Day two coverage at the Diamond 9 Fall Showcase brought another full day of games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Similar to day one, teams began competition at 8:00am and went late into the night. It is non-stop softball down here in Kissimmee, Florida. Remember this is coverage from just one of the eight total complex locations being used for the Diamond 9 Sun Classic Showcase.
There were less college coaches in attendance at ESPN today than yesterday. The Showcase actually began on Thursday October 27, 2016 with a National Skills Camp. 320 athletes participated and interacted with 40 college coaches who ran the camp stations. The morning portion of the camp focused on specific position work followed by full field defense. Next came the hitting stations where college coaches got another chance to instruct and interact with the participating athletes. The afternoon portion of the skills camp was set up as “practice games”. The 320 players were broken up into 24 teams, with 12-13 players on each team. The 40 college coaches were then assigned to a team to coach for the games. This method of interaction between college coaches and participating athletes is extremely beneficial and serves for a great evaluation of athlete potential as far as what’s to come in the following days.
With all that was going on the past two days at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, I couldn’t help but wonder what was happening at the other seven. There are 400 teams in attendance at the Diamond 9 Showcase at 14U, 16U, and 18U combined. How in the world do the college coaches keep track of the players they come to watch? The answer I found out, is a Smartphone App that is accessible for all players, team coaches, family members, college coaches, and everyone else in attendance. Talk about a perk! After learning about the existence of the app, I let Kevin O’Donnell, the Diamond 9 Showcase Director give me a quick overview of the app.
The app can be found at tourneymachine.com under ‘D9 Sun Classic Fall Showcase’. Once on the app, you’re first instructed to follow teams. Once that step is complete, the app filters out those teams and lists the date, location, and times of all games the teams selected will play. But that’s not all it does! “It also gives college coaches access to all of the information they need about a player”, explained O’Donnell. “Once a team is selected, the app brings up the team’s roster. Once the roster is selected, the college coach has access to player profiles and they can even take notes on the app of specific players for their recruiting purposes.” The player profiles on the app also give college coaches access to skill videos and measurements from clinics and camps the athlete has participated in. All of this info is in one place and accessible through the app!
This digital recruiting tool is a huge recruiting benefit to the sport of softball. It makes players come alive and become more than just numbers and words written on paper. This tool also makes it possible for college coaches to keep track of their players in busy softball settings – like this one with eight different complex locations. This app definitely sets Diamond 9 events apart from other Showcases being held across the country. It’s the reason that an event of this size can be a huge success and it gives participating athletes a fair chance to be seen.
