I would agree that the camps are not the most effective tool for getting exposure.

 

As far as your son, that may actually be a correct time and not a faulty "first movement button person". It's not actually a person at all. It is very likely that your son had an early movement and his clock started, while the other runner did not. Thus, he would have a slower time despite "winning" the race. The only reason they run athletes against one another is to speed up the process and to give them someone to compete with while running.

 

Electronic timing is entirely different than hand times......it takes a little while to "learn" the system. Hard to do at a camp....

 

I agree that they were being individually timed electronically, but there were two kids basically hitting a handheld switch at the beginning for each player. They clicked it on first movement. At the end their were sensors. My son's handheld time best 4.56, worst 4.68. The experience we had was negative. They were more interested in selling us training shoes then seriously testing athletes. My son scratched his 40 time because he wasn't happy with it. Even with the 4.9 his rating would be in the top ten of the combines Nike had run for his position. At the end I went up to the "kids" running the combine and even though the times were written down by them they would not let him keep the time to get his Sparq rating official. They said he scratched it and that was it then my son explained what happened and he wasn't sure if he should scratch. Their reply was maybe he should buy their training shoes. Like I said, don't waste your time. Every college coach that recruited my son said they never looked at Sparq ratings and some never even heard about it before. By the way my son is going to a NCAA Division I school. Pick your college camps, get your films together, and contact your colleges recruiting coach. Good Luck!!!:thumb:

Camps and Combines are very useful if you go to the correct camps. This is where most of the big schools get there info on recruits. Most schools will look and camp/combine results and come to you personally and tell you exactly what they want to see on your highlight tape. Div 1 colleges don't have the resources or the time to examine every player in the country so instead they use camps as an eliminator. There are so many kids in the country who put up big stats every year and never get any looks because they don't go to camps. Camps are especially useful to kids who play in smaller classes, which can be used against them sometimes.

 

Kind of random but the Ohio State camp is really good camp. It is a over night camp and there are something like 300 coaches from Div 1 to Div 3.

Camps and Combines are very useful if you go to the correct camps. This is where most of the big schools get there info on recruits. Most schools will look and camp/combine results and come to you personally and tell you exactly what they want to see on your highlight tape. Div 1 colleges don't have the resources or the time to examine every player in the country so instead they use camps as an eliminator. There are so many kids in the country who put up big stats every year and never get any looks because they don't go to camps. Camps are especially useful to kids who play in smaller classes, which can be used against them sometimes.

 

Kind of random but the Ohio State camp is really good camp. It is a over night camp and there are something like 300 coaches from Div 1 to Div 3.

 

Are you talking about Ohio State camp or a Nike camp at OSU?

My experience with this is that the real beneficiary from camps like this are the kids that don't have a good support staff from their school. For example, I've been around kids that had D-1 potential but the coaching staff didn't take the time to make phone calls and highlight tapes and all the things that are outside the x's and o's. Those kids usually end up playing ball on a lower level, but with the right support they would have had more options. For this situation a Nike Camp might be the only real chance they have to put their self out there for college coaches from far-away schools.

 

On the other hand I watched a highly talented kid go to camp and have an off day. This was not only a hit to his self promotion, but it was a hit to his self esteem. He still played college ball, but the school he wanted to play at wasn't interested after that day.

 

So my advice is to really evaluate what steps your high school staff is taking and decide if the risk is worth it.

 

MOST IMPORTANTLY, listen to what these guys/gals are saying about what camps are professionally done. Choose the established camps that can tell you what conditions you'll be performing under. i.e. inside/outside, turf/track/grass. These are important factors.

I attended a Nike Combine this weekend in Columbus Ohio with my son and had a positive experience. The Combine was well organized and the timing system and stations were run by high school coaches from the Ohio area and former college and pro athletes. No one tried to sell us shoes and in fact every athlete received a free training shirt and bag. There were also several interesting speakers and thanks to the army for sponsoring the combine....it was free for all the athletes. In addition to the combines nationwide, athletes are given a method of sharing their rating on a Sparq "locker-room" website along with their highlight film if they choose. This once again is a free service to allow athletes to showcase their skills.

 

At the end of the Columbus combine my son received a printed tag with his results and rating....when we got home last night he was able to pull up his results on the internet and compare himself to other athletes across the nation and at the combine from Columbus. Thanks Nike.......my son will be back! Overall, we learned a lot by watching the other athletes in attendance and were very motivated by the level of competion we witnessed.