College baseball camps

#1

my son and i are going to a baseball camp over the christmas break to a well known college. this is our first time doing this and i was wondering what if anything we should know about? i’ve heard it is a good way to get his name out there. he is only a sophomore so i don’t know if this was a good idea or not. won’t they be more interested in varsity and juniors? this is a division 1 college, did any one else including you steve do this or is it just a waste of time and money. leaving friday morning.

                                                thanks
#2

I’m sure it will be just fine. However, since it’s likely your son hasn’t been throwing as much as he would in-season, take it easy. Showcases and camps are high-risk injury areas for kids because most camps take place during the off-season – like the one you’re going to – and most don’t give pitchers enough time to adequately warm-up before throwing. And, as you likely know, most kids want to impress their peers and coaches, so they’ll throw a little harder than they should for this time of year and possibly hurt themselves.

So take it easy, warm up properly, have some fun, and let us know how it goes. Good luck!

#3

We’ve had a good experience with http://www.collegebaseballcamps.com/.

He went to one camp at UCSB which was a good experience even though he was really too young for it at the time. It was for ages 13-18, he was 13 and almost all the players were strong 16-18 yo. The coaches there worked with us to make sure he wasn’t put in a situation where he was too overmatched.

My son, now 14, was signed up for a camp at San Diego State back in August which was cancelled, probably because Tony Gwynn was tied up with the LLWS, and they re-signed him up for a 4 day resident camp over the holidays that cost almost twice as much for no extra charge.

My son then had a back injury from starting up too quick with freshman baseball conditioning and can’t participate in any baseball activities until after the holidays at the earliest.

The camps immediately gave him a credit for another camp.