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Recruiting Tip of the Week

Summer Camps Give Athletes the Opportunity to Get Noticed
By Dan Tudor
05/17/2002

Summer is approaching, and that means it's time to start thinking about summer sports camps. If you play your cards right, camps can offer a great opportunity for exposure for high school athletes looking to move on to the college level.

Recruit recently partnered with Student Sports, the producers of the Nike Football Camps nationwide. Recruit will be following up with each Nike Football Camp participant to ensure that they have the opportunity to be seen nationally by college coaches. College coaches also attend the Nike camps, evaluating incoming seniors for scholarship consideration. This is just one example of why camps can be valuable in getting your name out to colleges as you head into your senior year.

First, let's answer the question, "Why should I try to attend a summer sports camp?" There are a few good answers to that question. First, it gives you the opportunity to get better as an athlete. Competition for scholarships is fierce, and if you aren't doing things to improve your overall skill you are hurting your chances of wining a sports scholarship. Second, it allows you to be seen by college coaches who might be attending the camps, and at least by the college coach who is running the camp.

The next most frequently asked question we get here at Recruit is, "What camp should I attend?" That's a tough one to answer, but generally we recommend in attending a camp at a college that you think you might want to attend in the future. It will allow you to talk to the coaching staff at the school, and find out more about the college. There are also camps and combines that are run by outside organizations - like Student Sports - that are not hosted by a specific school, but offer coaches from many different colleges the opportunity to evaluate talent. These are great options as well.

Once you have attended a camp, make sure you follow up with any and all coaches that you know were there. Introduce yourself personally to the head coach or recruiting coordinator of the school hosting the camp and find out what opportunities exist.

One important point to note is that college coaches who attend Nike Camps or other camps are usually there to evaluate talent that they are already aware of. That means that if you play in a tournament or attend a camp that have 50 college coaches present, those coaches may not notice you because they are there to scout players they already know about. Assuming that's the case, there are two strategies: First, use an organization like Recruit to help get quality information out to college coaches nationwide. If that's not an option for you, make sure you are proactive at the events. Walk up and introduce yourself to college coaches that you see at the event and hand them a quick summary of information about yourself. Use it as an opportunity to get to know them, and have them remember you when they go back to their campuses.

Summer camps and tournaments can be a big opportunity if you are smart and proactive. Make sure your summer consists of more than just a bag of potato chips and reruns of "Friends." Improve yourself as an athlete, and your chances of playing college sports.