I thought the Kent State camp was very nice, a lot of the coaches DD emails were at the camp. Thanks to Coach Linder and her staff and the Kent players that help as well.