Junior Day Baseball Camp & Showcase

Bumping this up.  

Has your son been a camp or showcase before?  If not, this looks to be a good experience if the travel costs are low.

If he has, then I would look at the nature of the email sent.   Was it meant to be a broadcast email or targeted at your son by one or more of the schools.   Would your son be willing to reach out to the participating schools to learn more about the camp and also to introduce himself.

When my son was just starting out with his recruiting efforts he would attend larger showcases/camps to get a sense for what they are about, network, and just listen to what they have to say.   Typically, these were local and not terribly expensive.  His travel team would have showcase days and bring in multiple colleges to watch their practices and drills.  It was good experience for him on how to showcase.  Also, many of the schools that had him on their list could also see him pitch at the PG WWBA in East Cobb   

As he got into junior year, it was much more targeted toward schools he knew he wanted to pursue.  In his case high academic showcases camps.   He felt he would stand out there, and he did.    Interested schools were then asking to have him come to their prospect camp (end of summer) to have the all the coaches get eyes on him, tour the campus, etc...  We learned this was a very important step.  One coach can't recruit and offer a kid.   Basically, the coaching staff has to agree with the HC having veto power.  

So, I think you can look at this a couple different ways.  If your son is interested in the schools on the list you might as well go because chances are good that if they are interested they will want to see him more than once.  My son had a few offers across D1 and D3, and all of them saw him play/showcase at least 3 times.  Two local D1 schools saw him play at least 6-7 times.  Also, I know budget plays a large part in our lives, but there is a cost of doing "business" in college baseball recruiting.  If you can get him quality exposure to his targeted schools (without an airplane ticket)....do it.  I drove 8 hours to a school (one-way) because I knew he was going to get offered to one of his dream schools.   My thought process at the time was that you only get one shot at college baseball recruiting....so we hopped in the car.

As always, JMO.   Good luck!  

I'm a proponent of camps, but on school grounds, local to the schools in attendance.  I say that, as the further you get away and the smaller the venue, you probably have low level coaches in attendance (volunteer, grad assist, dir of ops).  I'm familiar with the Junior Days, but never attended, for this reason. 

Of course, my assumptions could have been wrong, but wanted to help out.  My son had multiple offers, from his top choices, all a direct route from camps.  Look for the right ones and it will work.  Good luck.

Thanks Fenway & CTBBALL for the advice.

I assume they got his name from a PBR showcase that he recently did.  Of the five schools in attendance at this showcase, two reached out to him in a semi-form way but included their email and cell contact info.  My son can reach out to these and the other coaches before the showcase with an introductory email with his PBR video, showcase metrics and GPA.  This showcase is only a 30 min drive from us and is a bargain if you figure on paying/traveling to five different college prospect camps.  Four of these colleges recruit out of our area and have local kids play/go to their schools.  I do understand that there is a cost of doing business but want to make sure I am investing resources wisely.  

If you can get in contact with them before the camp so that they know who he is before he takes the field then go for it. But don't expect to just show up at the camp and have them notice him. 

I've never been to a third party camp, but from talking to college coaches they go in with a list of players they have heard of or that have expressed interest and then pay close attention to anybody who stands out (velo, speed, big bat, etc). Way too hard to keep tabs on 90 players and evaluate each. Three sessions is a long day. The coaches lose interest after a while too. If nothing catches their eye they're often just going thru the motions as well. Don't forget, more kids don't belong than do belong at these camps. 

Use whatever resources you can to get in contact with the coaches. A summer coach/trainer with connections will help here

My advice is look up the coaches that are attending.  Are they the recruiting coordinator or are they a volunteer assistant?  If they are volunteers then this is a money maker for those guys.  If it is the recruiting coordinator then there may be some value from a recruiting aspect.  My son has received a lot of emails on this and a few letters in the mail.  One was from a RC and the other two were from volunteer coaches.   

Points well taken PABASEBALL & D-MAC.  Thanks.