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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| prestont |
Posted - 06/11/2015 : 17:23:33
Hi All -
I know this is a thread on the 15-18 Discussion board but wanted to post on general discussion so more folks would see.
http://www.nwgabaseball.org/snitz/topic.asp?whichpage=0.88&TOPIC_ID=46518#120873
My sons team played at Lakepoint today. We paid to park earlier this week when I drove, so we let my 15yo drive into the parking lot today based on the communication that Players are not charged to park.
All 4 of the kids collecting $s for parking waved us through. Evidently the last of the 4 noticed my wife and I in the car, and tried to walk after us as we approached the player drop off area. They returned to their post, and we parked 2 aisles over. After the first 3 kids waved my son thru - we honestly thought that players DID NOT have to pay to park.
After my sons game today we return to my car to find an Emerson citation for CRIMINAL TRESPASS on the front windshield.
Guess its easier to call the Emerson Police department over $5. I honestly feel bad that a policeman had to come out to the ballpark when our understanding is that players parked free. The Perfect Game employees taking $10 per day from everyone also said it was their understanding that players parked free too.
Coincidentally enough, there is absolutely no mention of a Lakepoint parking policy on their website.
I'm truly amazed..... |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| hshuler |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 16:40:08
Spot on, bballman! |
| rippit |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 16:24:55
Thanks. It makes sense. |
| bballman |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 16:20:48
quote:
Originally posted by bfriendly
I really dont think one HAS to go through this program to go to another level. However, this does seem to increase the odds and there is a Price for that.
I'd bee willing to bet that if a Kid Pitches several "No Hitters" in HS or even around here in the travel ball world, Word would get out. Same with some kid that consistently goes 4 for 4 or 5 for 5 hitting the ball out of the park, seemingly everytime.....I bet they would get noticed, word would get out......just sayin
This is true. Keep this in mind though. There is a GREAT deal of disparity in the state in terms of quality of play in HS. If you play 6A, the competition is pretty solid - top to bottom. If you play 1A, you may have very good teams at the top of the classification, down to very poor teams at the bottom. The various classifications have more depth as you go up. College coaches will want to know what competition you are playing. They will want to see you play against the best competition. Really, the best place to see a player they have heard about it at a PG event as they will be there anyway and they know you will play against some good players. People will hear about the kid you are talking about. But they will also want to see him play in person. Since colleges have their own season to contend with in the spring, they rarely get out to HS games. It happens sometimes, but by far and away, they do their recruiting in the summer.
Hearing about a player is one thing. Seeing them play is another story. No one will sign a player without seeing them play first. |
| bballman |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 15:36:12
rippit, here's the thing. Recruiting coordinators are really looking at tools, not necessarily results. They understand that every one has a bad game or a bad stretch. So, if your son has the tools, but just has a bad day, it's not necessarily the end of the world. Is it nice to redeem yourself, sure. But ideally, there are coaches there to see your son play because they already have an interest in him. So, like I said, they are evaluating his skill set as opposed to the results of his play.
This is why it is so important to have a good mental makeup. If a coach or RC sees your son struggle physically, then get mad and throw something or mope around and his head is no longer in the game, that will turn them off more than the poor performance. On the other hand, if the player stays positive, comes back out with his head up ready to make the next play or is in the dugout encouraging his teammates and being a good team player, that says a lot about the player's makeup and could be much more important than how he does on the field.
Like I said, these guys are more looking at tools than performance. I would say if they are interested in your son and he has a bad game when they are there, they may ask to see him another time. Could be the same tournament or maybe a different tournament or maybe even during the HS season. But, they don't necessarily give up on him.
This is predicated on the RC having interest in your son in the first place. If no one knows him going into a WWBA tournament, a poor performance certainly isn't going to draw anyone's interest (unless he has exceptional speed or a ++fastball). So, in that case, yes, he'll want another opportunity to impress. But, PG isn't a place to go to and HOPE to be noticed by someone. As someone else mentioned, there are just too many kids to choose from. It does happen, but mostly to those with exceptional tools. And those kids are usually known beforehand. If your travel team coaches are good, they will make sure some of their college contacts come to their games and they will talk up their players. This will increase your chances of a RC taking note of you.
Hope this makes sense and helps some. |
| bfriendly |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 15:33:08
I am learning so much here and I really think this debate has been great.......I want to see my kid play there so badly, but for me as much as anything.
I know it is tough for those of us who dont have unlimited funds to throw at a program in hopes a scout see our kid play, but it is what it is. If my son becomes some stand out super star headed for the MLB, it will happen, somehow. I just want to see the inside once, maybe twice
I really dont think one HAS to go through this program to go to another level. However, this does seem to increase the odds and there is a Price for that.
I'd bee willing to bet that if a Kid Pitches several "No Hitters" in HS or even around here in the travel ball world, Word would get out. Same with some kid that consistently goes 4 for 4 or 5 for 5 hitting the ball out of the park, seemingly everytime.....I bet they would get noticed, word would get out......just sayin
Fact of the matter is, it is a simple form of "Supply and Demand"......If there is a Demand, someone will supply that demand and charge as much as possible. AND so long as folks keep paying the price, its simply is NOT Overpriced. If it were overpriced, folks would not pay........I'd say they got it going on and I have to given them BOTH(LP and PG) credit.
hhmmm.no wonder we never played there last year |
| rippit |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 15:01:42
Bballman - I have a question. Say you have a player who does really bad at the WWBA. He's going to need another shot at these guys as it is right? Or is he just screwed? |
| bballman |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 14:19:31
quote:
Originally posted by Renegade44
"What it is about is providing the opportunity for players who are interested in getting to the next level - beyond HS - to play in front of scouts, to have a resource for pro scouts and college recruiters to call and verify their evaluations of players and to provide the venue for teams to play against some of the best teams from all across the country."
Let me edit that for you:
What it is about is a For Profit organization inserting itself BETWEEN the opportunity for players who are interested in getting to the next level - beyond HS - to play in front of scouts, to have a resource for pro scouts and college recruiters to call and verify their evaluations of players and to provide the venue for teams to play against some of the best teams from all across the country.
The aspiring young player is largely held monetary hostage to the 'new normal' recruiting process model of pay for exposure, pay to be seen, pay to get in front of the scouts, etc. If you don't want to go, don't. It's no skin off my/our back. Its our brilliant business model, we have co-opted the process, we have set it up to be the be all end all source of all things baseball. Pay up, Pay on, Pay more, or suffer the consequences of no hype and no access to the co-opted and cornered higher level recruiting process.
Once again, I REALLY, REALLY don't care whether you go or not. If you can find other ways to do it, go for it. I have ABSOLUTELY no connection with PG. My son is about to be a senior in college, so we don't go to their events anymore. As I've said - ad nauseum - is that the prices PG charges are nearly the same as when my son did go. The only difference is the $5 parking fee. And PG doesn't even charge that, Lake Point does. So, if you want to make this big of a deal out of a $5 parking fee and find a way around attending any PG events, feel free to do so. It won't bother me at all.
Go find a team that doesn't attend any PG events. That may be hard to do to start with, but if you don't want to go to the WWBA events, you need to be on a team that doesn't go. Then make the calls to college coaches, because, more than likely if you are on a team that doesn't go to PG, those coaches are not going to have college contacts that they can call on your behalf. Figure out where your son would like to play baseball and start finding out when their camps are and start attending them. If they like you at the camp, be prepared to tell them that they can't see him play at the PG events because you're not attending them. Maybe they will be willing come see him during another week when there are no PG events (because all the recruiters go to all the WWBA and BCS events to see players) and see him play in a 3 Crown tournament. Maybe the team you choose will put together a "scout day" to go down and play for the coaches at a particular college. Hope you do well because that team may only be looking for one player. And they may be looking for only a 3rd baseman and if your son plays 2nd base or catcher, they don't want him no matter how good he is. So your team is going to have to do a whole bunch of them to help get a whole team of players on a college roster somewhere. But once again, find a couple of weeks when there is not PG event going on, because chance are, the recruiting coordinators will be at the PG events to watch potential recruits play.
Is it necessary to go to PG events? Absolutely not. Does it make it MUCH more convenient for your player to be seen when hundreds upon hundreds of recruiters will be at the same event than them having to go to 100 different events to see the same players? Absolutely. All I'm saying is you don't have to go and you can think what you want. You will just have to do that much more work if you want your son to play at the next level.
If your son has no desire to play at the next level, there is no need to spend the money. Let him play in an 18u rec league. It will be MUCH cheaper, WAY less travel and MUCH more relaxed. It is always an option.
And by the way. I hear what your scout friend is saying. But, how much do you want to bet that he attends the PG events to watch players he is interested in? My guess is the chances are pretty good... |
| RACGOFAR |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 13:46:03
I don't think PG has any control over the parking fee, if they did they would not allow one. Lakepoint has a separate marketing arm called Lakepoint Sports that promotes all the vendors and the additional things they want you to buy when you are there. Here's the contact info below. Let this guy know if you are unhappy with parking fees and boycotting his vendors and concessions because of it.
David Grade
Marketing and Event Coordinator
p: 770.608.6013 | e: david.grade@lakepointsports.com
P.O. Box 640, Emerson, GA 30137
www.LakePointSports.com
|
| CaCO3Girl |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 13:25:38
I can back up bballman's statement about what is listed for free. My mother was able to easily find my sons name on the PG website, and it stated his graduation year, high school attending, the average velocity for the class of 2020 (which he is), and what his fastball velocity was at the one PG tourney he was in...I saw one kid's profile where he already had what colleges he was interested in listed on the side...also a 2020.
It's a really good resource especially this time of year. Let's say you wanted to know the pitching velocities of all the 16u ECB Astros, you can get their names off of the ECB website and put them into the PG site and POOF you know whether or not your kid pitches in the same category as they do.
I know living "local" to Lakepoint is aggravating some people because your kid might play 4-7 tournaments there and that IS a lot of money...but what I think everyone is forgetting is your kid has a 4-7 times better shot at being seen by a scout than the kid who has to fly in from New York that only gets to go to one tournament, where he may only actually be AT Lakepoint 2 times. We should be counting our blessings that our kids get this chance, because most 16u-18u kids just don't. If it is too much of a financial burden let the players carpool together and the parents stay at home...it isn't like you will be seeing their college games much, might as well get use to it now.
|
| AllStar |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 13:01:43
quote:
Originally posted by bballman
quote:
Originally posted by Renegade44
Topic of the day with a local college coach: Costs of showcase ball is eliminating the talent pool he wants to see and limiting his choices for players. He felt the expenses of the current showcase system were hindering many top athletes from playing and being seen.
Said he was tiring of the entitled class of players who bought their publicity and then couldn't hack it when money costs were out of the equation.
330 teams x $2500 = $825,000 of revenue.
330 teams x 40 parents paying gate fee x 6 days x $10 = $792,000
Just call it $1.6 Million of revenue this weekend alone.
Kickbacks on the hotel stay requirements. $10 a room??? Add another $300k revenue.
Almost $2 Million of Revenue before Parking Fee.
And they can't provide complimentary bottles of water or a cooler????? Seriously? And everybody is all fine with this?
Good grief.
If you go look at PG's website and click on contact us, there are 53 people on staff that it takes to run this nationwide organization. That is not including the 35-40 people they have to hire every tournament to keep their game changer app, take radar gun readings, do write ups on every game, evaluate players, etc... I'm sure some of these people are local, but they probably have to fly most of them in and provide food and lodging for them for the week and pay any other expenses they may have. They must buy and continuously replace radar guns (not cheap), they built a state of the art facility, they maintain the most comprehensive amateur baseball player database in the world, field questions and requests from scouts and recruiters from all over the country on a daily basis and the list goes on and on and on.
This is not one guy putting on a 3 Crown tournament for 30 teams. No offense to Tony, he does a fantastic job, but 3 Crown is no Perfect Game. Someone made the comment about needing to do an Individual Showcase in order to get your information posted on their website. That is true if you want an in depth write up and a PG Grade. But, even if you don't do that, every event you enter will be posted on their website if you search for the player's name. If you are a pitcher, your top velocities for each pitch will be listed. You can add yourself, for free, what your grades and ACT/SAT scores are on your profile.
College scouts WILL go to the PG data base to see if there is anything listed for a particular player. Even if you haven't done a showcase (which I believe are $595, not $1000, although I'm not positive about the exact amount), PG keeps a comprehensive data base and write ups on every player that plays in their tournaments that they provide to the scouts and recruiters when they request it.
Once again, I'm not trying to convince anyone to attend one or more of these events. The founder of the organization himself says, it is not for everyone and if you don't want to go, don't. But, there is WAY more that goes into this than most people realize.
It is not 3 Crown or USSSA or CABA or Ripken or any of the other pre-HS tournaments. What it is about is providing the opportunity for players who are interested in getting to the next level - beyond HS - to play in front of scouts, to have a resource for pro scouts and college recruiters to call and verify their evaluations of players and to provide the venue for teams to play against some of the best teams from all across the country.
If you don't want to go, don't. It's no skin off my back. I just want to try to educate people a little bit as the criticisms seem pretty harsh.
:golf_clap: |
| Renegade44 |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 12:48:04
"What it is about is providing the opportunity for players who are interested in getting to the next level - beyond HS - to play in front of scouts, to have a resource for pro scouts and college recruiters to call and verify their evaluations of players and to provide the venue for teams to play against some of the best teams from all across the country."
Let me edit that for you:
What it is about is a For Profit organization inserting itself BETWEEN the opportunity for players who are interested in getting to the next level - beyond HS - to play in front of scouts, to have a resource for pro scouts and college recruiters to call and verify their evaluations of players and to provide the venue for teams to play against some of the best teams from all across the country.
The aspiring young player is largely held monetary hostage to the 'new normal' recruiting process model of pay for exposure, pay to be seen, pay to get in front of the scouts, etc. If you don't want to go, don't. It's no skin off my/our back. Its our brilliant business model, we have co-opted the process, we have set it up to be the be all end all source of all things baseball. Pay up, Pay on, Pay more, or suffer the consequences of no hype and no access to the co-opted and cornered higher level recruiting process.
|
| hshuler |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 10:32:55
Got it, thanks for the clarification! |
| bballman |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 09:25:32
quote:
Originally posted by Renegade44
Topic of the day with a local college coach: Costs of showcase ball is eliminating the talent pool he wants to see and limiting his choices for players. He felt the expenses of the current showcase system were hindering many top athletes from playing and being seen.
Said he was tiring of the entitled class of players who bought their publicity and then couldn't hack it when money costs were out of the equation.
330 teams x $2500 = $825,000 of revenue.
330 teams x 40 parents paying gate fee x 6 days x $10 = $792,000
Just call it $1.6 Million of revenue this weekend alone.
Kickbacks on the hotel stay requirements. $10 a room??? Add another $300k revenue.
Almost $2 Million of Revenue before Parking Fee.
And they can't provide complimentary bottles of water or a cooler????? Seriously? And everybody is all fine with this?
Good grief.
If you go look at PG's website and click on contact us, there are 53 people on staff that it takes to run this nationwide organization. That is not including the 35-40 people they have to hire every tournament to keep their game changer app, take radar gun readings, do write ups on every game, evaluate players, etc... I'm sure some of these people are local, but they probably have to fly most of them in and provide food and lodging for them for the week and pay any other expenses they may have. They must buy and continuously replace radar guns (not cheap), they built a state of the art facility, they maintain the most comprehensive amateur baseball player database in the world, field questions and requests from scouts and recruiters from all over the country on a daily basis and the list goes on and on and on.
This is not one guy putting on a 3 Crown tournament for 30 teams. No offense to Tony, he does a fantastic job, but 3 Crown is no Perfect Game. Someone made the comment about needing to do an Individual Showcase in order to get your information posted on their website. That is true if you want an in depth write up and a PG Grade. But, even if you don't do that, every event you enter will be posted on their website if you search for the player's name. If you are a pitcher, your top velocities for each pitch will be listed. You can add yourself, for free, what your grades and ACT/SAT scores are on your profile.
College scouts WILL go to the PG data base to see if there is anything listed for a particular player. Even if you haven't done a showcase (which I believe are $595, not $1000, although I'm not positive about the exact amount), PG keeps a comprehensive data base and write ups on every player that plays in their tournaments that they provide to the scouts and recruiters when they request it.
Once again, I'm not trying to convince anyone to attend one or more of these events. The founder of the organization himself says, it is not for everyone and if you don't want to go, don't. But, there is WAY more that goes into this than most people realize.
It is not 3 Crown or USSSA or CABA or Ripken or any of the other pre-HS tournaments. What it is about is providing the opportunity for players who are interested in getting to the next level - beyond HS - to play in front of scouts, to have a resource for pro scouts and college recruiters to call and verify their evaluations of players and to provide the venue for teams to play against some of the best teams from all across the country.
If you don't want to go, don't. It's no skin off my back. I just want to try to educate people a little bit as the criticisms seem pretty harsh. |
| bballman |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 08:56:55
quote:
Originally posted by RACGOFAR
Well, they are about to raise the rate to $10 per day to park. And you're now going to have to buy your team's hydration. You can park at the airport for less than $10 per day!
This is a rumor and completely false. I posted this rumor on another board where the founder and owner of PG often posts. Here is his response in part:
"I can say the water story is 100% false. We don't have control of the parking, but we have talked about this. Originally it was going to be $10 for parking and we insisted it be no more than $5. LakePoint agreed and there has been no further discussion."
I would suggest that people check their information before posting on a public board. If you go to the PG website, there are email addresses for whoever you may want to ask a question. And my experience is that they are very responsive. Just go to their website, click on contacts and there is literally an email address for what looks to be like every person in their organization. It is one thing to not be happy about the way someone does business, it is another to spread a false rumor without first confirming it.
quote:
Originally posted by hshuler
We played @ Super25 in Ft. Myers a few weeks back and they provided both gatorade and water in the dugout for every team during every game. Was that a Jet Blue Park management decision or PG?
I have stated this before on other threads. The Super25 is not PG. PG puts their name on it, but it is run by a different organization. That is why their tournaments are listed separately on the PG website. Enough said as the rumor about PG not supplying water to the players is false anyway. |
| hshuler |
Posted - 07/09/2015 : 06:57:58
We played @ Super25 in Ft. Myers a few weeks back and they provided both gatorade and water in the dugout for every team during every game. Was that a Jet Blue Park management decision or PG? |
| Newbie BB Mom |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 21:11:54
I know I won't be opening my wallet at Lake Point anymore than I have to, and I'll be leaving the park and driving a mile down the road to eat lunch at Doug's, where I can get twice the food at half the price! If their concession stands and vendor stores aren't making enough money, they might reconsider the petty parking fee and water policy. But, if not, at least they won't be making any extra money off me. |
| rippit |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 20:58:10
^^^^^all of what those guys said! Yes. Especially Renegade. Absolutely. For us, we discovered that we may have been better off taking the money we spent on this summers travel team and gone to camps instead. |
| agent21 |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 20:28:33
An elite destination like Lake Point who touts itself as the latest greatest/state of the art fields, lights, etc. (not disagreeing with this) should be proud to offer "complimentary WATER (not powerade, gatorade or liquid gold)" in the dugouts as a perk (actually, a necessity on 90+ degree days). Or, at the very least, allow players to carry in a small personal cooler (many players have a hydration "protocol" that they prefer to follow); as mentioned above, several years ago, this was the "norm" once the players outgrew dad and mom driving them to the game and dashing to the concession stand for a drink every other inning or so. |
| Renegade44 |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 19:12:08
Topic of the day with a local college coach: Costs of showcase ball is eliminating the talent pool he wants to see and limiting his choices for players. He felt the expenses of the current showcase system were hindering many top athletes from playing and being seen.
Said he was tiring of the entitled class of players who bought their publicity and then couldn't hack it when money costs were out of the equation.
330 teams x $2500 = $825,000 of revenue.
330 teams x 40 parents paying gate fee x 6 days x $10 = $792,000
Just call it $1.6 Million of revenue this weekend alone.
Kickbacks on the hotel stay requirements. $10 a room??? Add another $300k revenue.
Almost $2 Million of Revenue before Parking Fee.
And they can't provide complimentary bottles of water or a cooler????? Seriously? And everybody is all fine with this?
Good grief.
|
| bballman |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 18:28:48
I understand how you feel and I'm not trying to get in an argument, but just want to clarify something. You mentioned about being good for pitching vs a position player. I don't think it's really any different, or at least it shouldn't be. It's all about communication between the travel coach, the college recruiter and the player. The way it worked for us is the recruiter asked when son would be pitching. Son called the travel coached and let him know recruiter needed a date he'd be starting. Coach gave him one and son told recruiter. I'm not sure why it would be any different for a position player? Either RC lets player know when he'll be there and player lets coach know, to make sure he's in the game or the player asks coach for a date he'll be starting and let's the RC know. It's pretty simple. Obviously you've been through this, so I'm not trying to talk down to you. Just giving info for those who will go thru it.
The problem with going to the coaches is that, at least for D1, a player cannot do an individual workout for the coaching staff. And if they could, that's not the same as seeing the player perform in a game. You could go to a camp. That could work.
Anyway. To each his own. Sounds like you voted with your pocketbook and things are going to work out. Good for you!! Congratulations!! |
| baseballcrazymom |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 17:39:00
Look man. I get it. I hear ya on the pitching thing because you can actually control that. If the coach does his job, and puts your son on the website as probable starter, and you are actually playing at Lake Point, and not at 2 am, then yes, if you are on a coach's radar then he will see you pitch. Unless that game gets rained out and you make it up in podunk somewhere making your start up.
What about the kid that isn't a pitcher? I know the answer...
Anyway, I'm not complaining about travel ball expenses or I wouldn't have committed to THOUSANDS for somebody to play two whole months of summer ball. That ship has sailed. Long distance trips do add up and maybe PG needs to recognize that fact. I don't have to go watch him play - so I voted with my wallet and won't be paying gate or parking or concessions period and neither will my husband, my parents, my family or other kids or friends in the area. It's the piling on of the parking fees that did it AND THE REFUSAL TO PROVIDE WATER basically extorting more money from you so your kid doesn't die from heat stroke. And as one dad mentioned the rumor that they are raising parking to $10. WOW.
Yeah. We've been to PG events before too. Before LP. Players could always have a personal cooler and we didn't have to pay to park.
Look. We are basically done with this part of the racket deal and will have fantastic announcement to make in a few weeks. And no part of it had anything to do with PG or LP. Hint: if they need to see you "one more time" and aren't in the Atlanta area, you gotta go where they are. Just sayin'. And the money to do that is gonna come STRAIGHT outta the travel team budget in the years to come. Pick and choose. So I picked. And now he's gonna choose.
At some point there is a straw that breaks the camels back. I think I'm more ticked off about the cavalier attitudes of some here who have barely SCRATCHED the surface of this whole deal telling us to get over ourselves. Seriously.
|
| bballman |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 17:09:19
Baseballcrazymom, PG has been doing this for many, many, many years. Tournament prices have always been higher. They have always charged a $10 per day gate fee (at least since 2009 when my son started to attend). We always had to purchase water or Gatorade for him. We always ate food at the concession stands. The only difference is the parking fee. Unless you want to count the beautiful facility and fields at Lake Point that you can eventually play on as soon as the rain quits.
When my son was playing in PG events, they were based out of ECB. There were 3 fields there compared to 8 at Lake Point. If it rained at all, ECB pretty much shut down Field 1, so there were really only 2 fields available at the main complex. All other games were played at local HS, so many, many, many more games were cancelled. There was no way to make up nearly as many as they can now with 8 fields being turf, unaffected by the rain, no matter how torrential.
Will PG get your son recruited? Nope. I like pretty much all the ideas you have listed above to help your son get recruited. They will all help and probably should be done. However, no coach is going to recruit and sign a player without seeing him play first. PG is the ideal place to have that happen. When my son was recruited, he was initially seen at an event other than PG. However, when the recruiting coordinator wanted another look at him, he asked when my son would be pitching in the PG WWBA tournament. Not if he would be pitching, when he would be pitching. These coaches use this event BECAUSE there are so many kids there. If they have 25 kids on their "board" for potential recruits, they can see them all during one week at the same place. That is MUCH easier than them traveling to 25 different places to see each individual player. If 24 of those recruits are playing at a PG event and one isn't, my bet is, they will pick the 10 guys they want out of the 24 they saw during that week and will not go out of their way to another event, who knows when to get a look at that one kid that wasn't at the PG tournament.
I understand it is expensive and time consuming. I went through it for 4 years. If you don't want to go, fine, don't go. No one is making you do anything. I have been out of it for close to 4 years now. But, as I said earlier, not much has changed during that time. It's always been a HUGE tournament fee. They have always charged $10 per day per person to get in. The only difference is the parking fee. I KNOW the parks then did not provide water in the dugouts. We did not have Lake Park back then, but I wish we did. We probably would have had way fewer rainouts than we did back then. Not to mention, unlike ECB, the bathrooms are clean, the facilities are clean, trash is actually emptied, and the scoreboards work. Those of you who have been through the ECB scenario know what I am talking about... |
| zwndad |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 16:38:31
When it comes down to it, the only PG events that you have to participate in are the high school age WWBAs. They're too important to college recruiting for those events to do anything but grow.
However, there are enough alternatives every other week of the year that teams can vote with their money. Yes, LP is amazing, but teams are going to get fed up with the money grab going on there. And while ECB and high school fields are far lesser quality, Triple Crown still runs great events and you can vote with your team and your money.
|
| baseballcrazymom |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 16:12:38
Sigh. Everything is sunshine and rainbows to some of y'all. Bless your little 'ole hearts...
Because you (some of you) really haven't BEEN there yet, I'll break down the madness for you. Some facts from this weeks 17u WWBA:
330+ teams all paid $2500 for a 7 game guarantee. Do the math. And yes... that is 330+ teams in a ONE week tournament.
It rained. MANY of the fields (I'd say 30 of 45) they use in a tournament of this size don't hold a sprinkle very well, not to mention a downpour. Ever seen it rain at your local HS? Ummm, yeah. So what happened? A bunch of teams were told that their makeup game was at MIDNIGHT. That's a start time. Not a finish time.
Okay, let's pretend for one minute that some of y'all are sitting there saying well they are 17, they can drive themselves and players don't pay to park. Correct. However, if I am in the car, we pay.
Well then take separate cars. Wrong again. It's a good 120+ miles round trip from where we live to the general area where most of these fields are. Add up that gas expense and then the gate fees and THEN the parking each time.
And they schedule one game a day...or 7 games in a 6 day period. So that's 6 days of gas, 6 days of gate fees, 2-4 days of parking ON TOP OF A $2500 team entry fee AND NO FREAKING WATER IN THE DAGGUM DUGOUTS!!!
As to the "free" recruiting website? Nope. You pay about $1000 to attend a PG showcase and get those skills show things and profiles and junk and if you SCREW UP, it hurts you. You are better off saving your parking, and concessions and gate fee to these ripoff events and doing your own video, upload it to YouTube or whatever and when you fill out all the online recruiting questionnaires to the schools you are interested in, include the link as well as your own recruiting website. They are pretty easy to make.
Okay, so let's say the kid is 14 or 15u. Mom and Dad: guess who has to drive him to all those games? YOU! And guess what that means? You get to take off a whole week from work! Can you afford to do that? Maybe. Some folks are self employed and don't make money unless they work. So, there is a bunch more expense AGAIN. The games are 8am to 3am (see above) 7 days a week - not just weekends and evenings. So go ahead and factor that in.
Now lets talk about scouts/coaches. Yes they are at Lake Point depending on the day and the time. But remember that there are 45 different facilities being used THIS WEEK ALONE. If your team is lucky, they may play at Lake Point on 2 different days. Can they watch 330+ teams play 7 games in 45 different places across Atlanta? NOPE. But y'all keep on believing that lil man will be discovered just because he is in a PG event. He might get discovered, and if he's reall REALLY good, they will talk about him on the website. Butlet's face it. If you are that good, folks already know about you and you are probably already committed to a school somewhere. When 5000+ kids a week flock through Lake Point, it's a long shot.
Oh and I hate to break it to you, but the USA is very big and there are a GABILLION tournaments all over attracting scouts every week. They can't ALL be at Lake Point...
It's a racket.
Oh wait...pool play ended up being only 6 games bc of the rain earlier this week and poor planing by PG. On 6 different days of course. And the treat for doing well in your pool is that youg et to drive back out there again tomorrow, pay to park, pay to get in etc. etc. etc. in order to see the kid you raised for the past 18 years play or not play depending on certain factors. But no. WE should just get the heck over ourselves.
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| in_the_know |
Posted - 07/08/2015 : 16:06:14
quote:
Originally posted by CaCO3Girl
quote:
Originally posted by Renegade44
When the cost maximization model does implode it is not going to be pretty. Bridges will have been burned with local teams, out of state teams will find other locations, and the tournaments will suck for quality of teams and quantity of teams attending.
Everyone sounds so outrageous on here...by the way, the world is not flat, the horseless carriage was not a fad, and fast food through drive through actually did catch on! You have to pay to park at a high class venue....AND? Name another organization that allows your child to have a profile on their website, complete with their age, school, summer team name, graduating class, how fast their fastball was at the last 15 tournaments they attended....oh and do it all without further cost to you?
The people who are coming in from out of state are in awe of Lake Point, and want their kids to play in PG tourneys. Parking fees are a fact of life, get OVER this people!
They just stole a page out of the airline's books and the breaking point hasn't been found there yet either. All the headlines read that bag fees would kill the airlines and customer simply wouldn't stand for it. How many of these teams flew here this week . . . |
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