Tournaments provide an excellent opportunity for coaches to get a glimpse of you in a competitive, college athlete recruiting environment. Though coaches' exposure to you may not be as intensive and thorough as in a college recruiting camp environment, perceptive coaches can get a sense of your ability pretty quickly.

To get a coach to see you at a tournament, provide him with a schedule. As soon as you know your team's general tournament plans, let coaches know. For example, “We're going to Wanderer's Cup in January and The Explorer Invitational in March.”

If a coach you've contacted is in attendance at a tournament, don't freak out thinking that you have to hog the ball and score seven goals to make your case. Relax and play as you normally would. In fact, you probably won't know when exactly the coach is watching.

Concern yourself with playing the game, not with scanning the crowd for a guy wearing Bananaville University yellow.

Each college recruiting camp tends to fill up very quickly.

Some of the most popular college athlete recruiting camps are fully booked as early as February. So early on, peep your calendar and plot out the camps you need to attend. Call the camps to request registration forms and then send them off right away.

Let's face it, college recruiting camps are pricey. The good news is that you can get a lot out of camps, even more than you might think is possible.

At some college athlete recruiting camps, for example, the staff will write college recommendations for all of their campers. At other camps, you may have to ask. Some coaches will even make calls on your behalf to coaches at other colleges who were not in attendance at the camp.

When you're at a college recruiting camp, use it as an opportunity to talk to the coaches you're interested in playing for. Schedule a time to speak with them 1-on-1 in the dorms or cafeteria.

Ask each coach his impressions of your play, and whether he envisions a role for you on his team. Discuss the aspects of your game you should work on to contribute to his program.

The camp staff will often feature active college players, many of whom spend the summer on campus working or taking classes. Utilize these players as resources. Talk to them. Beyond what you see on ESPN on the weekend, what is it really like to play sports in college?

What kind of commitment does it entail? What are their impressions of the coaches you're interested in playing for?

How do you find out which college recruiting camps various college coaches will be attending? You ask them.

During the winter, ask the coaches at the colleges you are considering which college athlete recruiting camps they intend to work that summer. They may even volunteer this information unsolicited in an effort to get their recruits to a venue where they can be observed at length.

Once you know the camps a coach will attend, make the appropriate notes on your log sheets. Request the camps' promotional materials and registration forms.

After having a few such conversations with various coaches, you might determine that the coaches from, say, your seven schools of greatest interest will not be attending any camps in common. No sweat, you can still get a lot out of a college recruiting camp.

Fortunately, college coaches are highly networked and are often willing to share information about prospective players.

Many college programs run summer college recruiting camps, which are an ideal setting for coaches to evaluate prospective players. You may attend as many camps as you like, all of which must be at your own expense. The NCAA prohibits college teams from paying recruits' camp fees.

Summer college athlete recruiting camps are often run at a host school and feature coaches from a number of different colleges. Camps provide an unrivaled opportunity for coaches to thoroughly evaluate prospective players, and likewise, for players to assess the coaches. Learn what you need to know about the college recruiting camp.

Every high school athlete knows the feeling. You're playing in a big game and there are college coaches in the stands. Every time you do something good, they seem to be looking the other way. Every time you mess up, they are fixated on exactly what you're doing.

The question is, how do you get them to pay attention to you long enough to really see what you're capable of doing? The answer is that you have to be different. Our new Resources page for all paid accounts has lots of ideas on how to stand out. The bottom line is that you have to do something to stand out from the mass of other college-bound athletes around you.

Now, don't take this the wrong way. The point isn't that you have to do something miraculous while coaches are watching you. Instead, you should focus on "playing your game" -- doing things methodically and the way you normally do them. The time to be different is when you're emailing with college coaches.

Think about it. College coaches are constantly being inundated with communications from prospects. There are only so many emails that they can read that say, "Dear Coach, I really want to play for your team. Really, really, really badly. Sincerely, Mercutio." Yawn. The key is to do and say things that are different. Be honest, but different from the obvious lines that everyone else is taking.

An example might be to say in an email that "My family just got back from Yellowstone. Old Faithful is the best! And I just created a 'Save the Yellowstone Wolves' group on Facebook." Granted, it's a goofy example, but it's something different, something that college coaches haven't read 239 times already today. You might also do something really out of the ordinary, like create a collage of pictures of yourself and the college team and quotes from your friends and coaches saying why you'd be a good fit.

Brainstorming stuff like this is fun. Sit down with a piece of paper and just start writing the goofiest ideas that come to mind. Don't do them all, but do some. They will help you stand out from the crowd. Why is this important? Because college coaches will remember you when they are out at your next game. They'll remember the funny card you sent them or the camel riding picture from when your class went to the zoo. And they'll be more inclined to keep watching you to see what you're really capable of doing as an athlete. After all, you've already demonstrated that you know your way around the very process of athletic recruitment.

And distinguishing yourself is especially key if you're seeking college sports scholarships, whether it be baseball scholarships, softball scholarships, or whatever else.

Unfortunately, college recruiting camps are expensive. They often cost more than $500 for one week.

It's a lot of money, but you have to think of a college recruiting camp as a sound investment, one that offers the most thorough exposure to college coaches. The key, though, is to make sure you spend your money on the right camps -- camps where the college coaches you want to play for will be.

Once you've arrived at a college recruiting camp, checked in, met your roommates, and eaten some good old fashioned dorm food, it's time to start playing.

Players are usually divided into teams that are headed by one college coach. Over the course of the week, though, the players will have the opportunity to work with every other coach. In this forum players can be examined at length, so that a few bad plays in an isolated game don't define your ability in the eyes of a coach.

Beyond your extensive exposure to a coach on the field, college recruiting camps allow players to develop personal relationships with coaches. In passing, in the cafeteria, and at scheduled extracurricular activities, you will be able to have casual conversations with them.

You can also arrange to eat lunch together or meet in the dorm lounge if you'd like to speak with a coach more formally about your college prospects. Just don't be overbearing by constantly requesting to meet with a coach.

by Farb - So you're going to Portland? What are you doing this weekend to make sure you get seen next weekend by the right college coaches? Do you have a strategy for success at college recruiting camps? It's not enough to just go to the tournament and hope someone happens to see you. There will be nearly 1,000 players there. This means that the odds, unfortunately, are pretty slim that you'll happen to be seen by the right coach at the right moment.

So how can you improve your odds?

Take 5 minutes and send coaches an email with your schedule. That's all it takes. Here are three easy steps:

1. Sign into your CaptainU account and go to the "Colleges" page.
2. Add 5-10 colleges you like.
3. Send the coach a 2 paragraph email. Ask if he'll be in Portland, say that you want to play for him, and include your schedule if you have it.

The Pepsi Showdown is a great opportunity to get seen by college coaches and convince them that you deserve a spot on their team. But here's the rub: there are a lot of players who are going to be there. This is how to get recruited at any tournament you play in this spring, you have to stand out.

There are two ways to do this. The first, obviously, is to play well. The second is less obvious, but probably more important: you have to get them to see you play in the first place. You can't just hope that they'll randomly show up on the sidelines of your game. Here are three simple steps you should take to convince coaches to come watch you play at a tournament:

1. Find out which college coaches will be present. Email them and ask if they'll be there. Ask your coaches if they know which college coaches will be in attendance. Look at various websites for lists.


2. Make sure you have an up-to-date profile that college coaches can easily access. Include photos, grades, test scores, and your soccer history. Make sure that your information makes it into the event's player profile book.


3. Email the coaches with dates, times, and locations of your games. Tell them that you would really like it if they can see you play and name specific reasons why you think that school is such a good fit.

This should take you no more than an hour. It's amazing how a small, but concerted effort on the right recruiting activities can make a major difference.

by Avi - It's so easy to go to a tournament thinking, "College coaches are going to be there. They'll see me." Too bad. It just ain't so.

Even at a tournament where college coaches are swarming all over the place, the odds of getting seen by the right coach, at a moment when you do something outstanding are really slim. On this episode of our podcast, we talk about how to beat the odds. Click below to listen:

Pumpkin pie? Cranberry sauce? Recruiting? What should I do for the Thanksgiving tournaments that are coming up? Other than stuffing yourself with turkey in some distant city, how do you make the most of these showcases?

Have a question that you want discussed over the air? Send it to info@CaptainU.com

Note: if you have trouble listening with the widget above, give this a try.

A college coach may hang around after the game to speak with you. If you see him from afar and he hasn't found you, walk over and introduce yourself.

Don't be intimidated or throw yourself at his feet and beg for a spot on his team. Just have a normal conversation. Offer your opinion on how the game went, ask for his, thank him for coming, and promise to be in touch.

It's useful to know when college coaches are watching you play, mostly so you can follow up with them. The worst thing to do is to try to change the way you play just because college coaches are watching.

Ask a coach which tournaments or individual games he's going to attend. Though he may not have his schedule figured out exactly, he might be able to give you a general idea. This isn't so that you can honor him with an extra-special effort on that extra-special day. It's so you know what games he's seen and when to have follow-up conversations regarding your play.

Take notes on your follow-up conversations in your CaptainU recruiting log and also note how you think you played while he was watching you.

You should be aware that NCAA regulations stipulate that coaches cannot speak with recruits before, during, or between games. College coaches also may not speak with recruits until the club or high school coach has released the players at the end of a game.

It's unlikely that college coaches will attend isolated high school or league games unless signing you is an absolute priority or you play close to the college.

If these conditions aren't working in your favor, you should still provide coaches with a schedule of your regular season games, if for no other reason than to show them that you are playing regularly.

Don't be afraid to lobby a coach to come see you play at a specific tournament. Convince him that this is a tournament he should really come watch.

Email him little teasers like: “We have a very competitive schedule at the Prometheus Invitational. Based on past experiences, I think this will be a fantastic tournament to watch. It would be great if you could come.”

Pardon the use of variables, but here's a little college recruiting camp algebra:

Say you decide to attend the X University Soccer Camp, a college that really interests you.

You're also enthusiastic about A College and B University, whose coaches will not be at the camp.

What you should do then is ask the coaches at A College and B University if they know any of the coaches at the X University camp who can evaluate you on behalf of A College and B University.

Imagine a college coach at a tournament with 30 teams and 500 players. If you're completely anonymous -- in other words, coaches don't know you -- the odds of randomly getting seen by a college coach are slim. The odds are especially bad if you're hoping to randomly get seen by the coach at a college that's the right fit for you.

If, on the other hand, you?ve self-recruited well, the coach knows that he needs to single you out of the crowd. In fact, he's made a note to see you play in your 2:30 game.

You can't judge a prospective player by his soccer resume. Coaches know that on the field, players aren't necessarily what they appear to be on paper. Seldom is anyone offered a spot on a college team just because his or her recruiting profile looks good.

Your letters, e-mails, and phone calls cannot tell the whole tale. Finding a way for a coach to evaluate your play in person is critical.

You may be attractive on paper and a brilliant phone conversationalist. In the end, however, most coaches will want to see you in action before they include you in their long-term plans. Effective communication, therefore, lays the foundation. Off-field self-recruiting motivates coaches to see you in action, on the field.

As important as it is to market yourself to college coaches, when push comes to shove, it's your performance on the field that will convince a coach that you deserve a spot on his team.

Regular contact with coaches will spark their interest in personally evaluating your ability. The key is to arrange a time and place for coaches to see you play.

Though on-field self-recruiting is all about actual appearances, even now you must maintain the dialogue that you've established with a coach. You've worked so hard to get his attention. Don't disappear now. Don't lose his attention by abandoning your telephone and e-mail campaign.

College teams' recruiting budgets are stretched so thin that you simply can't expect a coach to make an enormous effort to see you play. Recruiting funds are limited and therefore guarded tightly. Coaches try to make each recruiting buck go as far as possible.

Translation: the odds of a coach journeying cross-country to watch an isolated regular season game are slim. Coaches who attend individual club and high school games probably represent local colleges —- which may be fine with you if you're interested in them.

For colleges beyond your immediate vicinity, you're far more likely to gain exposure at a tournament, which are preferred by coaches because they can assess numerous prospects at once.

In fact if you give a coach advanced notice about a particular tournament, you might spark his interest in attending.

As soon as the information is available to you, send each college coach a schedule of your games and tournaments. Use CaptainU to add your tournaments and game schedule and then send coaches the link to your profile.

If you are committed to playing soccer, baseball, track and field, volleyball, or whatever in college, you have to make it happen.

Don't just assume that some college coach will see you play and decide that you're his or her next superstar.

3 tips for getting college coaches to see you play:

• Attend college camps during the summer


• Arrange for coaches to see you at tournaments and other showcase events


• Visit colleges and meet with the coaches