Guest Post: Common Misconceptions About College Baseball Camps

Jeff Moree, a senior high school pitcher at Carmel Catholic, in Illinois, submitted this article on attending college showcase camps. Good advice! As always, I encourage you to submit your articles, details here.

So you just got a letter in the mail from the University of Texas, or an email from USC. Congrats! You are one of the thousands of ball players who receive these canned letters with the main message being "Dear prospect, come to our camp! Be seen by college coaches for only $599!" 

Does this scenario sound familiar to you? Well if that is the case, you are not alone. I am now a high school senior with my final high school baseball season quickly approaching. For over a year now, I have been receiving daily letters and emails from all sorts of schools "offering" me a spot in their "select" camp. 

The million dollar question is, which camps should you go to? To answer this, we need to be realistic. If you are a right handed pitcher with a low 80s fastball, and you get a letter from University of Miami, do you really think you have a shot? Well I hate to break it to you, but the chances of you playing for the Hurricanes are mighty slim. The truth is that high profile colleges try to make money off of their camps by inviting players that have hopes of playing college baseball, but have no realistic chance of playing at that school. 

However, don't ignore all of these invites to camps. If you really have your heart set on playing for a certain school and you have a realistic chance at doing so, then by all means go to their camp! It is a great way to get your name on the school's recruiting list. Be wary, these camps can cost several hundred dollars, so use judgment when deciding which camps to attend.

If in doubt, talk to your high school baseball coach and ask them for their honest opinion on which colleges you have a shot at playing for. Don't waster thousands of dollars on those money making camps. Go to a couple camps of schools where you have a realistic shot at playing. Good luck!

Comments

[dwcooper]

Baseball camps are a great way to get your name out there. The only issue is making sure the coaches know who you are. If it is possible you should contact the coach ahead of time and let them know who you are. Make sure they can put a face to the name and get to know or else you just blend into the crowd like any other player if you only have average stuff. If you show up lighting up the radar gun none of that is important but for most pitchers like myself who actually know how to pitch and not just throw hard it took a lot more effort to get coaches to know who I am. But it is possible to make it to a great school. It is extremely important a coach can put a face to the name or it will not be worth the money.

[Steven Ellis]

Very nice tips, Coop. Thanks.

Steven