Hudson Valley College ID Camp a Success

By MIKE SABINI
December 26, 2020

SHRUB OAK, N.Y. – It was months after it was originally scheduled for in the summer, and at a different location, but the wait was well worth it for those participants in the third annual Hudson Valley College ID Camp.

The camp was held Dec. 12-13 at Mamaroneck High School, drawing 70 players and 27 college coaches.

The camp actually had more than 100 players registered for it, but because of COVID-19 rules, it had to limit the participants on campus, according to its director and founder, Lakeland coach Tim Hourahan.

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Mamaroneck coach Rick Becker and Somers coach Brian Lanzetta assisted Hourahan with the running of the camp.

“As for the college coach turnout, I could not be more grateful to the coaches who came on campus,” Hourahan said. “That is a big draw of this event, having these college coaches in the bleachers and down on the field, watching the boys.”

The camp had more than 40 colleges in the summer of 2019 at Lakeland, but this winter there is still a ban on Division 1 schools attending events like this by the NCAA, and there were many other college coaches who have attended in previous years who were not allowed to travel.

“So, still to have 27 programs on site over two days was just an amazing opportunity for our players, and I know there are dozens of kids that have already been contacted this week from coaches,” Hourahan said.

Speaking to the campers was 2017 Lakeland graduate and current Plattsburgh standout, Jordan Fein.

“For this past weekend, I reached out to Jordan and asked him if he wouldn’t mind to come speak to all the Hudson Valley prospects on the differences between high school and college soccer, what practice sessions, and road trips look like, and even what college class requirements may look like,” Hourahan said. “Not only did my man ‘J Fein’ come prepared with notes and talking points to go over, I then asked him if he wouldn’t mind to take on some questions our prospects may have. He was just so well spoken and personable, to our players, that it was a great addition to this ID camp.

“I think bringing in alumni Hudson Valley camp players to speak about what their recruiting process was like will certainly be a part of this program going forward now,” Hourahan added.

The camp usually has a one-hour portion on each ID camp day to bring in college coaches and their staffs to run practice sessions. This gets the players a great feel of what a college soccer practice will look like in the fall, Hourahan said.

“However, what college coaches really want to see is players playing, not practicing; so while that aspect is great for the players, we really just wanted to showcase our guys as much as possible over two days for the college coaches, to recruit,” Hourahan said. “So, we got rid of the one-hour training session, and we had 60 minutes of 6v6 small-sided games and just about three hours per day of 11v11 full-sided.”

On the camp’s second day, it concluded with a senior vs. senior game, as well as a ’21s vs. ’22s all-star game, pitting the top juniors against the top seniors in the camp.

Hourahan said he is thankful to Mamaroneck and its administration for allowing use of its field, but added that he looks forward to bringing the camp back to Lakeland this upcoming July.

“We now have two full-sized soccer fields on campus, and even a third turf field we could use for small-sided games,” Hourahan said. “So, this summer, as we continue to grow this brand, we will be looking at more than 100 athletes easy, and the fourth annual Hudson Valley College ID camp will be the biggest one to date, as we continue to draw top players not only from Section 1 and Section 9, but now even players from Long Island and Albany look to be in the mix this summer.”

While the camp may be over, the work isn’t.

“I will continue to talk to college coaches over the next few months on our graduating seniors, as well as posting highlight videos of our players, in helping them find a college-roster spot,” Hourahan said.