Welcome to the college soccer podcast. I'm Zev and I am the college soccer guy and I cannot wait to help you on your journey to play college soccer. So today we're talking about college at the camps and there's tons of questions. Here is the number one question I receive Are college ID camps a scam? That's what all of you are asking me when you guys submit your questions, when you contact me on social media. That is what the question is. So here is the answer yes, they are scams and yes, you need to go to them to get recruited. So the answer is both, and this is why college coaches make anywhere between Twenty thousand dollars to forty thousand dollars a year, and for those of you that are students, that is not enough money to support your family. So this is particularly for assistant coaches. So head coaches at the division three level make maybe forty to sixty, which is still not enough, and division two coaches are pretty similar. Division one coaches might make sixty to seventy In some cases, and then at the very, very big schools, maybe they make eighty to a hundred and ten or whatever. So it varies, but the assistant coaches on almost every single team are making between Twenty to forty thousand dollars, no matter what team you're on, pretty much across the board. So that is not enough money to support your family. So colleges host ID camps, yes, to fund the salaries of their coaches and themselves, but also to recruit kids. So it is both.
Speaker 1:Now the question is how do we find out which ones are a little bit more scammy and which ones are less scammy so we can actually get recruited? So here is the lesson for you to take away. If it is division three school, those are all one hundred percent legit. They need ID camp. They do not. They are not able to Recruit like division one schools are. So it's a D3 ID camp or D2 ID camp, especially if it's individual. So there's no other schools, it's just that camp. That is as legit as it gets. So please go to those, especially as a sophomore, sophomore, freshman. Please go to those, because then they get to know you, they can get you an offer. And if they get you an offer by sophomore junior year, early into your junior year, you can then spend the rest of your career focusing on division one only. So please go to those ones, because they are legit recruiting you now, it's not to say as a freshman or sophomore or junior. You should not be going to division ones. You should also be going to division ones, but which ones? So if you're going to UCLA or Maryland or Wake Forest or UNC, those teams do not need ID camps to recruit kids. They get to pick the national team kids.
Speaker 1:There's a player right now who plays for Bayern Munich and for now, crystal Palace in American. He was being recruited by UNC. He got a full right scholarship to them before he decided to go abroad. You know that's who they're recruiting. That level, okay, that's. This player was playing one of the best teams in Europe and he was first. His first kind of professional deal was by a college. That's how good UNC are. You know they. You know he the player thought about, actually did an interview with him when I was in England. He's like, oh yeah, like I love, called soccer, that was my plan and then, you know, things took off from there for him. So he got injured. Some called soccer first, which helped him, you know, eventually turn pro.
Speaker 1:But I can tell you now, because I've had students go to those camps and then they come back to me saying, hey, that was a waste of camp and I told them basically the same thing I'm telling you, which is I kind of know that. Here's the flip side. If it's a dream school, right, you going, one day we're all gonna die. You're like, hey, I really want to go to this school, it's my dream school. Then go to their ID camp, go, go, go, but please don't wait until your junior year of your summer going into senior year, because that is a waste of time. However, if you go during your junior year or in your sophomore summer going into your junior year, and you want to experiment with your dream schools even though, yes, you'll be better in a year's time I would say, go for that.
Speaker 1:But if you're talking about the top 20 schools in the country, they're recruiting national team kids and MLS next kids who are at the highest level, who could either go pro or play called soccer at a top school. That's just how it is. I know that from a couple ways. One, as a professional soccer player, I was playing in the MLS and in the USL. Every youth kid who was 16 or 17 who was playing right with my pro team or training maybe they weren't on the roster but they were training with us. They were getting offers from top division one schools because they were flirting at the pro level. So if you're not playing pro soccer or close to playing pro soccer, you're not really going to be playing at those top schools.
Speaker 1:That said, again, I was playing JV soccer as a junior in high school and then went on to play division one called soccer and went on to play pro. I'm not saying you're not good enough and that's really important. I'm saying that on paper and the exposure rate you receive will not get you going to one of those top schools unless you hopefully take the steps that I'm going to describe to you today. And if you take these strategic steps, then it's not impossible to go to one of those big schools. And we've done it because we've had our players who are playing at low levels go to play division one called soccer at LaSalle, at Central Connecticut, at Wake Forest. These are players that are getting offers from these schools because they apply the off the field stuff that a quote unquote talented player who's really gifted doesn't have to do, and that's kind of my motto. I was never the picked player by anybody, but I was willing to work just as hard off the field as I was on the field and that's how I got my division one full right scholarship.
Speaker 1:So enough bragging about me college ID camp. So how do you pick them? So the couple ways one if it's your dream school, go Dream school, go to your. Just go to the camp. It's your dream school, you got to go and that's just too important, so please just go. That's that. Now if you're like I don't really know what my dream school is, then you need to go. Look into that. That's number one. Number two if it is and there's many different kinds of ID camps okay, if it is an individual camp with only one school there, then it's a pretty good one.
Speaker 1:So let's say it's Harvard's camp, for example, and it's just Harvard. That's a pretty good camp. You're going to actually get seen, they're going to watch you. Now, if you go to, there's a Harvard clinic coming up in July. I'm shooting this and I'm recording this in June. They have one every summer in July and there's going to be tons of schools, but it's going to be hosted at Harvard's campus. Those are also really good ID camps.
Speaker 1:So, to clarify, if it's an individual ID camp by one school and just one school and it's division three or smaller level division one, so like top 100 school, not a top 50 school, then it's really good, like it's a really good way to get seen. If and, by the way, if you get seen, let's just pretend you go to Valpo, which is a school I went to which I only have a girls team. Now you go to their ID camp and they like you. Then you go, you say I have an offer from Valpo because they really like me at the ID camp. Then you want to go to a Notre Dame camp. That's a good idea, because now you have a college offer in your back pocket in case Notre Dame don't like you. And when Notre Dame come up to you because you're a really good player and say how's the recruiting process going for you, you can say I already have a division one offer. You know, but you're in my dream school. Now Notre Dame is like whoa, whoa, whoa. You're already have an offer and we don't know who you are and it's by another team in our state. We need to look into you. Then they look into you and now the sun, you could be playing at a much higher level. So that's that.
Speaker 1:So now you've got individual ID camps with one school or one school's hosting, but there are many schools attending. Those are both traditionally very good. Now the next one are exact or future 500 or PPA, which are all camps hosted by a company. Now let's just break down exact and future 500 because those are kind of the same. I don't like those traditionally speaking, because a lot of the time my kids go right to top division one schools are there UCLA, stanford, stanford doesn't really go to those UCLA, michigan, ohio State and then you go to the camp and the coaches say you know, that was really great seeing you, but we didn't really get to see enough of you because there were so many gosh darn kids. Why do you come to our individual ID camp? And then you're like I only came for you and, yeah, I was hoping to get seen by some other schools, but now you need to see me again at another camp. I just paid $500. You know there's frustrating. So that's why I say pick your dream school and just go to that one.
Speaker 1:Now add an exact ID camp If you want the lower end schools, the NAI schools, the division three schools, the Juco schools. Exact camps are amazing because they're actually looking. They really need players. They know good players are going to the camp because players who think they can play at Michigan and UCLA and Ohio State are going to those camps and the smaller schools know that they're not going to get recruited by those schools but that they really want to play college soccer. So then they swoop in and like, look, you're really good, I liked you. If you hear from Michigan, let me know, but if you don't, we have an offer. And then they know you're never going to hear from Michigan and then that's a school that's made you an offer because you wanted to go get recruited by Michigan. So the exact ID camps can be really good in future 500 for those reasons.
Speaker 1:With my student right now we have a case where they really want to get seen by Carnegie Mellon and Claremont McKenna and it's hard to go to both of those individual ID camps and they both to be happening to go to the exact camp. So we've been debating do we go, do we not go? So guess what we did, and this is kind of the premise of this whole message I'm giving to you. We have individual camps with one school, we have individual camps held by one school with multiple schools attending, and then we have companies when many schools are going hosted by a company. How do you pick? So, based off what I said before, but the best way to pick and this is what we're doing with this student is email the coaches before the ID camp, well before months before, with video, with showcase schedule, with Instagram, with Twitter, with YouTube, saying coach, I like your information because of this and this is why I'd like to you know.
Speaker 1:And then you do your email template that we discussed in the previous email template podcast. Go watch that one and then you can really get recruited this way. Well before the ID camp. Then you ask the coaches may I have permission to attend your ID camp? And yes, you always have permission, but you want them to respond to genuine responses is the way you should really be picking ID camps. That is really the best way to get those. You have to write a very strategic email. To write this strategic email, to get genuine invitations, you're going to say this dear coach, hope this finds you well. I've read a great things about you. Something genuine to look up the schools say, I'd watch your team play, or my brother's, sister's dogs and sister knows your brother some connection.
Speaker 1:Then you're going to have the template part about you which we discussed in the email podcast. You can go back and watch that one and then you're going to say and this is the ask, and the ask varies per situation. If it's a showcase, it's a different ask. If it's an ID camp, it's another one. So for ID camps, you have two ways to ask. One is may have permission to come to ID camp. I like that one because it gets responses all the time. If you don't want to use that one, instead you can say may I confirm that you're looking for a blank position for the class of blank? If so, I'd like to attend your ID camp. Most people like that one better because it's a little bit more direct, but sometimes you don't get as many good responses. So then, based off of those responses that you would have sent out in your mass email, you're going to get emails back going.
Speaker 1:Yes, we want to see you at ID camp, and those are the schools you should prioritize going to their ID camp, the ones that you like and they like you. The other way that I discussed previously here is what you do if you want to go cold. Now, we talked about earlier, in one of the earlier episodes, how to stay organized, right. So this is why it's so important, because you're going to get a ton of genuine invitations and if you don't stay organized you are screwed. So please stay organized. Okay, now let's say you've picked your camp.
Speaker 1:What are the dos and don'ts of this college ID camp world? What should you do and what should you not do? First of all, the college camps I want you to avoid are any camps that have any hint that they're going to help you play pro soccer. Those are all. Those are scamps. Those are great for getting better at soccer. I'm not saying you're not going to improve and learn from a coach. I went to plenty taught in my D camps in Real Madrid and Barcelona is growing up and I learned a lot, you know. So I had a great learning experience.
Speaker 1:But any of those that say, hey, we're going to get you connected to a pro and a college team is out of their mind. Do not go to those and, to be honest, I personally think, especially since soccer in America is getting really good going to those camps where there are pro teams who are like Real Madrid is going to be there and recruit you. Unless you have a European passport. There's no team abroad that's ever going to recruit you. So my strong recommendation is please do not go to any of those camps. Spend your money on the college ID camps where you can actually get recruited and you'll still learn a lot.
Speaker 1:Now, as a young kid, we all dream of playing pro soccer for Manchester City, real Madrid, barcelona. So I get why you would want to go. But if you want to get recruited to play called soccer which is my job at the how to play called soccer podcast then do not go to those camps. Please go to college ID camp. Specifically Now the do's and don'ts.
Speaker 1:When you get to the camp, parents do not say anything to any of the coaches ever. They should pretty much never hear from you until we get to the phone call stage, in which case they say to you we'd like to have you on campus. So until then, you pretty much not be relevant in any of this process. And if you are relevant and you're jumping in, I'm telling you now every coach hates you, period. There's not getting around it. And if you talk to your club coaches, look, I played club soccer, I worked in the club soccer world, I coached in the college soccer world. I play pro soccer.
Speaker 1:Parents are hated across the board. Now, you may be a lovely parent and you may be the exception to that, but it doesn't matter. Coaches are jealous, frankly, of how much money you make compared to how little money they make. That's why you don't have to upset that. Not, they have a power thing you know, because they can control your kid's life. And you're upset that. Maybe you know you think your kid X, y, z, but you're biased. Even if you don't, even if you're really not biased, they're gonna assume you are biased. So Please, just don't get involved.
Speaker 1:And if you're a student who's listening to this, you have to maybe have your parents listen to this podcast and say like, hey, look, this expert is saying don't get involved. Do not get involved. Now you can, please, please, please educate your son or daughter on what to say, how to do the process. That's my job, so you can always call me too, but I'm not saying you're not in the process. I want your voice should be through your child constantly, because your child doesn't know what to say every time, but it should not come directly from you. Okay now, in saying that the next piece of this is what to do with the ID camp. So when you're at the ID camp, show up early. You never know if there's a coach who can be there.
Speaker 1:Please wear white socks and a standout shirt. I used to wear white socks and a pink shirt. I have a picture of it I can send you guys. And it was just one thing that, like you, know that guy's wearing something different and I like that. So white socks.
Speaker 1:If they say shin guards, wear shin guards, but you probably don't need shin guards, but do whatever the camp says. They may say to you hey, we want you to play as a striker and you're a right back. Those are tough situations. So here's what you have to do. You say to coach coach, I'm happy to play any position you want to play. So I'm excited to play striker. I just wanted to politely let you know that I am a right back. But you do have to tell them, because if you don't tell them, you'll end up never playing in your position and you'll lose. It'll be a waste of the camp. So please tell them. But just be very polite. Coaches love that you're willing to play anywhere. They love that you say yes, sir, no, sir, yes, ma'am, thank you, coach. They love your politeness. But please, please, please, please, make sure you do say the position you play now.
Speaker 1:If you get put on a really bad team which is inevitable in this college recruiting for ID camp process If you communicate a lot, man-on-turn good job, you got it, let's try again you will still get recruited. And two, if your team like, never gets the ball and that's really frustrating Unfortunately sometimes you just got screwed, and that is the part that is part of the process. So if you're like I don't know, I don't want to get screwed, like you're gonna get screwed, you're gonna go to an ID camp and you're gonna end up on a bad team. It is just inevitable at some point in the process. So since that's the case and I'm telling you now, you need to know okay, it's gonna happen, I don't know when, but I'm gonna do my best, I'm gonna dribble, I'm gonna pass, I'm gonna encourage my teammates, I'm gonna help them up.
Speaker 1:Personality traits are really what they're looking for at these ID camps almost more than anything else. So during the passing drills, ping the balls in. So just so you know, id camps work like this you show up, you warm up together during the warm-up, save your energy, go at like 60 to 80 percent they are. You know if you're. If they do a race at some point, they love to see who's the fastest, but they're gonna forget about everything that happens in the warm-up when the 11 start. So save your energy for the 11's in the passing drill. Save your energy. But it's really helpful if you can ping the balls in really hard. So pass it really firm, like over aggressive. Even if you do it over aggressive and misplaced, your pass. That's better than being timid and scared, for it can ping it in there. That's that.
Speaker 1:Then Look over your shoulder, like during the drills. Pretend when you're doing the passenger that it's a proper game. So look over your shoulder, be like oh, turn, man on. Like the more Professional you are in the ID camps, the way more coaches like you and I did that constantly because I was very adamant about Showing my enthusiasm then you're saying man on and turn. And then tell your teammates good job, that will help a ton. And say it really loudly so everyone can hear. You then memorize the names of the players on your team. You want to get the ball more. You memorize their names. They will literally look at you more often because you're going to say their name and so you'll be much more likely to get recruited. So Please say their name. Then you've done the ID camp.
Speaker 1:When should you ask, like something? So if there's a lunch break, it's awesome if you can say to the coach like, hey, coach, I just want to say like I'm really enjoying camp and it's a real pleasure to be playing in front of you. Don't ask anything, just say thank you. That would be great if you do that, like in day one of the camp. Towards the end of the Day if it's a three-day camp, do it on day two Just say thank you. That would be amazing. Don't ask for anything, etc. Then towards the end of the camp, you could say coach, I really enjoyed my time here, like I just I just really enjoyed it. Is there anything you recommend like I work on? But the better question to ask is you know, could I, could I genuinely ask you like, what level do you think I should aim for? That's the money question, because you say what should I work on?
Speaker 1:They're gonna be like well, you should work on your being more dynamic and you just need to attack more and we'd love to see more runs in behind. Okay, you know, that's great, I'm gonna go work on that, but you're not there to get better. You as a player. Yes, you're gonna get better and that's what they're gonna promote on their website. You get to be coached by college coaches, but that's not why you're going. You're going to get frickin recruited. So, since that's the case and called it, coaches know that as well. They're there to recruit you. But the way they justify charging $500, they're like, well, you get private coaching from a college level coach and you're like, look, that is really cool, but that's not why you're going to that. You can't. You're. Everybody knows your parents and you know you want to get recruited. That's why you're there.
Speaker 1:So the best question to ask them, ideally before the camp ends, if possible, is hey, coach, I really enjoyed it. I've loving every second of this. I love give something specific. What you had to say to me about turning or being on the half turn or finding space, can I ask you, what division do you think I can play? Then, whatever they say is really helpful.
Speaker 1:If they say to you we think you play D3 and it's a D1 coach, well, now you have a reference, you can say wow, that's amazing. Thank you so much for telling me. Then in the email later follow-up, you can say hey, hey, I, you know. Thank you so much for feedback. I know you said I could play D3. Would you mind if I put you down as a reference, as I email coaches. Oh my gosh, having a division one coach be a reference for you is better than me, better than your coach. It's just amazing. So that's that. Second, if they say, look, I think you play D1 and they're D1 coach, well then inevitably they're saying like we want to recruit you, so that's fantastic. Also, now your odds are At the camp, you're not gonna have a chance to ask any of these questions because they don't want to talk to you.
Speaker 1:There's too many of you they got to get back to, it's just too busy, and they'll be like we'll let you know if we ever hear back from you and you're like well, I paid $500, like I think I deserve an answer. And I agree with you, you deserve an answer. It is a corrupt system. I'm here to help you, you know, understand it and break through it. So when you're doing the ID camp, after the ID camp, you are gonna say thank you so much, I really appreciate your time. Stay after, help them with the gear stick around. You never know. That's how a lot of relationships happen. Welcome to their car, just help them. They'll really like that. You don't know what can happen. It's often not just about being good enough, about being in the right place at the right time, where they see you at the right moment.
Speaker 1:I think about my own career and I was constantly staying after practice. I was constantly asking the coaches for advice or saying what could I work on? And Not only did I get advice and what I could work on, but you know you'd be like oh, we need an extra player, do you want to play? Oh, my gosh, it was I the best one. No, but I was there, I was available and that is all you need. You just need to be there and available. And they were like who should I call to be a best player? Oh, that guy, zeb's always around. He's always asking I'll call Zeb. And that inevitably helped me one day of playing at the highest levels of youth soccer. But I didn't get to do that till my senior year and it wasn't even a huge part of the recruiting process for me, but it was a goal that I had for myself. So you know I was proud of that and it helped me get better at soccer, of course.
Speaker 1:So now it's after the ID camp. What are you gonna do after the ID camp? Please, please, please, please. You need to send them a follow-up email now. We have a template for it in the called soccer guy program or if you work with us.
Speaker 1:The premise of it is something like this dear coach, I really enjoyed camp, give something specific. What is specific that they told you? I really enjoyed how I, how I really enjoyed how you Taught me how to be on the half-turn, like, get specific, create a relationship. Then you're gonna say I just want to probably follow up and ask you what level do you believe I can play? That's the question to ask. I wouldn't ask anything else. And then, if they don't get back to you, wait a couple days, follow up. If they do get back to well, then you have a Good thing because now you can you have an answer for you. That's really helpful.
Speaker 1:And sometimes that these ID caps are gonna get an evaluation letter. Okay, honestly, the evaluation letters pretty much suck because they don't answer the biggest question, which is what level of called soccer can your son or daughter play or can you play, and that's all everybody really wants to know. And there's a couple reasons college coach don't do that one. They want you to come to their camp again because it's money and that's where it gets a bit scammy or businessy. So if they said you, we think you can play D3 soccer and you're, then you're going to a D1 camp, well then you're not gonna go back to that camp probably, and then that coach loses money. So that's one reason.
Speaker 1:Second reason is what if that coach on paper says you're a D3 soccer player and you all of a sudden go play D1? Well now the coaches can literally go on paper like you got this wrong, we have evidence, you're fired, or you know it could just hurt them. So they just will be like I'm not gonna say, I'm just gonna say what they need to work on and and kind of stay vague. And I can't really be wrong. Now, what I love and this is what I do as a, as a coach and as a player is and students I work with I'm blunt as can be. I go. You are division 3 soccer player, you know you can either be miserable about it or if you, you know plan to apply what I hope to tell you we're gonna help you become a division one soccer player.
Speaker 1:That's why I love when coaches are honest about what level you can play, because, okay, now you can start. You can say why, why am I a Division three level? They go Athletically. We just don't think you're D1. Okay, so what does that mean?
Speaker 1:Some people would argue I need to go in the gym, become Athletic. I would tell you you're not gonna become that much more athletic, which means you need to get a bigger strength of your current strength, which for me, in my case, coaches told me all the time You'll never play college, you'll never play pro, you'll never play club soccer. I couldn't find a club soccer team till I was like 15 because they kept telling me no all the time. But because they told me, hey, we don't think you're the level I could then go. Why? But if they just say, hey, work on this, work On that, but you never figure out what level you are, then it's a waste of time. So I like being blunt. Hopefully you can tell.
Speaker 1:If you guys have any questions about the recruiting process. Please give me a call. I want to help you. It's complicated, it's frustrating and I think I am biased, I suppose, but through my own following now and you know I have all, all of you guys asking me questions on the podcast and all these downloads and and all these people watching me on social media I feel like I'm proud to say I'm one of the few voices, or one of the voices there may be more that wants to give you like the realities of the Situations, like the truths, and one of the reasons I have the privilege of doing so is I am my own entity.
Speaker 1:Okay, no club teams pay me. No camps pay me. No college coaches pay me. I am my own entity. I only care about the student. I don't care about NCSA. I don't care about college fit finder or sporting zone or scouting zone. All of those companies and colleges and clubs. They're all in cahoots with each other. Ncsa pays every club team. How do you think they get your phone number? College coaches aren't allowed to necessarily promote or dispromote a recruiting service. That's because they have to use similar services to find you guys, club coaches even more so. Clubs, literally, will tell me hey, you're not allowed to tell any of our kids to play at a higher level, because that means they'll leave our club for money and I say, well then, don't work with me. I am here to help the kids. I don't care about your club, I only care that the kids get the help they need, because I'm here for the students. So, in saying that, thank you so much for listening. If you want any help, call me and I'll talk to you soon.