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18 replies

College Camps a waste of time?

texdad10texdad1010+ posts
Two "top prospect" camps so far this summer. At both camps, neither the head coach or the recruiting coordinator were anywhere in sight. At the last one, the only staff present were the baseball ops guy, a volunteer asst, and the video coordinator. The top three paid coaches were conspicuously absent. And this was at a so-called "prospect camp" at schools that claim to recruit heavily out of their camps. One even wrote a letter claiming they don't attend showcases, contending that the only way to show interest in the school is to COME TO OUR CAMP. Well, just make sure that the guys who mattter will be there and not off watching the "real" prospects.

I don't want to get off on a rant here, but . . . I just have the feeling we [actually my 17 year old son] have been taken.

Why do they tell these kids these things then not back them up, even in such an obvious way??? Would it kill the head coach, or failing that, the recruiting coordinator, to at least show his face and act interested one time over the course of a two or three day camp????

I'm no NCAA fan, but seems to me it's time for some mandatory disclosures here. Kinda like "smoking is hazardous to your health" we need something like "your chances of being recuited to this school are not enhanced, and may in fact be diminished by attending this camp" or "our paid staff will be off watching other kids play while you are at our camp passing time with the GAs."

I know not all schools do this - TCU comes to mind where all coaches are present and actively involved - but too many do, to the exent that it is injurious to the integrity of the whole system.
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texdad10texdad1010+ posts
No, no, these were actual college camps sent out with personal letters and/or brochures and/or "personal" emails from the colleges, with the coaching staff bios shown on the brochure, etc. These were not third party showcases, but college camps! And the camps advertised as the showcase or prospect camp as opposed to the ones for the little kids. Just no head coach and no recruiting coordinator, and in one case, not a single paid coach other than the baseball ops guy. Just a baseball ops guy and a couple of graduate assistants. At the end of the camp, one of the GAs asked my son for the rest of his summer scedule so the recruiting guys could come watch him play. Question - if this was the school's "prospect camp" to which my son was implored to attend in the first place [a letter and at least 6 brochures], where in the world were the paid coaches????
Last edited by texdad10
R Rsctt8310+ posts
I think you should voice your feelings to the head coach or athletic director. I know that camps generate revenue for program and that in football a lot of the money goes to assistant coaches. Hence you would expect to see the assistants at the camp.

It is unbelievable that school would bring kids in and not be in attendence. I can tell you Pete Carroll spent the entire day at USC football camp working with kids and being an ambassador to the SC program.

I would be angry if I was you and ask for my money back. Not all camps are like this in fact I would have said {before your message} that none were like this.
Infield08Infield081,000+ posts
justbaseball advises to ask about particular camps, so here goes....what about Texas A&M's camps? Is the recruiting coordinator in attendance? I know TCU's camps were mentioned in a positive light earlier in the thread and I second that. My son had an excellent experience there in November and Coach Schlossnagle was right in the mix, as were other TCU coaches and coaches from other schools.
Midlo DadMidlo Dad10,000+ posts
texdad10, can you name the colleges? We're looking at visiting a few this fall and if any of the ones we're looking at are as you say, we would prefer to go somewhere else.

So far the only ones of these that we've been to were at UVA and Wm. & Mary. UVA had strong presence from Coach O'Connor and all assistants, and that was with a boatload of kids there. W&M was under former Coach Farr who had fewer in attendance but he was there the whole time and gave players lots of 1-on-1 attention. Not sure how that carries forward under the new W&M regime, but Coach Farr is now on staff at Maryland.
R Rsctt8310+ posts
My son attended the Long Beach State camp last winter and it was first class all the way. All of the coaches were working with the kids both days. In addition they had six MLB players that were alumni of CSULB. My son is MIF and was taking groundballs with Bobby Crosby that were hit by Tuitolowski {spelled wrong} during BP.

I had friends whose son attended UCLA camp and it was run the same way and they loved it, Stanford is the most popular camp for good reasons. Those are the only three I know about.
NewcomerNewcomer100+ posts
I'd be really angry, too. These camps aren't cheap and to have a less than satisfactory outcome would just tick me off. I think we got really lucky in picking the few that my son's attended: Long Beach, USC, Stanford (still there and LOVING it, by the way), University of San Francisco and (next week) St. Mary's. Will let you know about St. Mary's, but all the other camps had the coaching staff very, very visible and involved. Couldn't have been more happy. So I think we've been lulled into complascency as I would expect all these camps to live up to their reputations. I'm really sorry your son had a poor experience.
RedheadRedhead100+ posts
We were at the Texas A&M camp on June 28. I saw several coaches but never spotted Childress. I commented to my son that I had not seen him. Son informed me that he was there and he had a conversation with him. He was highly visible at a pitching camp my son attended in December. Attending a Prospect camp there 7/10-12. I will have my son report on on the coaching.
LD Line Drive100+ posts
My ’08 son just attended the TCU hitting camp at the end of June. He got bumped up into a group of ’07 and ’06 kids and spent the whole camp working directly with the TCU hitting coach including video review of his swing. Some local high school coaches also helped run the camp but the camp info let you know in advance that kids would be divided into groups based on age and ability. This also seemed to determine who worked with your group.
S Sue54100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by mm77:
What about camps in NC? In particular,ECU,UNC, and NC State?


Our Son's did the Elon All skills Camp last Thanksgiving weekend. It was great from what they said. The Coaches from Elon were all there. Plus they had other Coaches from other schools either Coaching or scouting. Our Son's really got to interact with the ones Coaching. They came back feeling real good about the camp. Also they contacted Coaches after the camp and got responses on their individual performances and some they are still in contact with now about 9months later. Highly recommend their camp and would do again.

Here is the link to the one last year.
http://www.elon.edu/athletics/docs/AllSkillsCampBrochure.pdf
Last edited by Sue54
H Homerun041,000+ posts
There was a college prospect camp and they sent letters to many of the high profile players in the area and the coaching staff when talking to the players indicated that they were only looking for one outfielder for their recruiting class, yet they keep on marketing to all the top prospects to come out to their camp. Many of the families were very upset and when we talk to some of the top ranked players in the state, we let them know what happened.

When signing up for their camp and you are going only to be seen by the coaches, talk to the coaches before signing up and make it known that the only reason you are coming is because you are looking to play for them and are coming as a prospect and ask which coaches will be in attendance and is it the correct camp to attend.

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