What to expect at camps?

Do you mean as far as outcomes from the camps or what will they be doing in the camps?

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Do you mean as far as outcomes from the camps or what will they be doing in the camps?

Re-reading my post, I probably should have worded that better! LOL! The camps have the itinerary listed so we know what he'll be doing each day.

I guess it's really more so what to expect as the outcome of the camps. These are recruiting camps - not instructional camps - so I don't know what expect as the "vibe" and post-camp, if anything.

It's a little bit of a challenge to answer, because the quality (and subsequent impact) of these camps can range from cattle call to legit final eval needed to close the deal.

The general process is evals, drills, and personal coaching.  Usually for one or two days, one if it's PO, but two if it's for two way players or even just a day for hitting and defense drills/evals, 2nd day for live pitching/batting scrimmage.

In the worst case scenario, you've been targeted at a large showcase eg Showball and you're just a paying customer hoping you'll break through.   In the best case scenario, you're a player the school is interested in and they really do want to see more of you and will get more aggressive with you during and after the camp. 

My son experienced both.  You'll know pretty quickly what kind of camp and/or prospect you are. 

You will pay them lots of money and unless your son is one of the top dogs there you will hear nothing back other than invites to future camps.  Not being harsh just real.   If you were personally invited or one of the top dogs, you will get invited on a tour of the facilities and have a personal meeting with the coaches after or during the camp if there are coaches there other than the volunteer assistant who gets his salary from the camp.  Camps are really just two things.  1.  Salary for the volunteer assistant coach.  2.  An opportunity to get time with a few recruits on campus where they can really talk to them and show them the facilities and probably make offers.

If you do not get invited for a private conversation with the coach, if he is there and many assume the coaches are always at camps but that is not the case, then that aspect of your recruiting journey is probably over.  I know of at least 2 P5 schools that have camps this weekend and/or next when the team is out of town playing their fall scrimmages.  The HC, PC, and RC will all be with the team.

Your son should have a clear understanding of where he stands with the teams after the next two weekends.

Thanks for the responses!  Those thoughts help for sure!

PitchingFan, I went and looked at the schedules for the teams and neither team is playing in November so that's good! 2024 was personally invited to the camps by the HC for school #2 and both the RC/PC of school #1.  We were at a scrimmage for school #1 this past weekend and the RC came over and briefly spoke with us, so that made the son happy!

Hopefully camps will go well for him. Thanks again for the insight.

What's his graduation year? (EDIT: I see now that he's a 2024)
Do you know if other baseball programs besides the host schools will be in attendance?
Has your son had any direct contact with the schools that may be attending the camp?

Okay, I realize I only answered your question with questions. But without know a little bit of information, the generic answer of "It depends" would be the answer to your question.

There are great programs at all levels (D1, D2, D3, NAIA, JUCO), but being a 2024, there will be different interest levels from each program level (and even within each program level) because each level seems to have a slightly different recruitment timeline.

If a relationship has been established with either of the programs you mentioned, I'm thinking there would be a chance to further those relationships due to attending the camp - Not guaranteed, but at least a chance.

@johnlanza posted:

What's his graduation year? (EDIT: I see now that he's a 2024)
Do you know if other baseball programs besides the host schools will be in attendance?
Has your son had any direct contact with the schools that may be attending the camp?

Okay, I realize I only answered your question with questions. But without know a little bit of information, the generic answer of "It depends" would be the answer to your question.

There are great programs at all levels (D1, D2, D3, NAIA, JUCO), but being a 2024, there will be different interest levels from each program level (and even within each program level) because each level seems to have a slightly different recruitment timeline.

If a relationship has been established with either of the programs you mentioned, I'm thinking there would be a chance to further those relationships due to attending the camp - Not guaranteed, but at least a chance.

One camp will have other schools in attendance and one is strictly the school - no outside colleges.  Son has had direct contact with both schools this summer and just saw/spoke with one RC on campus this past Sunday while attending a fall scrimmage. They talked about the upcoming camp too.

He is really focused on the top D1 schools on his list right now because he knows that they are actively recruiting 2024's but he has corresponded and started building relationships with a variety of different schools. He really got some good momentum from this summer and fall recruiting wise and it's been busy!  2024 is a 6'5", 175# RHP sitting 86-88, hitting 90-91, with 4 total pitches for good command.  He also is the starting SS on his HS team and plays some OF and 3rd, in addition to pitching, on his travel team and hits around .375.

These two camps will be his first camp experiences though. We didn't do all the PG/PBR individual showcases and camps with all the various schools attending.  We/he waited until he was ready to "show" and get some real interest from schools and decided to focus on school camps - at schools he was interested in and showed mutual interest. 

Did he pitch in the PG World Series in Sanford this summer? Saw a 2024 that fits that description.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Did he pitch in the PG World Series in Sanford this summer? Saw a 2024 that fits that description.

Not in Sanford this summer.  He pitched in both the WWBA 2023 and 2024 National Championships (same club just different teams) in East Cobb this summer and in Ft. Myers a few weeks ago.

From everything you have stated it is pretty clear your kid is being recruited by these schools.  My expectation for both camps would be that he will be one of the 5-10 players the coaches focus on.   May get a private tour from the pitching coach.  When he finishes pitching one of the HC/RC/PC will come and talk to him.  You may leave with an offer.  If you get there and they talk to other kids and not yours you will know that they just wanted your $200.  If they talk to him but don't offer he is probably a little further down the list.   The top schools are extremely aggressive.  You will know if they want you. 

Based on what you are saying, I am assuming he is a top recruit. You will likely get a tour either alone or with a few other boys.  Sometimes they offer then, sometimes, they don't even if they are very interested.  I would have your son think about what questions he might have and also talk about how he should thank them if he gets an offer while also telling them that it is a huge decision that he will need to think about and discuss with his family.  Good luck!  Its fun (and for a lot of boys) also extremely stressful.  My son had a busy and successful time recruiting and I had no idea how much weight he was feeling on his shoulders until we were almost done.  I assumed he was having a lot of fun being "wanted" by schools and being asked to call each week, etc.  In reality, he was almost at his breaking point when he finally decided, so be in tune for that as well.  Some kids do love the process, they are all different.

Sounds like he is a strong recruit.  You can probably expect the royal treatment.  You need to be there available for them to talk to throughout the day.  Your son may feel a little awkward at times because many times coaching staffs show the high recruits lots of attention but tell him to relax and enjoy the day.  

Also, if your son doesn't get an offer before leaving the camp or doesn't hear back from the school right after, no need to panic. My son attended a couple of camps where he was invited. While he got shown a lot of love at the camps, he didn't hear from the schools for about a week. The schools then reached out about a week or so later with offers. It was almost like they took some time to go over who and what they saw at the camps and then reached out to the kids they wanted to offer. You could also see that trend on the PG recruiting page as there were kids posting their commitments to those schools all around the same time.