Which Showcases And Camps Should You Go To (How to pick the best...)

Hey, guys, Alex here. Thanks for joining me. We're going to be talking about showcases, camps and recruiting events that I know that you guys get invited to on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. And there's a lot out there. There's a lot of wasted time, a lot of wasted money. It's hard to understand which one is true interest, which one should you go to that are good opportunities. We're going to filter through all of this to help you guys select the best showcases and camps that's going to be best for your son going through. And if you're new to my channel, my name is Alex Swenson. I'm A former Division 1 college coach, scout and recruiter with 11 years of experience. And now what I do is help high school athletes and their parents navigate this college recruiting process and put them in the best possible position to play at the next level and garner interest and offers from their top schools that are going to fit them not only athletically, but academically, as, as well, personally, geographically, and really help them go through this exposure process, the communication process, to highlight videos to showcases in camps that we're going to be talking about, and even having a profile on the premier athletes profile, which is a really, really good tool to help find you showcases in camps and colleges and communicate with college coaches, which we're going to be talking about today. I'm going to switch on over to my PowerPoint. We're going to talk about, about these showcases, camps and things to look out for. All right, guys, let's talk about showcases and which ones make sense and things to look out for. And what's the difference between a showcase and a camp? A showcase is a third party inviting you or you attending where you know college coaches are going to be there. That's very important. And what's the difference between a showcase and a camp? A camp is school specific at certain schools inviting you to. To their campus, to where you can work out and play in front of those college coaches. A showcase is usually typically at a different field and there's 50, 60, 70 coaches there on a weekend, which is great exposure. That is what I'm talking about. All right. I'm not necessarily talking about perfect game and things like that. And travel ball, man, travel ball has just gotten so big now that it's not good for recruiting. You're at tournaments with 400 teams, sometimes 300 teams, and you're not getting in front of many college coaches or you're just completely winging it out there and hoping to be found where certain Showcases in camps, we're guaranteed to get in front of these college coaches. So let's talk about what to look out for showcases attend. Where we know which coaches will be there and what schools will be there. We need to get in front of the decision makers. So if that school is going to be there, we need to make sure that it's either the recruiting coordinator, the position coach or, or the head coach that's there, not a volunteer intern. So there are some bad showcases out there where they invite you and they lure you in with school logos. This school's gonna be here, this school's gonna be here. But the worst case, they're not there or it's the intern that's there or the volunteer coach. Nothing against those coaches, but they're not decision makers. We need to get in front of the decision makers there. So make sure we're looking for that. Where, hey, these schools and these coaches will be there. Don't go to a showcase if you don't know what schools are going to be there. You don't know what coaches are going to be there. Right? That's a trap. That's a money grab right there. Okay? Next thing you're going to be playing games. Okay? Don't go to a showcase where it's like four hours or six hours and you're just doing a pro style workout where you throw a short bullpen or you run a 60, throw five balls across the field and you hit BP. College coaches need to see a lot more than that. They need to see you in game what your game performance is, which is arguably the most important thing in recruiting. Right. I wasn't a big metrics guy. I wasn't gonna wow you with my metrics. Okay? But I could play the game. Alright? That's important. Where game performance is where you can come in and help a college team where they can see like, man, this guy's really good on the field and he can come make an impact in our program. The next thing, all right? To look out for, it's at least one full day, preferably two full days. Okay? Two full days where you get in front of college coaches for day one and day two. Not just one day, all right. There are some showcases out there where you can get everything in, but just limited on time. All right? Avoid the 4 hour or 6 hour. Check the details of the showcase, make sure you are playing games. Everybody's going to do a pro style. It's just kind of the way it is to see tools. But then how are those tools Implemented in the game. We've all seen athletes that are like, hey, man, it's pretty good. We call them five o' clock hitters at BP or on the field, but then you see them in game and it's not that good. All right. These are the key things to look out for when you're picking a showcase and you're going to invest your time and money. Now let's talk about camps. These are school specific. Okay. They need to make sure that these camps when you're going to these camps, because these college coaches and schools will blast out to everybody. It doesn't necessarily mean that you shouldn't go just because it was a blast. Email could be a good fit for you athletically and academically. Maybe it's one of your top choices. Great. Okay. But it needs to fit you athletically and academically. All right. If we are late in our junior year and senior year and we're way off from a athletic standards or athletic metrics, what they're looking for, the standards that they're looking for that we need to meet, then we should be looking at a different level and a different school. So make sure. And if you're a sophomore, it's good to get in front of college coaches and things like that. There's going to be projectability. They're not expecting you to be D1 ready right now, but we need to make sure that it's somewhat realistic as we project out. Okay. Next thing, as far as when we're looking at same type of thing, we want to make sure we're, hey, at least one full day, preferably two full days. It's really a mixed bag with school campuses. It's usually one, at least one full day. Some of them are two full days, which I really like because it's more exposure for you to get in front of these college coaches. You get interaction and all that. So is this camp invite personal to you? Not sure. You can always respond back to that email asking, hey, coach, thanks so much for this invite. Just wanted to make sure that you're looking for my position also. Here's my highlight video. Would love any feedback that you have. That's a great response that you give. And see what they say. All right. See what they say from that. Another clue. Are they recruiting your position? Use the premier platform and ask the coach. All right, guys, I have a platform that helps with all this. Not only finding schools that are in need of your position, but also showcases and camps which we've obviously talked about today and the ones that we have vetted that are good ones to go to, that has all the things that we talked about just previously. Also how to message coaches, how to best do that. We essentially help you write your emails or help your son write his emails to these college coaches and get that out quickly to them and also get it notified when they're looking at that. Also profile with not only athletics, but academic schedules so they know where your sons are going to be at college, math features based off their preferences and the schools that your son is looking for that could be a potential good fit. And then just all the schools. There's a lot here that helps with this recruiting process. And you guys are interested in this. Go on and visit my link down below in the description. And if you guys are need of more personal help, please reach out to me and we'll go from there. Good luck.