Lots of good advice from @calsoccerparent. The necessity of playing Academy to get recruited can vary by region --we have 1 Academy program in our state,close to 3 hours away, so just not feasible – though if my kid had major D1 potential, maybe we would have had to figure out a way. In major markets with many more programs, it is more of an expectation. Rest assured, high school soccer is pretty much irrelevant to college recruiting. A coach may come watch a high school match if it is convenient, but is not going to make decisions based on the overall quality of high school play.
As for ID camps, from what we saw, it is rare that a school’s first exposure to a player will come at camp, usually the coaches became interested after watching tournament or Academy matches, talked with the kid there, and encouraged to come to that school’s camp. My kid looked only at D3 LACs, and it still seemed that most of the kids at camp had been seen at matches up and down the east coast and already had relationships with the coaches. Performing at camp is important, but it is not necessarily the first time a program is seeing a player.
There are lots of threads here on soccer recruiting so a search of those will pull up advice about the process, including from the dad of a female D1 GK who wrote step by step guides to the process, much of which is generally applicable to the male field player. Broadly, the player should have a soccer resume which can be emailed, can start emailing programs (copying the Assistant coach, who often handles recruiting logistics) introducing the student’s academic and soccer achievements, identifying tournaments where will be playing, and expressing interest in the program. Then, follow up to remind the coach of specific tournament game schedule once it is available, including field number, and player’s jersey number. Look for coach after match, to see if can talk. Follow up. Repeat . . . . Also, remember, soccer is an “equivalency” sport, so D1 athletic scholarships are the equivalent of less than 10 full scholarships which are then spread over the entire team. Ivies and NESCACs are financial aid only, no athletic or merit awards.