The email arrives in early March, a week after a tournament where your kid had a good weekend. The subject line is friendly but specific. Coach noticed your kid. The body explains that the college is running an ID camp the second week of June. Limited spots. Tuition is $625. Coach will be on the field.

Your kid reads the email over your shoulder and says, with the carefulness of a fourteen-year-old who is trying to be cool, should I do that?

Here is what you need to know before you answer.

What an ID camp actually is

ID camps are revenue. Most college programs run two to four a year. They are priced to the market, which is parents who think the camp is a recruiting event. For a small minority of campers, it is. For the rest, it is a well-organized clinic with the head coach in attendance.

This is not a scam. The camp is real. The coaching is real. The college experience is real. Your kid will probably have a good time. They will get a t-shirt and a tour and a workout plan.

What they will not get, in 95% of cases, is recruited.

Who the camp is recruiting

Coaches go into ID camps with a list. The list is built from tournament evaluations, club coach phone calls, video, and prior contact. If your kid is on the list, the coach already knew before camp. If your kid is not on the list, the camp is a tryout against a hundred other kids, and the math gets hard.

The camp does not change the list. It confirms the list, occasionally adds one or two names, and rules out a few.

When the camp is worth it

Three scenarios. First, your kid is being actively recruited and the coach has personally invited them, naming their position. Second, the camp is at a school your family is realistically considering and your kid wants to see the campus. Third, your kid loves the sport, the school is local, and the camp is a fun week regardless of recruiting outcome.

In any of those, write the check. The money is well spent.

When it isn’t worth it

The form-letter email. The school you’ve never seriously discussed. The kid who is a soft sophomore prospect at best. The week that costs $625 plus travel plus a week of summer your kid could spend doing something else.

In any of those, the camp is buying you a small dose of hope and very little else.

How to tell which one you got

Reply to the email and ask three questions. Has Coach personally evaluated him? Is there a roster spot at his position in his class? Would Coach be open to a phone call before camp to discuss fit?

If the answer to all three is yes, the camp is worth a serious look. If the answers are vague, the camp is a clinic, not a recruiting visit. Both are valid. Just know which one you bought.

The conversation in the car

When you read the email together, your kid will have hope in his face. The hope is the part that matters. Don’t crush it.

Say something like, I think this could be cool. Let’s see what they say when we ask a few questions. Then ask the three questions, in writing, and let your kid see the answers.

If the answers are vague, your kid will see it too. They will not feel cheated. They will feel like they were treated like an adult who got information and made a call.

The recruiting reality at 13 and 14

Almost no recruiting decisions get made at this age. Coaches are tracking. They are not committing. The kids who commit at 14 are at the top end of the talent pool and they’re being talked about by name in coaching circles.

If your kid is one of those kids, you’ll know, because the conversation looks different. Direct calls. Multiple campuses. Specific positions. Specific classes.

If your kid is not in that group, the right move at 13 and 14 is to play well, get film, and be patient. The recruiting window for 95% of college athletes opens junior year, not freshman year.

What we tell people who ask

Pick one or two ID camps a summer based on real interest in the school, not the volume of emails in your inbox. Spend the rest of the summer playing, training, and being a kid.

The kids who make it to college rosters are not the kids who attended the most ID camps. They are the kids who got better between June and August, the kids who showed up to high school in September two inches taller and quicker, the kids whose tape from junior year was better than their tape from freshman year.

That work doesn’t happen at ID camps. It happens at home, on the field your kid drives to twice a week with a workout plan and a clock.

Looking for camps that are worth the money? Browse camps for ages 13–14. Filter by sport and state.

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