In an effort to get more information out to high school players and their families about what’s what with the summer recruiting camps, Empower the Athlete will be featuring camps on our Advisor Blog. For our followers, we have interviewed the coaches who put on the camps to find out what makes their camp unique and why its worth your time and money.
This weeks camp is the Whiz Kids Lacrosse Camp. Check it out:
Empower the Athletes Comments
Leave it to Yale to have the ingenuity to create a camp that is specific for kids who want to go to a certain type of school. We love the premise of this camp because of its potential to simplify the recruiting process for both players and coaches: coaches will know that the kids at the camp are all good students and interested in selective schools, and kids will know they’ll be getting exposure to only the schools they are interested in.
Camp Profile
Camp Title: Whiz Kids Camp
Camp Host: Coach Andy Shay and the Yale Bulldogs Lacrosse Staff
Camp Tagline: “For high school players with aspirations of playing college lacrosse at a high-end academic institution.”
Location: Avon Old Farms School in Avon, CT
Dates: July 5th-7th
Cost: $525 Overnight; $375 Commuter
Website Signup: Whiz Kids Camp website and registration
Some colleges that have attended in the past:
The camp is held on the campus of Avon Old Farms, a picturesque New England prep school, just outside of Harford, CT, with great facilities.
- Amherst
- Bates
- Bowdoin
- Connecticut College
- Colby
- Lafayette
- Middlebury
- RIT
- Trinity
- Washington & Lee
- Wesleyan
- Williams
Interview with Coach
We’d like to thank Coach Brian Schneider of Yale Lacrosse for taking the time to answer Empower the Athlete’s questions about the Whiz Kids Recruiting Camp.
-ETA: How long has Whiz Kids Camp been around?
Coach Schneider: This summer will be the third year of the camp, so it’s a fairly new camp, but this summer we’re really trying to blow the camp up.
ETA: How competitive is the level of play at the camp?
Coach Schneider: The play at the camp the last two years has been very competitive, with a good mix of D1 and D3 caliber players.
ETA: Is there any instruction at the camp from coaches, or do the coaches only go there to recruit?
Coach Schneider: There will be instruction within individual teams once the players have been broken up. The main focus is playing games, but there is a good amount of instruction as well.
ETA: What makes Whiz Kids Camp different from some of the other recruiting recruiting camps out there?
Coach Schneider: A lot of camps don’t have a focus outside of how many kids can they possibly get, regardless of quality, we try to really target kids who have aspirations of attending a high-end academic school, as well as playing at the highest level of lacrosse they can.
We will have NESCAC schools on staff with us, and will have many of the higher end D1 academic schools in attendance this summer. Like I said earlier, this summer we’re ramping the camp up a few notches, to be bigger and better than before.
ETA: This camp is obviously for “Whiz Kids”, is there any criteria in the registration process such as GPA/SAT cutoff?
Coach Schneider: The main criteria is if kids are interested in the selective academic schools. From previous years we have found that the campers that do show up do so because of an interest in schools like Yale, and those campers have good high school grades and test scores and want to go to a great academic school as well as play top-level lacrosse.
ETA: If a player can only attend one camp this summer would this be a good camp for them?
Coach Schneider: If a player can only attend one camp, and has aspirations of playing Ivy or NESCAC or at some of the other high-end D1 academic schools, this is absolutely the camp for them.
What Other’s are Saying About this Camp
“I’m going to this camp. As far as selectivity goes, I don’t think it’s too stingy. I mean, they invite people but you can also just sign up without an invite. It’s a serious camp though, they have Yale coaches, obviously, and then some other coaches from Ivy and NESCAC schools. It’s also cheaper than most camps too, if price is a concern.” -IL Forum poster
“I went last summer and it is a great camp. When I went, the following schools were represented with coaches: Yale, Tufs, Bowdoin, Trinity, Bates, Wesleyan and Middlebury…” -IL Forum poster
