How to Get Noticed At A Summer Football Camp

Attend Camps Early

   If playing collegiate football is something that you dream of, then register for a college camp prior to your senior year. The earlier and more often you attend camp during high school the more you’ll benefit from the experience later.

   By going to camp your sophomore and junior year will help you gain knowledge on what to expect at camp. If you perform well enough before your junior year a college is definitely going to recruit you.

Be Humble

  At your particular high school you may be “The Man”, but football is a huge sport. Camps have some of the best athletes in the country not just some of the best athletes in your area. A big time college camp will at the very least let you know where you stand against elite competition and what you need to improve on.  

Go to Camp In Great Shape

   A mistake that high school athletes make at these camps is putting on to much weight to look the part, prior to when camp starts. Players will put on this extra weight and not perform well in drills and testing due to the excess weight. All college coaches across the country want the same thing guys that can run. If you’re athlete college coaches will find a way to get you on the field and eventually you will grow into your body.

Don’t Believe the Hype

  Rivals.com and Scout.com try to provide an in-depth analysis on particular athletes. Once camp starts though college coaches only use these websites as a point of reference. A player may go into a camp as a 5 or 4 star prospect but when he starts to perform, that five star rating disappears really quickly.

   If you are a highly ranked prospect, you should be congratulated but you have to leave all that hype behind you once you step onto a college campus.

Make a Good First Impression

   A camp is like a job interview, it is your chance to showcase your talents to an interested employer. It is important that you don’t come across as somebody that the coaches and potential teammates despise. Football is one part of the evaluation process; but if you’re the guy who is going to complain after every drill, then they will find someone else.

   Pay attention to the coaches and the university staff members at all times, be a good guest, someone that they would like to have come back.

   For the few days that you are attending the football camp act like you want to be there; put your complete focus on the camp, and stay away from the internet your cell phone and video games.  

Camps are Tryouts

   A college camp is basically a tryout you are being coached by them in their drills, on their home field and in their language and terminology.

   At some camps, college coaches run them like they run a regular college practice with their position coach heading up each drill. This is for a coach to not only see what kind of an athlete a kid is, but also how he responds to instruction and criticism.

   For example, if you’re a defensive back and you get beat deep on a play, don’t sulk and show your frustration through your body language. Always stay positive and  just move onto the next play. Prove to the coaches that you’re coachable and that you have a positive attitude.

Do you have what they're looking for?

   College coaches look at every detail to show them if a particular kid can develop into a big time player for their program. College coaches want athletes that can run and jump, but change-of-direction is a crucial attribute that coaches are putting more and more emphasis on.

   Coaches are always watching your mannerisms and coachability. If an athlete makes the same mistake over and over again after being told not to do that, can send a red flag to a college coach. Here are some other questions a coach may have when they meet amongst themselves:

• Does he have great anticipation?

• What type of leader is he?

• Was he the guy who started off every drill?

• Is he tough enough?

• Did he make friends at camp, or did he hang out by himself?

Competition

   The list of things that coaches look for is extremely long, but the desire and ability to compete is always at the top of their list. If you do well in one-on-one drills a coach will definitely remember your name.

Make it a Learning Experience

   Sometimes when going to a camp we get so caught up with trying to get a scholarship that we forget why we are there in the first place, to receive instruction from college coaches. By attending these camps you should acquire tips to help make you a better player during the upcoming season. Learn the drills and take in the coaching to help refine your technique for the future.

Be Realistic

   Every football player hopes and prays that they will get offered a scholarship at one of these camps. Have a fun time at camp but treat it like a job interview, but remember that most athletes will not receive a scholarship at these camps. If there are 300 kids at a camp, maybe 5- 10 will receive that athletic scholarship.

   A realistic goal to achieve  is to land on a school’s radar. If you perform well enough, you can land on that school's recruiting board so coaches will contact you and watch film of you during the season. What you do in summer camp is great but film will never lie, so if you excel at a camp, make sure you excel on during the upcoming season because coaches will be watching.

    If you would like to get invited to various college camps around the country, fill out the form above and let StudentBlitz help you put your athletic resume and highlight video in front of hundreds of  football coaches.