Day 1
7:00am – Camp Arrival & Check-In
7:40am – All-Camp Meeting
8:30am – Student-Athlete Warm-Up, Parent Meeting and Q&A
9:00am – Defensive Showcase & Objective Measurements
11:00am – Offensive Showcase & Objective Measurements
12:30pm – All-Camp Meeting & Coach Introductions
1:00pm – Game Slot 1 (7-inning games for all odd-numbered teams)
3:15pm – Player-Coach Meet-and-Greet
4:00pm – Game Slot 2 (7-inning games for all even-numbered teams)
7:15pm – End of Day 1
Day 2
7:00am – Odd-Numbered Team Arrival & Warm-Up
7:05am – Recruiting Panel and Q&A for Odd-Numbered Team Parents
7:30am – Game Slot 1 (7-inning games for all odd-numbered teams)
9:15am – Even-Numbered Team Arrival & Warm-Up
9:20am – Recruiting Panel and Q&A for Even-Numbered Team Parents
9:45am – Game Slot 2 (7-inning games for all even-numbered teams)
12:00pm – Player-Coach Meet-and-Greet
12:45pm – Game Slot 3 (7-inning games for all odd-numbered teams)
3:00pm – Game Slot 4 (7-inning games for all even-numbered teams)
5:15pm – End of Day 2
Note: the schedule above represents our typical two-day programming - exact times and details will be communicated before camp and on-site and may change
We believe that face-to-face, direct engagement with college coaches is a key piece in advancing your recruiting process as a student-athlete. In addition to knowing who you are on the field as a player, coaches need to know you as a complete student-athlete as they evaluate your fit for their program. Coaches recruit student-athletes who can contribute to their program on the field - and who also are a fit for the school, and the culture and character of the program. At Honor Roll, coaches are on the fields and in the dugouts with you, and are available for connection so that coaches can directly engage with players, and so that student-athletes can get to know their future coaches.
On-Field Engagement & Instruction:
Each college coach is assigned to a coaching group, just as student-athletes are assigned to teams. These coaching groups are on the field and in the dugouts during the games at camp, which is meant to increase their visibility for evaluating student-athletes, give them the chance to instruct and coach prospective student-athletes and to facilitate direct engagement between players and coaches. At Honor Roll, coaches aren't separated from players by the chain link fence as you might see at a tournament - the structure of camp is meant to foster organic direct interaction.
Once players and parents are on-site at camp, they are able to access these coaching groups so that student-athletes can find the coaches on their list to start the conversation. These coaching groups rotate over the course of camp so as to maximize interactions - as a player, you'll be on the field with a different coaching group for each of your games so that you can have direct contact with as many coaches as possible during camp.
Dedicated Meet-and-Greet:
New this year at camp, there is also built-in dedicated time for coaches and players to engage directly during "meet-and-greet" blocks on each day of camp. During this time, players have the opportunity to introduce themselves and connect with the college coaches who are on their list.
On Day 1 of camp, the meet-and-greet is scheduled between the first and second game slot, and is a great time to find a couple of the schools at the top of your list, so that you can introduce yourself and give coaches the opportunity to put a face to a name.
On Day 2, the meet-and-greet falls between the second and third game slots of the day, so that all players have the chance to track down additional coaches before their game play ends. The timing for this makes sure that all players still have a game left, so the coaches they engage with have the chance to watch them play in their next game slot.
Giving coaches access to data and analytics from camp - including objective measurements, Blast Motion data and more - gives deeper insight into your tools and projectability as a player. Combining these analytics with the live gameplay, showcase portions and direct on-field engagement means that coaches have everything they need to recruit you. This data not only adds depth to the picture of who you are right now as a player, but also lets coaches see your potential, and how you project at their level of play.
In addition to equipping coaches with more in-depth information on your projectability and recruitability, this data also gives you as a player the tools and information to continue to develop as a player. By helping you get to know yourself more completely as a player, this data points to your areas of strength and improvement so that you can continue to round out your game.
Rapsodo Pitching:
All primary pitchers will have their in-game data collected with Rapsodo, to be distributed to both student-athletes and college coaches. This advanced pitching data (including spin rate, spin axis, release angle, vertical and horizontal break, spin efficiency and more) helps give coaches further insight into your projectability on the mound, and helps you continue to develop, and learn even more about how you can be effective.
Blast Motion:
A partnership with Blast Motion (blastmotion.com) will give even more advanced insight for coaches and players. Blast is a swing analyzer (sensor) and player development platform that records all of the necessary pre-contact information about an athlete's swing - allowing you to not only track important data points like maximum barrel speed, peak hand speed and time to contact, but also builds a model of your swing across three metrics: Plane, Connection and Rotation. Together, these metrics provide an in-depth look at your swing, and how you can continue to improve your approach and attack at the plate.
The Blast swing analyzer will be available for purchase directly through the Honor Roll registration platform both during and after your registration for a Headfirst-specific discount. If you would like to purchase a sensor, you will be able to as an optional add-on. The swing analyzer will be sent directly to you, and you can start collecting data on your swings to add to your online profiles, send to college coaches and track your own development.
Players should arrive between 7:00 and 7:30am on Day 1 for check-in, and camp will begin promptly at 7:40am. We will provide additional arrival details (such as facility location and parking information) during our pre-camp webinars (which we host approximately 10 days before your scheduled camp) and through email in advance of the event.
If weather impacts the start time of any individual camp, we will notify all families via email and through our on-site information web page, which will be linked in email communications.
Each ballplayer’s game schedule will depend on the team to which they are assigned. Players and parents will receive their team assignment following the showcase workout on the morning of Day 1 (you can expect teams to be posted by 1:00pm).
Team assignments will determine the end time for Day 1, as well as the arrival and departure times for Day 2. For all teams, Day 1 will conclude around 6:00pm for the early game slots and 8:00pm for the later game slots.
Day 2 arrival will be determined by team assignment (which will be the same as the first day’s assignment). The teams that finished first on Day 1 will report back for their first round of morning games, and they should arrive to the facility by 7:00am. The teams that finished in the last game slots on Day 1 will arrive back to the facility around 9:00am on Day 2.
On Day 2, all games should be finished by 5:00pm.
We do not provide a written evaluation of the campers during our camp. Our mission is to facilitate face-to-face interaction between student-athletes and coaches as we believe that this is the best channel for impactful feedback. These interactions not only let ballplayers know where they stand in the recruiting process but allow athletes the opportunity to develop a relationship with the coach.
The only written evaluations that are done are pitching evaluations. These evaluations are done by a college coach stationed behind home plate during each game. They are shared with ALL attending college coaches, and include both objective measurements like velocity, as well as notes on mindset, athleticism, mechanics, movement and command. They are not, however, circulated to players and families.
YES. Headfirst provides all pitcher evaluations to the coaches.
All of the objective measurements collected during the showcase portion on the morning of Day 1 are circulated to all coaches (both in hard copy and digitally) during the first day of camp. These measurements include all ballplayers’ 60 yard dash, batted ball velocity and overhand throwing velocity.
Team assignments and game times will be announced via our on-site mobile web page (circulated before camp as well as on-site) during the Offensive Showcase portion in the early afternoon of Day 1. This information will include team assignments, game times and pitching rotations.
On Day 2, each ballplayer will play in two games, and exact report times will be communicated at the end of Day 1 (for planning purposes, early teams will report on Day 2 around 7:00am and late teams will report around 9:00am).
One of the unique parts of the way that Headfirst runs our Honor Roll Camps is the opportunity for interaction directly between ballplayers and college coaches. During each game slot, college coaches are on the fields and in the dugouts coaching and evaluating. The camp schedule and coach rotation is built to maximize the number of unique college coaches that ballplayers are able to play in front of. During each game slot, some coaches are “working”– that is, assigned to fields and dugouts – while others are “roaming”, meaning that they are unassigned and free to scout players across the complex. After the conclusion of Day 1, the coaches’ schedule flips, so coaches who were “working” during a team’s game slot on Day 1 are now “roaming” on Day 2. This allows each coach the opportunity to effectively scout and evaluate all players.
The best time for a ballplayer to approach a college coach is in the dugout or around the facility between games. Because of the nature of the schedule and coach rotation, there are numerous opportunities for this kind of interaction.
Over nearly twenty years of conversations with college coaches, we have heard repeatedly that it is far more effective if the players (rather than parents) introduce themselves to a coach.
Ballplayers should feel free to ask the college coaches questions about their school and program. On our blog, we have a post about some of the best things that student-athletes can do before and at camp to stand out to college coaches, including how to introduce yourself to a college coach — see the full post here.
It is okay for parents to join a conversation with their ballplayer and college coach. However, it is important that the camper is the one showing the initiative in the conversation. It is, ultimately, the student-athlete’s college experience and the college coaches are always looking for mature student-athletes who can ask their own questions.
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