is thie legit?

Yes it is legit.  A legit invite to a camp. 

welcome to the site, 2016 baseballdad.  This looks very much like the typical mass form letter to get your son to attend their camp.  You will get more since he attended Headfirst.  There is plenty of info here that will help you decipher these things and what to do with them.  You can search past threads.  Here is a link to the latest regarding a similar letter...

http://community.hsbaseballweb...e-recruiting-process

You will know when it is legit. You will get what I consider more personalized communication.

Doesn't matter if it is legit or not.  If you are good enough they will want you.  If you're not good enough they won't want you. If it is not a scholarship school I wouldn't spend any money to attend unless this is a school you are interested in.

There are non scholarship colleges that have great baseball programs.  But there are a large number that are just looking for a breathing body.  

I think the whole cell phone thing is causing some of the confusion.  10 years ago when a head coach handed out his cell phone number, ti was probably a huge deal.  These days, when a volunteer assistant coach hands out his cell phone number at the bottom of a camp invite, that is probably becoming the standard (who knows, he might have a second phone in the drawer for just this purpose).

Perhaps the new litmus test should be them calling you or getting word through your coach for you to call them.  Anyone think the assistant coach's cell phone is being included just to get more kids signed up?

I know my son has has received quite a few emails with the coaches cell phone listed and are pretty sure they are mass mailings.

Sounds like the University of Arkansas. if so, PM me.

Maybe not, having visited the site.

Anyone can go down to Walmart and buy a "burner" cell phone for $30 and get a cheap plan for about $30 per month, not contract.  So for a few hundred dollars per year a coach can create the perception of "real interest" by including this number.  Perhaps there was a time when the cell phone number meant something, but probably not anymore.  Three days ago I wouldn't have thought about a coach doing this, but after reading the "Coach Promised an Offer" thread, well...

Coaches aren't stupid when it comes to trying to get their camps filled.  If a parent reads the invite to mean a potential scholarship offer that is not the coaches fault. 

Hello everyone....I have been reading this tread and some other ones very much on a related matter about the recruiting process camps and showcases and even one on an ivy school versus D3 schools questions (which by the way were succinctly answered by goosegg and fenway), all of them questioning the best approach and also about the validity of the 'camps' letter.

I, personally, believe very much in showcases rather then camps. In fact, I have been a fan of PG showcases which my son went for three years, academic and non-academic, where my son had a lot of fun and a 'lot' of interest from many colleges. In fact the college where he signed came from a PG event where the coaches also followed him through other PG tournaments. We also went to many TeamOne/BaeballFactory/Under Armour type of tournaments and showcases, but I have to give it to PG for organization and amount of college coaches in attendance.

As far as 'camps', they are great for people who want to see their campus from another angle, get their kid to have 'that feeling' about the school and be on their playing field. All these camps talk about 'instruction' and pro workouts, but I think that the instruction that is given is good when kids are ten years old, a kid going to these camps are going to be seen and to try to show how good they are. However, I feel that the coaches have too many kids (sometimes hundreds) where it can become impossible for a HC to select who to check out, albeit it is a kid that they have already identified and comes for the fun of it. I'll get to this in a second on how they transmit that info.

The camps' instruction is limited at most and if a kid wants instruction and practice he needs to go to that. For my son, he has been training all the time with specific people if he wants to get better, for example, he trains in BP with the same guy that trains Kendrys Morales, Rusney Castillo, JD Martinex, and the great Miguel Cabrera. Son has been lucky even to do actual BP in the same practice with Morales and also with Castillo; and by the way, they also pick up balls just like my son does after the BP.

For the poster here, and also in the related treads, I will probably say the same thing that PG and fenway have said which is that if a HC/RC likes your kid, you will know it and right away. When they want a kid, they go after like heck and very aggressively. In another post I will copy and paste for the poster some of the emails received and also one which at the end says...oh, by the way if you can come to a camp...but how it is said. When the HC is really interested, the one thing he wants to do is to get your kid to his school on a OV, he knows there are only five official visits and he would like to sell his school to your kid first.

As reference for OP, here are some sample of the emails from coaches when they are interested. It happens quickly, sometimes right after the event/game. Camps invites happen several days after. We also had a lot of camp invites that were the 'generic' kind, and believe it or not (like Ripley) some of the invites even come from schools that the HC was already personally contacting my son, it just happens that his name was already in the bulk email list. That shows me that a lot of the invites are from email list that they purchase for the marketing of their camps. To me PG events rule.

Three emails follow...(Note: all coaches think their school is the best of course)

________________________________________________________

Son’sName:

Realizing you are probably on your way back to YourCity I just wanted to briefly connect.  I was extremely impressed with what I observed and evaluated regarding you performance at the PG Academic event in Ft. Myers the past two days.  As head coach of the top school in the nation I am very interested to see if St U is where you would like to attend college and play Division I baseball.  I believe you will be an impact player in our program from the start, lead us to a XXXX League Title and compete in a regional playoff and beyond!

Couple of questions:

1. Have you taken any standardized tests yet (SAT, ACT, SAT II)?  If so, what are your scores?  If not, are you planning on taking them soon?
2. Can you forward me a high school transcript?
3. Can you send me your summer schedule?

I am only allowed to support a few prospects for the admissions process each year and would certainly like you to be one of them if your academic record/scores permit me to do so.  Our top freshman pitchers this past season was from YourCity and he has certainly enjoyed his experience both on and off the field at St U.  If he stays on course he is likely to play baseball after college prior to what will be a successful life in the real world.  Our incoming class this fall consists of student-athletes from State1, State2, State3, State4, State5 and the Northeast.  My goal is to continue on the same path with exceptional players who aspire to matriculate at the nation’s top university – St U.

Division I compliance rules do not permit me to contact you via phone but you can always connect with me.  My cell phone number is (888) 555-1212.

Safe travels home and I look forward to hearing back from you soon.  Again, great job the past few days.  You certainly approach the game the right way!

All the best -

Head Coach

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Son’sName,

I had the pleasure of getting to see you play this past weekend at the perfect game event in Ft. Myers. I think that you would be an excellent fit and an impact guy at St U and I just wanted to contact you and see if where you are in the recruiting process and if you have any interest in St U. If so, I would need a few things from you in order to expedite the process with our admissions office.

I would need a copy of your HS transcript through your Jr year, a copy of your official test scores (a screen shot from the website will work), and what you plan to major in. Hope to hear from you soon. As soon as I get those I can send them up to admissions and hopefully get you on campus for a visit. 

Lastly, if at all possible, do you think you would be able to attend our upcoming camp so that our other coaches might have the opportunity to see you play? Any questions, feel free to shoot me an email.

All the best,

Head Coach

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Son’sName

This is coach LastName at St U.

I'd like to talk to you more about St U.

I saw you play in Atlanta this week and was impressed and I am interested in learning more about you.

I'm going to be down in Ft Myers this weekend and will be able to watch you play more.

I'm very interested in you.

Pls call me when you can- my cell is 888-555-1212 or send me your cell if that's better for you.

Thanks

Coach LastName

Head Coach

St U

I would only question if a recruiter/coach could send the kind of actual recruiting emails like this to a 2016 (assume the OP's kid is 2016 from username of dad) right now or if what he got was the most detail an email could give.

roothog...

These emails are from last (summer '14) year for a 2015.

I believe you are correct that the OP's kid is a 2016.

It's a nice form letter. Legitimate interest would have included a phone number and an email address.

When I coached 16u one of my player's parents was going on and on about how a ranked ACC team was interested in their son based on a similar letter. I went online and filled out the prospect form with my dog's name. My dog received the same invite to a prospect camp. I guess it makes sense a fox would be interested in a dog.

No doubt. After any showcase, these flow like wine. I was just wondering, if there is true interest in a underclassman, how far can they go with an email. certainly, you wouldn't receive anything like what 4bases was getting as a 2015 and I'm sure they could include an email and phone #, but I'm guessing they would have to be careful how the body of the email reads.

Just want also to clarify...camps are good as far as visiting and seeing the school. facilities and having fun playing in some games. I don't think is like a showcase, where coaches go to 'really' see and catch their next 'great thing'. Camps are for fun. I took my son to many camps including UM, IMG and others, where he had the overnights with other kids and it was fun for him along with the camp and playing games. I really don't think that coach Morris (who was babysitting the little kids in the dorm) was going to recruit any of them (10 yr old) or for that matter of the bigger kids that also went to the camps.

When son hit freshman in high school there were no more camps, showcase time and tournaments. The showcases remind me of thoroughbred auctions, where a thoroughbred breeder brings his horses to an audience which is coming to buy and ready to deal. Camps remind me of horse shows, where the audience comes to see how beautiful the horses are, but they are not buying any of them, just enjoy the pleasure of seeing them in the show. Just my opinion, there could be some real long shot exceptions. 

If someone is looking for (a two-day) instruction or being discovered at camps, they may be in for a rude awakening. They are great if it is for fun and discovering the school, and they do serve their purpose in that area very well.

In general, there is no doubt that a showcase is better for a wide net. At a showcase, there might be dozens of buyers in the market for what you're selling (be it speed, power, velocity, etc.) while at a college camp, the buyers are more specific and it's infinitely harder to make a match with what they are looking for. Having said that, even if they aren't shopping for horses at the "horse show"/college camp, if something worth buying shows up, they'll talk some horse trading. OK. Enough of the horse analogy. I'm confusing myself.

Now, I'm no expert, having been to only two college prospect camps, but I can tell you that one, where 2018 turned up as a freshman unknown and unannounced, definitely turned into interest. These can be vastly different experiences. Camp A, attended in the winter of his freshman year was well run and there was no instruction involved (at either camp). At Camp A, the entire staff was present and heavily involved in everything. They were following closely. Every pitch was gunned and when they saw something they liked, they were actively sharing among the staff. Camp B was another story.

At Camp B, the head coach was present for a very short while. The PC and RC weren't present. There were on the field games at which I saw NOT ONE radar gun or coach behind the backstop. The few players and volunteer assistants there seemed to be there for grounds work. They disappeared while the games were ongoing. Each team got an indoor workout period for the coaches. This was a joke. The hitting instructor was there, but he wasn't watching anything. Just shooting the breeze with an unknown individual. I saw him look at the cages, where the boys basically threw BP to each other only once or twice. He seemed to be there just to lock up. Strangely, the talent at camp B was superior.

The afternoon at Camp a included splitting the prospects into four teams and playing two games. 2018 was in the first game. Afterwards, having family in town and not knowing better, we split and didn't hang around. When we got home, they had contacted his high school head coach and told him it would be nice if we gave them a call. Things progressed from there, though there has been no offer as of yet and we are making an unofficial visit in the next few weeks. So, it does happen, even if it's a rarity.

Interesting side story. At the point that they contacted our head coach, my son had not yet even met him (we had only moved into town during 2018's eighth grade year). However, he was placed with the varsity almost from the first day of practice and I can't help but think that call intrigued the HC and got 2018 a closer look at varsity as a frosh than he otherwise would have gotten.

With PG's caveat (If you are good enough they will want you.  If you're not good enough they won't want you) ... it's amazing how many adults have a hard time distinguishing between the real thing and everything else when it comes to college communications.

Don't we all get bombarded with email and snail mail offers from all kinds of companies that sound like one thing but aren't?? And don't we all know how to tell the difference?

I say check your emotion at the door and read college communications like you would any other unsolicited offer.

Yes, it could mean interest, and definitely keep in contact.

But since your son just played on the campus, I see no need to rush right back to a camp.  (Have your son) reply back, thanks for the invite, but you are tied up with other baseball commitments and attach his fall schedule.  Then send a update with the high school schedule.  Then send an update to his 2016 summer schedule.  (And do this will all the schools he is interested in!).

This school has started a dialog.  Keep it going, without burning any bridges.

2016dad - you probably didn't need further confirmation that this was a form letter/mass mailing but my son attended Headfirst Thurs and Fri and received the same email this morning.  He pitched Thurs (very well) and Fri (not as well but not bad) and this coach was there only on Fri.  I highly doubt they were interested based on the few mins they saw on Fri.  

Also - based on our experience at HF, if this coach (or another) was really interested they probably would have talked to your 2016 right after the game.  

Isn't that why you posted the fact that a 2018 is playing on a 2015 team and was the only one offered an invite?     

I'm wondering how good a 18u team is if a 15u player stands out that much.  I would look for a competitive team either same age or maybe one age group older. 

I happen to know this guy and his son. His son was a 2018 playing on the 18u because he is the presumptive starting catcher on next year's high school varsity team and this team was made up of his high school's varsity. This particular high school ended the year ranked #2 in the state and lost in the state semi-finals at the state's highest classification. The kid is legit and the team plays at a high level of 18u. He is among the top two or three catchers from his class in the state, if not the best.

I would surmise that he was the only one who got a camp invite because the other players were too old for Air Force to care about. The service academies tend to target kids earlier in the process because there is so much they would need to do above and beyond the normal application process that, if there is real interest, they need time.