College Prospect Camp Timing

I've never been an advocate of attending a camp or showcase when its timing is at odds with the player's development schedule. If he attends, he runs the risk of under performing because he's not in "game shape" and throwing off his off season development schedule.

Given the number of camps, tournaments, and showcases available to a high school junior from roughly February through August of his junior year, I'd politely decline the Oct/Nov/Dec invitations, explaining the reason why, and make certain that the interested coaching staffs have an opportunity to see your son when he's in his best form later in his junior year.

Best of luck to him!

Thanks, I really appreciate the feedback.

We have a very full schedule of showcases and tournaments in the spring/summer so I'm sure he'll be OK. I am second guessing myself because we passed on the PG/Evoshield event in late September during his "shut down" period but it turns out that many of the coaches/scouts have this period free in their schedules so we got the "where were you?" questions. Whoops.

It's tough to sit by when there is an opportunity to interact with coaches in your target programs while they are not distracted with other things, but I completely agree with your advice.

You're very welcome.

I understand and recall very well the temptation to go against what I considered my better judgment in the face of the off season opportunities. In fact, I vividly recall a phone conversation with Jerry Ford on this very topic; one in which it pained me to decline an invitation to his organization's best winter showcase during my son's junior year.

However, your son shouldn't lose track of the fact that, even though he may be turning down chances to be seen for a few months, he still is being given the opportunity to communicate with the coaches who are of significance to him. By letting them know why he's not showcasing his talents during the months you mentioned, he's given a chance to explain his absence and renew his message that he's particularly interested in them. These guys attend so many games, tournaments, and showcases that the vast majority aren't going to be the least bit fazed by his absence over a several month period; particularly for the reason he's given. All he needs to do is let them know when and where he'll be when he's ready to do his best, and they'll find a way to see him.

IMO,,I wouldnt show up to these camps this year BUT I would hit them hard next summer.Don't show up to these camps a year early and THEN show up rusty.Try to get him in a few good showcases in the spring of 2012..

We have several PG showcases lined up in the spring/summer and then WWBA (maybe both 17U and 18U) and some other national tournaments playing on a very strong travel team. These are fine, however, they are more of the "cattle call" variety and do not really put him in front of the top 5 programs that he is targeting. I am trying to figure out how to address that gap by maybe getting him to the Stanford camp or a few of the school specific ones in the summer. Does that sound like a plan?

Also, can anyone educate me on "scout ball"? We passed this year since it was very late in the season, but how important overall is it to get on a scout team as a rising senior?

Thanks!

Plank, I would say that being on a good team is important, and as far as the cattle call aspect your son should be sending a note to the schools he is interested in with his profile, his team and when you get his game schedules the specific fields and times he will be playing. This will minimize the cattle call nature of the event.

If he is high academic kid then the Arizona Fall Sr Classic Academic game is this is the single best event you can go to. Too late for this year, but a must for next. Seriously my son got 5-7 calls after this single game. (it helped he did well of course )

I would consider Stanford or Headfirst next year. Stanford is much bigger and spread out than Headfirst. (we did not do HF) I was a bit disapointed with the size and number of kids at Stanford, however I did not know this until later, but my son was inially identified at the Stanford camp by his current school, so you never know at a large event who will see your son.

Scoutball in SoCal is also a must IMO for a Sr. The two scout ball tournaments are the most attended by out of state schools.

BTW you have to adjust your shut down because the fall events are all where it is at. Give him a smaller break late summer, get him in shape for the PG National, scout and Arizona Fall Clasic, then shut down after these.

Just read your original post. DO NOT GO unless your son can perform, he is waisting your $$, his and the coaches time and may leave a negative impression that will be difficult to change.

quote:

Originally posted by BOF:
BTW you have to adjust your shut down because the fall events are all where it is at. Give him a smaller break late summer, get him in shape for the PG National, scout and Arizona Fall Clasic, then shut down after these.

Yeah, and that's our problem right there: if he keeps playing through PG/Evoshield and AZ Fall Classic, it's already October and the HS team starts workouts in November. That equates to zero off-season. Baseball is very important to us but raising a well rounded kid and maintaining some hunger to play the game is more important. Unfortunately, this seems to be at odds with the recruiting process...

I know we went through the same thing, but you can still limit his throwing in Nov, even and in the grander scheme of things one year with a limited shut down is not going to hurt him.

quote:

Originally posted by PlankSpanker:
We have a pile of invites to college prospect camps in Oct/Nov/Dec. Kid is a junior and this is happening during the part of the season where he is "shut down" and not really playing ball except some long toss and conditioning.

Is is a bigger mistake to show up and not be in top form or to miss a camp at a program you are genuinely interested in?

If it's a program that your son is genuinely interested in, and he has the ability to play there, then I would do my best to get him to that particular camp. However, I definitely would not risk a poor performance, or even worse, an arm injury, by having him attend while he's not in top form. Taking a couple months off to rest after the long spring and summer season is important, I understand that completely. But as BOF stated earlier, the college decision makers (Head Coach's & Recruiting Coordinators) on the west coast are out recruiting heavily during the Fall months.

Your boy is fortunate that he's healthy and has options available to him. My son sprained his UCL (ironically at a PG event) during his sophomore year and didn't see anytime on the bump for HS or travelball that year. We had him playing OF only, keeping him off the mound until November of his junior year. His first time on the mound was at a college camp at the end of November. He threw strikes, but it was evident that his velocity wasn't there. It goes without saying, it's important to be prepared if your going to showcase your abilities in front of coaches that can determine your future.

We are fortunate that our kids can play during the winter here in So Cal. Many of the HS programs (apparently, including yours) play a 15-20 game winter schedule to prepare for the spring. That's great for the program, but the drawback is the players don't get the rest that's needed during the off season. So the question is, do you skip the all-important Fall camps and scoutball to rest and prepare for HS winterball? OR...do you give him a short rest (4-6 weeks) and get him in front of the schools that will help determine his future? It's a double edged sword...there isn't a right or wrong answer. My son was forced to play numerous tournaments, showcases, and camps from June as a rising senior until October of his senior year of HS before he finally committed in October, and signed in November. It was a stressful process. I'm telling you this, because if your son has the current tools needed to play at the next level, then get him seen as much as possible now...don't wait until his senior year and stress out waiting for an offer. In fact, if he's hoping to play D1 here in Southern California, many of the schools will have already used up the majority of their scholarship money by the Fall of your son's senior year.

BTW, I see that you live in San Diego. Obviously there are a few pretty good programs in SD, including two teams that faced eachother in the PG Championship a couple weeks ago in Arizona. Is your son playing for one of those programs? Best of luck to him, please keep us updated on his progress.

target your 5 schools you mentioned..chances are they have a "camp" for incomming recruits..attend those.dont get caught up in the rigamoroll about playing on elite teams..if your kid is good they will come to see HIM,they dont care who hes playing for OR against..they want to see how well he handles himself and any adversuty that comes his way..GET a recruiting sight set up..like be recruited or whatever you pick..run a blog from there and INVITE coaches to come and see his games..put his shedule up and UPDATE his videos and pics..YOU have to be PRO active too...and like another poster says...you only have one chance to make a first impression.

quote:

Originally posted by bsbl247:
So the question is, do you skip the all-important Fall camps and scoutball to rest and prepare for HS winterball? OR...do you give him a short rest (4-6 weeks) and get him in front of the schools that will help determine his future? It's a double edged sword...there isn't a right or wrong answer. My son was forced to play numerous tournaments, showcases, and camps from June as a rising senior until October of his senior year of HS before he finally committed in October, and signed in November. It was a stressful process. I'm telling you this, because if your son has the current tools needed to play at the next level, then get him seen as much as possible now...don't wait until his senior year and stress out waiting for an offer. In fact, if he's hoping to play D1 here in Southern California, many of the schools will have already used up the majority of their scholarship money by the Fall of your son's senior year.

BTW, I see that you live in San Diego. Obviously there are a few pretty good programs in SD, including two teams that faced eachother in the PG Championship a couple weeks ago in Arizona. Is your son playing for one of those programs? Best of luck to him, please keep us updated on his progress.

So I think what you are telling me is that we should NOT miss the opportunity to do a few of the camps this fall (?). He is not really out of shape, per se, but clearly having to ramp back up and getting arm and hitting in top shape will kill our "shut down" plans.

BTW, bsbl247; I think our kids may even be on the same travel team ;P I will PM you.

Plank,

I just answered your PM prior to seeing your above post. I don't know your son's goals, so I can't tell you what I'd suggest for him. I was basically saying that I would have had "my" son showcase more (if healthy) in his junior year to offset some of the stress of having to fit everything in for showcases, tournaments, Fall/Winter Ball games, etc...during his senior year.

Some kids need the mental break to go along with the physical rest, and maybe the best thing for your son is to keep it shut down? That's up to you and him, you know best. Again, good luck to him.