Getting emails trying to get me to send our son to one, promising a fairly large number of college coaches, ... The price tag is pretty high (though cheaper in St. Louis than Chicago) and I'm not likely to send him, but I thought I'd ask to make sure we're not missing an amazing experience because I'm skeptical and cheap. Anyone sent their son or daughter to one of these?
This is the website: https://exactsports.com/soccer/ Like Wulf said, you get an emailed "invitation" to take your child. Mine's a 2005, so I assume when you hit 13 or 14 and you're in club soccer, your name appears on a mailing list these guys buy. Like I said, I'm really skeptical -- my son's a nice player and hopes to play in college on some level, but he's not a DA or YNT kid. I just thought I'd make sure people out there haven't had some great experience I'm about to write off.
Was talking to a buddy who coaches at a D3 school in Illinois about these camps. He said that the reason they're so expensive is EXACT covers most of the costs of the coaches stay for the event (hotel, food, etc.). In theory, that sounds great! He also said that what it basically turned into was a paid vacation and coaches had little interest in actually scouting players, but they had much greater interest in the party back at the hotel after the day was done. Realistically, these type of camps are a total shot in the dark. There was one last year that had over 300 players in it. How can schools really scout all 300 kids? Do your math on the income they generate, ballpark the costs of operation, and you'll see why these are becoming more and more common. The best way to get on the radar of a school is to contact them directly expressing interest. At least this way the school can guide you down the path that they prefer. There is no one perfect method for getting recruited but logically it makes more sense than 300 kids on a field for a day or two.
My son did the Midwest Camp in Schaumburg last summer. He was able to meet and speak to a lot of coaches. I thought that aspect was great. Don’t plan on walking away with a scholarship but it can’t hurt to build a relationship with a coach or two.
Appreciate the responses. I wonder whether, in addition to the upside MB50 mentions, just being at one might serve to just get my son's feet wet on what he'll need to do to move beyond high school, give him more information about the level he needs to play at, skills of those he'll compete against, ... But I suspect a lot of the kids he'd see would be from clubs his team already plays against.
Cornfield, The skill level of the kids at the summer camp was all over the place. Some very talented kids, others not so much.
Echoing what MB said and sharing my experience... I attended an EXACT camp with my son in McCook, IL last winter. Going in we weren't sure what to expect. I was a bit skeptical tbh, but by the end I was very impressed by the program. The number of coaches was great and coaches were very engaged with players. They taught the boys how to introduce themselves to coaches first thing (what to say, questions to ask, etc.). The experience was a big confidence booster for my son. And as a parent the info from the EXACT guy was excellent. We are now much more informed regarding the college recruiting process and scholarship qualifications. Will be attending again.