Ivy football camps as a rising junior

Athletic Recruits
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<p>Hello to everyone. My son is a rising junior at a nationally competitive Ohio program. He got some garbage time on varsity last year at offensive tackle and will likely compete for time at either RT or DE this year as a junior. He is a legitimate 6' 2" (he claims 6'3"), 225-230, very quick, good technique. Good core strength but comparatively weak on static lifts (particularly bench (max @220)). My guess is he will be a good athletic fit in the Ivys. I played in the Patriot League a long time ago (when it was the Colonial Conference) so I have some idea of the competitive level. Academically he is pre IB and usually tests in the top 2-3 percent on standardized tests. I think the Ivys are a legitimate target for him academically as well. Of course, being 16, he just assumes that the day before applications are due he will text Harvard his transcripts and game tape and they will send him a jersey. </p>

<p>The question is whether he should attend some Ivy one day camps this summer or will he hurt himself by not showing ideal size or static strength? I would like to get him to a few camps this summer so he can kind of set the target on the goal he has set for himself, but if it is going to hurt home next year, then we will skip it. Any advice would be appreciated.</p>

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<p>In my opinion, your son will be a more attractive offensive line recruit if the Ivies think he is 6’3" and assume he can bench 300+/- lbs than if he shows up at camps and shows them he is only 6’2" and can only bench 220.</p>

<p>Unless you have very impressive numbers or some other skill or talent that will truly stand out, these camps can do you more harm than good. Schools might rule him out totally based solely on the true numbers you mentioned and never look at the film you send them in the fall, whereas if they don’t have those numbers and only know the information you provide them they will likely at least look at his film.</p>

<p>Of course there is also the opposite school of thought that it is better to take control of your destiny and go to the camps and show them your stuff!</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Check out the NE Elite camp in Boston. It’s held each July and seems to be the premier camp for football players who aspire to play for high academic colleges. You can easily find the web site for the camp with a search engine like Bing. All the Ivy schools send coaches to the camp as well as all the NESCACs and many other high academic schools like MIT and Pomona. It’s a bit of a zoo with about 1,000 attendees, but there is a great atmosphere and there will be opportunities to talk to coaches from all the schools that might interest you. It will also give you a clear picture of what Ivy-caliber athletes look like in this day and age. By and large, I think you will find that they are very impressive. A kid from our area who went to the camp last year and was recruited to play offensive line for three Ivy schools was about 6’ 3" and 275 pounds. He was first-team all league with a near 4.0 GPA and a 33 ACT score. And his bench was way over 300 pounds. From what you’ve said above, I would think your son would likely be a better fit for the Patriot League or the NESCAC.</p>

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<p>Quick follow up:</p>

<p>NE Elite is indeed a zoo - see my post about it elsewhere on CC.</p>

<p>Be careful not to overthink things and deprive you and your son of an enjoyable and memorable time together attending these camps just because it could possibly dampen his recruitability.</p>

<p>And - Everyone seems to talk about the Ivies/NESCACS as if they are the only choices for academically oriented football players - don’t forget about the other very high academic DIII schools, e.g., WashU, Hopkins, UChicago, Carnegie Mellon, MIT.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies. I am pretty familiar with the caliber of athlete in the Ivys currently. My kid’s high school has placed four or five in over the last few years. But you both do highlight the issue, which is how rising juniors compare to rising seniors. I guess Ibwill see what the high schools recruiting coach says and go from there.</p>

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<p>I say that you send him to the camps. If they see him and decide he isn’t Ivy material athletically at the camp, then he won’t wind up as one of those kids who gets recruited and never plays. If they think he is Ivy material, they’ll get to know him at the camp. Also, he’ll get the chance to show himself off to coaches outside the ivy League (D3 schools and even that dreaded Patriot League). At his age, it’s way to early to try to decide what level he should be playing at, and the broader his exposure, the better. Remember that the Ivy schools, just like all of the others, get lots of kids excited and ultimately pursue very few, so he has to get lots of schools interested in him if he wants to get recruited by some school.</p>

<p>He might even have fun and learn some feetball at these camps …</p>

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<p>I know I am coming in late on this, but if it makes a difference, I started taking my son to these camps as a rising freshman, and did some every summer. His numbers were also obviously inferior to those of the older and larger players, but my experience was that no one really paid serious attention to any of the kids or their numbers if they were not rising seniors. I know he ran slow 40s and did not put up weight like the big kids, but he and his numbers grew every year and now that he is a rising senior we have had school visits, prospect day invitations, multiple phone calls and other personal contact in the last month from over 15 schools in Ivy, NESCAC, colonial and patriot. And now that he is going to the camps in earnest next month and July, he is an old hand at how they work.</p>

<p>In other words, until your son is a rising senior, these camps won’t do much in terms of recruiting interest, but if he is legitimately on his way to being potentially recruitable in 2014, the only way they might harm him is if he is somehow a disaster while there, and I have seen that happen a few times. Like the kid who cussed his dad out in front of everyone and walked off the field, and who pushed his dad out of the way when he tried to stop him. (bad news). Also the kid who was clearly way outclassed by the bigger older guys but was trying to go 200%, got himself seriously knocked and had to leave camp to go to the emergency room.</p>

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<p>Ohiodad, if your son is thinking about the Ivies and other top academic schools, his rising junior summer is a great time to attend 1-2 camps. </p>

<p>My son is a rising senior - went to NE Elite last summer, as well as First and Goal (at Lafayette) and Yale as a rising junior - and while the coaches were clearly more interested in the seniors, it was a useful experience for my son in many ways:</p>

<p>First, he learned what to expect at these camps in terms of not only the drills and testing (or “reindeer games” as one of our friends calls it), but also the art of walking up to a coach, looking him in the eye and shaking his hand. (It’s amazing how many young men don’t appreciate how important that first impression can be). </p>

<p>Second, he was able to decide if he could compete with the kids at this level, and most importantly, whether he wanted to. In both instances, he answered the questions in the affirmative. He more than held his own, and he emerged from the camps last summer even more determined to play college football (the coaches at these camps do a good job explaining to these kids the many doors that playing football at a prestigious school can open for you).</p>

<p>Third, it put him on these schools’ radar. When we corresponded with these schools over the fall and winter with test scores and film links, he was able to write “I met you (or saw you) at the _____ camp last summer and was very impressed.” I would not be as concerned about whether your son is not as big or strong as some of the seniors at these camps. At the Yale camp, the best kids at the bench press were short, squat kids (under six feet) that likely are not Division I material as O-Linemen. Strength can always be improved on, and no college coach is going to expect that a rising junior will be as strong as a rising senior. The size will matter much more than the strength - for a player in your son’s position. </p>

<p>Fast forward to the end of my son’s junior year: he was invited to over a dozen junior days at top academic schools (could only go to some), has been receiving visits at his school and text messages and FB messages, as well as phone calls, and has a full circuit of Division I (Ivy and Patriot) camps ahead of him this summer. Our experience is very similar to ChicagoMama’s I suspect. There are no guarantees of course, but our son is definitely in the position to compete for a spot at some of these top academic schools. While I would not say that his camp attendance last summer was the reason for the interest from these schools (I suspect it has more to do with his size 6 3, 270 and test scores (above 2000)) it definitely did not hurt, and if nothing else, reminds these schools that he is passionate about football, and wants to play all 4 years in college. </p>

<p>Go for it, ohiodad!</p>

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<p>My son went to a one-day soccer camp at my alma mater Ivy, and loved the campus and the facilities. I would say if you think he has the academics (and you don’t really need much if you are football compared to other sports), he should go to the one-day <em>on-campus</em> camps to see what the facilities are like.
My son went as a freshman (they didn’t offer the same camp this year) and competed well with sophomores, juniors, and even a few seniors. However, it is possible the opposite might be true for an older player.</p>

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<p>Our son is a rising junior out here on the West Coast. Same situation as Ohiodad’s. He will play his entire junior season as a 15 year old and senior season as a 16 year old. This is due to the age requirements fiasco that happened when we moved from NY to WA in the 1st grade! We’ve been to regional camps where the rising seniors garner most of the attention. Use the camps to compare him to the level of competition he might think he wants to play at. We will be at the NE Elite showcase summer '14 when he’ll size up nicely. He’s a 5’11" 200lb LB with relatively weak strength numbers compared to rising seniors. As another poster mentioned, the UAA conference is just as academically elite as the NESCAC. Also repeated, master the handshake. I would also say contact coaches of the schools you’re interested in BEFORE you arrive at camp so that you’re not some random kid in the pack.</p>

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<p>The South Florida Select Football Clinic (for grades 9-12) just wrapped up it’s second year - looks like they are trying to replicate for southern recruits, what NE Elite has been able to accomplish outside of Boston - by having 30+/- of the top academic football programs in attendance. Mike Tracy, former defensive coach at Hamilton, appears to be one of the directors.</p>

<p>[About</a> ? South Florida Select Football Clinic](<a href=“selectfootballclinic.com”>http://selectfootballclinic.com/about/)</p>

<p><a href=“selectfootballclinic.com”>http://selectfootballclinic.com/colleges-attending/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Can kickers attend NE Elite?</p>

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<p>I don’t know for sure but I did hear last week it was 95% full. There is a NE Elite website you could probably check.</p>

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<p>Not only an kickers attend but they have a very visible showcase. It is a tough place to stand out unless you are a kicker.</p>

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<p>Looks like yes, and here is the link. [THE</a> NEW ENGLAND ELITE FOOTBALL CLINIC: Kicking Specialists at ‘The Elite’](<a href=“http://www.eteamz.com/thenewenglandelitefootballclinic/news/index.cfm?cat=739679]THE”>http://www.eteamz.com/thenewenglandelitefootballclinic/news/index.cfm?cat=739679)</p>

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<p>Thank you all so much!</p>

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<p>I hear Yale just had a camp/junior day, not sure how they titled it, but I have heard only good things from those who attended</p>

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<p>They did, it was this past Saturday the 15th, it was billed as a “prospect day” but was actually a helmet camp from 8:30 to 6. It was great. There are four more of the same 1day camps scheduled this summer if you check the Yale football site.</p>

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<p>At the Yale camp, the best kids at the bench press were short, squat kids (under six feet) that likely are not Division I material as O-Linemen. Strength can always be improved on, and no college coach is going to expect that a rising junior will be as strong as a rising senior. The size will matter much more than the strength - for a player in your son’s position. >>>>>>></p>

<p>Hi have been away for a little (we’re going to camps like many here and were at Princeton yesterday) but was re-reading this thread and this jumped out at me. 100% true at least with the Ivy sponsored camps. The size (height - you can always put on muscle and weight) absolutely matters in terms of who the coaches want to talk to, and the strength and bench were put up by the solid but shorter (6 foot or slightly less than) linemen. The taller kids still got most of the attention even when in 1-on-1s the shorter kids obviously blocked them pretty effectively.</p>

<p>That’s just the way the game goes. So, anyone else sunburned yet like me?</p>