Colorado baseball showcase events scarce during pandemic

This is the final entry in a three-part series on how the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on high school athletics have impacted college recruiting for the Class of 2021. Read part one here and part two here.

One of the best ways for high school athletes to market themselves, particularly in baseball, is to attend showcase events. College coaches can watch potential recruits in action and assess the player competing against elite athletes, more than just through a highlight video. But with COVID, these events have suffered greatly.

“(With) the NCAA extending the dead period, (it) essentially eliminated any coach participation at these events,” Colorado-based recruiting manager Louis Birch said. “When you're trying to sell a family on bringing your kid in to get in front of 50 Division-I coaches and they're not going to be there and you want 900 bucks, (it has) hugely impacted (them) so their numbers were down.”

One of the largest showcase events in the Rocky Mountain region is the Arizona Fall Classic baseball tournament in Peoria. College baseball coaches are in the midst of offseason recruiting and come down to Arizona looking to improve their programs. Over 200 coaches normally attend the event but this year, Birch said, “it was like a ghost town.” The typically raging tournament in the desert may have seen more tumbleweeds than college recruiters in 2020.

Niwot High School head baseball coach Adam Strah said that showcase events in Colorado have been “few and far between.” He was, however, equally worried about the limited number of college roster spots expected to be available. The NCAA permitted student-athletes an extra year of eligibility, forcing many rosters to carry an influx of fifth-year seniors.

“It's tough almost for both sides of it right now,” Strah said. “The college coaches that I've talked to (said) they're so full and backed up that it makes recruiting tough for them and makes their situation even currently tough because they're having kids that are taking advantage of that extra year (of eligibility).”

Strah added that Niwot does have a few players capable of playing in college but they are still working to find the right fit. He said that some of his players left Colorado to play for a club team over the summer and to find showcase events.

But not every student-athlete has the opportunity to play for a club team out of state during a pandemic. For those who had a quieter summer, Strah said that those players may be at a disadvantage when it comes to providing video and statistics to college coaches.

Despite all the challenges that high school athletes are facing, there is comfort in the fact that college athletics will go on. It may not look the same, but opportunity will surface for those who adapt. The Next College Student Athlete is a recruiting services platform that helps student-athletes find a college program. With all the uncertainty, the NCSA expressed concern for high school athletes.

“For the class of 2021 that missed out on important competitions during their junior year and may miss out on camps and showcases over the summer, much of their recruiting will be dependent on what they have already done last year and how they can improve their video and grades,” the NCSA’s website states. “It’s a tough situation to be in, but college coaches will still have to recruit these athletes.”

On paper, the future appears grim for many high school athletes, but like so many other facets of this pandemic, making the best of the environment is all that can be done.