Stingrays tournament team selection announcement!!

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Buckeye Showdown has some interesting aspects to it - some remind me of major Triple Crown Sports (TCS) events.
- Age group breakdown: 64 14U, 112 16U and only 48 18U. Half the teams will be 16U.
- Tournament player database. I'm curious how useful it is for the college coaches versus marketing of future FS events.
- All-star game(s) after NFCA camp.
- Standardized pregame warm-up routine before pool games.
- Separate brackets based on pool finish is not unique, however only having the top Gold division play out a full bracket is a first for me. I'm conflicted on this because I like LARGE tourneys that break into multiple brackets, but also like the fact this eliminates teams crowing about winning the Bronze division afterward.
- 220 of the 224 teams will play at least 1 game on Sunday. It appears half of them will be playing a consolation game.

Fastpitch Showdowns frequently mentions input from college coaches driving the way certain things are done. JoeA and a couple of his AC's were registered for last year's event. It would be interesting to hear what he has to say about it.

The bottom line is college coaches pick events based on where their recruits and potential recruits will be. I expect most attend these events with some kind of strategy rather than random window shopping.

 

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Yes, BUCKEYE SHOWDOWN "RECRUITFEST". Lots of coaches I spoke to said they would rather have a pool of hunreds of teams with 30+ fields all going even though half the field may not be recruitable, there is many more opportunity to find diamonds in the rough and still see top end kids.

To SoCals' point, few D1 or 2 college coaches will go to a tournament with the purpose of finding a "diamond in the rough." Most will have a list of the players who have been writing to them and/or have been at their camps and they will try to see as many of them as possible to evaluate. Why would anyone (including college coaches) want to trapse through 30+ fields and 100's of teams trying to find recruitable players???... ESPECIALLY if half of them "may not be recruitable." The point is, if you want to see D1 and 2 college coaches at your games, make sure your players are marketing themselves properly. If they are interested enough in one of your players, college coaches will attend a practice game if need be. The advantage, of course, to being in Stingrays is that you give them the opportunity to see your stud against other D1 recruits as opposed to the "unrecruitable" players you mentioned.

 

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Are you kidding me???? 10,000 + views???? Holy sh*t this is a hot post.
This would be a great opportunity to hijack my own post for a gratuitous plug for Field of Dreams indoor practice facility and training academy in Lancaster Ohio. We have 8,000 ft.? of indoor training space available, complete with three batting cages offering multiple types of pitching machines; 2-Jugs single wheel machines, 1-Jugs two-wheel machine, 1-Atec Casey two wheel curve-ball/drop ball machine, and an Iron Mike pitching machine. We can set you up in one cage to pitching machines side-by-side to operate your batters fastballs and changeups on demand. This method of taking batting practice has done wonders to enhance the batters' ability to recognize a changeup. I have seen almost every softball team that uses our facility employ that exact same set up when they are taking BP. We offer several pitching lanes that can be used to get pitching & catching workouts.
Hitting leagues are underway for all ages from 10U-18U. We are actually accepting registrations right now for co-ed and men's adult hitting leagues which start the week of February 3.
Unlimited open hitting is available Monday-Friday from 230 until 530 for only $4 per person. Limited opening hours may be available on the weekends, but they are becoming rarer because of private practices. After school ball practices begin on February 24, we will have ample opportunities for teams to rent the facility Monday through Friday for private practices. For more information go to Field of Dreams Practice Facility and Training Academy or call/text me (Chris Zaker) at 740–503–7563.

This post has been properly and adequately hacked by CZ_Fastpitch_fan.

CZ

 

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Fastpitch Showdowns frequently mentions input from college coaches driving the way certain things are done. JoeA and a couple of his AC's were registered for last year's event. It would be interesting to hear what he has to say about it.

The bottom line is college coaches pick events based on where their recruits and potential recruits will be. I expect most attend these events with some kind of strategy rather than random window shopping.

We had myself and an assistant at Stingrays and another assistant at Buckeye Showdown last year. And then on Sunday all three of us spent some time watching a few girls at Buckeye Showdown and then we might have gone back to Stingrays for a bit, as I recall. We did see girls in the All-Star Games after the NFCA camp. The Showdown does give as many chances as possible for girls to be seen by college coaches.

We will hear from many girls who are playing Buckeye Showdown and there will be several we'd like to watch. The fact they play several games and all at one park makes it convenient. But with the consistent quality of the teams in Stingrays and the fact that we know the girls there will always be facing a quality team, it is a must-attend for us and I would think most colleges in Ohio and any within about four or five hours of Columbus. I'm sure there will be some girls at Showdown who we will make a point to see at some point during the weekend. With the number of girls we will hear from on that particular weekend, we have no way to watch all of them. So who we watch comes down to our best estimation of a combination of (1) the quality of the player and (2) the likelihood we will land the player if we make an offer. Several factors go into figuring out each of those two criteria.

The other thing that a few people pointed out that is true is that we aren't randomly looking for players, at least not my coaching staff. We have too many girls who fit our profile who are interested in our school to watch all of them, let alone spend time watching random games. If we see a girl we don't know during a game we are already watching, then we might pursue it if she has the profile we need, but that usually doesn't pan out. Off topic, but the other thing that happens a lot is that a coach or a softball person will give us a tip on a girl who we should watch. I love getting the tips and want them to continue, but these almost never pan out for various reasons, so about the only way I will watch one of these girls is if she is playing and we don't have anyone on our list who is playing at that time.

 

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This is excellent inside info from the perspective of the recruiting coaches. We all have figured out by now that you are a college coach, joeA2010. Who better to ask these questions than a college coach?!?!
Great intel!

 

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We have too many girls who fit our profile who are interested in our school to watch all of them.....

Don't be modest coach. I saw you at a few tournaments last year, and you and your assistant were sweaty, sunburnt, dehydrated, exhausted, etc. in your pursuit of watching EVERY girl interested in your program. You guys spent some very long hours out there watching players.....more than most if not all.

 

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This is excellent inside info from the perspective of the recruiting coaches. We all have figured out by now that you are a college coach, joeA2010. Who better to ask these questions than a college coach?!?!
Great intel!

JoeA2010? I'm getting old!

Lenski: Thanks. We try to watch as much as possible. Stingrays/Buckeye Showdown 2012 was just brutal for weather, as everyone will recall. We typically don't take many breaks, but we did each day that weekend and went over to Market District in Upper Arlington for lunch and AC.

 

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My 16U team had 2 colleges make 1st contact with 3 of our players at the Buckeye Showdown last year so I wouldn't discount that possibility just because the park is mammoth.

 

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JoeA2010? I'm getting old!
Sorry.....fat fingers.

So...boys & girls.....for a 12U team what would be a good option for a backup plan for this weekend?

 

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How about a weekend off. Tell your families now to plan their family vacations for that week. A short break will recharge their batteries.

 

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World Series is our vacation.
We play travel softball.

 

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JoeA2010? I'm getting old!
Sorry.....fat fingers.

So...boys & girls.....for a 12U team what would be a good option for a backup plan for this weekend?

There's a tournament in Beavercreek for your age group. It's called Challenge At The Creek.

 

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nice mix of teams in the challenge at the creek , we ( Doom 02' ) got in .

 

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Here it is:

http://14tourney.stingraysfastpitch.com/content/showcase-brackets

 

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Here it is:

http://14tourney.stingraysfastpitch.com/content/showcase-brackets

Thanks for posting! I think I am 1 and 5 against those teams; pretty impressive bunch!

 

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This has to be their best field since the tourney inception!

 

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Saw the list of teams. Like all coaches, I went right to my age bracket to see who was invited. One word.....
Wow.

 

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Now that the brackets are posted, even more people will flock to this post to see the list of teams.

 

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Saw the list of teams. Like all coaches, I went right to my age bracket to see who was invited. One word.....
Wow.

Is that "wow" good or bad.....Like are you impressed or just surprised?

 

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Saw the list of teams. Like all coaches, I went right to my age bracket to see who was invited. One word.....
Wow.

Kind of my thought as well at some of them. But there will always be some like that.