Prospect camp

[tim_s]

DD #1 is a 2022 - yesterday she got her first invite to a prospect camp, at U of Hartford.......BU, Sacred Heart and a few others will be there

Realistically these lower level D1 programs are more than likely a reach.....she's #2 in her class, a very good travel ball player for the northeast, not elite (she's one of the best players on the field until we play some of the truly elite NE programs at our age level, the teams that play nationwide)......all conference HS as a freshman, should be a conference player of the year down the road, but we're also Class C here in Maine.......I see her at a good D2/3 school of her choice that also has softball.....she wants to play, but it will clearly be college first (pre law right now) while playing because she still enjoys it and knows it keeps her grounded.....

with that being said......this prospect clinic advertises 8 D1 coaches and a very low coach to player ratio......at $239 it really isn't horrible for a day clinic

are things like this worth going to, if nothing else than to work with some good coaches for a day and start to get introduced to the process and getting her name out there? or are they more of a money grab?

her high school coach says go for it, it will be good for you if nothing else......AD says the same.......her travel ball coach (me) says go for it.......her dad (also me) wants to make sure it will have some value before he commits

 

[BT3100]

What positions does she play?

 

[tim_s]

middle infield.....mostly 2b travel, SS HS

 

[Strike2]

I don't think there's one answer. I watched a "cattle call" camp earlier this year with a bunch of kids and a few "college coaches" standing around while they were cycled through some BP and bunt (wtf?) drills. There was no evaluation process...none. That camp was part of a "showcase" tournament, a pure money grab and a total waste of time.

Camps run by a college program at the school are likely better. However, I'd want to know how many kids, the format in detail, who is actually attending, and what evaluation process will be used.

 

[murphdog]

Worst case is that she sees where she stands against a group of other kids playing her primary position, best case one of the schools takes an interest in her.

 

[djcarter1966]

Make it a weekend outing sure a little steep but as others have stated several good things can come out of it.

As others have mentioned though the best camps are the run by the college you are interested in with their coaches in attendance or maybe if its a small group of schools coordinating together...but sometimes it hard to tell whats a cattle call and whats not, one we did was overnight 2 day so space was limited because they only had so many rooms.

 

[tim_s]

this is one day; they made a point to say it was limited number to keep coach to player ratio at 8:1

the schools are a bit of a reach, but probably not a huge one.....and getting one out of the way before it is one that really matters to her isn't a bad idea

and we can stay with my sister for free saturday night lol

 

[justanotherguy]

I've found the "mini" camps may be the best bet. Spend money on specifically what your DD is best at. My DD is a powerhouse batter. She's a catcher, but there are lots of girls that are at the same level or better than her. So it's nice when she can show up for 2 hours and JUST swing a bat. We did one a few months ago at a D1 school a few hours away. We chose the catching portion and the batting portion, skipped the fielding and live game play portion. It was 75 bucks per section. She looked the same as most other girls catching. Batting, she set herself apart and was the obvious best of everyone there. That being said, who knows what the coaches saw. It was still money well spent. Not only from their end, but from our end. For my DD, it knocked her choice of that school down a few pegs, due to some coaching they offered her in catching. They didn't even know what she was doing, taught by NECC. So she realized this was no longer her #2 choice. To me, that's well spent money vs the cattle call, all day, type camps.

 

[FP26]

You have received some good responses here, but one thing I want to mention is that the interaction can be very valuable. Competing in this type of environment with other players at various skill levels, and the potential of having one on one interaction can pay benefits down the road. Even if her future target school is not at this camp, she can utilize that interaction as experience for when the time comes.

 

[tim_s]

You have received some good responses here, but one thing I want to mention is that the interaction can be very valuable. Competing in this type of environment with other players at various skill levels, and the potential of having one on one interaction can pay benefits down the road. Even if her future target school is not at this camp, she can utilize that interaction as experience for when the time comes.

thanks for this.....i am actually going to show her this response; her HS coach told her to go, get out of her comfort zone and compete......which is exactly what she needs!