Mandate and History
NORTHERN SHOWCASE- Education through Sport
The Northern Showcase is the descendant of the original Prospectscamp.com showcase held in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. Bill Fong, the creator of Prospectscamp.com, started the camp in 1991 and ran it every year until 2017. The camp started as an opportunity to showcase the talents of some small-town Saskatchewan girls in the hope that they get the chance to play post-secondary volleyball. Eventually, it was built into a camp where hundreds of girls and coaches travelled across Canada and the USA for a weekend of volleyball. What Bill is most proud of is that even when the camp grew in size, it never lost the focus of why he originally started the camp. Bill now resides in Calgary and has been asked to run a showcase in Alberta with the same philosophy and care as he did in Assiniboia.
One of the unique aspects of Prospectscamp.com, and now the Northern Showcase, is that it uses only a single court to run drills. This provides equal opportunity for every athlete to showcase their abilities in the hope of earning a scholarship to play the sport they love while earning an education. Bill does an incredible job of inviting coaches from many different levels such as USport, NCAA Div I, NCAA Div II, NCAA Div III, ACAC, NAIA, and Junior Colleges in the hope that all athletes, regardless of size, have the chance to impress a coach. Bill is very excited about the Northern Showcase, as moving to Calgary has made accessibility for athletes and coaches easier and he is working hard to ensure that the Northern Showcase camps are the greatest camps in Canada.
Mandate
Through the years, Prospectscamp helped to place over 1000 athletes in schools. Many finished their degrees while playing volleyball and have become professionals in their fields of study. Bill is very proud of the successes both on the court and in the classroom of so many of the volleyball players he has worked with through the years.
Another of unique aspect of the showcases is that it involves a lot of education about the recruitment process and finding the right school. Athletes are among the most focused people, and through the educational classes, we try to help them navigate down the path of success while avoiding potholes. We encourage these athletes to be leaders both on and off the court and to always strive for greatness.
Description
The Camp is broken up into different sections, and therefore, no player will need to be there longer than 5 to 6 hours total. College coaches do not need longer than that to assess whether that athlete is capable of playing at their level. It has become apparent to all collegiate-level coaches that video recruiting, though used a lot more due to the pandemic, does not show many of the little things coaches are always looking for. Therefore, being present to view a player has become more desirable than ever and coaches place a tremendous value on onsite evaluation. However, athletes also need to know that their resumes, video, and information will be forwarded to other schools and coaches that were unable to attend. Prospectscamp was proud to say it had one of the highest success rates for placement of athletes in North America, and Bill is more than motivated to make this happen again. Prospectscamp was never about the two or three best players but instead about trying to help as many players as possible find the right school to grow into successful and productive young men and women.
The recent trend is that schools continue to recruit younger and younger. Being 15 or 16 years old is an advantage as being evaluated at a younger age allows the coaches to start recruiting individuals while they still have scholarship dollars.
In the News
We are proud that the Showcase and Camps have been recognized Nationally through the CBC and by different publications throughout North America. It is unique in that it has humble beginnings in small town Saskatchewan and we promise to never forget that the camp is for the athletes.
Philosophy
The Philosophy of the Camp has always been trying to give every athlete an opportunity to play their sport past high school and obtain an education through the sport of volleyball.
For this reason, the camp has always tried to bring in every level of school from Junior Colleges and two-year colleges in Canada to the largest Division 1 NCAA Schools in the United States and CIS Schools in Canada
Coaching Representation
ProspectsCamp was proud to have in attendance some of the highest-profile volleyball schools in Canada and the United States. The Northern Showcase looks to do the same. Schools in attance will be
- Brandon University
- Ambrose College
- Indiana
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- University of North Dakota
- Seattle University
- Gonzaga (Tentative)
- St. John’s University
- Northern Arizona University
- Minot State
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Warner Pacific University
- Waylon Baptist University
- Norfolk State University
- Northeastern (Tentative)
- Valley City University (Tentative)
- Idaho University
- Reinhardt University (Tentative)
- Memorial University
- Oregon State University
Please continue to check this section as more schools get added.
Bill has done recruiting camps for more than 25 years so he personally knows many of the coaches attending his camps. Bill’s priority is the well-being and growth and development of the athletes and therefore, he spends hundreds of hours looking for coaches who also care about their athletes on and off the court.