We know how difficult it is to find the school where you ultimately want to play your sport in college. Even before that, deciding which recruiting camps to attend to help you along the way can cause a lot of stress. You might wonder whether it’s only worth going to the best camps and combines ranked nationally, or if you should only look at recruiting camps in your sport that your friends have gone to.
Do your homework to decide which recruiting camps are right for you.
Don’t ask which recruiting event is the best in your sport, period, because there’s no one answer that will fit everyone. Instead, you need to think about which recruiting camps and combines will help you the most in your recruiting journey.
That’s why we created a full calendar of events that you can search by your sport and hometown.
Find recruiting camps near you today
Attending recruiting combines will absolutely help you — but you need to be smart about them.
Attending recruiting camps can quickly add up, so you’ll have to prioritize which events will work best for your family’s situation. Here are some of the most important questions you can use to guide your conversation:
- What is the budget your family has for attending recruiting camps, combines, showcases and tournaments this year? Does that budget affect the amount of money you can spend on equipment, travel team fees, or other activities?
- How far are you willing to travel for a recruiting camp? Are you interested in attending recruiting events at colleges, where you would have the opportunity to sleep in dorms and get a taste of campus life?
- Have you been in contact with college coaches who will be at, or instructing at, this particular camp? It’s much easier to make a deeper connection with a college coach at a recruiting event if you’ve already reached out to them before you attend.
- Does the camp match your skill level? If you’re an advanced swimmer, attending a camp for beginners is a waste of your time. On the other hand, if you’re still mastering all of your skills, you won’t be showing your best talents if you go to elite basketball camps.
Use recruiting events to connect with college coaches.
As I mentioned above, after you decide which recruiting events will work for you, make the most of them to deepen your connections with college coaches.
Coaches are busy people, and often use tools like Front Rush to plan out how to make the most of their time at events. Here’s how you can make sure that you’ll connect with coaches while attending a camp:
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- Send the coach an email letting them know you’ll be attending the camp. Never show up at a camp where the coach has never heard from you before.
- The very first day of camp, shake the coach’s hand and introduce yourself. Make sure you are proactively asking the coach for any evaluations or feedback they could give you after each day’s sessions.
- Play hard and be vocal to prove the coach that you’re a leader on the field.
- At the end of the camp, respectfully ask the coach for feedback, and whether he or she thinks you’d be an ideal recruit for their program.
- When you get home from the camp, send the coach a sincere thank you email to follow up.
We’re here to help you decide which recruiting events are right for you. The best way to get started is with a recruiting profile.
The post How To Talk To Coaches About Recruiting Camps You’ll Attend appeared first on NCSA Athletic Recruiting Blog.