Chico Escuela posted:If your son plays summer and fall travel ball (like my kid), then I assume that there are only a couple of open weekends. This fall was pretty typical: two weekends with no tournament scheduled in September and October (reduced to one weekend after a rainout and a make-up event). It turned out there were no camps of interest on that one weekend.
I don't think son's coach would get bent out of shape if he skipped a typical weekend tournament to go to a camp at a school that was actively recruiting him, but I don't think son would want to do that more than once in a season. (I'm not aware of other players on the team doing it. Could be I just didn't know why they were gone on a particular weekend.) My son has gotten some notice from college coaches who saw him at tournaments. Otherwise his in-person contacts were at Headfirst--after the summer season had ended--and he may do a similar multi-school showcase after the fall season ends.
I've been involved in a few threads here on camps... but I still feel like I'm missing something, because I don't really get how camps could be a major element of recruiting.
Timing, targeting and cost all seem to weigh against them. If XYZ University is recruiting your kid, is nearby and their camp happens to be on a weekend when your son hasn't already committed to play with his travel team--then sure, why not? But mostly the camp invites don't seem like useful recruiting tools to me.
Meant to add (before I posted what admittedly was off-topic from the OP): I think a Twitter DM indicates some level of interest greater than an email. Email addresses get bought and sold in bulk, and camp invites get blast mailed to those lists. I haven't heard of someone doing anything similar with lists of Twitter handles. So yes, I think a DM suggests someone is actually aware of your son. But IMO, it's not enough to go to a camp without some other indications of interest. I'd at least have your son email and maybe send a return DM to try to learn more. You also could ask his coach to contact the school. (But if it's a school your son is interested in, travel and cost aren't an issue, and your son goes into it with the expectation that it's mainly about getting some experience rather than cementing an offer, then if the kid wants to, he should go.)