College Camps

[PaulP]

Should I lower my expectations for college camps? My daughter went to two camps for D1 schools this winter. Neither camp had the catchers throw, except back the pitcher. At one camp, the catchers didn’t even do warmup throwing. I paid for my daughter to be a bullpen catcher, twice. (The catchers did do blocking and footwork drills at both camps). Are there college camps out there that take the time to have catchers throw pickoffs and to second? I just want to spend my money wisely in the future.

 

[Stedman00]

several sides to this. 1) maybe both schools are overloaded with catchers already and have commits as well for next 1-2 years. So really not looking. 2) don't know you or your DD, but is she truly D1 skill level? Not trying to be mean or degrading. 3.) camps both could be set up to strictly a money grab scenario. 4.) my experience has much more interaction with the actual head coaches at smaller school camps and clinics.

 

[OhPhat]

My dd went to a D1 camp last year as a catcher and they did break the catchers out in a group to work on receiving, blocking, stance and all throws.

Afterward they did get the opportunity to catch some very high quality D1 prospect pitchers and work on blocking and framing which was also a good for my DD.

 

[PaulP]

It wasn’t just my daughter that didn’t throw. Not one catcher threw farther than 43 feet, so talent level had nothing to do with.

I’m not bitter (maybe disappointed because I picked the camps based on driving distance). I get that softball is underfunded and that camps generate needed income. But, if I knew beforehand that the catchers were not going to throw, then I would have signed her up for a different position.

Let’s just hope we have softball this summer...

 

[Xrayaries]

A couple questions.

Did you contact the coach prior to the camp?

Did you contact the coach to find out what players they are looking at for your DD's grad year?

Most coaches I have dealt with will give you schedule of events for the day. Don't be afraid to call them.

Never ever waste your money on a school camp where you know they are not recruiting you, or your position.

 

[PaulP]

Yes, emails and tweets were sent, but with current recruiting rules, it’s hard to get that level of information until the coach is allowed to communicate directly with the player. In hindsight, I should have made a bigger effort to go to one of the schools that follow her Twitter feed. I knew a recruiting camp for the general public had little value. I was just surprised the coaches didn’t bother to have the catchers throw.

 

[Xrayaries]

Yes, emails and tweets were sent, but with current recruiting rules, it’s hard to get that level of information until the coach is allowed to communicate directly with the player. In hindsight, I should have made a bigger effort to go to one of the schools that follow her Twitter feed. I knew a recruiting camp for the general public had little value. I was just surprised the coaches didn’t bother to have the catchers throw.

You can call coaches to ask questions about their camps. Find out how they will be working out the catchers.

 

[PaulP]

That’s good advice. It never crossed my mind to do that.

 

[Cougerfan]

Paul were these camps, elite camps or regular camps? There is usually more instruction at regular camps. If they were elite camps your dd is suppose to already know her position. At the elite camp you are paying for the oppurtunity to be seen by the coach's. Did your daughter ask the coach for the chance to throw down? She is her own best advocate.

 

[PaulP]

These were called “winter camps”. From what I recall, not all of the colleges had separate “elite” camps, but you make a good point that a lot do, and that details matter when selecting which camps to attend. I think my experience is an outlier, but it does suggest that having a 14 or 15 year attend a camp with a 100+ girls has limited value. I doubt that a camp performance is going to matter (i.e., result in a meaningful scholarship) if your daughter’s recruiting video doesn’t show a desirable skill set (throwing 60+ mph, elite speed and/or crazy bat speed).

I did find it interesting that a D1 coach at a different camp thought that many girls would benefit from waiting to send a recruiting video to college coaches. His thinking was that first impressions matter more now, and a player with a video that showed a flaw might be ignored when she becomes a junior, even if the player was able to fix the flaw with hard work as she matured. It’s not easy navigating this process.

 

[Cougerfan]

Paul, going to camp is extremely important. However you need her to attend camps at schools she is interested in and as often as possible. The coaches will take notice and when she is at their camp she needs to talk to them let them know she is interested them. Colleges don't fund softball like football. Colleges will build recruiting time around girls that have shown interest in their school.

 

[Xrayaries]

Every

These were called “winter camps”. From what I recall, not all of the colleges had separate “elite” camps, but you make a good point that a lot do, and that details matter when selecting which camps to attend. I think my experience is an outlier, but it does suggest that having a 14 or 15 year attend a camp with a 100+ girls has limited value. I doubt that a camp performance is going to matter (i.e., result in a meaningful scholarship) if your daughter’s recruiting video doesn’t show a desirable skill set (throwing 60+ mph, elite speed and/or crazy bat speed).

I did find it interesting that a D1 coach at a different camp thought that many girls would benefit from waiting to send a recruiting video to college coaches. His thinking was that first impressions matter more now, and a player with a video that showed a flaw might be ignored when she becomes a junior, even if the player was able to fix the flaw with hard work as she matured. It’s not easy navigating this process.

Send out training videos they like to see development. Don't make a full blown recruiting video till their junior year. Well made 1min-2min training videos to show development is a great start.