ID camp emails

[smellycleats]

Please forgive this naïve question, my player is a ulittle. Should we pay any attention to these ID camp emails from various universities? Where did they get the mailing lists for them? Are they sent out with any particular criteria or is everyone getting them?

 

[Anomaly]

In our experience, there's a few ways to figure out whether or not it is a genuine email of interests. Since there are rules regarding contact, it can be hard to distinguish but there's subtle hints.

Feel free to add on...

1. If your kid's name isn't on it, everyone got it.
2. If you scroll down to the bottom of the email and can press "unsubscribe from mailing list", everyone got it (even if your kid's name is on it).
3. If it sounds like a sales-pitch more than an interest letter, everyone got it.

With number 3, sometimes it is hard to tell whether or not it's genuine interest. However, coaches will sometimes add a "we saw you play (and would like you to attend our camp)" or a "you played very well this weekend (and would like you to attend our camp)". Catch my drift? They'll personalize it just enough to be able to tell it apart from the generic email-blast if they really want to see your kid and get them on campus at their camp so they can truly talk to them.

Their emails can be found through the league they're in, recruiting profiles (NCSA, TDS, etc.), your club coaches, etc. Information travels further than you'd think in the soccer world.

 

[outside!]

Great tips by Anomaly.

If the camp is for players 8th grade and younger it is just a fund raiser for the college program. It can still be a good experience for younger players, but it is probably not a recruiting opportunity unless your player is female and grew up playing on a boys team in Brazil.

We had DD attend a summer ID camp as an 8th grader when she was technically one year under the age limit for the camp. She and a teammate went for the experience of playing with older players and to get used to the idea when there was no pressure to impress the coaches.

 

[socalsoccercoach]

A lot of good feedback above. Most ID camps are fundraisers for programs. Although if it is a school your kid is interested in you should attend. My daughter attended one to get her feet wet as a freshman then went to the ones where there was mutual interest as she got older. Some are better than others as well as some can give great info for parents. I would also never pay for those camps where there are a ton of people and coaches those are really money makers for the company and coaches.

 

[smellycleats]

A lot of good feedback above. Most ID camps are fundraisers for programs. Although if it is a school your kid is interested in you should attend. My daughter attended one to get her feet wet as a freshman then went to the ones where there was mutual interest as she got older. Some are better than others as well as some can give great info for parents. I would also never pay for those camps where there are a ton of people and coaches those are really money makers for the company and coaches.

Thanks everyone. Great info.

 

[BeachHawk]

Thoughts on Stanford ID camp, no invites? Several of our families think "run with the best," but from what I've been reading it is one of those big camps. Would love input. Thanks!

 

[GoWest]

Please forgive this naïve question, my player is a ulittle. Should we pay any attention to these ID camp emails from various universities? Where did they get the mailing lists for them? Are they sent out with any particular criteria or is everyone getting them?

Definitely not naive LOL! We've all been there. Some good info as mentioned by others. Our experience was no P5 or high mid-major (Pepperdine, Santa Clara, etc) will send you a camp invite with a personalized note. Any deviation will be construed as a violation. Now, you may inquire about camps and get personalized responses in return based upon your "camp" question.

Again in our experience, we found the best thing to do is to reach out to the recruiting coordinator or coach following a camp invite to find out personally if your DD is on their recruiting radar or if they just want a check $$$.

Best wishes to your DD in her college search.

 

[JackZ]

In our experience, there's a few ways to figure out whether or not it is a genuine email of interests. Since there are rules regarding contact, it can be hard to distinguish but there's subtle hints.

Feel free to add on...

1. If your kid's name isn't on it, everyone got it.
2. If you scroll down to the bottom of the email and can press "unsubscribe from mailing list", everyone got it (even if your kid's name is on it).
3. If it sounds like a sales-pitch more than an interest letter, everyone got it.

With number 3, sometimes it is hard to tell whether or not it's genuine interest. However, coaches will sometimes add a "we saw you play (and would like you to attend our camp)" or a "you played very well this weekend (and would like you to attend our camp)". Catch my drift? They'll personalize it just enough to be able to tell it apart from the generic email-blast if they really want to see your kid and get them on campus at their camp so they can truly talk to them.

Their emails can be found through the league they're in, recruiting profiles (NCSA, TDS, etc.), your club coaches, etc. Information travels further than you'd think in the soccer world.

I've been setting aside all these emails in their own folder for our '03 boy, no rush since it's still early for him. Thanks for this, helps a lot.

 

[outside!]

Great tips by Anomaly.

If the camp is for players 8th grade and younger it is just a fund raiser for the college program. It can still be a good experience for younger players, but it is probably not a recruiting opportunity unless your player is female and grew up playing on a boys team in Brazil.

We had DD attend a summer ID camp as an 8th grader when she was technically one year under the age limit for the camp. She and a teammate went for the experience of playing with older players and to get used to the idea when there was no pressure to impress the coaches.

I would like to add that both DD and her teammate were close to fully grown at the time such that from a distance it was difficult to tell them apart from college players. I would not send a younger player that has not done most of their growing to an ID camp for high school players.

 

[outside!]

Great tips by Anomaly.

If the camp is for players 8th grade and younger it is just a fund raiser for the college program. It can still be a good experience for younger players, but it is probably not a recruiting opportunity unless your player is female and grew up playing on a boys team in Brazil.

We had DD attend a summer ID camp as an 8th grader when she was technically one year under the age limit for the camp. She and a teammate went for the experience of playing with older players and to get used to the idea when there was no pressure to impress the coaches.

I would like to add that both DD and her teammate were close to fully grown at the time such that from a distance it was difficult to tell them apart from college players. I would not send a younger player that has not done most of their growing to an ID camp for high school players.