It's pretty simple....we (EFT and myself) had planned a spring showcase in Mid May at McCook because when we scheduled it we had over 40 college coaches already confirmed to attend BEFORE opening up registration....once the pandemic hit hard AND the NCAA began extending the recruiting dead period the writing was on the wall. The longer the pandemic went on we pushed the original date back to later this summer...with the hopes of eyeing a chance at having a camp that could still benefit kids and also draw college attention/interest.
Once the NCAA wiped out the spring and summer evals we both decided to cancel the camp.
Now I see we have some others still planning on and adding new camps.
Again....I've been hosting showcase camps for about as long or longer as anyone and I generally will never come out and slam anyone else for attempting to have camps (again one of the many differences of how I do things versus many others). Yet that doesn't mean I don't have thoughts or opinions.
I take full responsibility of making sure the camp with my name on them will benefit kids/parents along with providing as safe as possible of an event for kids/parents and the coaches involved. In this current scenario I just don't feel these camps in many cases are worth the money or the time for several important reasons.
I totally understand parents wanting to do whatever they can to help out in anyway they can...but sadly I also see parents getting taken for a ride financially when we have millions on layoffs and furloughs. My suggestions for you IF you decide to send your son to any of these upcoming camps?
Make sure they video tape your son's full performance. See the link from EFT this is basically an ideal way to shoot your son for college coaches to evaluate. Also take note of the various angles EFT uses....this allows college coaches to self time for themselves. Feel free to use this video format for yourself and for your son....and in many cases this will be cheaper and much more effective than paying for and getting shaky video etc.
Also?
If any camp promises college coaches in attendance ask for a current list of coaches. My guess is you will see very little if any college coaches on the road right now. Why? Besides NCAA lockdown (understand that some NCAA levels like D2/D3 have different rules regarding off campus visits etc and NAIA literally has separate and completely different rules) those same schools who are allowed are risking Covid exposure and bringing it back to the team and several coaches I've spoken with said they will not be on the road at all this summer because of this.
I'm also interested to see how much social distancing/following of CDC guidelines will happen especially when I see these various facilities planning to host these events. This was another main reason we decided to hold off and we had access to McCook Max Center...arguably the largest indoor facility on Chicagoland if not Illinois. It's already hard enough organizing these camps can't imagine having to also separate kids etc.
Timing? If so hand timed or laser? Laser is the preferred timing method. The main issues with camps self/hand timing is that if you run a bad time it sticks with you and if you run a great time college coaches in most cases won't believe it and will want to time you themselves.
Media coverage? We (Rivals) get out logo and name slapped on every camp in the nation and as far as I know no one from Rivals and/or myself has any plans to cover any upcoming camps in this time period in the State of Illinois. Ask which media will be there or in the case of myself or anyone from Rivals again just ask me. When these camp host talk about exposure....how? Because they have a Twitter account? Which media network do they work for? Audience?
Again best of luck and let the buyer beware.
Once the NCAA wiped out the spring and summer evals we both decided to cancel the camp.
Now I see we have some others still planning on and adding new camps.
Again....I've been hosting showcase camps for about as long or longer as anyone and I generally will never come out and slam anyone else for attempting to have camps (again one of the many differences of how I do things versus many others). Yet that doesn't mean I don't have thoughts or opinions.
I take full responsibility of making sure the camp with my name on them will benefit kids/parents along with providing as safe as possible of an event for kids/parents and the coaches involved. In this current scenario I just don't feel these camps in many cases are worth the money or the time for several important reasons.
I totally understand parents wanting to do whatever they can to help out in anyway they can...but sadly I also see parents getting taken for a ride financially when we have millions on layoffs and furloughs. My suggestions for you IF you decide to send your son to any of these upcoming camps?
Make sure they video tape your son's full performance. See the link from EFT this is basically an ideal way to shoot your son for college coaches to evaluate. Also take note of the various angles EFT uses....this allows college coaches to self time for themselves. Feel free to use this video format for yourself and for your son....and in many cases this will be cheaper and much more effective than paying for and getting shaky video etc.
Also?
If any camp promises college coaches in attendance ask for a current list of coaches. My guess is you will see very little if any college coaches on the road right now. Why? Besides NCAA lockdown (understand that some NCAA levels like D2/D3 have different rules regarding off campus visits etc and NAIA literally has separate and completely different rules) those same schools who are allowed are risking Covid exposure and bringing it back to the team and several coaches I've spoken with said they will not be on the road at all this summer because of this.
I'm also interested to see how much social distancing/following of CDC guidelines will happen especially when I see these various facilities planning to host these events. This was another main reason we decided to hold off and we had access to McCook Max Center...arguably the largest indoor facility on Chicagoland if not Illinois. It's already hard enough organizing these camps can't imagine having to also separate kids etc.
Timing? If so hand timed or laser? Laser is the preferred timing method. The main issues with camps self/hand timing is that if you run a bad time it sticks with you and if you run a great time college coaches in most cases won't believe it and will want to time you themselves.
Media coverage? We (Rivals) get out logo and name slapped on every camp in the nation and as far as I know no one from Rivals and/or myself has any plans to cover any upcoming camps in this time period in the State of Illinois. Ask which media will be there or in the case of myself or anyone from Rivals again just ask me. When these camp host talk about exposure....how? Because they have a Twitter account? Which media network do they work for? Audience?
Again best of luck and let the buyer beware.
