The real reason for both of these events is an unanswered question.
My hope was, and I think most parents think, that these camps create exposure for
their kid to the coaches of a particular college. And that through this exposure the
kid might have an opportunity to get a spot on that college team. Especially as the
player approaches high school graduation.
When my son was younger, we sent him to Furman for their camp. Their program had a good reputation (can I say Client Dempsey) and I thought it would help my son's skills and game knowledge grow. Also it was a way to jump into the pool in search for a college opportunity.
Statement 2 is true. My son attended this camp 3 years and with several of his club teammates. They had
a good time socially and played a lot of soccer for a week. I felt like it improved his game and was
worth the investment.
Statement 1, in my opinion is false. I will cover this a little more later.... but as an example, my son again
attended a USC ID camp January. They announced their signings in February. They signed 1kid
from Norway, 1 kid from France, 1 kid was a Junior transfer from another school in SC, 1 kid from
Texas and 1 from Virginia. There were approximately 80 kids at this ID camp. They came from as far away as Missouri (10 hours) and Illinois. The license plates in the parking lot were amazing. I don't think any of them had a chance for a spot on the team. This was similar the year before.
Of course these are money making events. I have heard of college coaches with contracts that
allow them to personally keep the profits from the summer camps and ID camps. So these are
actually businesses. This can become a significant amount if the camp is $600, the actual cost
per camper is say $300 and you have 200 kids..($60K) This seems to be more true of the
larger D1 camps.
In my opinion, unless you are personally, not a chain letter or marketing letter... I mean a direct coach discussion type email.. not one way (i.e. he sends one to you.... you respond... no answer) asked to
attend and ID camp, there is not much benefit. It is not zero benefit. They see you enough, they may
try to help you out... but the cost/benefit ratio is very small.
When my son got a personal invite, and to a D2 camp (i.e. smaller school), I thought he got a fair
shake from the coach. He got looked at and got personal feedback that was not the general mumbo jumbo stuff. As a parent I felt my money was worth it, even if the outcome was not what I wanted.
But if you do attend and ID camp... and after some direct conversation with a coach, he will want to
see you in person... understand this is not normal soccer !! This is a pick up game with a group of
players of varying skill. So don't expect to wall pass a player and get the ball right back. My son
made this mistake several times. Having played ODP ball, he was use to possession type soccer,
relieve pressure by passing back, work the ball to the 18 and create a scoring opportunity...
Not so at an ID camp. If you do that you will get the critique that my son got..... "he is not having
an impact on the game"... huh? I thought that was good soccer? It is.... good TEAM soccer.
ID camps are not about TEAM, they are about players. Another critique is "his speed of play
is to slow".... speed of play is based on who you are playing with (remember varied skill levels),
so it is difficult to show that ability in folks not at your level.
The moral of the story, and I had my son's high school coach talk to him about this.... he played college
soccer.... to one, be more direct... take people on... don't relieve pressure... and two pick out a
few players at your skill level... create a quick friendship and show bursts of speed of play.
You need to show off your strengths... and TEAM play is not a skill in this environment they are
looking for. That is something that I guess they assume will come later...