Let’s start by discussing a college program’s camp and what to expect! There are many benefits and positive to attending a specific college’s camp, but also some shortcomings!

Camps hosted by the college will often be smaller, less expensive, and are traditionally hosted at their facility. A handful of the coaches from that school will be working the event and it will be giving the athlete an inner working as to how the program runs. It’ll also provide the athlete with an additional opportunity to get to know the coaching staff. Some of the colleges that have a well-ran camp will also include some facility tours and additional information about the program.

With all of that being said, it is important to understand a few of the shortcomings of a college-ran camp. The most important is that traditionally a college camp will only involve the host school and potentially 1-2 other local colleges. If you are in a session with 75 players, there could be 2-3 schools represented to watch all 75 players. In addition, the college run camps typically do not provide an included set of resources (video/livestream/recruiting resources), so you better hope you have a great day in front of their staff!

Benefits:

#1. More Affordable

#2. More interaction with hosting school’s coaching staff

#3. Ability to see campus & program’s facilities

Downside:

#1. Extremely smaller number of colleges

#2. Higher Player to Coach Ratio.

#3. No Extra Resources

Now let’s discuss some of the larger camps, including Best in the US Showcases. While we’ll reference our events a bit, we’ll try to keep it pretty general to most big events! There are a ton of pro’s and con’s to attending a large national event.

Let’s start with some of the benefits of a bigger event! The most important one is the number of college coaches (if the big event you are thinking about attending doesn’t have a big list of attending colleges than you shouldn’t even consider it!) The ability to get in front of 50+ colleges at ONE venue is an extremely beneficial thing for athletes. Large events such as Best in the US, will have additional value provided, including skills video, player page, recruiting resources, verified Trackman data, and more. Some big events will feature these for an extra cost (which is on the con’s area!). Many bigger events will also be a bit more efficient and include a bit more activity for the players. Lastly, most large showcases will be held at first class, once in a lifetime type venues and will feature extensive social media coverage which will help your recruiting process immensely.

Now to some of the negatives! These are all “event-specific” and do not apply to ALL large showcases, they are simply things to watch for! The first, and one that is most frequently brought up, is the cost. Some showcase events will charge over $1,000 per player. While Best in the US certainly doesn’t, it can’t be denied that some showcase events charge exorbitant amounts in order to churn out profits. Many events will also appear reasonably affordable, but charge extra for add-ons such as video & stats. A showcase event may appear to be $399, but then charges you $199 for video, $199 for stats, and another $300 for another position.

Another downside of some of the larger events is the use of multiple fields. If an event has 3-4 fields in use (even 2 fields that aren’t directly adjacent) then there is NO possible way for a college coach to see all of the gameplay. If an event needs 3+ fields then there will simply be too many players to make it worth your time.

The final downside, which is also possible for the college’s camps, is the risk of it being a terribly-run, money sucking, waste of time! As you already know, showcase events pop up out of thin air and there are a TON of them out there. Many come and go within 1 year, because running a successful showcase event with 50+ colleges in attendance isn’t as easy as it looks! There are simply many horrible events that make promises they have no intention of keeping.

Benefits:

#1. A Ton More College Coaches

#2. Extra Resources (video, metrics, player page, etc)

#3. First Class Venues & Social Media Coverage

Downside:

#1. Higher Costs

#2. Too Many Players

#3. Many Horrible Events out There

We have broken down a few of the positives & negatives of college camps and big national showcases! Let us give you our thoughts about the hottest topic and try and give you a bit more information!

#1. Cost

• This is the biggest discussion! As mentioned, bigger events are much more expensive and are often labeled as “money-grabs.” While we would never tell anyone what to do with their finances, let’s break down the numbers quickly!

• For easy reference, we will use our Best in US Showcase event hosted at TCU in July and compare it to TCU Baseball’s Camp!

  — Best in the US event Position Player Package - $599.99

  — TCU HS Showcase - Position Player Package $399.00

  • Both events include Recruiting Resources

  • Both events are multiple days

  • Both events are hosted at TCU’s Lupton Stadium.

As discussed earlier, the Best in US event is obviously more expensive. So on first glance, one would think that the showcase event is just charging more out of pure greed!

But diving deeper… Our Best in the US event has 58 different colleges currently registered to attend, including a coach from TCU’s staff. TCU’s website does not list any additional colleges attending. A Best in the US event also includes a skills video, player page, and verified metric data included.

Please keep in mind, this is not an indictment of TCU’s camp. They are a premier program, it is simply to compare and contrast!