Attend Summer Football Camps Early

If playing collegiate football is something that you dream of, then register for a summer football 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. Going to camp your grade 9 or 10 year will help you gain knowledge of what to expect at a camp. If you perform well enough before your grade 11 year a college is definitely going to recruit you.

Be Humble At Football Camps

At your particular high school you might 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 university camp will at the very least let you know where you stand against elite competition and what you need to improve on.

Go To Football Camp In Great Shape

A mistake that high school athletes make at these camps is putting on too 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 university coaches across the country want the same thing guys that can run. If you’re an athlete university coaches will find a way to get you on the field and eventually you will grow into your body.

Don’t Believe the Hype

Websites like TopProspects.ca, CanadaFootballChat.com, 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 big time prospect but when he starts to perform, that high ranking 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 university campus.

Make A Good First Impression

A camp or combine 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.

Football Camps Are Tryouts

A university 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, university coaches run them like they run a regular university 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?

University coaches look at every detail to show them if a particular kid can develop into a big time player for their program. University 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 university 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 At Football Camps

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 Football Camps 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 university 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 At Football Camps

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 an athletic scholarship. A realistic goal to achieve is to land on a schools’ radar. If you perform well enough, you can land on that schools’ 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.

What camps are you attending this summer? What are you expecting to get from the camp?

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