Prospect Camps

Try to use different email addresses so you have some idea what the source is. Give a unique email to the HS coach and travel coach.

I assume emails for camps are simply mass emails from berecruited or showcases. We're getting these also.

I'm not sure, but I also assume a questionnaire might mean slightly more interest.

If the HS coach pre-warns us, then we know to look out for something in particular.

Any and all sources. A list of attendees at previous showcases. Coach/scout referrals. Recruiting websites. The list goes on.

Now the good news and the bad news.

These prospect camps typically attract 50 or so marginal players who have absoultely no chance to play for that school. Why? It raises funds to pay the volunteer coach that organizes the camp. That's good news for the coach and school and bad news for the players who are kidding themselves. You'll find the entire camp is done to bring in 5-7 players they are really trying to recruit or analyze.

My son attended one such camp at age 15. Of course they had never heard of him. But he was on their email list from then on and ended up getting an early D1 offer and signing with them.

These camps are a very good chance at exposure for a solid player who benefits greatly from the subsidy of the non-player.

It is a business. Recognize that.

Got to agree with you Bum, similar thing happen to us.

Showcase at school, the school was actively recuriting Junior, included an offical over night visit with the Showcase.

Turned out there was two other kids in same boat. All three were wined and dinned, treated very differently at the showcase than the rest.

It was obvious to me that the three were treated very special, the others herded around like cattle. I was sitting with a group of parents an they were talking about it. The sense was the college was only interested in the three out about 60 kids. They weren't happy about, I didn't tell them one of them was my son.

But it was business, roll out the red carpet for the players they wanted, the others were strictly a fund raiser.

All three kids signed and are playing fall ball, tournament this weekend.

This thread also reflects our experience. We ALWAYS tell those who ask that these camps are only of value if you have established a relationship with the program before the camp. The odds of being "discovered" otherwise are slim.

As a general observation I agree with what's here. Of course there will always be exceptions.

I made the point on another thread that my son wrote a head coach before a camp, just to distinguish himself, and there were a couple of respected Old Timers who took the position that all you need to do is show up and make a good impression. So there's a contrary view.

My son has been to 2 camps so far. In both cases the coaches said what they were looking for, and it was fewer than 4 spots open for the current recruiting year.

That being said, there's a DI coach in our state who is explicitly targeting juniors, and stating that he is working on compiling his recruiting list for the upcoming year. He's added a handwriten note on one mailing. I know this doesn't mean he is specifically interested in my son, but I do believe that he is using his camps to compile his list for the next class. Do I think you can get recruited without going to the camp? Certainly.

All good info & validates what I already thought. He's going to attend a couple of the closer prospect camps that we received e-mails for and fill out the prospect forms received. We don’t want him to blow the prospect forms off. Who knows what happens over the next few years. As for the prospect camps, may as well attend and get used to the format. No pressure situation right now. He's a 9th grader this year that had the good fortune to start last season for his Varsity HS & Legion team that had several Juniors/Seniors being looked at. Also had several descent JUCOs playing Legion. He's playing up on a 17/18u travel squad this fall that plays against community colleges in the region, which has been an awesome experience. I appreciate all the feedback. Very helpful for a newbie dad trying to make his way through this process. The Good news is that we have some time to learn and get some "comfort" camps & showcases under his belt before things really start to matter.

BK, I remember that you moved to NY last year. Sounds like your son has gotten some good traction. Great news!

My son is a 2014 and we are beginning to attend some of these camps this fall. He gets invites to camps almost daily (apparently got on mailing lists due to playing USSSA or the USA Baseball Tryouts or something like that). I did use the "Alternate e-mail" approach to help filter out where some of these have come from, and that helps.

His approach has been to:
1) Identify what curriculum he would like to study in college.
2) Determine what baseball schools have that curriculum.

From that list, we are looking at camps they are putting on. For him, it is about getting on their radar.

We are going to one other camp that was not originally on our list due to two reasons:
1) They have several other colleges attending the camp with them. One or two of which do have the curriculum he is looking for.
2) The e-mail we received, called him by name (which is not unusual as so do the mass e-mails) and also lead in with "I received your information from our recruiting coordinator....."

This may have been a mass e-mail too, but it was different enough to see what they are all about. I have to give them credit for at least changing up the standard mass e-mail message, if so.

Anyway, our hopes is that he can get on some scout's radar prior to this summer, which will be leading into his Junior year.

We will see how this approach works.

Yup twotex...we're the ones that moved from Florida to New York. Slow to get the ball rolling but I think we're starting to figure things out. Found a couple good travel programs out of Syracuse (Sports Zone & CNY Thunder) and per your advice, we're planning to attend the Perfect Games Showcase next year. Thanks!

My son is a 2014 and is receiving many emails each week to attend camps. For thos of you who have experience in this, do you think it is necesary to follow up with a phone call or email to each one that you are not planning on attending. Just didn't know if that was common and good gesture to acknowledge the invite and thank the school for thinking of junior.

That's a great question. I'm inclined to shoot back a short statement saying we aren't able to attend even though some of these are mass e-mailed. Just seems like the right thing to do. I'm also not sure.

I was going to have my son pick up the phone and call the coach and tell him directly that he is interested in the school but cannot attend the camp. I think it is great practice for a young kid to become comfortable calling coaches and being his own advocate.

Son was invited to a Big East school camp because head coach had not seen him play. I was reluctant because most of these camps are not prospect camps but fundraisers. We went anyway but did NOT pay and no one asked son for a check. Bottom line...push back on the fees...tell the recruiting coach you have already exceeded your budget for camps.

gap2gap - That is a great plan. I received advice on another thread that you can use the camp invitation as an opportunity to start a dialog with the coach. Even if your son can't go, he can express his interest. Often, my son would receive a personal note back from one of the coaches.

You can definitely go broke on attending camps, so choose carefully. Those with multiple schools attending will definitely increase exposure. Also, be sure to have your son send a follow-up e-mail or make a phone call after the camp to the coaches.

quote:

Originally posted by BK_Razorback:
That's a great question. I'm inclined to shoot back a short statement saying we aren't able to attend even though some of these are mass e-mailed. Just seems like the right thing to do. I'm also not sure.

Why are you not attending? Make sure it's for the right reason.

Don't focus on whether the invite was "mass-mailed" or not. That's not important. What's important is 1) does your son have the talent to play for that team, and 2) does your son want to play for that team.

quote:

Originally posted by MadDogPA:
Son was invited to a Big East school camp because head coach had not seen him play. I was reluctant because most of these camps are not prospect camps but fundraisers. We went anyway but did NOT pay and no one asked son for a check. Bottom line...push back on the fees...tell the recruiting coach you have already exceeded your budget for camps.

Any DI coach who allows a high school or junior college player to attend camp at a reduced cost is either unaware of NCAA regulations or choosing to disregard them. The rule is very clear: the cost of camp cannot be reduced for players who are of a recruitable age.

Do not ask a DI coach to reduce (much less, comp) camp fees. If they create a hardship for your family, let them know that they're the reason that you're not attending; and make sure that they know where they can see you in an upcoming showcase or tournament. If you seem like a good prospect for their team and they're planning on seeing whatever event you're attending, the large majority will make an effort to see you while there.