College Team Prospect Camp

Never heard of it advertised that way. It sounds like a traditional showcase run by a school to make some cash for their program. It also brings more kids to their campus to sell the school. Remember part of what we do as coaches is promote the school to the general student /parent population. If a kid comes to the school because of exposure efforts and he doesn't play baseball it is still a plus for the school and the coach.

My son plays for a travel team that attends a couple of team showcase tournaments on D1 college campuses. They are usually referred to as "team camps". My understanding, though, is that the specific teams are invited and they are not open to just any team that wants to sign up. One of the two camps held on-field batting practice led by the college coaching staff, but there wasn't really any other showcase like "testing". They were really treated like tournaments with a lot of college scouts in attendance. It's a pretty convenient format to accommodate scouts. Some kids were obviously being scouted pretty heavily.

It was a pretty great experience for my 16 year old. Just being able to play on some of these college fields makes for fun baseball, but you would have to be pretty special to get noticed in this format (just like any big college camp) unless you are already on someone's radar. For us, the cost was very reasonable and much cheaper than paying for individual camps at each of these schools because of how his particular travel team is structured. 

kandkfunk posted:

My son plays for a travel team that attends a couple of team showcase tournaments on D1 college campuses. They are usually referred to as "team camps". My understanding, though, is that the specific teams are invited and they are not open to just any team that wants to sign up. One of the two camps held on-field batting practice led by the college coaching staff, but there wasn't really any other showcase like "testing". They were really treated like tournaments with a lot of college scouts in attendance. It's a pretty convenient format to accommodate scouts. Some kids were obviously being scouted pretty heavily.

It was a pretty great experience for my 16 year old. Just being able to play on some of these college fields makes for fun baseball, but you would have to be pretty special to get noticed in this format (just like any big college camp) unless you are already on someone's radar. For us, the cost was very reasonable and much cheaper than paying for individual camps at each of these schools because of how his particular travel team is structured. 

This is my experience as well.  Usually not an advertised event.  College coaches/RC's invite a few select travel programs to play a round robin tournament at the college site.  

Ozone: That makes sense and I'm sure the program benefits from putting on the event. 

KandKFunk and CabbageDad: Both of your experiences are what I've heard about as well. I have no first hand experience yet but my son might get the opportunity over the next couple of years. 

I agree that is a cost effective approach and it seems like a good way to get on campus in front of the school's coaches but isn't that also what the School's Prospect Camp is for? 

Regarding the comment about needing to be something special to get noticed in this format....I don't disagree. It seems like you need to be pretty special regardless of format . If you are interested in the school, however, doesn't it make sense to try to showcase or camp there and see if they are interested? 

PlayWithEffort posted:

Ozone: That makes sense and I'm sure the program benefits from putting on the event. 

KandKFunk and CabbageDad: Both of your experiences are what I've heard about as well. I have no first hand experience yet but my son might get the opportunity over the next couple of years. 

I agree that is a cost effective approach and it seems like a good way to get on campus in front of the school's coaches but isn't that also what the School's Prospect Camp is for? 

Regarding the comment about needing to be something special to get noticed in this format....I don't disagree. It seems like you need to be pretty special regardless of format . If you are interested in the school, however, doesn't it make sense to try to showcase or camp there and see if they are interested? 

Actually, I think this is a much better opportunity.  Some prospect camps include individuals who are invited personally by coach or RC, which is great.  But they are also advertised events that are used as a money maker for assistants and the school and can have a large number of kids who sign up and show up uninvited.  With that scenario, you better really stand out.  With my limited exposure to the team format, it appears that the school RC or HC invites the team, knowing they are a strong program and knowing they have a kid or three they have particular interest in.  There are not a lot of teams, so when the games are played, the coaches are paying attention.  I suspect it can be more likely you get seen as part of one of these teams at this event than as an uninvited signee to the prospect camp.

I ran across this somewhat by accident... Another coach and I were asked to fill in for a staff of one of these teams one weekend.  We were given the nod to bring along a couple of players from our immediate area.  One was given his first look at this strong D1 school and eventually signed with them and is now a weekend rotation guy as a redshirt soph.  There is more to the story but it's pretty cool and this was definitely the event that put him on their radar. 

PlayWithEffort posted:

I have seen many college prospect camps advertised on various schools' web sites that are intended for a player who is interested in playing for that school getting evaluated by the school's coaching staff.

I recently came across a Team Prospect Camp at a power 5 program where entire teams attend the camp and play a series of games on the campus. Day 1 consists of typical showcase and day 2 and 3 consist of 7 inning games. 

I know it's common to have showcase / travel teams play on college campuses but this is the first team camp I've seen advertised where it looks like it's first come / first serve and anyone that has a team can sign up. 

Is this common?

My son's travel team played in a similar event every year.  It used to be held at Temple, - now at St Joes in Philly.   Really good event -  they did the typical workout on the first morning- then played games.  Coaches from many schools ranging from D1 to DIII attended.  The interesting twist was that the teams coaches backed off and the college coaches each were assigned to coach teams.  It allowed the coaches to get to know the players in the dugout and there was some great interaction.   the coaches also held a Q/A session for the parents on the recruiting process, was very helpful.    I really liked the format, and many kids were recruited and signed based on this event- from DIII to DI.    I thought this was the most useful "showcase" type of event that we ever attended and I hope he keeps going to this for the sake of the younger kids coming up through our program. 

PABaseballDad -- my son will be going to this event (presumably) during the summer. Any further details would be very much appreciated -- feel free to PM me.

PlayWithEffort posted:

Ozone: That makes sense and I'm sure the program benefits from putting on the event. 

KandKFunk and CabbageDad: Both of your experiences are what I've heard about as well. I have no first hand experience yet but my son might get the opportunity over the next couple of years. 

I agree that is a cost effective approach and it seems like a good way to get on campus in front of the school's coaches but isn't that also what the School's Prospect Camp is for? 

Regarding the comment about needing to be something special to get noticed in this format....I don't disagree. It seems like you need to be pretty special regardless of format . If you are interested in the school, however, doesn't it make sense to try to showcase or camp there and see if they are interested? 

I absolutely think it's a great opportunity. I am all for attending camps if you think it will help in any way. There are a lot of reasons to attend a camp, whether it's a team camp or an individual one. My son did one as a freshman to understand what coaches are looking for and to sort of work out the butterflies. It was the first time he had ever thrown a formal bullpen and I came to this board to educate myself and him on what is entailed in actually throwing a bullpen. It was a great learning opportunity.  

I also heard about showcase baseball teams from this board and that's what I would classify his 16U team as. I specifically looked for a team that attends these team camps and offers a program to showcase the talent rather than just trying to win tournaments. It was more cost effective and also allowed him to play concurrently on a good AAA Legion team, so he got a lot of games in over the summer for reps. I never would have known to look for these types of opportunities if it had not been for advice from this board. He is still playing for the same club this summer, but on their 18U/College Prep team. It is, in my estimation, the most competitive 18U team in our area. It is stacked with D1 and high level JUCO commits who have been placed on the team by their coaches for the summer. There are a handful of uncommitted kids and mine is one of them (he is a 2018). There are very few open spots on this team each year and he absolutely would not have this playing opportunity if I had not gotten the advice on this board to pursue the team. Opportunity comes in many different varieties. 

kandkfunk posted:

PlayWithEffort posted:

Ozone: That makes sense and I'm sure the program benefits from putting on the event. 

KandKFunk and CabbageDad: Both of your experiences are what I've heard about as well. I have no first hand experience yet but my son might get the opportunity over the next couple of years. 

I agree that is a cost effective approach and it seems like a good way to get on campus in front of the school's coaches but isn't that also what the School's Prospect Camp is for? 

Regarding the comment about needing to be something special to get noticed in this format....I don't disagree. It seems like you need to be pretty special regardless of format . If you are interested in the school, however, doesn't it make sense to try to showcase or camp there and see if they are interested? 

I absolutely think it's a great opportunity. I am all for attending camps if you think it will help in any way. There are a lot of reasons to attend a camp, whether it's a team camp or an individual one. My son did one as a freshman to understand what coaches are looking for and to sort of work out the butterflies. It was the first time he had ever thrown a formal bullpen and I came to this board to educate myself and him on what is entailed in actually throwing a bullpen. It was a great learning opportunity.  

I also heard about showcase baseball teams from this board and that's what I would classify his 16U team as. I specifically looked for a team that attends these team camps and offers a program to showcase the talent rather than just trying to win tournaments. It was more cost effective and also allowed him to play concurrently on a good AAA Legion team, so he got a lot of games in over the summer for reps. I never would have known to look for these types of opportunities if it had not been for advice from this board. He is still playing for the same club this summer, but on their 18U/College Prep team. It is, in my estimation, the most competitive 18U team in our area. It is stacked with D1 and high level JUCO commits who have been placed on the team by their coaches for the summer. There are a handful of uncommitted kids and mine is one of them (he is a 2018). There are very few open spots on this team each year and he absolutely would not have this playing opportunity if I had not gotten the advice on this board to pursue the team. Opportunity comes in many different varieties. 

Regarding the bolded text, agree with on opportunities.

About the camps, I like the approach you took. I've been researching a few camps just to get educated on what is out there. While it may be a little early to showcase, you have to start somewhere at some point. I also like the fact that attending camps on a campus allows you to see the school. As a rising 9th grader, he may not be too focused on the College of Engineering or Business just yet but it does allow him to get a feel for the environment and culture of the campus. I think the more times he can do that the better it will be down the road. Plus, visiting colleges will be time consuming. I'd like to sprinkle these visits in over the course of high school years if I can.

In your experience, are there any pitfalls to attending a Prospect Camp as a 9th grader? It seems like it was a good experience for you.