I can speak from some level of experience here in that my son did quite a few college camps. The important point I'd make is that you have to be very certain what your objectives are in attending these beyond simply getting on a school's radar or getting an offer. There are potentially many reasons but some of my son's were as follows:
- Exposure to college coaches and players from various levels
- Skills evaluation and improvement
- Feel for level of play
- Feel for coaching methodology and preferences
- Feel for campus location & vibe
In total, my son attended three top 20 P5 D1 camps, two non-P5 top 25 D1, two mid-major D1, two top D2, one mid-level D2, and one NAIA. Only two of these required travel that was not already planned and those were multi-day overnight stay events. They spanned his first three years of HS and provided invaluable feedback which helped shape his opinions of where he could see himself attending and playing. I've read many of the horror stories but I really don't have any complaints about how the camps he attended were run or what they resulted in as far as feedback goes. One thing became obvious pretty quickly; if a school wants the kid to play for them, they will likely express it clearly unless it's one of those that are too early in the process for that particular level, which leads me to an additional piece of knowledge gained. We found that these camps differ by level. In hindsight, if the P5 D1s we visited had been interested in my son, we probably would have known about it by then, even being located in a relatively small area remote from them. Echoing from above, don't show up expecting to be discovered at that level. I think at some of the other levels, D3 for example, there are quite a few of the kids who end up on the team that have attended a camp, potentially sight-unseen.
These are just a couple of anecdotes where we saw benefit but could we have learned in other ways that did not require the dollar amounts? Of course. Hindsight is 20/20 but I truly don't regret a single dollar spent on the camps my son attended. We/he had some great times and it was a way to augment the fact that he was not part of a travel organization that provided the exposure at events that many folks' kids out here have been privy to i.e. WWBA, BCS, Music City, USA National, etc.
My bottom line is to know why you're going and what your expectations are. Then ask around and do some research on the interwebs to see if you can find more information on past events. Once your decisions have been made, have your son communicate with the coaches so that they can know to expect him there. Once there, be interactive with the coaches and players. Some of the nuggets he'll glean from those conversations might stay with him for life. Best of luck!
