Sunday, October 30, 2016, concluded the 2016 Diamond 9 Fall Sun Classic Showcase in Florida. This fall marked the seventh year of the Showcase being held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. Seven years ago only six fields were used at ESPN, fast forward to this weekend and all 25 fields were being used as well as an additional seven Showcase locations in the area. 400 teams competed in front of almost 400 college coaches over the past four days.
Kevin O’Donnell, Diamond 9 Showcase director takes pride in this event, not because of the impressive turnout, but because of the hard work his dedicated staff members put in throughout the year leading up to the event. He also mentioned that their main focus is creating an event that is a family affair. “We always want to hold our events in a great environment and destination”, referring to the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex which serves as the event’s main attraction. “We change a lot of girls lives at these events. This is why my wife and I got these events started, we saw the impact that it was making and if someone is going to come and play at our event, it’s going to be a family atmosphere”, said O’Donnell.
The ESPN Wide World of Sports complex is nothing short of a family atmosphere. The complex has been witnessing young athlete’s dreams come true since it opened in 1997. Even though the weekend was designed as a Showcase and game scores don’t necessarily matter, they still do. “ESPN is the championship complex. It’s hard to get here but it’s even harder to stay here”, explained O’Donnell when talking about the process of distributing the teams into the eight difference event locations. “We want to make sure all of our venues are successful, so strategically we keep our strong teams together because they will draw college coaches.” The ESPN complex had 280 college coaches check in on Friday alone, and the average number of college coaches in attendance at the other seven complexes ranged from 38-65 per day. Those are still high numbers of attendance for a Showcase event, especially one of this size.
The Diamond 9 Showcase is definitely one you’re going to want to register your team for next year. Especially if you can snag a spot at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. We have compiled the following list of what went well at Diamond 9 with our focus on the ESPN complex location, as well as what could be improved on in years to come.
What went well at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex:
- Family Atmosphere
- Big number of College Coaches in Attendance
- Top teams in the Nation competed here
- Golf Cart Transportation System
- Easy and Accessible Parking Lots
- All Games stayed on time and most went close to seven innings
- Announcer for each game so coaches and spectators knew who was up to bat
- Unlimited warm up space
- Fields weren’t on top of each other, less foul ball hazards
- Shaded bleachers for college coaches and spectators
- Showcase App, extremely beneficial for college coaches, teams, and family members
- Incredible softball atmosphere, players, and spectators seemed to be having a blast
What could be improved at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex:
- Playing on baseball fields with grass infields, made the game slower
- Backstops being too far away, hard to get a radar gun on the pitchers & catchers
- Some fields didn’t have scoreboards (the 20-25 fields)
- If you couldn’t snag a golf cart, it was a long walk from pod to pod
Overall, this was one of the best put together showcase events I have ever witnessed. The attendance numbers for both team participants and college coaches speaks volumes. The event was extremely organized and everyone in attendance was taken care of – emphasis on creating a family-friendly atmosphere. If you missed out on this year’s Diamond 9 Fall Sun Classic Showcase, check the Diamond 9 website for next year’s sign up. Diamond 9 also holds Sun Classic Series Showcase events in the winter and summer as well. “Our goal for our events is to create a Championship environment”, explained O’Donnell. After experiencing the Fall Sun Classic Showcase at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, the mission was accomplished.
