|
|
Post by ringo on Jun 18, 2024 10:52:49 GMT -5
With the summer camp season starting I wanted to get a thread going to hear some feedback (positive and negative) on various camps.
|
|
|
|
Post by gtrich on Jun 18, 2024 12:26:48 GMT -5
The Lewis overnight camps were good the couple of times we went to them. Dan brings in a lot of college coaches from the area, and also brings in a bunch of his players to help run them. The current prospects and the older kids will spend their time in the main gym and the younger kids will play in the second gym. Overnight kids get to stay in the dorms. If you have a younger kid, bring knee pads because the floor in the second gym is a carpet type material.
I've heard the Ohio State camp was pretty good. Not sure if it's an overnight camp.
Comparatively, GCU's camp is late in the Summer and is sometime around the 4th of August. We really wanted to get out to that one, but after going back to back with beach and 2 other camps, we just couldn't fit it in.
For the past couple of years, one of the SoCal clubs ran a multi-day camp where they had different colleges come in each day (it may have been Balboa Bay). So it was a chance to see a few different colleges. Some of the kids from our club went to them last year and seemed to enjoy them.
The D3/NAIA college camp's can be a bit hit or miss because you'll have their incoming guys for next year, some kids that are checking out the school and trying to be seen by the coach, kids that are already talking to to the coach and trying to see if the school makes their short list, and then you'll have a bunch of young kids from the area that may or may not be any good at volleyball. So the quality of play will vary dramatically. We only went to those camps if we were really serious about the school. Based on one of the camps, and the attitudes of the current players, we actually crossed a school off our list.
We stayed away from any camp that was a 3-5 day camp that ran from 5PM to 10PM over the course of a week. There were a few of those out there for some of the schools, and they seem more like kids summer camps than prospect type camps.
For anyone looking into this, we had a calendar in Outlook and I added the camps to it whenever we ran across them on social media or the schools website. We put that on a wall and filled in all the blocks. If it's an out of state camp, don't forget to add a travel day to the front and back of the camp. Doing it that way helped us see which camps overlapped, or which camps were impossible to get to because of travel. Since it was the summer before our Senior year, we also crossed off any camp where we got "No Thank You's" from the coaches. When you add beach tournaments to the mix, you'll figure out pretty quickly that the dates get filled up very fast.
|
|
|
|
Post by ringo on Jun 18, 2024 12:57:35 GMT -5
Thank you for the thoughtful response. The only one that we have been a part of was Lewis, and I was very impressed. How do you feel Lewis camp stacks up against other D1 camps?
|
|
|
|
Post by socalvolleydad on Jun 18, 2024 13:11:18 GMT -5
For the past couple of years, one of the SoCal clubs ran a multi-day camp where they had different colleges come in each day (it may have been Balboa Bay). So it was a chance to see a few different colleges. Some of the kids from our club went to them last year and seemed to enjoy them. Maybe you are referring to this one that Rockstar puts on? teamrockstar.leagueapps.com/events/4186442-the-next-level-boys-college-camp-2024 |
|
|
|
Post by gtrich on Jun 18, 2024 13:17:42 GMT -5
For the past couple of years, one of the SoCal clubs ran a multi-day camp where they had different colleges come in each day (it may have been Balboa Bay). So it was a chance to see a few different colleges. Some of the kids from our club went to them last year and seemed to enjoy them. Maybe you are referring to this one that Rockstar puts on? teamrockstar.leagueapps.com/events/4186442-the-next-level-boys-college-camp-2024That could be it. It definitely looks like something the kids in our club were talking about last year. |
|
|
|
Post by gofaster88 on Jun 18, 2024 18:21:25 GMT -5
Pepperdine has an overnight camp that is very expensive but it's Malibu. The campus is beautiful and there wasn't much of a turnout last year so you get a lot of interaction with the coaching staff.
Penn State and Princeton basically already know who they want to see and talk to at their camps as they divide the kids up before they even get there. If you aren't NTDP already you aren't going to get much out of them. Their coaches didn't really interact with those who weren't already on their list. Princeton brings in a lot of the local smaller school coaches in the area so that might help those who want to be seen by them.
GCU camp has training in the morning and basically open play the rest of the day.
|
|
|
|
Post by ringo on Jun 19, 2024 7:37:00 GMT -5
Pepperdine has an overnight camp that is very expensive but it's Malibu. The campus is beautiful and there wasn't much of a turnout last year so you get a lot of interaction with the coaching staff. Penn State and Princeton basically already know who they want to see and talk to at their camps as they divide the kids up before they even get there. If you aren't NTDP already you aren't going to get much out of them. Their coaches didn't really interact with those who weren't already on their list. Princeton brings in a lot of the local smaller school coaches in the area so that might help those who want to be seen by them. GCU camp has training in the morning and basically open play the rest of the day. Assuming an invite and/or NTDP would you recommend Penn state or Princeton? Any firsthand experience with either? |
|
|
|
Post by gofaster88 on Jun 19, 2024 8:41:54 GMT -5
Pepperdine has an overnight camp that is very expensive but it's Malibu. The campus is beautiful and there wasn't much of a turnout last year so you get a lot of interaction with the coaching staff. Penn State and Princeton basically already know who they want to see and talk to at their camps as they divide the kids up before they even get there. If you aren't NTDP already you aren't going to get much out of them. Their coaches didn't really interact with those who weren't already on their list. Princeton brings in a lot of the local smaller school coaches in the area so that might help those who want to be seen by them. GCU camp has training in the morning and basically open play the rest of the day. Assuming an invite and/or NTDP would you recommend Penn state or Princeton? Any firsthand experience with either? Not sure if they've fixed the AC issue at Princeton but it was terrible when we went. Kids were getting heat exhaustion in that place. They only had fans in the corners and everyday was hot and humid. If you are a parent that likes to stick around, you don't want to go to Princeton no place to sit at all. I stayed in the hotel and did work but some parents hung out and were complaining about the place. My son thought they taught a little more at Princeton than Penn State. Penn uses its players more while Princeton relied more on the local coaches. Level of competition varied all over the place. He wound up on the top court at both on the final day tournament, but it was crazy. Assuming you are travelling from out of state, if flying, Princeton easier to get to and the hotels at least for us were cheaper. Both basically college towns and have little shops and restaurants around the campus. Princeton has a nice little canoeing thing that you can do if you're bored. Honestly though grades are going to matter for both so make sure before you waste your time. Penn claims you need around a 1400 SAT score for them to consider. Princeton we all know is IVY and has one of the lowest acceptance rates in the country (3%) last year. Good Luck in your search. |
|
