College Showcase Tournaments Rise to a New Level – of Expense

Parents of many U16 and older soccer players are familiar with the college showcase tournaments: WAGS, JAGS, MSSL, PDA, Score at the Shore and many more around the country. It’s where players go to be seen by college coaches in the hopes of landing a scholarship, or at least gaining admission to a school which might reject them if they were not on a coach’s list.

Today the New York Times reports that many basketball showcase tournaments are not only charging college coaches an admission fee to get into the gym, but also soaking them as much as $295 for the tournament’s “packet” which lists the contact information on the players. Without the packet the college coach would not be able to contact players of interest unless he already knew them. (The article reported only on men’s tournaments. It is not known if the same practice exists for the women’s game.)

Although the Times raised questions about whether the practice of charging exorbitant amounts for rosters and contact information is ethical or legal under NCAA rules, it said, “Many college coaches pay the fees because they do not want to alienate the teams’ coaches, who often control the recruiting of their players.” And for the same reason, many college coaches would not speak for attribution.

In case you are wondering, I have never experienced or heard of a soccer showcase tournament charging a college coach. In fact, it’s just the opposite: tournaments will usually provide a profile book with contact information on all showcase age players (usually U16 and up) and often give the college coaches breakfast or lunch (or both) or at least have coffee for the early morning games and water on a hot day. At the JAGS (Jersey Area Girls Soccer) Tournament of which I have been the college coordinator for longer than I can remember, we give the coaches a profile book and a meal voucher for lunch both days.

Check out the Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/sports/ncaabasketball/27hoops.html?_r=1&hpw Granted the cultures of the two sports are very different, and of course college basketball is a big-time money sport while college soccer is not. But at many schools, especially in Division 1, there is a pressure to win on all coaches, not just those in the high profile sports.