College ID Camps

[Anonymous]

Does going to college ID camps help you get recruited, and what year should you start? Are they necessary if your team is at the big showcases? Are you better off going to a large one with multiple schools or to one at a specific college campus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does going to college ID camps help you get recruited, and what year should you start? Are they necessary if your team is at the big showcases? Are you better off going to a large one with multiple schools or to one at a specific college campus?

Most college id camps are run as fundraisers for the program. Numbers is a good sign, if they're taking 50 or more players they're not watching it's just a fundraiser. Sometimes if it's a d1 school and there are lower division coaches there as well the lower division coaches could actually be there to look for players. I remember the first id clinic I took my daughter to at ODU where the coach came out to greet everyone in the morning then went into her office then came back out at the end to say goodbye--that let me know what they're about.

[Anonymous]

I agree that these can be cattle calls and money makers for the programs, however, they can also serve as a complement to other recruiting opportunities. For example, a coach may come see your player at a showcase for a few minutes, and then will use the ID camp to get to know the player better. It's also a chance for the player to interact with the coaching staff and current players, see the campus and athletic facilities (often a tour is offered), and get some extended time in front of the coaches. I agree that the ODU story below is discouraging but I don't think it's typical.

[Anonymous]

They are all different.
My DD went to one at Dartmouth and the HC was very hands on. Her roommate stubbed her toe one night and needed a bandaid. They called the number that was given to them if they needed assistance and the HC showed up at their door with a first aid kit.

[Anonymous]

If you have communicated directly with the coaching staff and know that they want to see you and talk to you than it can be a great opportunity.

[Anonymous]

ID camps are a good way to either get on a coaches radar as well as a good way to follow up with coaches as well.

Kids generally do not get recruited out of them but they do provide some face time that can be useful to attract some interest in your player when emailing out showcase info as well as attending to follow up if a coach attends a game.

Whenever there is an opportunity to put an actual face to go along with the number of emails ID camps are an important piece.

It gets old hearing how everything is a "money grab". Yes, things cost money and some camps are better than others it is just how things are.

[Anonymous]

My DD's experience was that they were hugely beneficial. She got on the radar of a few schools at a "money grab" where there were many kids (100+) and many coaches (15+) in the 9th grade. That one was more for experience of camp settings and it helped, but was clear that it was not where the interest would come from. She then narrowed her list to a set of schools that had majors she was interested in and she thought she could play at (she knew she would not make it soccer wise at UNC, Duke, UVA, etc.). She then hit those camps pretty hard and attended camps at her top 5 schools about 2-3 times each until she could tell which ones were really interested, had the right culture fit for her, etc. She build very strong relationships with the coaching staff at each of these 5 schools which resulted in them knowing her well, coming to watch her at showcases, etc. Eventually, she got offers from 3 of her top 5 and the other 2 she declared as not good fits for her. None of this would have likely happened without the school specific camps (40 or less field players, 4-5 keepers and just that school's coaches on the field watching and training with the kids).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD's experience was that they were hugely beneficial. She got on the radar of a few schools at a "money grab" where there were many kids (100+) and many coaches (15+) in the 9th grade. That one was more for experience of camp settings and it helped, but was clear that it was not where the interest would come from. She then narrowed her list to a set of schools that had majors she was interested in and she thought she could play at (she knew she would not make it soccer wise at UNC, Duke, UVA, etc.). She then hit those camps pretty hard and attended camps at her top 5 schools about 2-3 times each until she could tell which ones were really interested, had the right culture fit for her, etc. She build very strong relationships with the coaching staff at each of these 5 schools which resulted in them knowing her well, coming to watch her at showcases, etc. Eventually, she got offers from 3 of her top 5 and the other 2 she declared as not good fits for her. None of this would have likely happened without the school specific camps (40 or less field players, 4-5 keepers and just that school's coaches on the field watching and training with the kids).

Great post.

[Anonymous]

Exactly. Id camps are great for the top 2nd tier kids that are not playing at uva georgetown duke etc... Ivies in particular are good to go to for id camps if you value long term educational benefits rather than trying to get a third of your college paid paid for.

[Anonymous]

My DS attended several college ID camps. At the first one, Villanova, the feedback stated, "a strong player suited for D2 or D3."

He attended D2 (Wingate) and performed well enough for a call back. At D3, he got immediate offers from three schools.

One other D1 program indicated he did not get an offer because he did not attend the ID camp.

Unless your child is getting recruited, I suggest attending a handful of college ID camps for schools of interest. This way your child is evaluated by the coaching staff and s/he can access the program while there.

The cost to attend is nominal, especially when compared to playing MLS Next or ECNL. Plus you also get to see the school and facilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS attended several college ID camps. At the first one, Villanova, the feedback stated, "a strong player suited for D2 or D3."

He attended D2 (Wingate) and performed well enough for a call back. At D3, he got immediate offers from three schools.

One other D1 program indicated he did not get an offer because he did not attend the ID camp.

Unless your child is getting recruited, I suggest attending a handful of college ID camps for schools of interest. This way your child is evaluated by the coaching staff and s/he can access the program while there.

The cost to attend is nominal, especially when compared to playing MLS Next or ECNL. Plus you also get to see the school and facilities.

DS got that same treatment from Wingate with detailed follow-up emails too. He stayed in touch sending updated video and other updates. He was invited back to the longer summer camp and performed well there (according to him)... His follow-up email from the summer camp stated he was a selfish player! He's a LOT of things..... but selfish player isn't one of them. So a month or so later we were at another nearby D2 camp and I was commiserating with the other dads - three other families received almost the same exact wording in their rejection emails from Wingate!

Regarding D1 camps - DS attended a B1G camp and received interest from U. of Dayton as a follow-on from that. SO as stated above - camps can have benefits. We did not like the big combined multi-school camps as much as the targeted ones with specific schools.