Follow-Up to Camp Invite....

The recruiter is probably the person primarily responsible for marketing the camp and running the logistics of it.

I would call/email the recruiter and ask him how many campers he maxes out at, that should give you a pretty good answer.

I am a natural pessimist when it comes to camps, but I believe they exist primarily as a money maker for coaches and secondarily as a chance for a prospect to be seen. That being said, a good number of people here will tell you that going to a specific camp helped their son get recruited there.

You should have your son making the calls. It's time to let him step up and let go a little. My experience is that you will hurt your son very quickly by taking over this process. The invitation was to him, he should respond and have all the contact with the colleges himself. The skill he gets now from making these calls with help him when he is no longer uncomfortable in 2 or 3 years when it really matters.

Cali I see you are responding to my post again. I asked specific questions. I did not ask for advice and backhanded criticism. If you would like to respond to the question posed, such a response is welcomed. However, I am not asking for parenting advice (for the second time).

CPLZ..Thank you!

It's not easy to decide the value of camps since the format varies, but here are two considerations.
1) If the soliciting school is one of the top 2 or 3 schools that your son would like to play at and his talent matches well to that level of baseball, then go. His chances of being recruited are improved by the exposure and demonstration of interest in the school.

2) Roughly speaking, if a one day camp costs $65, or a 3 day camp costs $150, and the number of attendees is 30 to 60, then there is a high likelihood that the camp is aimed at players they are already interested in. Such a camp is typically not well publicized. If the costs are 3 times higher or 150 players will attend, then probably the primary purpose of the camp is to make money.

Thanks 3FG. That's what we figured. While it is a school he would consider, it's not top 5, so we will stick to the tournament and perhaps attend their camp next summer/fall.

quote:

Originally posted by 2013 Dad:
My son (2013) attended a tryout for a fall team in August. He received a camp invite to a mid D-1. I asked the program director of the team he tried out for and he stated that the camp invite was sent only to selected individuals in the underclass group. Nonetheless, I took this as a general form invite. However, the recruiter since has sent two follow-up emails stating that he noticed we haven't signed up and asking my son to attend. Is this type of follow-up normal procedure? I emailed the coach back telling him my son had a tournament and could not go? Was this a mistake? Thanks.

First and foremost this is not your average run of the mill for profit camp based on your description... do not treat it that way.

This happened with my daughter... exactly the same thing. She was sent this elite camp invite only e mail... we didnt know what to think about it. Two weeks later when we didnt sign up we received another e mail saying precisely what yours said we see you have yet to sign up. This was a winter camp. We got another one for early summer which we also attended

What this means: if you get an invite like this with a follow up inquiry it means, based on my experience, that you are on the top 25 +/- list. This may be a larger number on the baseball side. The coach will clearly demonstrate interest in your player based on how they perform at the camp. Use your common sense to judge the level of interest. It was obvious who the coach was interested in when we attended.

If you are interested in the camp but cannot attend have your player send an e mail thanking them but explaining finances or scheduling issues. Unless your player is a total stud failing to attend will probably push you off their list.. again JMO based on experience.

bothsports,

Interesting. Now I am a bit worried. Was your daughter's camp open to anybody that registered?

quote:

Originally posted by 2013 Dad:
bothsports,

Interesting. Now I am a bit worried. Was your daughter's camp open to anybody that registered?

2013.... I think for public consumption purposes it was... this may be an NCAA thing. But shortly after it was posted it was "sold out". This was on the university web site... we found out about it via e mail however.

I dont think legit scheduling issues will cause your player to fall totally off the radar... just dont brush it off. But I would make sure an e mail is sent expressing extreme sorrow at not being able to attend and stating continued high interest in the program with perhaps your players schedule attached asking the program to come out to a tourney.

Speaking of schedule... if this is just another run of the mill showcase weekend I would go to the camp. Your coach should understand. Take into account how big the tourney is if perhaps there are other coaches coming to watch your son etc.

Good luck... PM me if you wish.... my son is a 2013 as well.

2013 Dad:

I don't know your history with the other member is, but don't just brush off his advise. Having you son handle the communication with the coach is best. Of coarse you can help him along .

I agree with you. It was the manner he gave the unsolicited advice. His advice did not relate specifically to the question. If he had provided an answer like "it's probably a form invite, but perhaps your son should respond and not you". That would have been fine.

Don't know if this is helpful, but I will share a recent experience.

My son received an invite to a fall camp from the recruiting coach of a D1 school. Following advice from this forum, I had him write the coach back and tell him he was trying to clear his schedule to attend. I noticed that at the time my son received the email invitation, the camp was not posted on the college's website (it was later).

He received a nice email back from the coach saying thank you, hope to see you there. As I understand it, camp communication is one of the view instances where coaches can initiate contact with sophomores.

My son attended, and by the looks of the kids who participated, it was populated by legit prospects. My best guess at attendance was around 60. The head coach got there about an hour after it started, and stayed until the end of the day. My son (and many, but not most, of the others) shook his hand at the end of the day and thanked him for the opportunity.

It was a DI camp, but they had some local DIIIs there as well.

My take is that it was a good experience but only worth the time if the player is interested in the college. It wasn't very expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by birdman14:
2013 Dad:

I don't know your history with the other member is, but don't just brush off his advise. Having you son handle the communication with the coach is best. Of coarse you can help him along .

I would disagree here. We aren't talking about recruiting, we're talking about a camp invite, doing a bit of research into it, and talking with the party primarily responsible for paying for it and assuring attendance...Dad or Mom.

I handled all that ancillary stuff for Junior, because that's what it really is, prelim and ancillary, and he seems to evolved far enough now to be able to do things interdependently, in spite of his parents interventions into the mundane.

Having Junior handle true recruiting correspondence and talks with coaches, that's a totally different animal. Having Junior talk about camps...probably means zippo to anyone. He'll get plenty of opportunities to work on his, "becoming an adult" issues without over emphasizing minute details or glorifying and contriving the mostly clerical.

I mean, seriously, my kid is 16 years old. If he can't ask questions about baseball camp, I'm not going to let him drive the car.

quote:

Originally posted by twotex:
I mean, seriously, my kid is 16 years old. If he can't ask questions about baseball camp, I'm not going to let him drive the car.

My point wasn't that the kid couldn't. It was that it wasn't some important life lesson or relationship builder. It's about placing the right emphasis and priority where it belongs. There shouldn't be much of either in regards to a camp invite. Some here are implying that it serves a purpose for junior to do the camp inquiry. There is a false degree of emphasis being contrived if we start believing that having Junior do this is imapactual regarding a camp invite.

For me it is a matter of when he starts taking on more responsiblity for achieving his goals. I agree that there's no fine art in communicating with a coach about camp, and no life-changing life lesson to be learned. However, I'd rather him get used to the idea of communicating with a college coach when the stakes are low. I am progressively increasing the amount of responsibility he has in that regard. He now has on his list the responsibility of talking to his fall team coach about playing summer ball. If he falters, I will give him an assist.

I have a 30 year old, and had success with the progressive acceleration of responsibility when she was in high school. When she was in her first year of college she thanked me for preparing her for being away from home. So I'm going with what I know.

Off topic, but I thought I would explain why I think it is a good idea for the high school players to communicate with the coaches.

twotex

I think it is all part of the process of maturation for a HS baseball player

Twotex, I agree totally. Best for anyone to start intimidating conversations when the stakes are low. By the time an important conversations come up, he will be ready.

It was not regarding the camp invite as not having seen it, I had nothing to offer. I guess this off topic advice meant only to help should not have been offered!