The big problem with camps is the disparity between what the camps actually offer and parents really hope to get out of them.
What camps actually offer is high priced, large group instruction and practice.
What parents want from camps is visibility and recruiting momentum.
Camp solicitations feed this disparity by announcing how many players on their roster attended one of their camps.
However, if you do the math and compare the number of rostered players who attended camps (usually single digits) to the number of campers who attended the previous four years (usually around a thousand or more, depending on how many sessions they run), it's pretty obvious that a camp registration isn't a foot in the door.
But you also have to consider that the majority of campers who do end up on the roster didn't get discovered at the camps. The coaches were already interested in them, so they invited them to pay a pro-rated registration fee, come in for what amounts to a quick tryout, and skip 90% of the camp. It's a legal way for them to get a prospect to work out for them on campus. The only camp my son attended was on this basis. Instead of paying several hundred dollars for a multi-day camp, he paid 20 bucks, threw a bullpen, chatted with the coach for a few minutes, and left. Counting that sort of player as a camper who made good feeds the illusion that camps can get your kid on a D-I roster.
In reality, the likelihood of a full-fee not-previously-recruited camper creating a D-I opportunity at a camp is so miniscule that it makes lottery tickets look like a sound investment. They have about the same chance of paying off, but the lottery tickets are cheaper, so you lose less money with them.
If you don't believe me, try looking at it from the coaches' perspective. College coaches are generally very smart guys, but only an absolute moron would concoct a recruiting plan that relied on finding talent by hosting open registration camps and hoping competitive talent will simply show up. You couldn't recruit that way, and coaches don't recruit that way.
I'm not saying not to go to camp. I'm saying that if you do attend a camp, do so with a realistic purpose in mind, such as:
--You actually want the instructional program offered. Funny thing, though, is that I have never in my life heard anyone say he was going to a camp with the purpose of becoming a better ball player or learning drills that might help him improve his practice.
--You want to see the facilities at the school. There are cheaper ways to do this, but okay.
--You want to get a peek at some of your competition. You'll get a better look at them at East Cobb, but okay.
--You want to see how effectively the coaches at the school communicate instruction. In very controlled circumstances, but okay.
--You're a fine humanitarian whose heart bleeds for underpaid and unpaid assistant baseball coaches. This is the one goal you're most likely to accomplish.