Reply to Is Baseball Factory legit or just a money grab?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've known the owner for 25 years. He loves baseball and cares about the kids. If your kid is serious about baseball, he can help get visability and recruiting looks. [/quote]

Much of baseball these days are money grabs. That is why there are so many adults running teams now.  The travel clubs get money from the parents, pay the tournament hosts registration fees, and the tournament hosts pay college coaches to show up. These combine things are the worst.[/quote]

Yes, youth baseball has become a business. I’m not sure it is one that is terribly lucrative - maybe one or two owners of these big places make a six figure income, but the coaches, trainers, tournament directors, etc are making blue collar wages. Would the world be nicer if baseball was still the sandlot? Yeah, maybe. But it’s not. And as a mom of a baseball-mad teenager who can only envision a career in baseball and refuses to consider anything else, I wish there was a middle-class income open to him. There really isn’t. Which brings me back to baseball being a money grab. If it is, who is grabbing all that money? When you do the math you realize how little each coach is making. You wouldn’t work for that wage.[/quote]

Youth baseball is a money grab, and with two boys having gone through the recruiting process, it is getting worse.  But it can be navigated.  We never did the $1500 Showball type showcases (not sure how much Baseball Factory is), but we picked a couple other less expensive ones, went on school visits and did some one on ones with coaches.  It became pretty clear, [b]if you are good, you can get school’s attention without shelling out $$$$.[/b]  [/quote]

My experience is "good"...means like top 1% of all baseball players.  My kid plays on a team with one of those...they get invited to play in the national PG all star game that is televised on ESPN, invited to MLB exclusive invite-only showcases, etc.  They don't have to pay anything because they are wanted by everyone.

Alternatively, I also agree with you if you are just targeting D3 schools (though maybe not the schools making it far in the D3 national tournament)...especially the Northeast high academic D3s (assuming you have the grades/test scores).  You can directly reach out to those coaches and if you have decent stats for a D3 player, they will respond.[/quote]

DP and a genuine question:

How does this top 1% kid get all this attention in the first place?  Who is looking at him and then inviting him to all of these games and showcases?

To me it sounds like a chicken or egg question.  At some point, a kid had to be in a position to get noticed.  How does that generally happen?  Is it just luck?[/quote]

They play on a national team.  Around the DMV, a team like Richmond Braves Platinum, Mid-Atlantic Red Sox...they only reason I say "around here" is because usually you do have to go tryout in person...though sometimes they see you play at a travel tournament and poach you.  Even those teams will tend to be mostly VA or MD, though you will see some kids on those teams from NY or NC.  A team like the East Cobb Astros which is the #1 ranked 17u team, has kids from all over the place (GA, FL, TX, etc.)

At 16u, they play in premier tournaments in Alabama and Georgia which has Power 5 D1 coaches and pro scouts attending.  They do really well at those tournaments, and start getting a ton of attention.  As 17u players (that Fall after 16u summer season), they start getting personal invites to random showcase events that are super-exclusive.

There is an MLB showcase event happening next week...I think in Cary NC which is the HQ of USA Baseball.  I only know because this kid is attending (and I understand now one or two others received invites).[/quote]

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