Getting the most bang for your buck at College Camps

[JAD]

CSC is a great way to get in front of a lot of coaches in one camp. They are usually the assistant coaches, but some assistant coaches have a heavy hand in recruiting. I do not think the college coaches are allowed to talk directly with players about recruiting unless they are on their campus, so it may limit the recruiting interactions. When you go to a college visit on campus request a tour. If a college coach is interested in you as a player they will be happy to show you around, but it has to be before or after the camp.

 

[goinglefty]

Isn't it against ncaa rules to attend a camp without be charged?

Yes. It is against NCAA rules to not charge a potential recruit.

To original poster- if your DD is on the short list then you need to go to the actual school's camp. If you are worried about costs your DD needs to pick the ones she wants the most and go to those. You should want to see the campuses anyway. Once your DD is on campus they can speak to her freely, invite her back for an unofficial and/or possibly even make an offer. What I think they are looking for is interest from recruits. Who wants to go to their school... who makes the effort to follow through.
The other camp you are talking about with lots of coaches is probably not for your DD if she is already being actively recruited as a freshman.

When my DD was a freshman she was invited to a camp of one of her top choices (which I paid for), the coach watched her at the camp like a hawk. spent almost every minute with her or near her. asked her about her grades, why she wanted to go to the school. after the camp they invited her back for an unofficial visit (which all details were coordinated entirely by her travel coach) where they gave her the whole campus tour, class with a player, meeting with academic advisor, admissions/ professors/ strength & conditioning coach, lunch with team, visit of the dorm rooms, etc. At the end of the tour they made an offer. (They also said they needed her to get specific grades so she can get into the school; which were a little lower than the average student trying to gain entrance into the school) We were blown away.

Basically you need to get on campus somehow. You may not need to go to the camp to get an offer, but if they ask you to go to the camp and are on a short list, they have interest and might be trying to gauge your interest in them. If they ask you to come for an unofficial they most likely want you. Coaches don't have time to just ask anyone to come for a visit and have them spend a day with them. They also typically dont go around offering kids who dont seem like they want to go to their school, won't have the grades or will likely go elsewhere.

 

[softballer]

Yes. It is against NCAA rules to not charge a potential recruit.

To original poster- if your DD is on the short list then you need to go to the actual school's camp. If you are worried about costs your DD needs to pick the ones she wants the most and go to those. You should want to see the campuses anyway. Once your DD is on campus they can speak to her freely, invite her back for an unofficial and/or possibly even make an offer. What I think they are looking for is interest from recruits. Who wants to go to their school... who makes the effort to follow through.
The other camp you are talking about with lots of coaches is probably not for your DD if she is already being actively recruited as a freshman.

When my DD was a freshman she was invited to a camp of one of her top choices (which I paid for), the coach watched her at the camp like a hawk. spent almost every minute with her or near her. asked her about her grades, why she wanted to go to the school. after the camp they invited her back for an unofficial visit (which all details were coordinated entirely by her travel coach) where they gave her the whole campus tour, class with a player, meeting with academic advisor, admissions/ professors/ strength & conditioning coach, lunch with team, visit of the dorm rooms, etc. At the end of the tour they made an offer. (They also said they needed her to get specific grades so she can get into the school; which were a little lower than the average student trying to gain entrance into the school) We were blown away.

Basically you need to get on campus somehow. You may not need to go to the camp to get an offer, but if they ask you to go to the camp and are on a short list, they have interest and might be trying to gauge your interest in them. If they ask you to come for an unofficial they most likely want you. Coaches don't have time to just ask anyone to come for a visit and have them spend a day with them. They also typically dont go around offering kids who dont seem like they want to go to their school, won't have the grades or will likely go elsewhere.

Thank you! Exactly what I needed to know!

 

[29dad]

Right now we are looking at $1,000 worth of camps this winter not counting travel. Is it really worth it? She is on the short list at many of these schools so I'm really not sure what we should do. Should we make all these camps a priority?

During my dd's freshman year, we were asking ourselves the exact same question. But we put together a list of 6-7 schools and hit a bunch of camps in late fall and winter, including her number one choice/dream school which was more like a fantasy than a dream. But she made an impression at the camp, the coaches asked her to send them her summer schedule, they saw her play in Colorado, and the rest is history. After my DD verballed, the coach shook her head and said, "if you hadn't come to our winter camp, we never would have known you existed."

Needless to say that we're big believers in camps. Some are better than others (obviously). Some have too many girls and it's hard to get noticed. One awful one was held on a gym floor and the coach instructed the girls not to throw hard due to the tight space. That was at a D1 school (coach no longer there). But we loved camps. Great fun to be at different campuses, walk around, etc. Really gives your dd an idea of whether or not the school would be a good fit. For example, MY number one choice for my DD was completely wrong for her. Figured that out by attending a camp. Coaches were great and the instruction was excellent, but the campus was way too close to a big city for my dd. She just wasn't comfortable. But that was still money well spent just to get that information.

Sorry. rambllng now. Enjoy the process, have fun, and keep us posted.

 

[MNDad]

You’re on the right path. Listen to JAD, goinglefty and 29dad. Ignore comments from the skeptics. Some are envious and others are just plain ignorant.