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Uncommitted 3B/C Anna Hinde was a 1st Team High School All-American by Extra Inning Softball after leading Charlotte Christian High to a North Carolina 4A state championship this past season.
Team North Carolina’s Hinde is #2 in the 2025 Extra Elite 100, joined the Extra Inning Softball blogging crew and will bring her insights to Inside Pitch.
As one of the top 2025 power hitters in the country, Hinde, who carries a 4.5 GPA, often gets asked the same questions about camps and recruiting so she posed those questions and answered them herself!
Here’s her latest blog on the ins & outs, ups & downs of attending college camps as Anna sees it… and be sure to check out the photos below with the many college coaches she’s met at such events!
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Why do you go to so many camps?
First, at what number is it considered “so many?” This past year, after conversations with my parents and my coaches, we decided we would consider all camp invitations; after all, that’s a true way to know when a program wants to evaluate you and spend some time getting to know you.
I was truly blessed to be invited to some prospect camps with really small numbers. These turned out to be my favorite camps for several reasons. I was able to meet and spend time with other athletes my age from all over the US; some I’ve played against and some I was meeting for the first time.
Also, these smaller camps felt more personal and allowed me to spend quality time with coaches, players and camp staffs. Finally, many of these camps included campus tours, Q&A sessions, academic presentations and opportunities to compete in live game play.
Not to state the obvious; however, but we all remember when COVID halted all camp opportunities for nearly a year. Being a younger recruit, I was mostly affected by disappointment, but for older recruits this posed a challenge for those who had not yet had the opportunity to attend camps, which I believe is one of the biggest recruiting tools.
That being said, I want to make sure I take advantage of every opportunity to attend camps while having the privilege to do so.
Finally, I am very blessed to be mentored by some of the best players who have ever played the game. As a part of these mentorships, I am encouraged to keep all options open with the understanding that changes within the college softball world are inevitable.
Aren’t you too young to be recruited?
Short answer is yes, I cannot receive offers from Division I softball programs until September 1 of my junior year in high school. I am currently a freshman, so I have a little more than a year and a half before my parents and I can begin conversations with college programs. I am a firm believer, though, recruiting starts long before the above-mentioned date. I want to do as much research as possible before September 2023 and this research includes attending camps.
*** Scroll down to learn more what Anna has gleaned from college camps and why she keeps going back to them…