College camp invite

Why would you email the coach? Were you invited to the camp or your son?
Yeah, yeah, I know that you would be paying for it, but why don't you sit down with your son and discuss the situation, write out a list of questions that HE can ask the coach. Make sure that he is D1 eligible, see if he understands the odds and then discuss your financial situation if you cannot afford to send him.

TPM, he saw the invite, it was sent to him, he did not take it seriously and neither did I. My question is how can this big school in SoCal possibly be looking for anymore 2009 kids. From what I've heard they are all done recruiting this class. There are a ton of California kids locally, I can only assume its for the $$$. Son isn't eligible for D1. Bet if you look at their roster, guess what, 90% Cal kids.

quote:

Originally posted by Pop Up Hitter dad:
TPM, he saw the invite, it was sent to him, he did not take it seriously and neither did I. My question is how can this big school in SoCal possibly be looking for anymore 2009 kids. From what I've heard they are all done recruiting this class. There are a ton of California kids locally, I can only assume its for the $$$. Son isn't eligible for D1. Bet if you look at their roster, guess what, 90% Cal kids.

I guess that you answered your own question. College camps are predominately for raising money, possibly looking to pick up another player if some don't show up.
If your son is not eligible, why would you write back to let them know you couldn't afford it?

The best way to know, is to look at their roster, if your son doesn't match up, toss it in the junk mail pile. No way would he match up down there, hes a good player but not 5 star like they have up and down line up.

My son got the same letter... But their recruiting coordinator has seen my son at least a dozen times... if they wanted him they would have made offer already....

I know of at least 5 kids that are claiming very high scholarship awards at the school... they can't possibly afford all, but at least 3 of the 5 are top round prospects for the MLB Draft... so come 2nd week of June there may be money.... if you are willing to wait that long.. and again it may take to Aug 16th..

Right now.... other than a P... I don't see it as worth while for a 2009... So just leave it as an advertisement.... why even bother a reply....

SDBB, I agree, we are going to toss it and leave it at that.

Along these lines, but not baseball. My oldest son is a golfer, pretty good, but he would need to improve significantly to be interesting to UCLA. But they sent him an invitation to a $275 one-day camp with the following schedule:

10:00-11:00 a.m. College Golf Talk
11:00-12:00 p.m. Golf Instruction with players
12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00-2:00 p.m. Course Management Talk
2:00-3:00 p.m. Golf Instruction

3:15-4:00 p.m. Optional Campus Tour

The golf instruction will be given by current UCLA golf team members. There will be 15 campers per session.

Golf is different than baseball. Evaluating and screening players is relatively easy, because a golfer is mostly defined by the scores he shoots in known tournaments. It is hard to see this camp as anything but a moneymaker.

I would have to agree with upper statements, in most cases, colleges are recruiting campers, as my good friend Bobby Mckinney always says. Many schools have showcases and mass email invites to many players, I remember going to BIV in august, and about 4 Days later I got an email from 3 or 4 coaches, 2 DIII's, a DII, and a DI. All the other schools seemed more interested, while the DI coach wrote a little something like this

William,
We enjoyed watching you at the camp blah blah blah
We would like to have you at our Summer camp in beautiful Asheville,NC blah blah, give my whole coaching staff time to evaluate you.

The coach that saw me that sent me this email was a head coach, if he was truly interested, would he have not sent something solid, not that ****.

Like is said earlier, recruiting is a business, and you'd be suprised to know how much many of these assistant coaches get paid. These camps fund their bank accounts.

You never know. My son, a JC player at the time, went to a winter camp at a well known so cal d1 that eventually resulted in an offer. A scout had seen him play and recomended him to the HC who asked him to attend (pay) for a look see.

If you have no reason to believe your son was recomended to the coach by someone, the coaches are probebely looking for your money, especially if they didn't call your son personally about the camp.

Having said that, my son as a HS player, attended a camp at a Nor Cal D1 where the HC spent most of his time trying to sell gloves to the attendees....

I think scouts recommending players to HC happens a lot more than people think it does.

quote:

Originally posted by CollegeParent:
... HC who asked him to attend (pay) for a look see.

Just as an FYI, at a college camp that requires any person to pay for entry, all campers must pay according to NCAA.

CPLZ is correct, no freebies at college camps.

IMO, if a coach is REALLY in need of seeing the player, he would send a personal note by way of email or snail mail.

Typed form letters don't count.

Pop Up Hitter dad,

If this invite was from USC, son got the same invite. In son's case I know he likes to e-mail coach if the letter is formal (letter is addressed to him by name and is on school letter head) as compared to a dear prospect letter. He thanks the coach for the invite and explains why he won't be attending. Never hurts to be polite and you never know who has your name on a follow list. In the end I think you need to decide if you have the talent to play at that level, and the desire to play at a school in that area. The thing we thought was funny was that we live in Maryland and don't get many letters from the West Coast.

Again it never hurts to be polite!



Banditsbb

Bandit, I agree.

Like CollegeParent says, you never know.

Bum, Jr. attended the WSU college camp at age 15, between his freshman and sophomore years. He was probably the smallest kid in the camp, and it wasn't until day three that the coach really noticed him. Coach happened to walk behind Bum, Jr. when he was throwing off a mound into a bucket with a small hole in it. Six in a row. Coach paid attention after that.

Yes, a lot of stuff happened after that to pique their interest, but in fact it was that college camp that got him on their radar and culminated in his eventually receiving a scholarship.

You never know.

There are always reasons to go, or not. There is always "you never know," and of course, it's not unlike trying to sell a script or looking for a job. You go because you believe in yourself and this is something you really want. Having said that, if an invite comes out of the blue, and you have to pay hard-earned money, and expend significant time, those are legitimate reasons not to go. At some point, however, if you are not on a travel team. it's good to compare yourself to the competition, or see what is beyond your league or your region.

One other thing to remember is most if not all of these camps they invite other college coaches to tag along. An offer could come from one of these. It would be good to do some homework and pick the right one. Pop Up Hitter Dad, since your kid is in the Northwest, consider getting him to the Albertson's College Winter Camp (Twin Falls, Idaho). I have heard there are a LOT of local colleges in attendance. Have heard nothing but good things about that camp, although we never attended personally.

The College of Southern Idaho is from Twin Falls.. a good team.. they play in the Scenic West Conference with the likes of Juco powerhouse CSN out of Las Vegas.

Twin Falls is a great town.. and is only 42 miles from Jackpot, Nevada.. so you could have a little fun yourself!