Exposure has become a buzzword in the baseball recruiting space, and for good reason. Without it, talent goes unseen. With it, players can make meaningful progress on their path to playing college baseball and beyond. Baseball exposure events are a key piece in helping high school baseball players achieve their goal of competing at the next level.
With a minimal amount of exposure, the most talented player in the state would have a tough time getting recruited. We don’t see this happen very often though because these players are able to generate exposure organically. They typically have tools that set them apart from their peers. As a result, the word gets out, and college coaches start to show interest and attend the player’s games.
If you’re a middle of the pack player, you won’t benefit from this same level of exposure. A coach may stumble upon you when scouting another player, but that is not a sustainable strategy to get recruited. What these players should do is be proactive and formulate a plan to get in front of college coaches through exposure building events.
Putting a Baseball Exposure Plan Together
When putting a plan together, the player should understand the different types of baseball exposure events. The three main types are showcases, tournaments, and camps, each of which provide a different level of exposure. With the growing popularity of scouting networks like Prep Baseball Report and Perfect Game Baseball, finding one of these events shouldn’t be an issue. These organizations host thousands of showcases and tournaments throughout the country, and have an established network of college coaches.
It’s also worth noting that the most talented players typically attend the highest number of baseball exposure events. These players understand the importance of exposure and the doors that it can open up for them. This should be an eye opener for the middle tier players. If these high profile athletes supplement their exposure with additional events, you should be doing the same thing.
Prospective college baseball players should understand that the odds are stacked against them. With only 7% of high school baseball players moving on to play at the NCAA level, every effort should be made to improve those odds. A pretty easy way of doing that is by attending exposure events like baseball showcases, tournaments, and camps.
Showcases
The first things that comes to mind when talking about generating exposure is a baseball showcase. Showcases are an excellent opportunity for players to display their talent in front of college coaches. From a coach’s point of view, attending a showcase is a really effective way of recruiting. Instead of traveling around the region to different games, the coach can attend a single event that has a high concentration of talent. At the showcase, the coach will get to observe a workout style where players will demonstrate their skill set. Following the positional workouts, showcases often shift gears to a 10-12 inning scrimmage, which gives coaches an opportunity to scout players in a live game.
Finding the Right Showcase for You
Finding a showcase in your area should be a pretty easy task. In addition to the larger scouting networks, there a variety of smaller organizations that hold more localized showcases. While these showcases might have a smaller list of coaches attending, it’ll likely be a more concentrated list of schools in that area.
It’s important to check the colleges that will be attending the showcase. One of the biggest mistakes players make, is randomly selecting a showcase with a bunch of colleges. To get the most for your time and money, you should target events with a large number of schools that you could see yourself playing for.
Some showcases also offer online player profile capabilities. Baseball Factory and Prep Baseball Report, among other large scouting networks, organize showcases where they provide players with a web hosted profile. At the event, the organizers collect a variety of performance metrics and video footage from the workout. They load this content into the player’s online profile along with their information. The profile is then accessible to the hundreds of college coaches within the scouting organizations network. This feature is really helpful because players will continue to get exposure to college coaches, even after the event is finished.
Baseball Exposure Tournament Events
A lot of the organizations that operate showcases also run tournament events. Participating in a tournament is another great way of getting in front of college coaches and professional scouts. Similar to the concept mentioned above, coaches are more likely to attend events with a high concentration of talent. If you’re able to find a competitive travel team that attends some of the top tournaments, you’ll be well on your way to increasing your exposure.
One of the most prestigious tournaments in all of amateur baseball is the Perfect Game WWBA World Championship. The top 85 travel baseball teams participate in this tournament in hopes of bringing home the world championship. Over the course of this five day tournament, over 700 college coaches and professional scouts are in attendance. Obviously not all tournaments will bring this same level of exposure. If you play in a few tournaments that offer 5% of the exposure that WWBA provides, you’ll be in good shape.
University Baseball Camps
The last event is very different than the previous two because it offers a much more focused level of exposure. Showcases and tournaments get players in front of hundreds of college baseball programs. University specific camps will typically get them in front of one. We suggest attending a college camp when players have their sites set on a particular school, and they haven’t seen any interest from the coaching staff.
Through a camp experience, players have an opportunity to work very closely with the coaching staff and current players. It’s also a much more personal experience, often with one on one interactions. If a player is able to show his skills and demonstrate that he is a coach-able individual, it could spark some interest. The strategy certainly doesn’t fit all situations, but in the right scenario it makes perfect sense.