College camps...at what age?

[Rambler34]

I left one off the list. She is currently playing in a fall league camp. A local DI lets teams sign up or individuals play on a wild card team. She is playing with the wild card team and the coaches spend a ton of time with them since their travel coaches are not there. Actually coached by players but the the actual coaches meet with them after every half inning and are on the field during play going over situations and techniques.

 

[vicimus]

Points well taken. Just to clarify, this school's camp was *technically* opened to the public, but they only advertised it to the public the week before the camp which was 3-4 weeks before they sent out the invitations to the select 40-50. That way they satisfied NCAA regulations but ensure the girls on their radar got a chance to fill their slots 1st.

Like I said, this camp was not a money grab because they actually evaluated each girl at their position and selected scrimmage teams accordingly; e.g. each pitcher had to through each pitch several times and were clocked.

However, the other D1 school's *money-grab* clinic was just instruction with not really any evaluations nor scrimmages, since they didn't record any information about the girls, and it was open to ages 8-18 instead of just HS age girls.

If money and time were no object, sure, go to all the camps/clinics you want, but there's only so many weekends that aren't filled with tournaments and practices already on *serious* TB clubs. ;-)

All college camps are open to the public, restricted only by age and number of participants. They’ll often notify players they want to see early, but an “invite only camp” would be against NCAA regulations.

Camps vary by schools and players. We were always told to skip the multi day camps and attend one of the single days to get work with their coaches. They told us if we wanted to pay for multiple days have at it, but it wasn’t necessary.

From what I observed at camps the girls who were D1 caliber always got a few extra looks and potential recruits had plenty of one on one time with coaches. We attended camps that didn’t work out as we had hoped, but I wouldn’t call any a money grab. The instruction is secondary. It’s a great opportunity to see the campus, meet the coaches, players and see their facilities. I’d urge girls to attend at least one camp at each division level for comparison. Some of the DII and DIII camps are as little as $15 and the D1 camps are usually under $100, or used to be anyway.

 

[vicimus]

Yes, *elite* is another *earmark* for a serious *recruiting* camp instead of instruction clinic and/or money grab.

I think doing your homework is the biggest thing. Talk to others who have attended if possible and see how it was ran. DD has gone to camps at her top four or five schools and has not been disappointed. Below is a recap of our experiences.

One was at a mid-major DI and she was invited. The camp was huge and they were broken into positions and then into four teams. Invites and recruited kids played against commits and the others were off on another field. This one was good if you were an invite or commit but not if you signed up out of the blue. Not really any instruction.

Went to 3 day AU camp which was limited to around 60 girls. While the coaches did tend to spend a lot of time with the ones you know they were interested in they also rotated through all of the groups all day. The kids rotated in groups of 4 or 5 and had a couple of players working drills at each spot. DD actually learned more at this one than just about any other one she went to.

DII that transitions to DI this season. She has attended three and all three have been more like a tryout. They are called elite camps and it does seem like they are looking at abilities more than teaching.

Mid major DI advertised a camp late in the day on Friday for the following Tuesday. Got DD and a teammate in. Ended up being the two of them and six others who ended up being there for a unofficial visit for a basketball game. Good one on one time and exposure.

At another SEC school we avoided their large summer camps and have done three one days. Two were elite and one was seperate clinics for pitching, hitting, defense, and catching. The elite were more of a tryout setting with scrimmages while the clinics were highly informative yet still almost tryout like.

 

[Rick M]

In defense of money-grabs:

DD is a second-year 12U, and I've been taking her to offseason college clinics for three years. She loves working out with women who are still playing softball into adulthood. She's learned a few things, but most importantly she's met some great people who share her love of softball, and gotten to see what the facilities are like in a college setting. And I'm honestly happy to pay a hundred bucks to support women's college softball programs and have an excuse to check out a campus while we still have a few years before the recruiting process begins.

In other words, it's never too early to attend a college camp. And if your daughter has a couple of dream schools, being that kid who has been coming to camp for years couldn't hurt her chances of getting noticed.

 

[vicimus]

Roger that. Camps/clinics especially great for the younger girls.

That said, I just wanted to point out that there's a *BIG* difference in the purpose of camps/clinics, and most are not *recruiting* focused, so if that's your reason for selecting a camp, you should at least be aware of these *earmarks*.

In defense of money-grabs:

DD is a second-year 12U, and I've been taking her to offseason college clinics for three years. She loves working out with women who are still playing softball into adulthood. She's learned a few things, but most importantly she's met some great people who share her love of softball, and gotten to see what the facilities are like in a college setting. And I'm honestly happy to pay a hundred bucks to support women's college softball programs and have an excuse to check out a campus while we still have a few years before the recruiting process begins.

In other words, it's never too early to attend a college camp. And if your daughter has a couple of dream schools, being that kid who has been coming to camp for years couldn't hurt her chances of getting noticed.

 

[Orange Socks]

However, the other D1 school's *money-grab* clinic was just instruction with not really any evaluations nor scrimmages, since they didn't record any information about the girls, and it was open to ages 8-18 instead of just HS age girls.

Coaches don't need a clip board to evaluate. Nor do they need to record anything while they are on the field. Don't get the parents on here hung up with semantics. And I do agree, attending a 3 day camp with 8 year old kids may not be the best use of your time or money. But they are still evaluating and working with the older players while current college players are working drills with the little ones.

I can't stress this enough. The girls that are being "looked at" have already been seen by the coaches and already have a file on them. If there is a girl that shows up and shows out, those coaches will find out who that girl is and will have a side conversation for follow up. This is the way it works.

Vicimus is absolutely right. You cannot get to every college on your list. I would prefer to get a personal invite before I spend the funds. In the beginning of the recruiting process you are better off attending a clinic/camp that has multiple colleges that you are interested in and have been emailing to get the biggest bang for your buck. The coaches will get to chat with the kid and be able to get eyes on her. During the FAQ portion of a camp a D1 coach told the girls that even though they may not be there physically to watch you, there are other ways. They will have other college coach friends, streaming video, other TB coaches, parents, etc. You never know who is watching and giving feedback.

 

[vicimus]

Sure if your DD is on a national level club, or the FloSoftball top 100, she may be on several coaches' radars with files on them, but the rest of our DD have to work to get on their radars.

With all due respect, there is no way 2-3 coaches can *objectively* and *effectively* evaluate 100+ girls over the course of a 2-4 hour clinic/camp. Sure, there will be the one or two studs that stand out but for the other mortals, the serious coaches track/rank freshman and sophomores based on their evaluations at the *real* recruiting tryout camps.

Again, two of the camps DD attended were exactly this. One was a money-grab cattle call.

That said, one of the *recruiting* camps we know the coach had seen DD at a showcase tournament the month earlier (on radar), but the other one they saw her for the first time. Thankfully, she stood out at both, so now she's hopefully on the other school's radar now too.

Also, at least DD's TB coach recommended camps at the specific colleges that are on your list instead of the multi-college camps. According to him that is what worked best for his players over the last 10+ years most of which went D1.

Of course, YMMV. ;-)

Coaches don't need a clip board to evaluate. Nor do they need to record anything while they are on the field. Don't get the parents on here hung up with semantics. And I do agree, attending a 3 day camp with 8 year old kids may not be the best use of your time or money. But they are still evaluating and working with the older players while current college players are working drills with the little ones.

I can't stress this enough. The girls that are being "looked at" have already been seen by the coaches and already have a file on them. If there is a girl that shows up and shows out, those coaches will find out who that girl is and will have a side conversation for follow up. This is the way it works.

Vicimus is absolutely right. You cannot get to every college on your list. I would prefer to get a personal invite before I spend the funds. In the beginning of the recruiting process you are better off attending a clinic/camp that has multiple colleges that you are interested in and have been emailing to get the biggest bang for your buck. The coaches will get to chat with the kid and be able to get eyes on her. During the FAQ portion of a camp a D1 coach told the girls that even though they may not be there physically to watch you, there are other ways. They will have other college coach friends, streaming video, other TB coaches, parents, etc. You never know who is watching and giving feedback.

 

[coolestcoachever]

I can't stress this enough. The girls that are being "looked at" have already been seen by the coaches and already have a file on them. If there is a girl that shows up and shows out, those coaches will find out who that girl is and will have a side conversation for follow up. This is the way it works.

My 14 year old daughter (8th grade) went to her first camp last month at an NAIA school. During the hitting portion she hit 6 (six) OTF home runs and no coach ever said anything to her. There were about 60 girls there with most being HS age. Only about 3 girls hit anything OTF and she was the only one to hit multiples. What does she have to do to get noticed?

 

[MNDad]

I can't stress this enough. The girls that are being "looked at" have already been seen by the coaches and already have a file on them. If there is a girl that shows up and shows out, those coaches will find out who that girl is and will have a side conversation for follow up. This is the way it works.

My 14 year old daughter (8th grade) went to her first camp last month at an NAIA school. During the hitting portion she hit 6 (six) OTF home runs and no coach ever said anything to her. There were about 60 girls there with most being HS age. Only about 3 girls hit anything OTF and she was the only one to hit multiples. What does she have to do to get noticed?

Get used to it. Coaches look for/at different things, ages and positions. Maybe they misinterpreted something as bad attitude. Could be something in her mechanics they don’t think will work at the next level. They might have thought she’s going D1 so didn’t bother with her. They might just be looking at specific grad classes. Could be anything. Don’t take it personal. Unless this is her dream school move on to the next camp.

 

[murphdog]

I can't stress this enough. The girls that are being "looked at" have already been seen by the coaches and already have a file on them. If there is a girl that shows up and shows out, those coaches will find out who that girl is and will have a side conversation for follow up. This is the way it works.

My 14 year old daughter (8th grade) went to her first camp last month at an NAIA school. During the hitting portion she hit 6 (six) OTF home runs and no coach ever said anything to her. There were about 60 girls there with most being HS age. Only about 3 girls hit anything OTF and she was the only one to hit multiples. What does she have to do to get noticed?

Could be that she's still young, could be that they already have a number of potential recruits playing her position and want to narrow that field first. Could be a lot of different things. Just because the coaches didn't talk to her does not mean that they weren't interested or that she wasn't noticed.