Who pays for recruits to go to camp?
Someone may have covered this topic before but . . .
By random Google search I stumbled across the application athletes fill out to attend football camp at Michigan.
http://michiganfootballcamp.com/2008ApplicationForms.pdf
One thing that jumped out at me was the cost to attend for non-commuters was roughly $450. When you consider that recruits flying in from the south pay airfare as well - a trip to Michigan camp could easily run an athlete over $800. I commonly read rivals articles that state “XXX plans to camp at the following three schools.”
Who picks up the tab for this? If Michigan, how many recruits are we allowed to invite without charge?
The money is off, I paid for my little brother to go to camp it was 215 for a commuter. For a few hundred more they give room and board for the camp.
Edit: Little early number are right... Where is that caffeine?
You'll also notice that several articles mention that a kid is trying to get the money together to attend. There was one kid from Kentucky who ended up beinga no-show due to monetary concerns - the kids probably pay the airfare, at least, but the actual camp may be comp.
The key is camp vs. official visits. Recruits have to pay for camps "themselves" - I'm sure there is often some trickeration in the funding there.
However, recruits can go on up to 5 official visits, for which all expenses are paid by the school / AD. Most of the time, this is a weekend in the fall for a football game, but can happen at other times, and (not knowing details - I'm sure length / expenses are restricted) potentially for summer camps if a kid wanted to count that as his official.
Key distinction: if it is an official visit, the school pays, if not, it has to be funded by other means.
Sometimes, a kid will only be at camp for a day or two. I'm not sure what the cost of that runs to.