college camp invites

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I have a junior/ pitcher and she is getting several camp/clinic invites. How do you tell if the college is seriously interested or is she on a fund raiser list? Some of the colleges know who she is, been to a few of their camps last year & appeared at tournaments over summer. Want to show interest but not take a third job to pay for it all!

 

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ALL camps are fundraisers ! However, it does give you a opportunity to talk openly with the coaches, players, and managers without violating NCAA rules. If it is a college that you are seriously interested in both academically and ahletically, I would go. JMHO.

 

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Most are just invites to a camp as a fund raiser for the school or the coach. If she is interrested in the college then go; but don't expect a scholarship offer.

 

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Camps are just what the guys above said, fund raisers for the team. They get rosters and blanket invite. Ive seen where the head coach welcomes you to the camp and you never see her again and the players run the show.

Unless youre specifically invited by the head coach, dont expect much individual attention.

 

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yea, specific invite from head coach.

 

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Won't they contact her (if interested) by a certain date, maybe Sept 1?

 

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I have a junior/ pitcher and she is getting several camp/clinic invites. How do you tell if the college is seriously interested or is she on a fund raiser list? Some of the colleges know who she is, been to a few of their camps last year & appeared at tournaments over summer. Want to show interest but not take a third job to pay for it all!

Your daughter's name got on a mailing list, most often because she attended that camp last year, or the mailing list was shared between coaches/programs. Remember, that flyer/brochure probably was mailed to several hundred kids just like her.

As a junior pitcher, you/she should have a pretty good grasp of what programs her talent would qualify her for. You need to pick and choose schools that interest her academically, then "qualify" those schools by matching her pitching skill level to the level of the softball program. That will tell you what camps to attend. For instance, if she knows that she's not a BIG-10 caliber pitcher, you're wasting time and money going to Big-10 camps.

Ultimately, the tried and true recruiting methods work best - writing letters/emails, skills videos etc. She has to show an interest in the program FIRST using those methods. If a coach is really interested in her after getting to know her, she will start getting phone calls directly from the head coach.

 

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Won't they contact her (if interested) by a certain date, maybe Sept 1?

NCAA Div I schools can't start emailing juniors on Sept 1. Coaches can't call or talk to recruits off campus until July 1, but coaches can be called anytime. See JoeA's post below for Div II and III rules. NAIA rules are far less stringent about contact.

If you're unsure about the school's level of interest - call them and at least find out which positions they're looking for in the 2014 class.

 

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Nice comments Sammy

 

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NCAA schools can start emailing juniors on Sept 1. Coaches can't call or talk to recruits off campus until July 1, but coaches can be called anytime. NAIA rules are far less stringent about contact.

If you're unsure about the school's level of interest - call them and at least find out which positions they're looking for in the 2014 class.

The above rules are for Div. I. Division II and III rules are different. Div. II can now start contacting girls on June 15 after their sophomore year. Div. III schools can contact them as soon as they are freshmen, I'm pretty sure. This includes texting for Div. II and Div. III, which used to not be permitted. One mistake many girls make is to write Div. II and III coaches and assume Div. I rules apply to everybody and say something like "I know you can't contact me yet." It's somewhat understandable, but it's always good to see a girl has done her homework and knows the rules for the school to which she is writing.

 

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The above rules are for Div. I. Division II and III rules are different. Div. II can now start contacting girls on June 15 after their sophomore year. Div. III schools can contact them as soon as they are freshmen, I'm pretty sure. This includes texting for Div. II and Div. III, which used to not be permitted. ...

My bad.

Looks like D3 made a change early this year so they can't have in-person, off-campus contact until after the player's junior year (13.1.1.1 revised 1/19/12).

 

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yea, specific invite from head coach.

Question, how can you tell if the head coach invited you (assuming you got an email and this wasn't a verbal invite). My daughter started emailing a few schools using berecruited (which has her video on it). One of the coaches visited her berecruited site and sent her an email attaching a questionnaire. She didn't fill it out right away and the following week, she got another email, this time from the head coach, asking her to fill out the questionnaire (which she did). Since then, we have got weekly emails about up coming camps at this school. It is possible they saw her play (because she sent them her game schedule on two occasions, and we know they were at one tournament). (her 2012 team folded after this summer and her 2012 travel ball coach has not been in contact with us or other kids on the team ) any advice from those who have been through this would be appreciated!

 

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Question, how can you tell if the head coach invited you (assuming you got an email and this wasn't a verbal invite). My daughter started emailing a few schools using berecruited (which has her video on it). One of the coaches visited her berecruited site and sent her an email attaching a questionnaire. She didn't fill it out right away and the following week, she got another email, this time from the head coach, asking her to fill out the questionnaire (which she did). Since then, we have got weekly emails about up coming camps at this school. It is possible they saw her play (because she sent them her game schedule on two occasions, and we know they were at one tournament). (her 2012 team folded after this summer and her 2012 travel ball coach has not been in contact with us or other kids on the team ) any advice from those who have been through this would be appreciated!

I dont think it would get any more of a invite than that, go to the camp.

 

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What we've learned about camp invites over the years, if the phone number to the coach is on the email then we called those true camp invites, then call as a parent and ask their interest level before spending the money, ask what positions are they in most need of for your dd's graduation year, if no phone number, we asked the Head Coach or President of the Organization to contact and to this day, never received a response, lol. Since your kid is a Junior, then sit tight till September 1, as she then can receive emails that state important things, and not just a camp invite. Good Luck!

 

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I rate these invites by the type of camp it is. If it is a regular open enrollment camp you are taking your chances. If it is the schools "elite" camp where they only invite 20-25 players then there is real interest.

But like everyone says a simple call to teh coach is always a good way to find out. Remember coaches usually have 20-30 kids they follow in each HS class. So their "yes we are interested" could be legit.

 

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I can only tell you from our perspective. I will send an email to every coach our players contact. If they respond I will call them as well. I think the parents usually stay away until they think there is an interest. I have found that college coaches tend to respond to non-parent coaches more openly than they might to parents or parent coaches. If your team is a team they recognize, or if they have seen you at events it is even more likely that they will respond. It is hard to imagine how many emails and calls these coaches get thse days. I would think they are slammed almost every day.

 

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I can only tell you from our perspective. I will send an email to every coach our players contact. If they respond I will call them as well. I think the parents usually stay away until they think there is an interest. I have found that college coaches tend to respond to non-parent coaches more openly than they might to parents or parent coaches. If your team is a team they recognize, or if they have seen you at events it is even more likely that they will respond. It is hard to imagine how many emails and calls these coaches get thse days. I would think they are slammed almost every day.

To add onto this, our summer coach was invaluable in this part of the process for exactly the reason Flarays says. They could ask the tough questions and get more realistic answers than I could as a parent.
I would identify the school, email him the coaches name and phone number, and what we needed/wanted to know and then he would call and get an answer.
These camps were a perfect opportunity to put him to work for us. He would call and find out if they even knew much about my daughter and their interest before we went to the camps.
The toughest call I asked him to make was when a school very far away from home was interested in my daughter and wanted us to visit, so I had him call and basically tell them that if they were not offering a full ride I was not going to spend the money to go visit the school. He called and got the answer for us. I don't know if I could have gotten that answer myself.