Hustle, Handshakes, and Highlight Reels: Standing Out at College Camps

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The secret weapon in college athletic recruiting isn't talent—it's communication. While fewer than 5% of prospect camp attendees follow up with coaches afterward, this overlooked step makes the difference between being noticed and being recruited.

College coaches aren't just evaluating athletic ability during prospect camps and clinics. They're carefully observing behavior, communication skills, and genuine interest in their program. As one coach revealed after recruiting a persistent athlete who contacted them regularly: "It proved she really had a desire to go there, she was committed, and I knew she'd be loyal to the program." This insight reveals the fundamental truth of recruiting—skills will get you seen, but communication gets you recruited.

Maximizing prospect camps requires a three-phase approach. Before the camp, athletes should research participating coaches, send personalized introduction emails, and know their athletic metrics to understand how they compare to peers. During the camp, making direct introductions to coaches, demonstrating coachability, asking intelligent questions, and maintaining positive body language can significantly impact a coach's perception. The most critical phase comes after the camp, when sending a personalized thank-you email within 24-48 hours can cement your place in a coach's memory. This follow-up should reference specific camp takeaways, reiterate program interest, and include updated highlights.

Parents play a crucial supporting role in this process, but hovering during camps or taking over communications can backfire dramatically. Coaches want to recruit independent young adults who can thrive away from home—not athletes who rely on parental intervention. By helping your athlete develop the confidence to navigate the recruiting process themselves, you're preparing them not just for college athletics, but for success in adulthood. Ready to transform your approach to college prospect camps? Start by implementing these communication strategies at your next opportunity.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
College prospect camps and clinics are so
important as it relates to therecruiting process, but so many
athletes waste their time atthese events, not because
they're not talented becausethey are, but because they don't
know what to do before andafter Raising athletes the
things that causes all dads togo bald and moms to buy minivans
, empowering parents to helptheir kids succeed.

(00:22):
Fewer than 5% of athletes whoattend prospect camps or clinics
actually follow up with thecoach after that event.
That's a catastrophe, becausethe whole point of these
prospect camps and clinics isfor the athletes to get exposure
to the coach and to thatcollege, because there's
interest from the side of theathlete to potentially go to

(00:45):
that school.
Now, what are these coacheslooking for?
Well, these coaches are notjust looking at talent.
Talent will help you be seen,but there's other things that
the coach is looking for yourbehavior, your communication you
are ready for this yourfollow-up.
Do they know your name?
Do they know your face?
Did you do anything to expressinterest in that particular

(01:08):
college?
Because they're not justlooking for talented athletes,
they're looking for talentedathletes who have a desire and
interest to go to that college.
One thing that really says thatand speaks that loudly is your
athlete following up with thatcoach right after the event
saying thank you so much forhaving me come down and letting

(01:30):
me participate.
I love this school.
I love you as a coach.
I learned so much.
I'm really looking forward tomaybe one day playing for you at
this particular university.
That goes a long, long way Now.
I remember a friend of minewhose daughter ended up playing
at a high level division onebasketball program and the story

(01:53):
goes that she at a very earlyage, in ninth grade, said I
wanna play at this particularschool.
So what did she do?
She attended every prospectclinic and camp this school had
to offer.
She messaged both email andcamp this school had to offer.
She messaged both email andthen DM on social media the
coach on a regular basis,sometimes daily, definitely

(02:13):
weekly, to the point where thiscoach definitely knew who this
person was.
You talk to the coach after thefact and it said this was a big
part of recruiting her becauseit proved to the coach she
really had a desire to go there,she was committed and the coach
knew that she'd be loyal tothat program and she had the

(02:33):
skills to back it up.
It helped her get recruited.
She got a full scholarship andwas a four-year player at this
particular university.
Communication, and yourpre-communication and your
post-communication it makes adifference in your recruiting
process, because skills they'renot enough.
Skills will get you seen,communication will get you

(02:54):
recruited.
So what can you be doing before, during and after a college
prospect camp or clinic?
Well, before the camp, here'swhat I recommend Research, the
schools and coaches that areattending.
And don't be afraid to send apersonal email to coaches one to
two weeks in advance.
You're going to want to includeyour name, grad year, position,

(03:16):
gpa, maybe even a video link ofyou playing that particular
sport, and you're going to wantto express interest in their
program and mention attendingthe camp, the dates and times of
the camp that you're going tobe attending, and you're going
to want to prepare mentally andphysically.
You're going to want to hydrate, you're going to want to rest
and you're going to want to prepfor this particular prospect

(03:39):
camp or clinic.
And here's another thing Knowyour metrics.
We cannot stress enough on thisshow the importance of athletes
to get metric tested and forthem to know their metrics.
I'm actually going to pull this.
That's in part why I built this.
I literally wrote this for mykids, knowing how important it

(04:00):
was.
There wasn't a lot of tools outthere where there was a sort of
one type of workbook that hadeverything in it, so that's why
I bought this.
Now, you don't want to buy mine,fine, but at least buy
something that enables yourathlete to document and be
accountable to their work.
It's so very, very important.
Now, this is the PGM planner.
You can get this.

(04:20):
You can reach out to me, it'snot a lot of money at all and
this is a daily planner thattakes them through an entire
year.
It's important that they knowtheir metrics because they
number one.
They might be asked what theirmetrics are for various things.
What's your 510.5?
What's your exit VLO?
What's your overhand throwingVLO Like?

(04:41):
There's a lot of differenttypes of metrics.
You should know that.
Also.
You're going to want to knowyour metrics so you know what
your baseline data is.
You're going to want to knowalso what's the average metric
for your particular sport, yourage group, because now, when
you're at a prospect camp, youcan know where you stack up.
It's so very, very important.
Now, once you're at the camp,the clinic, you're gonna wanna

(05:06):
introduce yourself respectfullyto the coaches.
Don't be afraid to go up tothem and shake their hands, look
them in the eye and beconfident.
You're gonna wanna be vocal,supportive, and you're gonna
wanna show them that you'recoachable during the drills.
Don't be confident.
You're going to want to bevocal, supportive and you're
going to want to show them thatyou're coachable during the
drills.
Don't be arrogant.
It's one thing to be confident,don't be arrogant.
And you're going to want to asksmart questions, especially if

(05:29):
there's a Q&A or a coach time.
So do some homework beforehandof maybe what would be some
really nice high IQ questionsthat you can ask, because
that'll help you stand out, andbring some type of player info
card or sheet with your contactinfo and that has the metrics
listed on that particular playerinfo sheet.

(05:50):
Again, this book right here hasplayer sheets in here that you
can fill out and you can bringwith you.
This book right here has playersheets in here that you can
fill out and you can bring withyou.
Now also, body language mattersHustle, smile, encourage others,
be the first into the circlewhen the coach brings them in,
be the first to participate andbe first in line so that you're
visible and you're actuallystanding out.
Parents.

(06:11):
I'm going to talk to you for asecond.
This is really important.
Parents, during the camp, donot hover.
A hovering parent gives thesort of I'm going to say
illusion because I'm going totry to say something here to
make you a little bit feel alittle bit better.
But perception matters here,and when you are hovering, this

(06:35):
looks like a high maintenancesituation from the eyes of that
particular coach.
You could be there and watch,but don't be hovering where you
are distracting away from thecamp because you're that
hovering parent.
Be supportive from a distanceand allow your young athlete to

(06:55):
shine.
Now, after the camp, this iswhere it gets really, really
important.
Within 24 to 48 hours, you'regoing to want to send a
personalized thank you email tothe coaches.
You're going to want toreiterate your interest in their
program.
You're going to want to includea takeaway from the camp that
stood out to you and proves thatyou were there, and maybe even

(07:19):
provide a link to your updatedhighlight reel.
Maybe it highlight reel thatincludes some footage from you
at the camp that maybe yourparents took from the sidelines,
if applicable, and you're goingto want to reflect on feedback
or performance.
What drills did you do well inwhen did you struggle?

(07:40):
Use the experience to adjustyour training and development
plan.
That follow-up has to be within24 to 48 hours.
It is so important that you dothat because that's when the
coach is going to be.
It's going to be so fresh intheir mind of you being there
and it's going to remind themthat you could be a really great

(08:03):
candidate for their program.
This is why I like to encouragenot just the personalized
message that references the camp, but include a picture, include
an updated reel and it remindsthem oh, that was that girl who
did this great thing.
Oh, yeah, we had thatconversation.
You do that often enough.
Now, all of a sudden, they knowwho you are.

(08:23):
The recruiting process throughthe four years of high school is
get experience, be seen, beknown, get recruited.
So when you are at a prospectcamp being seen in order for you
to now transition to beingknown, it's the follow-up.
The follow-up helps them toremember who you are Now.

(08:44):
There are some common myths asit relates to this, so let's
bust some myths.
I used to love the showMythbusters, so we're going to
bring that into this show here.
So here are some common mythsbusted Number one if I'm good,
they're going to find me Wrong.
No, visibility pluscommunication equals opportunity

(09:05):
.
Yes, skills will help you beseen.
It's all of the other factorsthat'll help you get recruited.
Two my performance is all thatmatters Coaches these days.
They're going to watch how youinteract, recover and compete.
They're going to want to seeare you going to be a good
teammate, are you coachable?
Because they don't want tobring toxicity into the dugout.

(09:27):
Number three one bad play ruinseverything.
I hear this so often.
This is also not true.
Attitude and bounce back areevaluated as well.
Four parents should sell theathlete.
Trust me when I say this.
Coaches want to hear from theathlete, not the parents,

(09:53):
because when it comes to collegerecruiting, you gotta
understand they're recruitingwhat they think is going to be a
young adult.
They want independence.
They don't want mommy and daddybuttering your bagel for you.
They want to see is thissomeone who's now going to be
living outside of home, movingaway from home and going to be
part of this team?
Are they going to be anindependent young adult and

(10:15):
being able to handle themselveswithout mommy and daddy?
So that also stands out as well.
Be a supportive mom and dad.
Help instill wisdom into yourchild early on.
Educate your child early on sothat they can stand on their own
.
Here are some of the besttakeaways to reinforce for
today's episode Know that it'snot just a skills showcase, it's

(10:37):
a character showcase as well.
Prospect camps are a launchingpad.
It's not the finish line.
The athletes who communicateintentionally, prepare
purposefully and follow upprofessionally are the ones who
stay on a coach's radar.
And parents, you do play avital supporting role, but

(11:02):
athletes must have their ownjourney.
I hope you guys found value intoday's episode.
If you did, do me a favor,share this with someone who
might be in that particular partof their athletic journey as
well, of raising athletes,because this is an important
part.
We We've had a lot of funLittle League and now getting

(11:22):
through middle school and highschool, but for a lot of
athletes, for some athletes,college is the next step and
that's on their radar and that'sa possibility for them and we
can actually help them get theretogether and this episode would
be really good for them.
All right, we'll see you nexttime on Raising Accuracy.