TCEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – From the beaches of California, Florida and Puerto Rico, to the desert of Arizona, the coastal tidewaters of North Carolina, the pine forests of North Georgia and just about every place in between, the 2015 Perfect Game Showcase Schedule leaves virtually no region of the country untouched.
The schedule that is now being finalized features up to 50 events, including the recently completed World Showcase, World Uncommitted Showcase and National Underclass East Showcase in Fort Myers, Fla. More events are expected to be added to the schedule as the season unfolds.
The planning behind this season’s ambitious schedule produced a finished product designed to cut down on travel costs and present opportunities that make it more convenient and less expensive for prospects and their families to attend an event.
And the 2015 showcase season is right around the corner. After three February indoor events in PG’s Great Plains and Northeast regions and the PG Spring Showcase here in Cedar Rapids April 18-19, the schedule dives headfirst into its meatiest and most important stretch with 10 events in late May and June that coincide with the completion of most state’s high school seasons.
These include the five Sunshine Showcases – Southeast (Emerson, Ga.), East (Fort Myers, Fla.), Northeast (West Windsor, N.J.), South (Tomball, Texas) and West (San Diego, Calif.) – that precede the PG Junior National Showcase and PG National Showcase (Fort Myers, Fla.).
“The biggest thing to me about the 2015 schedule are the Sunshine events,” PG National Director of Showcases Jim Arp said. “Players need to get to those because anyone who deserves an invite to the National or Junior National can come out of those events – that’s the big thing about the Sunshine events.”
Arp also noted that the timing of the Sunshine events is ideal because the prospects are usually at the top of their games, with most of them in peak form coming right out of their high school seasons. It’s the perfect time for the players to get out in front of college coaches and scouts and an equally solid opportunity for them to how improved numbers and receive an updated online PG scouting report.
“There are a lot of opportunities for people to get to these events and the Sunshines, I believe, are huge,” Arp said. “I just think those are key because (players) get a chance to be seen before the National, and the National and Junior National, as a player, that’s where you want to be.”
After the PG National Showcase concludes on June 22, the 2015 schedule takes the month of July off to allow the PG tournament season hit its stride and ultimately conclude. The showcase schedule then resumes in full fury with 20 Top Prospect and Underclass events at venues from coast-to-coast in August alone. Twelve more events dot the calendar from September through December.
Prospects and their families are encouraged to pick and choose their showcase appearances carefully and find the events that make the most the sense in terms of travel costs and the players’ abilities and post-high school aspirations. College coaches and PG scouts will definitely be paying attention.
“They don’t need to go to six a year but they need to go to one and I’d like to see them at two because things change over a five or six month period – players are going to improve and (college) coaches need to know that,” Arp said. “People don’t realize the importance of a showcase nowadays, and it’s been that way for the past few years. … Coaches find players at showcases and they’re really, really looking at those and relying on those showcase (reports).”