Showcase Tournament Recommendations & Reviews

As our '00B team begins to play primarily college showcase tournaments this season, I wanted to solicit opinions from this board and those that have experienced them over the past several years with their BBs team.

Which showcase tournaments did your teams play?

Which would you recommend and why?

I also think it would be great to have a formal "Tournament Reviews" section on the forum so that all the major local and national tournaments could get reviewed (operational quality, quality of teams, ease of travel to/from location, field quality, quantity and quality of colleges represented at showcases, value for price paid, etc.) much like everything else is reviewed online in today's digital world.

Don't worry to much about showcases yet.
Trust me.
Ask ANY college coach.
They will be looking at 97s and 98s and maybe a 99 or two this fall.
Mostly 97s though.
In the spring the focus will shift to the 98s but still some will watch a 97 if they have a spot or two open.
Showcases now for 99s and 00s is money down the drain.
Unless you are one of those "look at me since my kiddo played at Disney/Vegas/Jefferson Cup" kind of parents..................

mspan02 wrote:Don't worry to much about showcases yet.
Trust me.
Ask ANY college coach.
They will be looking at 97s and 98s and maybe a 99 or two this fall.
Mostly 97s though.
In the spring the focus will shift to the 98s but still some will watch a 97 if they have a spot or two open.
Showcases now for 99s and 00s is money down the drain.
Unless you are one of those "look at me since my kiddo played at Disney/Vegas/Jefferson Cup" kind of parents..................  

I completely agree with mspan. This will be our third year of playing college 'showcase" events. The coaches will overwhelmingly be looking at 97 and 98 club players. (U17/18)

It's rare to see college coaches in significant numbers attending a u15/u16 showcase game. It happens, but whatever information your coach gets from college coaches has to be taken with a grain of salt.

Most of the time it's all about the coaches pimping their camps.

My son just got back from a d1 college camp last week. The coach told them that their program almost exclusively scouts DA games/events. More bang for their buck. needless to say we scratched that program off the list.

There's one showcase that I can definitely say is worth avoiding is the Liverpool "legends" event. That tournament was a joke. Albeit an expensive one. Didn't see one single college coach. And no one else I spoke to did either.

Local tournaments (well local for DFW) worth attending are Sportsource (Dec) and the FC Dallas Showcase (March.)

Showcase of the South in Little Rock (Jan) brings a lot of coaches in. Especially from the Midwest and Plains states. yeah, most are D2, D3, jr. colleges and NAIA schools. But, let's face it, that's where 99% of players will end up anyway.

John Talley in Memphis isn't bad either. Usually Feb/Mar I think. Although the weather doesn't always cooperate.

Sam Shannon in Tulsa (Nov) is also decent.

Something else I failed to mention.

Just because a kid plays for a DA team doesn't automatically mean they will end up playing D1 college soccer. I've seen quite a few d2 and even d3 college rosters with DA players.

In terms of the level of play, there isn't much difference anyway. A top 10 d2 program is going to be a better side than all but the top 15-20 d1 programs. Same can be said for some junior colleges and NAIA programs.

Even the very best D3 teams can easily compete (and do) with most D1 programs.

My brother in law would argue the men's club soccer programs at Baylor, UT and some other big 12 schools are better than most D1 schools. I think it all depends on where your kid wants to go to college and if he needs money to attend.

The question from someone with kids not in the process is, is it as slanted towards DA players as we seem to hear? The thought from my end of things ( kids too young to worry about this stuff yet) is that unless you are on a DA team, you won't be playing at a large D1 school. Does that hold true in your experience with looking at colleges and talking to coaches?

Another avenue I have heard from older parents is sending your kids to camps at the school they want to attend starting in 9th or 10th grade, get to know the college coaches and then hope he asks you to come play if you stay in touch and he likes you. Thoughts on that route to college soccer?

This is such a hit and miss enterprise that I am not sure even where to start. Top soccer college programs (ie division 1 lets say top 25) are looking for specific players that will fill their needs. For example if a coach is looking for a central defender and a forward and you happen to be a very good winger but the program already has that spot filled for the next 2-3 years then you are out of luck with that program. The player has to be a fit for the program even if he is good enough to play at D1 college level. It takes quite a bit of time and effort to find that fit. It seems to me that it is best left to individuals with experience to do the job correctly but of course it would cost money. Ideally there should be a clearing house where players are entered and coaches can select the right fit for their program. ID camps, captain u etc are attempts at having that clearing house. The reason that more exposure increases your chances of playing in college is simply that it increases your chances of being seen by the coach that needs a player like you to help fill in the gaps in his program and this is where the DA have a huge advantage. IN addition to exposure, DA have brand recognition and this also is a plus on the players CV. The question always is, is player X coming from the DA program truly any better than player Y who plays in a lower level league. All things being equal the coach will take player X due to name recognition even if both players have the same skill level and soccer IQ. This is unfortunate but true and we live in a society of brand recognition and it permeates everything we do and participate in including soccer.

Very good experience and exposure @ GSI Showcase in Kansas...More DII, DIII, NAIA, and JUCO than any other divisions...As a parent; I don't care what division my son play as long as he get to follow his dream (playing college soccer and earning his degree). We're not a wealthy family, but we'll do anything we have to do in order for my son live his dream. There's too much pressure put on the kids (from parents) about DI soccer. We've been blessed not to play for a 3K-5K a year club and still were able to gain quality exposure and inquiries.

Sprint wrote:My brother in law would argue the men's club soccer programs at Baylor, UT and some other big 12 schools are better than most D1 schools.  I think it all depends on where your kid wants to go to college and if he needs money to attend.  

The question from someone with kids not in the process is, is it as slanted towards DA players as we seem to hear?  The thought from my end of things ( kids too young to worry about this stuff yet) is that unless you are on a DA team, you won't be playing at a large D1 school.  Does that hold true in your experience with looking at colleges and talking to coaches?  

Another avenue I have heard from older parents is sending your kids to camps at the school they want to attend starting in 9th or 10th grade, get to know the college coaches and then hope he asks you to come play if you stay in touch and he likes you.  Thoughts on that route to college soccer?

Not sure about the big college club teams being better than "most" d1 programs. From what I hear most of the club teams are comparable to midlevel d3.

ID camps, captain, etc. are somewhat useful. But the problem is time and money. You can only attend so many id camps. And most tend to be held at the same times.

I don't dwell that much on positions because so many players end up playing another role/position in college than they did in club and hs. Still, it makes sense to know what the team needs are going in.

Also agree, that all things equal, the coach is going to go with the player from the 'name' club.

Honestly, when it comes to soccer I don't see how they can call it 'recruiting'. It's more like a networking/promotional campaign for the student athlete.

At any rate, it takes a LOT of legwork to find the ideal situation. And, by "ideal" I mean a school you like (aside from the soccer) a coach you like, a team where you can actually play, financial aid packages and of course, the $$$$.

And don't forget there is a LOT of competition for spots with foreign players. It's rare to come across a college soccer program that doesn't have at LEAST four foreign players on the roster.

Global game=global market/competition.