Archive for March, 2010

There a many options when deciding on which lacrosse camp you or your child should choose this summer. In many ways, too many options. Lacrosse camps have been the fastest growing segment of the specialty sports camps industry over the past 6-8 years. So how does one go about differentiating between all the options.

The most important part of the process is asking, What do I want and/or expect from a lacrosse camp? Generally, lacrosse camps are broken into 3 types. There are 1) recruiting camps 2) team camps and 3) instructional camps.

1) Recruiting camps are just what they sound like. They are designed to expose rising high school juniors and seniors to college coaches. Very little or no instruction takes place at these camps, rather they are just a series of games played in front of a set of collegiate coaches.

2) Team camps are designed for full teams to attend. Again, skill development and personal attention are minimized and game play is maximized. These camps are intended for full teams and not individuals.

3) Instructional camps are the largest segment of lacrosse camps. These camps are designed for individuals or small groups to work on their personal skill sets. Instruction on stick handling, dodging, shooting, clearing etc.. are the focus. Typically players are broken into small instructional groups based on position and experience.

The quality of instructional camps varies a great deal. Many of these camps are directed by “name players” who come in for a day, make a quick appearance, put on a shooting exhibition and then leave the camp. There is little emphasis on instruction at many of these camps. It is important that you look at the instructors of the camp, and ask are these professional teachers or great players? The quality of the instruction will make or break the camp experience.

Once you have decided on which type of camp you wish to attend, ask questions to gain a better feel for the camp as a whole. Find out more about:

• The director, the staff, the staff screening process and the teaching curriculum.
• How long the camp has been in existence and the level of experience those running the camp have.
• What the level of competition is.  (This is not the most important facet of a camp, buy can make a difference in how the student benefits from the on field instruction).
• What the kids will be doing when they are not on the fields. A complete camp experience should have activities (social and recreational) to keep the campers busy when they are back at the dorms.

Finally, do not hesitate to ask for references of past campers or testimonials to gain a better sense of what sort of reputation the camp has. Any camp worth its salt will be more than happy to answer all of these questions and more.

The All-American Tennis Camps offer a unique camp in our COLLEGE PREP tennis camp (July 8-10, 2010) at the College of Wooster.  This tennis camp is specifically designed for high school aged tennis players looking to go on and compete in collegiate tennis following their high school careers.

This is no easy task, and through the years, many players and parents have asked us about how to get recruited, how to find the right school to play college tennis at, how college coaches will find me, etc….   Therefore, in 2009 we started the College Prep camp.

The College Prep camp is a 3 day, high-intensity, training camp for high school players looking to continue their tennis development with the goal of going on to play collegiate tennis. In addition to 8 training sessions and approximately 5.5 hours of tennis a day, the camp will feature seminars on topics such as college recruiting, tournament scheduling to get noticed by college coaches, financial aid, college admissions and more. These seminars will be hosted by experts in their field and are designed for both players and parents in their efforts to understand what it takes to get recruited, pick a school and play college tennis. The staff is uniquely made up of collegiate coaches, top college players and staff members working in both the college admissions and financial aid fields.

In addition, to our camp, we like to offer suggestions and resources throughout the year that can be of assistance in our young players search for college tennis programs.  One such program is Scholarship for Athletes, a consulting company for players and their families. SFA has a website filled with many outstanding resources in assisting in this manner. Included is a video of Pepperdine Head Men’s Tennis Coach, Adam Steinberg, talking about the recruiting process.

All-American Tennis Camp director and Men’s and Women’s tennis coach at Case Western Reserve University, Todd Wojtkwoski was featured this week on popular high school recruiting website, tennisrecruiting.net in the “ASK THE EXPERTS” section.  Coach Wojtkowski runs the popular All-American Tennis Camp at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.

The article is a Question and Answer session with Ross Greenstein of Scholarship for Athletes, a consulting company for high school students and their families looking to compete in college athletics.

It is an interesting Q&A session that helps understand what is involved in the recruitment of young student athletes for college athletics.  This is a growing industry and one that can be quite confusing to many young players and their families.  In fact, in 2009, The All-American Tennis Camp founded a speciality tennis camp – THE COLLEGE PREP CAMP, that focused on many of the realities of college tennis.

Coach Wojtkowski summarizes exactly what college recruiting is all about in the following quote.

Scholarship for Athletes (SFA): At SFA, we try to explain to our clients that the recruiting process is like being on a job interview; is that how you view the recruiting process?

Todd Wojtkowski (TW): I think that this is a very accurate way to look at the process. Simply put, it is a job interview because the player is “selling” or convincing the coach/school why the player would be a valuable asset, and why that school would need that player.

There are many minefields in the college recruiting process and it is vitally important that young players, that are hoping to go on and play college tennis, get as much information as possible on what is involved in the process.  Often the difference in going on and competing at the collegiate level comes down to gathering the right information.  Companies like Scholarship for Athletes and camps like the COLLEGE PREP camp are great resources for those with the aspirations to take their game to the next level following high school.  To read the full article, click here.

All-American Tennis campers Victoria and Mandy Marchant not only excel on the court, they excel off as well.   The sisters are known to be two of the top young players in Northeast Ohio (the girls qualified for the Ohio State Championships this past high school season and both are top Midwest ranked players in the USTA), but this does not mean that they are self centered and determined to succeed at all costs.  No, these girls are looking to give back to the game of tennis that has been so good to them.

The Chagrin Falls, OH natives founded a company named Racquets for Rookies (racquetsforrookies.com).  The companies mission is to provide young kids with no tennis experience, the necessary equipment to learn the game.  According to high school junior, Victoria Marchant:

Mandy and I started the organization over 2 years ago.  Neighborhood children saw us playing tennis and asked us for lessons.   The little boys we were teaching said they have never played tennis before because they do not belong to an expensive club, nor did they have any racquets.  We told them they can play anywhere, in the neighborhood, at school courts, and parks, and that we would get them some racquets for free. It gave us the idea that if we, as tournament players, each have 2-3 racquets and change them every few years, all of our tennis friends and families must have closets full of them too.  We started at our own club, Chagrin Valley Athletic Club, where we decorated a colorful plastic bin with information on where the racquets are going, and used it as a test.  Word spread, and the bin was full within a few weeks.  Short story, we called all the owners of the clubs we go to and dropped a bin off!  We keep in touch with them regularly and visit them and pick up the donations when the bins are full!

As a result of the girls efforts, the company has provided more than 350 (with more coming in weekly) rackets to date to organizations such as The Big Brothers and Sisters Association of Shaker Heights, OH & The City of Cleveland Parks and Recreation to name a few.  The

girls are continuing to build their company with the hopes of getting as many young players interested in the game as possible.   Marchant concludes:

We sure have spent a lot of money on tennis lessons and tournaments,but we want to let kids know that it does not have to cost anything if you really want to play!

For more information on Racquets for Rookies and where to donate your used or unused tennis equipment, please visit their website for a list of locations.

Congratulations to long time All-American Tennis Camper, Stephanie Hollis for winning the 2009 Diane McNeal Jr. Sportsmanship Award.   Stephanie,  a senior at Magnificat High School in Rocky River, was the only female recipient of the sportsmanship award in Northeast Ohio.  The award goes to the individual (one male and one female) that exemplifies the type of sportsmanship that is highly valued in the game of tennis.  More about her award can be found on the USTA – Northeast Ohio webpage.

Stephanie is one of the top ranked junior tennis players in the nation. She is currently ranked #155 in the nation, #17 in the Great Lakes region and #3 in the state of Ohio for the class of 2010 on tennisrecruiting.net In addition, Stephanie has recently signed a national letter of intent at St. Louis University to join the women’s tennis team in the fall of 2010.  Stephanie attended the All-American Tennis camp for 6 years between 2003-2008. Congrats Stephanie!