The impact of club sports and sport camps on the college recruiting process

Lia Kananipuamaeole Kamana and Tiara Marocco

Journalism 400 - Online sports website, The Change Up, article

A common dream for little kids involved in sports is to become a professional athlete. While some kids change their mind about what they want to be when they grow up, others remain committed to their dream of becoming a pro in their favorite sport. The typical path for a professional athlete, although it does vary by sport, is to play as a child, make the high school team, get a college scholarship, and finally, get recruited at the top level. To many this doesn’t seem like a hard path to follow, but it’s important to be realistic and know what it takes to reach that elite standing.

According to College Sports Scholarships, a network of former college coaches, athletes, and sports writers who share information about college scholarships and the recruiting process, only two percent of high school athletes go on to play at the college level. The college recruiting process has gone through many changes in the last 20 to 30 years.

Football and Sport Camps

One of the things that has heavily impacted the college recruiting process is sport-specific camps and their growing importance. Summer sports camps held by universities as well as camps held by independent third parties have risen in popularity. Because camps are an integral part of the recruiting process, youth athletes and their parents try to attend as many as they can.

Tommy Thornton, a quarterback at the University of Wyoming, attended more than a dozen football camps between sixth and 12th grade.

“From seventh grade to my sophomore year in high school I would go to this camp called National Football Academies,” Thornton said. “It’s not really a recruiting camp, but it was where I worked on my fundamentals. I would go there to improve my skills. Then when I was in high school, I went to a few college camps including the University of Wyoming, Utah State and Northern Arizona. I also did the Elite 11 camp.”

The Elite 11 Camp is ESPN’s trademark quarterback camp where top quarterbacks in six specific regions: Dallas, Texas, Atlanta, New York, Columbus, Ohio, Oakland, Calif., and Las Vegas are invited to compete. Players and personnel of the NFL coach the Elite 11 Camp and give feedback to high school athletes aiming to be like them in the future. Some well known quarterbacks that have attended the Elite 11 Camp are Tim Tebow, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez, Matthew Stafford, Jameis Winston and Andrew Luck. Eleven players who perform well at the Elite 11 regional level camp get invited to compete in the national competition. Thornton competed on the regional level and said that it was a great experience.

Another independent camp that attracts about 8,000 athletes each year is Football University, otherwise known as FBU. Aileen Berran, the marketing and communications manager for AAG (All American Games), the parent company to FBU, said that FBU targets athletes from sixth to 12th grade and looks for athletes that are dedicated to the game and are looking to improve their technique and gain exposure for the next level. FBU runs 35 regional camps throughout the year. Much like how the Elite 11 Camp takes its top performers to a national competition, those who perform at a high level in the FBU camps get invited to participate in their Top Gun showcase.

“This event is used to showcase the best of the best and several scouts and athletic recruiting analysts are on hand to analyze the best at each position,” said Berran.

All together, there are 247 sports analysts that attend FBU camps each year and provide feedback to the athletes that attend.

Camps like FBU and the Elite 11 look to help players develop their skills, sharpen their fundamentals and learn about the college recruiting process.

“I certainly think that attending FBU camp provides an outlet for an athlete who may be hidden in their hometown,” said Berran. “It provides an educational experience for both the athlete and the parent for what the process entails and the evaluation the athlete receives from NFL coaches and former players is invaluable, as they can see both their strengths and weaknesses.”

Thornton feels that camps are very helpful in the recruiting process.

“The camps that I went to when I was younger were really helpful in teaching me the fundamentals and agility,” said Thornton. “The camps that I went to in high school definitely helped me get noticed by colleges and resulted in my offers.”

For many players, attending camps is the only way they are going to get attention from universities and end up landing a college scholarship. However, camps weren’t always a virtual requirement for aspiring athletes.

Danilo Robinson, the director of recruiting and director of player personnel at the University of Wyoming, said the recruiting process from when he played in the early 1990s to now, is a whole different ball game.

“Camps weren’t that big of a deal. (The) recruiting process back then was (the) college coach called up the high school coach and read the newspaper and went through the high school coach primarily, you had to work your area,” said Robinson.

Robinson said he isn’t a fan of the way recruiting is going in regards to camps being almost a requirement, but feels that it makes sense as athletes are getting recruited earlier than ever before.

“(The) problem now is sport camps have gotten too big because we (college coaches and recruiters) all need to have commitments early,” said Robinson. “The whole calendar has gotten earlier and earlier and also with that, we want to all get commitments and our group earlier.”

Where some feel that camps have become more of a necessity in recent years, others think that the popularity of camps has decreased.

William Harris, a mental skills training and sports psychology consultant who has worked with football camps at Michigan State for the past three years, said he feels technology is allowing for fewer players to have to attend camps.

“Now in football, compared to the past 15-20 years, there’s so much more technology and much more online type of access to the film and so players that typically don’t go to these camps, can still be found,” said Harris.

Soccer and Club Sports

Peter Cuadrado, Head Coach of the University of Wyoming women’s soccer team, said he feels that the amount of summer sports camps in regards to soccer, has actually decreased.

“In the last five to ten years, I think the majority of Division I schools don’t do summer camps anymore because they travel to those high-level teams games,” Cuadrado said. “All those high-level teams go to high-level tournaments and so does every college coach in the nation. So I think they have actually started dying for our sport because there is so much more exposure.”

The exposure Cuadrado is referencing are club teams, which are made up of high school players and below as a means to play outside of their high schools’ teams. Club teams, particularly for soccer and volleyball, have also had a high impact on college recruiting. Every year hundreds of club teams attend national tournaments where college coaches and recruiters are in attendance.

Ryan Keener, junior defender for the Michigan State Men’s soccer team, said he believes club soccer is a requirement for aspiring Division I athletes. Keener said it would have been hard for MSU to notice him had he not played club soccer.

“They have what they call showcase tournaments where the sidelines are packed with college coaches,” Keener said. “This is probably the easiest and most common place for players to get seen.”

Showcase tournaments are national tournaments for club teams. The top teams from across the country attend these tournaments and compete against each other, allowing players to display their skills and talents to the college coaches and recruiters in attendance.

There are different levels of club soccer based on what league one plays in. However, Keener said that almost all Division I soccer players played in the highest level.

Cuadrado said showcase tournaments are important, but still believes attending camps can be beneficial, especially for players who may not play for those elite club teams. Currently there are two players on the University of Wyoming team who Cuadrado said he would not have noticed if they did not attend the camp.

“They weren’t on one of the top-level teams and its not that they weren’t good players, Cuadrado said.

“They just weren’t on those teams and we didn’t get to see them out at bigger events.”

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