Silverlakes Summer Showcase?

Can you really compare the 2 events? Surf cup is a Tournament which eventually crowns a Champion. SilverLakes is only a Showcase w/ 3 games and you go home. At the youngest ages for DA, it definitely looks like Surf Cup has the advantage on the weekend. A better analysis would take a few years to see how it develops since this is Silverlakes inaugural event.
 
Has anyone used the Scouting Zone app? It seems like a great tool for coaches and replaces all the individual messaging. Surf Cup will be using it this year (not sure if they used it in the past).
These "helpful hints" are from ScoutingZone:



The DO's and DON'Ts of Contacting College Coaches















Let's strike while the iron is hot! You are in the midst of your summer tournament schedule, and college coaches are flying all over the country to watch YOU PLAY...




NOW is the perfect time to contact college coaches of schools that you are interested in - either for the first time as an introduction or as a follow-up to previous contact. Let's talk about the messaging, frequency, and how to be most effective! Path to college soccer start here...




DO: Introduce yourself / DON'T: Send a fill-in-the-blank mass e-mail
•An introduction letter is very important and not a reproduced one. Make this letter something personal, not a fill-in-the-blank, mass e-mail. Make sure YOU are writing it, not mom and dad. The fastest way to find yourself in the virtual trashcan is to send a canned email {insert no real interest in your program} or by just sending an email to every program across the US! {Yikes!}

•Set yourself apart somehow…You have to remember the coaches get a lot of emails. Give them something that triggers them to remember who you are, express yourself in a way that you want them to know you are interested! Follow up on the season; ask about experiences with the team; reference a recent game; let them know if you will be in attendance at one of their upcoming games. Doing this shows real, genuine interest.


DO: Be mindful of the “right amount of contact” / DON'T: Be obnoxious or over-attentive
•Coaching is a full-time job. There is a difference between contacting, showing interest, and the other side, which is being a little obnoxious and overbearing. Trust me, you want to be memorable, BUT a coach shouldn’t have your phone number memorized because you are listed on their missed call log 10 times a day!

•NCAA has a rule that coaches can only contact you once a week.

•Every 10 days, maybe twice a month for contacting. If you contact a coach more than once a week, you’re starting to overbear.

•The easiest way to contact a coach is through e-mail (you don’t want coaches to start avoiding your calls). A phone call is okay too, but make sure YOU are doing it and not your mom or dad. YOU represent YOU, the best!





DO: Be persistant / DON'T: Get frustrated

•Let them know why you want to attend the school (e.g. coaching style, academics… this is why I think I would be a good fit for the team...).
•Talk about why you personally would be a great addition and what you would bring to the team. Confidence is a great thing and knowing when to appropriately inject it proves respectfulness and great awareness - not arrogance.
•Maintain a dialog at your prospective schools. Most of the time, schools will not respond to your communications. This can be frustrating but they are listening. Be persistent. Remember, recruitment is selling yourself and persistence is the key.





DO: Include the link to your SCOUTINGZONE player profile, ALWAYS!
•Make sure it has been recently updated with a current photo, your accolades, upcoming tournaments, include a video, your Top 10 Colleges... etc!
•In your email header always include: Name, Grad Year, Club Team
 
Nothing wrong with contacting coaches as a parent. Relationships are important and you never know when that coach might move on.
I would add try to have your DD's make the calls to the coaches themselves. My wife and I prepped her. She made all of the calls, if she got their voicemail she would leave a message and inform them specifically the day and time when she would call back. The college coaches like that a lot, because it shows maturity and the players interest in the school vs the parents doing the leg work for them.
 
Look I think Surf is a great club, and, in the past, Surf Cup has been the event of the season. But this year the format is not good, and I'm not talking about multiple flights which is problematic also. Some age groups have five flights! But there's a difference between having multiple flights, and a format, within each flight, which only allows one team to advance from each bracket to continue competing to win, and then everyone else-- even those who came in 2nd in bracket-- go straight to consolation games with NO QUARTER FINALS, and then scheduling these consolation games on day 3 of the tournament. It's just not the optimal format for showcasing, spending my kid's time and my money, or for plain fun.

It also leaves the organizing club (Surf) open to a lot of criticism, since 1.It has the appearance of a "money grab" forcing all teams to stay and play a 3rd day. And 2. There are brackets that seem stacked, since only one team advances, and they may happen to be brackets that don't include teams from the hosting club....

Just look at some of the age group threads. Just trying to express what some others are feeling about a tournament, Surf Cup, that we have all truly enjoyed over the years, and telling you that these kinds of issues are what probably send top teams over to Silverlakes, which is a showcase to start with. Fewer issues = better way to spend time and money.
Obviously you haven't been to or seen the amount of teams accepted to the Las Vegas College Showcase in March. They have at least 80 teams per bracket and the games are on multiple fields. Yet, 100's of college coaches still attend every year!
 
IMO send an email with a short video (2 minutes or less). When you upload the video to you tube set it as unlisted so you can monitor who watches and for how long.

if your video peaks their interest they will contact your dd or show up at her game.
 
Look I think Surf is a great club, and, in the past, Surf Cup has been the event of the season. But this year the format is not good, and I'm not talking about multiple flights which is problematic also. Some age groups have five flights! But there's a difference between having multiple flights, and a format, within each flight, which only allows one team to advance from each bracket to continue competing to win, and then everyone else-- even those who came in 2nd in bracket-- go straight to consolation games with NO QUARTER FINALS, and then scheduling these consolation games on day 3 of the tournament. It's just not the optimal format for showcasing, spending my kid's time and my money, or for plain fun.

It also leaves the organizing club (Surf) open to a lot of criticism, since 1.It has the appearance of a "money grab" forcing all teams to stay and play a 3rd day. And 2. There are brackets that seem stacked, since only one team advances, and they may happen to be brackets that don't include teams from the hosting club....

Just look at some of the age group threads. Just trying to express what some others are feeling about a tournament, Surf Cup, that we have all truly enjoyed over the years, and telling you that these kinds of issues are what probably send top teams over to Silverlakes, which is a showcase to start with. Fewer issues = better way to spend time and money.
4 games guaranteed at Suef Cup = more exposure for the players in front of college coaches yet still a tournament format and longer game times. It's more about maximizing the exposure and allowing the college coaches to see more players during their time at the event. Coaches don't care if a player is in a quarter final, a bracket game or a consolation game. They don't care which flight they are in. The only people that care about quarter finals or are embarrassed at the thought of a consolation game are the parents. Players want every possible opportunity to be seen by the college coaches.
At the end of the day, the trophies and medals are great but that's not what gets you the college commitment. Maximum exposure and hard work are what get you there.
 
4 games guaranteed at Suef Cup = more exposure for the players in front of college coaches yet still a tournament format and longer game times. It's more about maximizing the exposure and allowing the college coaches to see more players during their time at the event. Coaches don't care if a player is in a quarter final, a bracket game or a consolation game. They don't care which flight they are in. The only people that care about quarter finals or are embarrassed at the thought of a consolation game are the parents. Players want every possible opportunity to be seen by the college coaches.
At the end of the day, the trophies and medals are great but that's not what gets you the college commitment. Maximum exposure and hard work are what get you there.


TESTIFY @dreamz !!!
 
4 games guaranteed at Suef Cup = more exposure for the players in front of college coaches yet still a tournament format and longer game times. It's more about maximizing the exposure and allowing the college coaches to see more players during their time at the event. Coaches don't care if a player is in a quarter final, a bracket game or a consolation game. They don't care which flight they are in. The only people that care about quarter finals or are embarrassed at the thought of a consolation game are the parents. Players want every possible opportunity to be seen by the college coaches.
At the end of the day, the trophies and medals are great but that's not what gets you the college commitment. Maximum exposure and hard work are what get you there.
Obviously you haven't been to or seen the amount of teams accepted to the Las Vegas College Showcase in March. They have at least 80 teams per bracket and the games are on multiple fields. Yet, 100's of college coaches still attend every year!
True 100's of coaches attend but they all go to see the same top 10 teams so sucks for the other 70. I'm kind of kidding kind of not. If your team is a top team and has soccer credit the coaches will go watch whichever tournament they are at. If the team has no history or credibility it will be very difficult to get coaches to go watch. Attending a tournament with lots of pull will help the latter.
 
True 100's of coaches attend but they all go to see the same top 10 teams so sucks for the other 70. I'm kind of kidding kind of not. If your team is a top team and has soccer credit the coaches will go watch whichever tournament they are at. If the team has no history or credibility it will be very difficult to get coaches to go watch. Attending a tournament with lots of pull will help the latter.
You are probably right, but there a bunch of schools, maybe d2 or d3, that need kids too.
 
4 games guaranteed at Suef Cup = more exposure for the players in front of college coaches yet still a tournament format and longer game times. It's more about maximizing the exposure and allowing the college coaches to see more players during their time at the event. Coaches don't care if a player is in a quarter final, a bracket game or a consolation game. They don't care which flight they are in. The only people that care about quarter finals or are embarrassed at the thought of a consolation game are the parents. Players want every possible opportunity to be seen by the college coaches.
At the end of the day, the trophies and medals are great but that's not what gets you the college commitment. Maximum exposure and hard work are what get you there.
Ok so what is the incentive for 03 and down??? Why do they have this format with no quarter-finals? Certainly not college coaches out on the 3rd day watching their consolation games. :rolleyes:
 
And I'm still not buying that college coaches will really stick around for consolation games on a 3rd day of the same tournament anyway, at any age. But I guess time will tell.
 
True 100's of coaches attend but they all go to see the same top 10 teams so sucks for the other 70. I'm kind of kidding kind of not. If your team is a top team and has soccer credit the coaches will go watch whichever tournament they are at. If the team has no history or credibility it will be very difficult to get coaches to go watch. Attending a tournament with lots of pull will help the latter.

I disagree. Some of the best players aren't on the best teams. You are caught in a fallacy. What happened to the Baker's Breakaway team that won the U15 USYS championship for Slammers? They were the top team in the country. How many college stars were on that team? How many players from that team are pro? How many are currently active U23 or full national team players?

Don't get caught in the fallacy. If #20, #11 and #6 weren't on the team would their kickball win?
 
Ok so what is the incentive for 03 and down??? Why do they have this format with no quarter-finals? Certainly not college coaches out on the 3rd day watching their consolation games. :rolleyes:
03 are incoming HS freshmen in the fall. There will be a few coaches who will watch no matter if it's a consolation game or not.
 
Ok so what is the incentive for 03 and down??? Why do they have this format with no quarter-finals? Certainly not college coaches out on the 3rd day watching their consolation games. :rolleyes:
Why are you so focused on a quarter final? What is the fixation on a quarter final? You aren't guaranteed a quarter final so you could be three games and done. Have you ever seen players in a final playing their 6th game in 3 days? They are on their last leg. Why not balance the event more with four games guaranteed for EVERYONE and the final being a 5th game? Isn't that more for your money having 4 games guaranteed and the teams not playing a 6th game in 3 days.nsoinds more balanced for everyone.
As for the 03s and down a 4 game format with a 5th game final is definitely more bang for the buck. Especially since the games are longer. Added value without the increase in price. I would say that's a good thing.
You are at the tournament for 3 days no matter what. Same with Silverlakes only that is one game per day. What does it matter? Enjoy the time with the kids. Pretty soon they will be out of the game and you'll be wishing you had enjoyed the 3 day weekends a lot more.
In the grand scheme of things a quarter final means nothing but the memories of spending time with your kids will mean everything.
 
And I'm still not buying that college coaches will really stick around for consolation games on a 3rd day of the same tournament anyway, at any age. But I guess time will tell.
This must be your first rodeo. If your DD is playing for a DA team, better yet a DA team with Slammers, Blues, or Surf you're sweating for no reason. Now if your DD is on a C-F team or playing for a no name club that got into Surf Cup C bracket. Then you should worry! So which one is it?
 
Why are you so focused on a quarter final? What is the fixation on a quarter final? You aren't guaranteed a quarter final so you could be three games and done. Have you ever seen players in a final playing their 6th game in 3 days? They are on their last leg. Why not balance the event more with four games guaranteed for EVERYONE and the final being a 5th game? Isn't that more for your money having 4 games guaranteed and the teams not playing a 6th game in 3 days.nsoinds more balanced for everyone.
As for the 03s and down a 4 game format with a 5th game final is definitely more bang for the buck. Especially since the games are longer. Added value without the increase in price. I would say that's a good thing.
You are at the tournament for 3 days no matter what. Same with Silverlakes only that is one game per day. What does it matter? Enjoy the time with the kids. Pretty soon they will be out of the game and you'll be wishing you had enjoyed the 3 day weekends a lot more.
In the grand scheme of things a quarter final means nothing but the memories of spending time with your kids will mean everything.
Good point, but then why not just make it a showcase? No champion. No medals. No quarters, semis or finals. Oh yeah and no GotSoccer points. Then no one can call it unfair. How about reducing the price too. Then people can't call it a money grab. Then people may continue to attend instead of opting for the other college showcase option without all the baloney.
 
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