Salt Lake City NQ Showcase – What to Expect
We are beyond excited to continue our partnership with USA Volleyball. We will be running the Pre Tournament Showcase in conjunction with the Salt Lake City Showdown National Qualifier in Salt Lake City, UT on Friday, April 7th. This article is to let you know what to expect from attending the showcase. For exact dates/times and to register… Sign up by clicking here!
REGISTRATION
Registration is pretty easy when you first walk in the gym. There will be tables set up to check in and get your Prep Dig shirt and your bib numbers. One bib will be an adhesive bib and it will go on the front of your shirt, the other bib will be using safety pins and it will go on your back. This is so that college coaches and scouts can easily differentiate each player from every angle. You will stretch on your own and if you get there early, you can warm up with other players before we begin.
PHOTO
Once you are done putting on your shirt and bibs, we will direct you to our professional photographer who will take your headshot. This headshot will be used for articles, social media shout-outs, and so that coaches/scouts can put a face with your number and name. The photographer will also be taking action shots during the drills and scrimmages.
DRILLS
We will be running a few warm up drills to get the player’s blood pumping and then transition to position courts. The players will be running drills specific to their positions to showcase their skills to scouts and college coaches. Most of the drills are fast-paced/movement drills to simulate game-like movements. Each player will get a high number of reps for the allotted time. If there are players who play multiple positions, we strongly suggest going to the court of their primary position only. There will be ample time during the game-like scrimmages to switch positions and showcase other skill-sets.
After the position drills are complete, we will transition to game-like drills in a 6 vs 6 scenario. The first couple of drills are controlled but then they will transition to competitive very quickly. Players will be grouped by graduating class and ability level at first. There will be some movement for some players to see how they do with other players, but not all will move courts.
BALLER TV
All courts that we are using will be live streamed to college coaches and other spectators via cameras. The cameras will be on one side only. During both drills and game play, players will be constantly switching sides so that they get adequate camera time. Although, I have scouted matches via baller tv and it is very easy to see both sides. After the showcase is complete, the footage is available as it is recorded and we will be sending the links to the footage to every college in our database. It is also available for you to watch at a later time if you have a baller TV account. Many of our players have used the footage to send to coaches and aid in their recruiting. Our scouts will also use the recorded footage to continue to analyze players’ skill sets.
SCOUTS
We will have court coaches and scouts on hand to run drills and provide feedback on players. We will collect copious amounts of info on players as we see them participate in the drills and game play. We will use this information to put players on our watch list, state rankings lists, and write articles on their play to help in college recruiting. Our information is based solely on the athlete’s individual performance. We will also take information on intangibles that each athlete possesses like teamwork, listening to coaches, cheering on other athletes, court vision, movement, and other items. Not everyone will be listed on the state rankings just by attending the Expo. It will take time to evaluate athletes over a period of time in order to determine if someone should be ranked amongst the state’s best. But attending the showcase is a perfect way to get in front of our scouts in person to showcase skills. We will continue to write articles on the athletes and how they performed long after the showcase is over. This is how we differentiate ourselves with other college recruiting showcases. No one can match our coverage of the athletes after the event is complete.
SOCIAL MEDIA
We will be using Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to shout out Top Performers of the event. We will be taking headshots of the athletes that stand out for various reasons and our social media team will be posting it to our social media channels. Feel free to retweet, like and share these when you see them. They will be going out over the course of the same day and subsequent days following the event. In order to be one of these athletes, make sure you give your all in many ways to stand out. Say hi to our scouts, interact with the coaches, and post your own stories about the event to your social media channels and be sure to tag us and our scouts. We, along with every college in the country, use Twitter a lot to keep in contact with players and share their highlights. If you do not have one yet, we strongly encourage you make one and use it to your advantage for marketing yourself.
Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at Michael@prepdig.com Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following Prep Dig Family!