On Deck

[fontana10!]

I will keep it short. The Allisters are great people. I would encourage anyone with a daughter interested in playing college ball to give Ondeck a try.

[NumeroUno]

People don't realize how much the Allister's do for this sport and how many players they have helped follow their dream What they do is second to none.

[rbi]

I will second that NumeroUno , best thing that ever happened to my kid when it came to recruiting, bar none!

Allister's are one of the few bright spots when it comes to the "business" side of youth softball….

[softball65]

I am alittle late to the party but I wanted to provide an opinion from one who decided to not utilize this service. I looked at the process that they used of tryouts, Jamborees, and the ultimate invite. I think it is a good process frankly as it suggests at least that only the very best players are at the marque events. I assume that to be true I do not know that for sure. The thing that caused me to not pursue it was all the measurement stuff. Not that this is bad but I wasn't convinced in the validity of it. I heard of a girl with 99MPH bat speed at an OD event that we know. Don't get me wrong, she has legit bat speed but 99MPH??? Saw measurements that to me didn't jive with other measurements like I'd expect a strong home to 1B time would suggest a strong home to home time. Pop times that seemed ridiculously fast. I felt like this was an area where you could be labeled with numbers that may not be real, in either direction frankly.

Secondly was the herd mentality....obviously a top tier player has to standout in some way, i.e. hitting, power, speed, defense, something. . I was not worried about that as my DD has a strong bat and is a power lefty so she always draws a crowd. And she is sound in all of the 5 tools. I was more concerned with getting one or maybe 2 ABs or batting 15th in the lineup, or other things we had no control over that impact impression. For example my kid plays corners but is fast enough to play OF also. How would this have worked with OD?? She is tall so almost by default coaches put her at 1B. She's a good 1B but we wanted schools to see she can help them in multiple positions (since most schools will put girls where they need them). Ultimately I felt like the risks were higher than the potential reward and we chose to not partake. In the interest of Full disclosure, we considered the OD events because we had several girls on our travel team, going to all of the camps and invite opportunities, and they felt as if they were worth while, although none of them had gotten any serious interest from them but they felt they got on the radar of a few schools as a result of the OD events. So we considered it but decided against it. But we were already well down the recruiting path at that time and had the interest of the schools she was most interested in. So this obviously figured in also.

I was talking to the coach of the team my kid is now committed to and he talked about these events and events like the Combine at Diamond 9 "Sun Classic" as an example. He was telling me there were just too many girls to get a good look at anyone and he felt like they were a waste of time for him. He (being just one data point) doesn't like these big events. Says he can't get a good look at anyone. He also said there are so many events now that there are no "secret talent finds" anymore in his opinion. He says everyone knows who the best talent is and its really just timing and do I need someone like her.

So I can not speak to worth it or not, but these were the things we considered that caused us not to move forward.

[rbi]

I am alittle late to the party but I wanted to provide an opinion from one who decided to not utilize this service. I looked at the process that they used of tryouts, Jamborees, and the ultimate invite. I think it is a good process frankly as it suggests at least that only the very best players are at the marque events. I assume that to be true I do not know that for sure. The thing that caused me to not pursue it was all the measurement stuff. Not that this is bad but I wasn't convinced in the validity of it. I heard of a girl with 99MPH bat speed at an OD event that we know. Don't get me wrong, she has legit bat speed but 99MPH??? Saw measurements that to me didn't jive with other measurements like I'd expect a strong home to 1B time would suggest a strong home to home time. Pop times that seemed ridiculously fast. I felt like this was an area where you could be labeled with numbers that may not be real, in either direction frankly.

Secondly was the herd mentality....obviously a top tier player has to standout in some way, i.e. hitting, power, speed, defense, something. . I was not worried about that as my DD has a strong bat and is a power lefty so she always draws a crowd. And she is sound in all of the 5 tools. I was more concerned with getting one or maybe 2 ABs or batting 15th in the lineup, or other things we had no control over that impact impression. For example my kid plays corners but is fast enough to play OF also. How would this have worked with OD?? She is tall so almost by default coaches put her at 1B. She's a good 1B but we wanted schools to see she can help them in multiple positions (since most schools will put girls where they need them). Ultimately I felt like the risks were higher than the potential reward and we chose to not partake. In the interest of Full disclosure, we considered the OD events because we had several girls on our travel team, going to all of the camps and invite opportunities, and they felt as if they were worth while, although none of them had gotten any serious interest from them but they felt they got on the radar of a few schools as a result of the OD events. So we considered it but decided against it. But we were already well down the recruiting path at that time and had the interest of the schools she was most interested in. So this obviously figured in also.

I was talking to the coach of the team my kid is now committed to and he talked about these events and events like the Combine at Diamond 9 "Sun Classic" as an example. He was telling me there were just too many girls to get a good look at anyone and he felt like they were a waste of time for him. He (being just one data point) doesn't like these big events. Says he can't get a good look at anyone. He also said there are so many events now that there are no "secret talent finds" anymore in his opinion. He says everyone knows who the best talent is and its really just timing and do I need someone like her.

So I can not speak to worth it or not, but these were the things we considered that caused us not to move forward.

Every kid that is involved with OnDeck has the goal of being invited to a National Camp, which are held annually in SoCal and East coast now.. These two events in the words of the several Top 10 schools coaching staff, "the single most important weekend on our recruiting calendar"… Those words alone give you an idea of how prestigious these National Events are.


Do to the overwhelming amount of requests for spots in camps/jamborees the Allisters decided to have tryouts in diff regions of the country so it would be easier to see the talent. As in reality its just a select few people looking at the talent,and besides that, recommendations from very well thought of TB people…

Now i will say that because of kids committing earlier and earlier it is allowing a larger pool of maybe less talented kids into these events, which IMO changes the dynamics of these events…

Trust me OnDeck is the last place your going to call "cattle call", and that is why so many people get upset as its just not easy to get into.

As Far as ODM, these numbers are pretty pretty dang accurate, look at national leader board… As far as 99mph you heard of, i can assure you that is probably same dad that says his daughter throws 72mph,,, or has the worn out phrase "full ride"…

btw, glad your daughter is "5 tool", those are hard to find….. Even if my kid was on the radar of top 10 schools, i would be all over these camps, just because more irons in the fire increases the overall sense of urgency by schools, and even pct of scholarship, trust me…..

[Chin Music]

Who cares if u have 99mph bat speed if u can't make contact.
Who cares how fast u run to first if u can't put the ball in play.
Pony show/ cattle call. Call it what u will.
Good for some/ waist of time and money for others.

[OnDeck Softball]

Softball65, thanks for the response. We appreciate your candidness. Real quickly . . . as to the 99. That was simply an outlier with the Zepp, and the best example I can give in regards to such numbers is a golf example. Every golfer who works with a golf monitor, whether that is a TrackMan or a FlightScope, or even lower priced models, knows that the equipment simply gives crazy readings sometimes. These ourliers are just a fact of technology. The young lady with the 99 consistently tests at a bat speed of 83, and we are comfortable with that! As for the numbers themselves, OnDeck Measurements has tested nearly 12,000 players, including College Players, and we are getting some very interesting data. Chin Music is right in that there will always be those who are exceptions to the norm. Every good player has to be able to hit it, throw it, catch it, and maybe pitch. Every good player doesn't have to be a great athlete. This may date me, but Yogi Berra probably never would have tested real well in ODM. Yet he was one of the best ever. But I guarantee Willie Mays, Micky Mantle, Ken Griffey, Barry Bonds, and Mike Trout would have tested exceedingly well. The bottom line tho is these are just numbers, and people can do with them what they wish. We started ODM at the request and with the help of the college coaches, so many of them use them religiously. Others don't. However an indisputable fact is that I can tell you what an average SEC/Pac12 slapper runs the 10, the 20, and the 40 in. And that is indeed valuable information for any coach, any parent, and/or any player - either in college or travel ball. I can also tell you the threshold for any Division 1 Middle Infielder in the 5-10-5 Shuttle. Again, a person can use that info in any way he/she wants, but still it is valuable in many, many ways when it comes to coaching, recruiting, and even parenting an aspiring young softball player. I hope all this helps! Take care, and thanks for the comments. Contact me at any time if we - OnDeck - can help you in any way.
Derek Allister

[thecommish]

I am not one to post much on here. I’ve done a lot of reading and learning over the years on HB though. I have to say that Derek and his wife are wonderful people. They actually gave a lot of good advice to the players and parents at the events. My daughter went to a try out, performed well, got a very good ODM number and was invited to two of the national jamborees. My DD is a good all-around athlete but was having trouble getting the attention of some of the programs she was interested in since she didn’t jack it over the fence every at bat. Day two of the Colorado Jamboree had more than 75 DI coaches attend to see about 75 girls over a period of 6 hours. I overheard coaches state that these OnDeck camps were a no-brainer---one of the easiest ways they could see so much top, hand-picked talent in one venue. The Allister’s report, along with the ODM numbers, go to all of their clients and the coaches that attend their camps.

OnDeck was just one of our recruiting tools. My DD was also very diligent with her emails (weekly), regular video clips, and phone calls (monthly) to the coaches. As a result, this generated a lot of interest and she received several personal invites to college camps. She was able to narrow down her search quite a bit this way. In the end, she chose a DII school instead due to the coaching staff and much smaller class sizes. But for anyone wanting to get to the DI level, I don’t think you can’t ask for more bang for your buck to get on the radar. In the end, you need to make a very honest assessment of your player's academic & athletic needs, tailor your plan accordingly, and decide if this will fit your needs. If you are not looking for DI, this may not be the way to go.

[fastpitchdad05]

Well stated and great advice, Commish! You should post more.

Best of luck to your DD!