College Soccer Camps for Girls - What Age to Start?

[Anonymous]

What age is a good age for girls to start going to college camps? They seem to accept girls as young as 13 or 14 (rising 8th graders and rising freshmen), but it seems unwise to put girls as young as that in with 16, 17 and 18 year olds. Any wisdom to share?

[Anonymous]

A lot of times the players will be separated by grade/grad year to make it easier for the coaches to assess recruits. Younger players would not likely be in with the older players unless there are low numbers or the younger player stands out and gets moved to an older group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of times the players will be separated by grade/grad year to make it easier for the coaches to assess recruits. Younger players would not likely be in with the older players unless there are low numbers or the younger player stands out and gets moved to an older group.

My current 8th grader was playing against juniors and seniors this Spring. She said she and a 9th grader were the youngest in the camp with a few sophomores and mostly juniors and seniors. They did not separate by age. They did separate in two groups by skill and not surprisingly she wound up in the lower group. She was somewhat competitive there, but still felt intimidated. I plan to wait until sophomore year to do more camps.

[Anonymous]

First, it depends on what kind of camp you’re talking about. If you’re sending your kid for training, then go ahead and start early. For example, UVA has a great overnight camp in Alexandria that has lots of younger kids attending as well as some high schoolers. Georgetown and other local schools have similar programs.

I’m guessing though that your question is geared more towards ID clinics. For single school clinics (but which may bring in some guest coaches), I’d recommend starting in 9th grade for most players as most of the bigger programs will fill out most of their class with sophomore players so you want to get on their radar before the start of the sophomore year. You will see some 8th graders at camps but for most of them, they’re not as competitive yet so, imho, they should have just waited a year. But if your child is good enough, then go for it as top 9th graders will get offers and commit.

As an aside, under the new rules, coaches are quite restricted on “recruiting” sophomores and below at camps now.

What worked well for introducing my DD to the process was to send her to some “group” ID clinics in the 8th grade, without necessarily focusing on exactly which schools were attending. This gave her exposure to the process, got her used to talking to coaches without being intimidated by the process, learning how she stacks up, and learning about how to stand out (be aggressive/energetic, vocal, don’t get trapped into playing outside back, etc but not a complete ball hog like some players turn into). To give a shoutout, I especially liked the format of the Exact ID camp for someone beginning the process, but would not necessarily recommend it for someone who already has several camps under their belt unless there’s specific schools there who you’re interested in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, it depends on what kind of camp you’re talking about. If you’re sending your kid for training, then go ahead and start early. For example, UVA has a great overnight camp in Alexandria that has lots of younger kids attending as well as some high schoolers. Georgetown and other local schools have similar programs.

I’m guessing though that your question is geared more towards ID clinics. For single school clinics (but which may bring in some guest coaches), I’d recommend starting in 9th grade for most players as most of the bigger programs will fill out most of their class with sophomore players so you want to get on their radar before the start of the sophomore year. You will see some 8th graders at camps but for most of them, they’re not as competitive yet so, imho, they should have just waited a year. But if your child is good enough, then go for it as top 9th graders will get offers and commit.

As an aside, under the new rules, coaches are quite restricted on “recruiting” sophomores and below at camps now.

What worked well for introducing my DD to the process was to send her to some “group” ID clinics in the 8th grade, without necessarily focusing on exactly which schools were attending. This gave her exposure to the process, got her used to talking to coaches without being intimidated by the process, learning how she stacks up, and learning about how to stand out (be aggressive/energetic, vocal, don’t get trapped into playing outside back, etc but not a complete ball hog like some players turn into). To give a shoutout, I especially liked the format of the Exact ID camp for someone beginning the process, but would not necessarily recommend it for someone who already has several camps under their belt unless there’s specific schools there who you’re interested in.

OP poster here. I did mean ID Clinics. Thank you for your insights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What age is a good age for girls to start going to college camps? They seem to accept girls as young as 13 or 14 (rising 8th graders and rising freshmen), but it seems unwise to put girls as young as that in with 16, 17 and 18 year olds. Any wisdom to share?

It is a complete waste of coin unless your child is actively trying to get recruited and is going to one during recruitment years to a college she wants to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What age is a good age for girls to start going to college camps? They seem to accept girls as young as 13 or 14 (rising 8th graders and rising freshmen), but it seems unwise to put girls as young as that in with 16, 17 and 18 year olds. Any wisdom to share?

I think you should start them as soon as possible. Potentially even when they are in the womb.