RedCard
GOLD
Yep, that's the one. Lucky my then 11 year old twins were busy watching a movie on the iPad. But yes, the feet were sticking out from under the white sheet...
Vegas College Showcase Help
- Thread starter surf&donuts
- Start date
RedCard
GOLD
Excalibur blows big time. Very very dated and rundown...Luxor is good. We're staying there for this showcase. Never had a problem there.
Overlap
SILVER ELITE
The best College recruiting tournament on the west coast! Everyone is pretty spot on about keeping the team together as much as possible, our teams have stayed on the strip and smaller hotels however, by the last 2 years of going, the best hotel was Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort. It's a nice hotel that has great amenities and away from the strip. It's not far for the first games or any for that matter as the freeways are pretty good even with the construction that was going on during the last 2 years. The BIG upside to this hotel is, it's easy access to GET OUT of town after the last game. The last games used to be held at the fields in Henderson which was less than 10 minutes from the hotel. *It's a little tough to get a restaurant for large numbers but, there are some close to the hotel (the hotel is good but, expensive)...as far as expecting to see college coaches, you'll only see them if 2 things happen, 1.) players from the other team invited them and they're at the game to watch them or 2.) YOUR players are sending them invites, THEY WILL COME IF THE PLAYER"S SEND INVITES. I highly recommend having a handout, it should have photo's of the player's position, number, HS school they attend, GPA listed. This makes it easy for them to see the player that sent the invite. I always had them printed in color and brought approx. 35-40, I personally handed them out on the sidelines to all coaches and was able to answer any questions they may have had. The second to last year of aging out will be the most attended, you will have a little more than half of that their last year as most have committed or didn't start the process earlier, BEST OF LUCK!...HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!
The Outlaw *BANNED*
PREMIER
"The best College recruiting tournament on the west coast!"
Not this year. I know the 'coach attendees' list is continuing to update but I'd say it's fairly disappointing at the moment. I like the rest of what you wrote, though.
Not this year. I know the 'coach attendees' list is continuing to update but I'd say it's fairly disappointing at the moment. I like the rest of what you wrote, though.
Overlap
SILVER ELITE
The players need to be sending invites to schools not listed as well, (schools they want to attend), lot's of coaches don't sign up on the tournament list or go the last minute. They should also send them "Thank You" notes, even if they didn't see them there as they sometimes hang out for only a few minutes. I'm not up to date on the current NCAA rules however, with both my DD's, they were able to talk to the coach ONLY while on the field, once they step out of the gates, they're not allowed to speak to the player, so tell them - don't take it personal as they may be getting a call (so don't be a smart ass when answering the phone for a few weeks after)
Too many showcases and no DA teams keeps this less interesting. Can you imagine a SuperNova Group with the the top DA and Top ECNL teams from last year go head to head with their top teams? Oh well, it will still be a blast and always fun. I heard it was the best tournament before DA for dad fun and that Surf Cup was the Best of The Best team wise. It's all rumors to me because my dd never got to experience the best in SoCal. It's just diluted koolaid now, that gets weaker by the day. This is only my opinion. Only in my life as a fan of soccer does all this get broken up by the power brokers who have zero clue on how to compete as an athlete. These clowns no way played competitive sports in their life. Their is an unwritten rule just like in baseball. Rome say's it best, "if your not cheating than you're not trying."
Overlap
SILVER ELITE
That would be interesting, I believe they're having the CRL finals at this tournament as well,
not sure what fields but, I hear what you're saying. I've seen how fast the leagues have gotten diluted and the level of play just isn't the same. I think the 98 birth year was the last year where Premier meant something, then it was very quick how things have gone downhill, everyone running to the next shiny thing, lots has happened over the last 2-3 years and I wish I could say it was for the betterment of the players. After reading how some of the clubs are going back to their old roots and leaving the mega clubs, I really hope things start to settleI was looking at old ECNL rosters and scores before the DA Way and birth year. These were all school age kids playing together. No one played up unless you were SJ or AT. Everyone else played on the same team. Look at the box scores. 2-1, 1-0, 2-3, 2-1. No one scoring 4 goals a game. No 11-0 blows or rivals sending their B team to play the freaking SoCal Blues. It was fierce at one time because I saw with eyes. First year of DA for 04s was so none competitive it gave all the girls the time to juggle, go through cones, defenders as cones, no meaningful games except Legends and Earthquakes. I watched it all get diluted and it's very diluted.That would be interesting, I believe they're having the CRL finals at this tournament as well,
surf&donuts
BRONZE
Do you think the corona virus is impacting coach attendance or just watering down of tournaments? ( ie...one every weekend, DA...)
Overlap
SILVER ELITE
Still a pretty long list, more will be added and some didn't sign up on the website...
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
Most college programs are in the middle of their Spring Season with games that weekend. Also there is a higher ranked tournament that weekend on the east coast. It's called Jefferson Cup.
I gather that this is your first experience with Players Showcase in LV.... We've done it 5 times between 2 kids. Thankfully, our youngest didn't want to go for his last year and we'll just have to miss the 6~7 hr drive home from LV on Sunday.... (if you leave at the wrong time, its 2 hrs from the strip to the stateliness/Primm, which is just 40 miles) Of course you can always fly in and fly out.
There are two very local and interesting restaurants outside of the strip.
Cajun Food: Lola's (http://www.lolaslasvegas.com). Small place (Downtown) and authentic.
Classic BBQ: John Mull's Meats and Road Kill (https://johnmullsmeatcompany.com) Counter order and picnic table seating outside
Been to both multiple times. Excellent food. In particular, the burnt ends at John Mull's is simply the best I've had over the years anywhere. If you can get in, there's also Gordon Ramssy's Hell's Kitchen LV too that fits the strip lifestyle.
I see that there are lots of hotel discussion but its "stay-n-play" tournament so your team should have committed to so many rooms and have to stay where they want you to stay. But if you are doing your own thing, recommend staying away from the strip, unless you're into the glitz and cluster.
Biggest recommendation - forget that the tournament is in LV and treat it like any other away tournament. Don't change what you do just because its Vegas. If you want to enjoy Vegas for Vegas-sake, then come back some other time and stay in the heart of the glitz and shows.
Good luck.
Depends on which weekend. Boys and girls are on different weekends; whereas, the Jefferson Cup is one weekend for both in VA.
Bottom line, like all big tournaments, every single one of them is watered down and diluted and out of whatever mix you like. All sold out with empty promises and make believe dreams made out of pipes. Now imagine this. Your dd is trying hard to get playing time. Tons of politicking going on ahead of your goat and you just hope she gets enough play time. You tell her, her time will come. Coach even tells new goat parents she will have her opportunity Sunday. "Oh boy" you say to yourself. Well, she gets her big fat chance on Sunday and all the coaches are gone except UNLV. Great tournament for them btw. Vegas has potential to be a powerhouse. Anyway, you hopp on the 15 South (first tournament parents only) around 3 and get home to socal at 9pm. Or, if your lucky enough to have some extra dough you can fly and spare yourself the most depressing drive ever for a soccer dad. Plus, Monday Blues rolls upon you and you say to yourself, "she better get a full ride."
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
Just about nobody gets a full athletic ride. Fully funded is only 14 scholarships and many programs run 30+ plus players.
It was meant with sarcasm....lol
The Outlaw *BANNED*
PREMIER
It's a busy and expensive weekend in Vegas with the NCAA basketball, too. That said, I think if you're assuming the all the best players are on ECNL and DA teams, I think that's a mistake. We're surrounded by 3 of them and probably 1/3 of those rosters would not displace any of our existing players at tryouts. Maybe if both players showed up as "new", there'd be a different outcome, but the talent level isn't enough to bump an incumbent player. The separation isn't there. Too many reasons NOT to play DA and I guess, with the exception of SoCal, there are probably several regions where ECNL isn't a viable option for some. That said, Stanford, Pepperdine, MIT, Columbia, San Diego... all calls I would certainly return.
DDs team has done this tourney a couple times. My two cents if you want them... Stay in a "condo" type place in Vegas. They are both on the strip and off. Not sure if your team is mandating that you stay in a specific place, but I always gave the finger to that because of 2 things. 1) you can always get a better place for cheaper on sites like Hotwire and others and 2) I have points from work travel that I can leverage for FREE. So I always ignored the team manager and their demands. Most of our team stayed at the excalibur or NY NY for like $130 per night. Hell no!! DD and I had a fat crib for $98 per night. Most people rent a car while there and can meet up with the team anytime/anywhere. The condo type places are awesome because you have lots more space, a kitchen and in many cases a washer and dryer which was always key for us.
Agree Vegas has awesome food choices. We always liked to take the team to Wicked Spoon (better than Bachanal) buffet in Cosmo. Amazing buffet and pretty much the same price as most good buffets on the strip. There are so many great choices. Definitely something for everyone.
The soccer part - The first year we did this was at U14. We were at a small set of turf fields (don't remember the location). Those fields were good and there were a decent amount of college coaches watching. Not a ton though. We came back to the tourney the next year at U15 and we played at a big park with lots of grass fields. The fields were ultra shitty coupled with hurricane winds and absolutely horrendous refs. The upside was that our sidelines were packed with coaches. It was ultimately a successful trip, but I kept asking myself why are we playing in a tournament format anymore? We made it to the finals and all the parents just wanted to go home. We weren't there to win a meaningless trophy. We were there for exposure which we already got. We did not need to play a 5th game in 3 days. Dangerous. After fields and refs debacle, our coach vowed never to come back.
Anyway, net net is that we always had a good time out there and got the most out of it I guess. Hope this helps.
Agree Vegas has awesome food choices. We always liked to take the team to Wicked Spoon (better than Bachanal) buffet in Cosmo. Amazing buffet and pretty much the same price as most good buffets on the strip. There are so many great choices. Definitely something for everyone.
The soccer part - The first year we did this was at U14. We were at a small set of turf fields (don't remember the location). Those fields were good and there were a decent amount of college coaches watching. Not a ton though. We came back to the tourney the next year at U15 and we played at a big park with lots of grass fields. The fields were ultra shitty coupled with hurricane winds and absolutely horrendous refs. The upside was that our sidelines were packed with coaches. It was ultimately a successful trip, but I kept asking myself why are we playing in a tournament format anymore? We made it to the finals and all the parents just wanted to go home. We weren't there to win a meaningless trophy. We were there for exposure which we already got. We did not need to play a 5th game in 3 days. Dangerous. After fields and refs debacle, our coach vowed never to come back.
Anyway, net net is that we always had a good time out there and got the most out of it I guess. Hope this helps.
Bro, we have track stars on my dd hs soccer team. If they get beat by a player, most of the time they can recover and at least knock the ball away. So many good players outside those two leagues.