Help with College Camps

I spoke to a kid who said he bypassed all the Perfect Game events in lieu of going to the college and their camps he desired to go to. He showed immense interest in their school by doing that and eventually got an offer. Financially it could be better off that way too depending on how close the college is to you.

I'm a real advocate of attending camps relatively early. Of course, you do need to be selective; but, properly chosen, they can accomplish a number of things.

Yes, they can have value as recruiting venues; for both the university hosting the camp and others, as well. How others? In two ways: (1) they frequently employ instructors who are assistant coaches from area colleges and (2) coaches talk among themselves all the time. If they see a camper who might make sense for another program where they have a friend coaching, they'll often pick up the phone and pass along their opinion.

Beyond the recruiting value, they offer (1) an opportunity to advance one's playing skills, (2) insight into the host program's environment, and (3) the chance to get to know players from other areas.

My son attended his first camp about the time he was a freshman in high school. Naturally, he wasn't as advanced as the oldest players; but, his instructors didn't expect him to be. They could see that he loved the game, had some ability, and was dedicated to getting better at it. They'll routinely recognize those qualities in younger campers and welcome their participation.

By the time he was a rising senior in high school, he'd attended the camps of several schools that had recruited him; using them as convenient ways of not only giving them a chance to further evaluate him, but as a means of learning more about each program. I'm sure that he'd say that they were a valuable part of his development as a player and his recruiting process.

I wouldn't recommend attending more than 1 "random" college camp to gain experience with the format at an early age.

If a player has a dream school then attending their camps early and often can be effective if the player turns out to have the talent to play there.

Thank you so much for the feedback.

But another question for Prepster, i have heard that some summer college camps that last for a week or two, whatever it may be..really dont offer much instruction but if it does put a players name out there thats all that really matters, so even for a player heading into their sophmore year do you think its a good idea??

If you go to a summer camp for one or two weeks and don't learn anything... They had better offer you a scholarship.

Really I think the instructional thing is the most important. Afterall, they surely won't be recruiting every camper. But every camper deserves to learn something.

Brush,

Welcome to the HSBBWeb! I agree with PGStaff's advice above. However, I'll take it a little further and give you a quick glimpse of what my family did during this process for my son. I had him participate in several college camps within 1-4 hours of our home, a few PG showcases, a Trosky showcase, and a Baseball Factory/Under Armour showcase. The first time he showcased and was evaluated was the summer after his Frosh year in HS, which is where you're at currently with your son.

I don't know what type of baseball ability your son has at this time...but my best advice regarding college camps would be to:

Try and find the short 1-2 day(s) camps that are easier on your pocket book. These one day camps are cheaper, yet they get your son in front of college coaches and decision makers, and if they like you...on their recruiting/follow list.

If you choose to send your son off to a 4-5 day college camp, make sure that other schools are represented too. For example, my son attended two college camps that were in the 4-5 day range. They were relatively expensive camps, however, each one of these camps had coaches/recruiters from multiple schools from areas my son was interested in attending.

Get him on a good summer/fall team. If there are Fall Scout Teams in your area, have him tryout.

Lastly, I would look into receiving an honest outside opinion of your son's playing ability by attending a PG showcase by next summer/fall between your son's Soph/Junior year.

Good Luck to your son!

Thank you for everything.

I agree that I would like to wait till next summer to attend a PG Showcase. One of the things that worries me is him going to camp or showcase this summer, and having a bad outing, and then his name is out there on paper with something that scares coaches away. He has talent but he can compete with anybody his age and he is also used to playing older competition, but the opinion Im getting from everyone seems to be start with a smaller camp and build up?
Anyways thank you all for the feedback.

As is so often the case on this site, it looks like the lion's share of the work had already been done by the time I saw your follow-on question!

To reinforce what's been said about instruction, I can assure you that, from the perspective of the coaches who put the camps together, it is at the top of the least in what they hope to offer...regardless of the age of the campers.

Keep in mind that professional coaches are still instructing their players. One never outgrows the need for it in this game.

Best of luck!

LOL...It looks like we were typing simultaneously.

Don't sell short the coaches' ability to recognize and compensate for his age. They see players of all ages routinely and are accustomed to it.

Also, try not to attach too much importance to the evaluative aspect. If your son is playing regularly with older players, he's already subject to regular evaluation. Assuming that he's enthusiastic about going to camp, he needs to go with all of the other reasons mentioned here uppermost in his mind, have a good time, and let the evaluation part be what it is...just like he would if he were playing for his high school or summer/fall team.

A suggestion: Approach parents of older players in your area and check out their sons' experience at various camps they've attended. They should be able to give you a feel for the proportion of younger players in the camp mix, the relative significance of instruction vs. evaluation, the participation of other schools' coaches in the instructor group, etc.

Many colleges have 2 day "propects camps". If you are hoping to see a lot of others schools at the camps you might be dissappointed, most camps are not like the Stanford AllStar camp. I might add that you'll get a lot more bang for your buck if the school knows who your kid is before he attens camp (i.e. they saw him at some tournment or showcase event). Unless your son throws 95 I would think twice about siging up for a college camp at a school that has never expressed any type of interest in him. IMHO SHowing up unknown at a college camp is a longshot.

I’ve read many posts about college camps on this website. Maybe it’s time to share some thoughts with others in regard to college camps.

First of all, I am very much PRO College Camps! Especially for younger players! That said, all college camps are not equal.

While I understand there is always a possibility of being recruited, that is not the main purpose of college camps. I think too often people see it as an exposure opportunity, more than a “learning” opportunity. Please, never leave a college camp without learning something valuable.

Obviously there are situations where the college already knows they want to recruit a certain player and they would like him to attend their camp. But for the most part, the best camps will provide valuable instruction and information that will help the player.

Here are some things that people need to understand.

The main purpose of any college camp is to bring in needed revenue. This revenue helps the program and can provide income to volunteers and assistants.

Most all colleges attend other events (Showcases/Tournaments) looking for players. They also pick up contact lists at many of these events. Example… Hundreds of colleges attend WWBA tournaments and purchase the scout packs. This gives the college the contact information on thousands of players. These turn around to become mailing list for camp invitations. These lists are valuable for recruiting purposes, but also become valuable camp invitation lists. In the meantime the coaches are there at the event to see players and find players they want to recruit.

There are NCAA rules that disallow certain things with college camps. First of all, college camps have to be open. So if the college camp is not full, anyone has the opportunity to attend. There are ways around these rules, but by Rule College camps cannot be obverly selective.

As mentioned earlier, college camps should provide information and instruction to all campers. They cannot just cater to those they are interested in recruiting. They need to provide something for each and every camper. Every kid that leaves a good college camp should have picked up some valuable information that will help him as a baseball player.

Of course, none of this means that a player cannot create serious recruiting interest by attending a camp. But seldom does this happen by first being seen at the camp. Usually the coaches know who they want before players show up at the camp. However, if there is a player with the necessary skills anything is possible.

One last thing, I get hundreds of emails every day and can't possibly keep up with them. I know college coaches that get even more. Not saying it shouldn’t be done, but an email to someone like an SEC, ACC, Pac10, Big12 coach telling him you’re interested in his program is only going to carry any weight if he already knows the player. Otherwise, guess what, your name gets added to the camp file and you’re likely to get an email response inviting you to a camp. After all, thousands of players are sending emails about their interest in the program. After awhile the emails become meaningless, they all look the same. They all get treated the same.

Just think about it, college coaches attend many events where they see the very best talent in the country. When they see what they want, they go after it. They don’t recruit by sitting around reading letters and emails and they don’t wait for the players they want to show up on campus. The best college recruiters are extremely aggressive when they see a player they want. They even try to get him to one of their camps.

So should you attend a college camp? Absolutely, but go there knowing what it’s all about. Go there to learn and to get better. And if something extra comes out of it, all that much better. There are many GREAT college camps that we would support! Go to one of those good ones.

I think, it would be very informative and helpful, if there were a list of GOOD college camps on this website. Those who have experienced camps could post about various camps. Obviously the Stanford Camp gets talked about a lot and it deserves that. However, the Stanford camp is quite a bit different than most college camps. What about those other great camps? Unfortunately, I can’t get involved in that because we don’t want to make any college coach mad.

Great thread everyone.

Brush, can I add another perspective, as a college planner, and as a mom in the process?

Attending a college camp early in the process (ie, fall of 10th grade) can be a wonderful motivational boost. It worked out very well for our 2013 son. He attended a college camp at a D1 university, where he felt he could possibly have what it takes in terms of baseball ability if he continues to apply himself. But, more importantly, it is a top notch academic institution, a 'stretch' school for him, but also a 'possible' if he applied himself.

Here is the key. My husband and son arrived a day early so that prior the camp they could take a campus tour and info session with the admissions office. They were both blown away. (I knew they would be, I had been there twice before and love it.) Son was a bit intimidated by the academic expectations but soaked it all in.

After two days of amazing instruction with a very attentive young staff from a range of colleges, (and happily a solid eval from the hosting assistant coach) my son had a fire lit under him. He has had a focus for attaining his best in the classroom, on his SATs, in the weight and training program, and of course as a player.

To me that camp was worth every penny, and I am thrilled that we did this early into sophomore year. If he ends up getting recruited at that university, we will all be very happy, but even if he never sets foot on that campus again we are grateful he had the experience.

Maybe look for a camp at a college that will also offer that academic inspiration, and take the time to do the admissions info session and tour, so that he gets a taste of the college expectations from their perspective.

Good luck!

PS, PG Staff, thanks for your post, so helpful. We are headed to BCS 16U this weekend, he has been anticipating this tournament for the past year!

We have picked 3 college camps to choose from and also will play in one PG tournament. I spoke to coaches from some local colleges and they said that the PG tourneys at older ages 16up are helpful but they all said they do not put any value in the "showcase events" IE tryouts as they want to see kids play in person and that to subscribe to the site is not a cheap venture for them. Also they said be very careful of going to them too young and getting "labeled" ALSO lasty i know many showcase type events Hire college coaches to come help out so they can say "here is list of coaches coming" it is usually the low man on the totem pole who gets sent to make a few bucks. Any feedback is helpful..thanks whits23@aol.com
PS update the camp info on this site as the click on's are not current or useful

quote:

We have picked 3 college camps to choose from and also will play in one PG tournament. I spoke to coaches from some local colleges and they said that the PG tourneys at older ages 16up are helpful but they all said they do not put any value in the "showcase events" IE tryouts as they want to see kids play in person and that to subscribe to the site is not a cheap venture for them.

whits,

They don't put "ANY" value in the showcase events? Who are those three local colleges?

If a coach is at a PG showcase he will always see kids play in person.

While your at that PG tournament, stop and ask some coaches from the top colleges in the country if they see any value in attending and/or following the PG showcases.

Actually, subscribing to the scouting service is something every MLB Club and nearly every DI college does, as well as a large number of smaller colleges. It's not very expensive at all and can actually help colleges save lots of time and money.

BaseballWebTV.com is the video version of the scouting service and it is actually free. A very large number of college coaches and MLB scouts use BBWTV and PGcrosschecker.

It's all very simple, talent creates interest. It has been very clear that a high number of the best players in the country have attended PG Showcases for many years. Thousands who have been drafted and/or played in college. You say, three college coaches said there is no value in attending? That would only be if they cannot compete for recruits on a national level.

Some college camps are great, some not so good. Same thing with showcases. Same thing with players.

Funny you should mention that as some of the ones who dont put a lot of stock in it were there this weekend. I think its the tourneys they value more than the actual showcase tryouts.

My experience is maybe go to one to get the feel of it but when you show up young like that they see you and say yes nice ball player but they really focus on the older players , they would have to see you again in a couple years when you mature and get more physical to compare you with older kids. We went to many young and really showed good for his age but not good for comparing to seniors or even juniors didnt have size or strength when younger. Size and body type seem to really stand out unless your a phenom.