ID Camps

[Guest]

There are a larger ID camps this summer. Are any worth the time for recruiting or experience (as in, a good experience to see what these are like)? ID Sports USA, EXACT, Next Step, etc. Can anyone recommend what to attend / stay away from?
Thanks!

[Guest]

My D did EXACT. Some good some bad. Learned alot and was able to get some communication going w a few schools. Ultimately didn’t go to a school that was there. Worst case you can see how you measure up against players from all over. Some likely learned they don’t have it which is a tough but necessary message.

[Guest]

There are a larger ID camps this summer. Are any worth the time for recruiting or experience (as in, a good experience to see what these are like)? ID Sports USA, EXACT, Next Step, etc. Can anyone recommend what to attend / stay away from?
Thanks!

From my experience the Exact ID camp would be a good first time experience. There were about 40+ coaches at the one my kid attended. If it’s like the one we attended you can pick your attending college of choice and hopefully you will be out on a team with those coaches. There were 150 players or so at the one we attended so there were 10 teams. 2 separate college coaches per team and then they played 25 minutes games against each other. The beneficial part of you haven’t been to an id camp is you will have lectured sessions by a panel of coaches breaking down everything from the recruiting process. Also have sessions where you talk to coaches individually to kind of break the ice on getting comfortable on what a session like that would be like. They kind of show you what to expect in one on one coaches talks.

with that said, if you have already experienced a camp like this and are familiar with the recruiting process then I would focus on emailing the coaches of the schools your kid is interested in with a resume and short highlight film. It’s a numbers game so do this to many coaches and also all the levels not just d1’s. See where the return interest falls and focus on those schools. From my experience, even if your kid plays ECNL, it’s good to throw some d3 schools in there. They can’t talk to your kid at any grade level. D1’s and 2’s can’t. Lock in the experience with the d3’s and then work your way up to see where interest meets ability.

[Guest]

There are a larger ID camps this summer. Are any worth the time for recruiting or experience (as in, a good experience to see what these are like)? ID Sports USA, EXACT, Next Step, etc. Can anyone recommend what to attend / stay away from?
Thanks!

Waste of time. I had my D do two of these to prep for specific school id camps. The first was well attended by lots of D3 local coaches, lots of familiar players too. She received exactly 1 response back in regards to her play. The second camp was a giant waste, my D wanted to leave early. Coaches (esp the MIT guy) were not there for anything other than the money. He was completely checked out. If I knew then what I know now we’d have skipped these local cattle calls and concentrate on the school specific Id camps. The school specific ones have been worth the time and money

[Guest]

Waste of time. I had my D do two of these to prep for specific school id camps. The first was well attended by lots of D3 local coaches, lots of familiar players too. She received exactly 1 response back in regards to her play. The second camp was a giant waste, my D wanted to leave early. Coaches (esp the MIT guy) were not there for anything other than the money. He was completely checked out. If I knew then what I know now we’d have skipped these local cattle calls and concentrate on the school specific Id camps. The school specific ones have been worth the time and money

He may have checked back in if there was something to see?

[Guest]

There are other recent threads on this topic as well.

[Guest]

He may have checked back in if there was something to see?

Sure, she’s been contacted by more than a few D1 schools this week but maybe he just wasn’t interested…in anyone. To be fair, some of the coaches WERE invested, but the MIT guy stood out as completely disinterested in being there. Wheaton and Ithaca reached out soon after the camp. I was just surprised that so few coaches reached out, especially since D3 can talk at anytime. But…maybe she was too young for them to waste their time. Just my experience, could be unique, but since the question was asked It felt more like a money grab than a chance to recruit.

[Guest]

My D did EXACT. Some good some bad. Learned alot and was able to get some communication going w a few schools. Ultimately didn’t go to a school that was there. Worst case you can see how you measure up against players from all over. Some likely learned they don’t have it which is a tough but necessary message.

^ Best reason to do one of these well before you're really targeting schools - see where you fit, see if you can keep up, see how it works and get the jitters out. Some connections are made that work out, more often not, but it should be all about the targeting.

[Guest]

Waste of time. I had my D do two of these to prep for specific school id camps. The first was well attended by lots of D3 local coaches, lots of familiar players too. She received exactly 1 response back in regards to her play. The second camp was a giant waste, my D wanted to leave early. Coaches (esp the MIT guy) were not there for anything other than the money. He was completely checked out. If I knew then what I know now we’d have skipped these local cattle calls and concentrate on the school specific Id camps. The school specific ones have been worth the time and money

Going to one is the recommended max for reasons above, then go to school specific ones. Going to one can help you better target the on campus events. Don't waste your time and money with school events if you're a poor fit.

[Guest]

There are a larger ID camps this summer. Are any worth the time for recruiting or experience (as in, a good experience to see what these are like)? ID Sports USA, EXACT, Next Step, etc. Can anyone recommend what to attend / stay away from?
Thanks!

Not sure if this is a legit post but I will bite. I can only speak for the boys since I just went through the recruiting process. First...you don't say what year your kid is or if boy or girl. Second, it's important to know what level your kid currently plays. Without that info I would say this:

*I agree with the poster above. Do a camp and see where your kid stacks up.
*If you think that your kid will go to a camp and score 10 goals and get noticed then you are delusional. There isn't enough playing time and most coaches are only at these camps for the money.
*Definitely target the camp based on the schools you are interested in but you need to be realistic and factor in your kids gpa and playing ability then go to the camp (For example...don't go to the Tufts camp if your kid has a 3.5 GPA and plays NPL.).. 90% of these camps are a money grab. My kid did a camp and there were 20 coaches at the camp. He scored multiple goals and he was in the camps highlight video advertisement...but he didn't get one call from the camp. He's playing D1 in the fall.
*My personal opinion is that if you are looking at average state schools (Endicot, Springfield, etc) then go to the MAP camp. If your kid has better grades and can hold their own against DA and prep kids then go to https://futbolgoals.us.

It's not a fun process and it pays to be realistic on your kids playing ability and grades.

[Guest]

Absolutely being realistic and targeting accordingly is vital. Take a look at the backgrounds of players that get the most PT at programs you're interested in. If your resume doesn't stack up keep looking. Targeting academics should be a no Brainerd but is often overlooked. Sorry folks this is soccer, not big basketball or football. You have to at least be semi in range for their admissions office.

[Guest]

Not sure if this is a legit post but I will bite. I can only speak for the boys since I just went through the recruiting process. First...you don't say what year your kid is or if boy or girl. Second, it's important to know what level your kid currently plays. Without that info I would say this:

*I agree with the poster above. Do a camp and see where your kid stacks up.
*If you think that your kid will go to a camp and score 10 goals and get noticed then you are delusional. There isn't enough playing time and most coaches are only at these camps for the money.
*Definitely target the camp based on the schools you are interested in but you need to be realistic and factor in your kids gpa and playing ability then go to the camp (For example...don't go to the Tufts camp if your kid has a 3.5 GPA and plays NPL.).. 90% of these camps are a money grab. My kid did a camp and there were 20 coaches at the camp. He scored multiple goals and he was in the camps highlight video advertisement...but he didn't get one call from the camp. He's playing D1 in the fall.
*My personal opinion is that if you are looking at average state schools (Endicot, Springfield, etc) then go to the MAP camp. If your kid has better grades and can hold their own against DA and prep kids then go to https://futbolgoals.us.

It's not a fun process and it pays to be realistic on your kids playing ability and grades.

Yes, legit post. Genuinely looking for feedback and info from those who have attended the camps listed. She is a GK so I didn't want to waste her time if people had poor experiences. Thank you, all! Will do a search and see if I can find the posts the other poster mentioned.

[Guest]

Yes, legit post. Genuinely looking for feedback and info from those who have attended the camps listed. She is a GK so I didn't want to waste her time if people had poor experiences. Thank you, all! Will do a search and see if I can find the posts the other poster mentioned.

Just a note from someone who's been there: GK recruiting is much harder than field players. You have to find programs that are looking for one for that year AND you have to be their top pick of all the ones they are looking at. Normal years (which haven't been with Covid and 5th years) programs will bring in 6-8 field players but many times not ine GK for that year. So in that case I say the more exposure the better, on top of the fact that getting her feet wet with at least one is always a good idea regardless of position

When it comes down to doing on campus ID events take a very close look at how many GK they carry/would carry with you as well as the resume of their starting vs their backups. If a program is bringing in some NT GK from Greece or something like that then keep looking (unless you're a US NT GK lol in which case coaches will be salivating to sign you). Whatever you do don't go to program that has more than 3 GK at any one time unless two are graduating before you get there.

[Guest]

Just a note from someone who's been there: GK recruiting is much harder than field players. You have to find programs that are looking for one for that year AND you have to be their top pick of all the ones they are looking at. Normal years (which haven't been with Covid and 5th years) programs will bring in 6-8 field players but many times not ine GK for that year. So in that case I say the more exposure the better, on top of the fact that getting her feet wet with at least one is always a good idea regardless of position

When it comes down to doing on campus ID events take a very close look at how many GK they carry/would carry with you as well as the resume of their starting vs their backups. If a program is bringing in some NT GK from Greece or something like that then keep looking (unless you're a US NT GK lol in which case coaches will be salivating to sign you). Whatever you do don't go to program that has more than 3 GK at any one time unless two are graduating before you get there.

I really appreciate this feedback. Do you recommend one larger ID camp over another (iike Exact?).

[Guest]

For a kid just starting out in the recruiting process, can attending a larger camp like these provide feedback on the right level to target? D1, D2, etc? Our coach is a nice guy but seems to think everyone is going D1 and I don’t know. Was considering one of these camps for another opinion.