Pictured: the Firecrackers Brashear team from California is just one of many elite teams coming from out of state.

You know it’s October when the calendar rolls around to the Team NJ Fall Showcase, which will take place for the 18th straight year this weekend in Edison and Bridgewater, N.J.

The will be 95 teams from around the country who’ll participate and come from far away states like California, Florida and even Washington.

FloSoftball will be streaming the live games from the Edison fields… Join Now to see the top 18Us in action!

Jim Barsalona says the showcase is “a regional event, but a little bigger than a regional and it’s during a nice time of year.”

Each team in the 18U, 16U and 14U levels has a five game guarantee with games starting bright and early Friday morning at 8 am and running through Sunday with the last game at 2 pm.

“This is my favorite event,” continued Barsalona who also runs the popular Team NJ Summer Showcase each year. “The atmosphere in the fall is relaxed, the college coaches love it as do the teams.”

So coveted is a spot at this weekend’s showcase that the director says he can only take about one-third of the teams requesting a spot.

Still, he adds, “We take about 16 to 18 new teams every fall who want to show what they can do.”

There are two unique factors that make the Team NJ Fall Showcase even more special.

The first is that the weekend proceeds the Columbus Day holiday which is a big deal in the Northeast and most schools are closed allowing teams to come to use Monday as a chance to visit colleges all over the East.

“What’s happened is many teams like to take advantage of open houses at colleges,” says Barsalona.  “We have some out of state teams who play in the showcase and then will visit programs like UConn and Lehigh to show their players what the universities here have to offer.”

The second aspect that helps bring in upwards of 100 college coaches is a team “Cook-off Challenge” where two clubs teams battle in making the best food as judged by the college coaches.

And, from what many say, this culinary contest is as competitive as the play on the field!

The two participating teams this year are the NJ Gators and NJ East Coast Elite and there’s something important on the line: the winner will get to play next June in the Team NJ Summer Showcase on the main complex and get their berth comped.

“People are literally cooking starting on Monday,” laughs Barsalona. “They smoke meat and bring in butcher-quality food. Everything is home cooked and the teams decorate booths in a Halloween them. We have a wait list of teams that want to do it because it’s fun, it’s like when you go to a tailgate party.”

The two-time defending champion Tri-State Thunder from West Virginia won’t get a chance for a repeat simply because, well, they were too good according to the showcase director.

“We couldn’t let them do it again because they blow everybody away.”

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Pictured: Maggie Balint of PA Chaos, who recently committed to Oregon and is a two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year in Pennsylvania.

The nearly 100 teams in the Team NJ Summer Showcase includes elite programs from all over the country… here are several in each age level we think are worth watching:

18U
Lady Lightning Team Miken (N.C.)
Jersey Intensity
Rhode Island Thunder
PA Chaos
Team Pennsylvania
Newtown Rock (Pa.)
Team Long Island (N.Y.)
NJ Gators

16U
Vienna Stars (Va.)
Minnesota Elite
Ohio Outlaws
Firecrackers Brashear (Calif.)
Houston Power (Texas)
Lady Lightning (N.C.)

14U
NJ Outlaws
Jersey Intensity
CT Eliminators
Vienna Stars (Va.)
Team Long Island (N.Y.)
PA Chaos

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PARTICIPATING TEAMS:

18U   
CA Firecrackers - Jensen                                            
CA The Next Level - DeLamater                              
CA Team California Gold                                         
FL Diamond Dusters Norman                                   
CN Toronto Club Thunder                                        
CT Charmers Gold                                                    
CT Xtreme Chaos Gold                                              
CT Hornets Gold                                                        
FL Team Florida Gold                                                
MA Raiders Softball                                                   
MA Polar Crush Gold                                                
MD Severna Park Hornets                                         
MD Bayside Blues                                                     
MD Wagner’s M/G Gold                                            
NC Challengers Renzi                                                
NC Lady Lightning TM Corn                                    
NH Diamond Gems Premier                                      
NJ Pride Easton                                                          
NJ Nightmare Gold                                                     
NJ East Coast Elite                                                     
NJ Morris County Belles                                            
NJ North Jersey Rocks - Riegel                                  
NJ Mystics Elite -Dunphy                                           
NJ Outlaws Gold - Scott                                                 
NJ Jersey Flames Gold                                                    
NJ Cheetahs Premier                                                        
NJ Witches Gold                                                              
NJ Jersey Inferno - Meister                                             
NJ SJ Mystics - Jackson                                                   
NJ Gators Premier                                                           
NJ Inferno Mizuno Gold - Rosado                                  
NJ Venom - Benish                                                          
NJ Intensity KOD Premier                                               
NY Conklin Raiders Gold                                               
NY Team Long Island
NY Frozen Ropes Force Gold                                         
NY USA Lady Hawks Gold                                            
NY TC Tremors Gold                                                       
NY Team Long Island Gold - Galati
NY Long Island Sudden Impact
PA Newtown Rock Gold - Garvey
PA Chaos Gold Spina
PA TNT Gold
PA Team Pennsylvania Gold
PA Pennsbury Gems Gold
PA Razorbacks
PA Pittsburgh Power Gold
PA Central PA Outlaws - Bowen
RI Thunder Gold Lotti
RI Thunder Gold Laliberte
SC Carolina Elite Genovese
VA Shamrocks Gold - Cleary
VA Glory Gold
VA Legends Gold - Paul
VA Ashburn Shooting Stars
VA Vienna Stars Gold - Ford
VA Bay River Rumble Gold
WV Tri-State Thunder Gold                                        
WA Washington Acers  

16U
CA The Next Level - Mena
CT Charmers Elite
MD Wagner’s - Allender                                                                                 
MN Midwest Speed Miken
NC Lady Lightning Elite
NC Challengers Elite
NY Team Long Island Angel
NJ Pride - Griffin
NJ SJ Mystics Gold - Dorman
NJ Central Jersey Lightning
NJ Cheetahs Futures
NJ Gators Platinum
NJ Venom Coladonato
PA Strikers
PA Newtown Rock Futures
PA Outlaws Premier - Wolf
TX Houston Power Korioth
VA Legends - Paul
VA Vienna Stars Premier
VA Elite Black Inman  
VA Orion Hunter Murphy
PA Chaos Oltman
CA Firecrackers Brashear    
NJ Intensity Mizuno National

14U
CA The Next Level                                            
CT Eliminators Card
MD Vienna Stars Futures
NJ Pride Futures                                              
NJ Jersey Outlaws Berg
NJ Akadema Elite
NJ Venom Futures
NJ SJ Mystics Silipino
NJ Nightmare Futures
NY Team Long Island
PA Chaos Lindsay
PA Strikers
NJ Intensity National