Can someone please give me a timeline of what I should be doing to target D3 lacrosse programs? For example, NESCAC, Union.
My older brother went through football recruitment, so I understand that extremely well. If anybody is familiar with football, then I’m wondering what I should do differently. I know the timeline is earlier because football has the additional season of senior year.
I’ve gone to some showcases. I’ll make highlights from my junior year. Should I be emailing coaches? What should I be doing in general?
I’m ok on what to be doing academically. Take ACT, SAT2s, AP classes in school, etc … I already took the SAT and ACT and I’ll keep retesting: my best ACT so far is 31.
My concern is more about the athletic timeline. What I should be doing with the coaches.
The timeline starts at the end of 10th grade… Lacrosserecuits.com provides good guidance. So does USLacrosse. After you read up on how to write an email send your email to assistants as well as head coaches. R you going to Elite180, preplaxshowcase, D3 showcase, Phillylax, Quakerfest, NE150? Did I miss any? Tell your prospective coaches that you will be there. R u signed up for all prospect days at your school’s of interest? ACT looks good…take it again and try to get a 32…I promise at least one coach will say that to you. Great that you are taking AP classes… 4, 5 or 6 are plenty.
It’s a lot of work and cost me plenty of vacation days but the ROI was exceptional. And note that this journey will take you to places that you did not anticipate.
Yes, you need to get moving. Contact the coaches at schools you are most interested in and tell them where you will be this summer. Many of the showcases film all games, so even if the coaches don’t go to the showcase they can view the film later. Give them the exact time and field you are on, your number and even a way to spot you (green shoes, blue taped stick)
You might also go to laxpower and look at the recruits for 2017 and see if it looks like a school is already full or if there looks like room. It’s not perfect as every recruit is not listed and every listed recruit will not be admitted, but if you see a school already recruited 7 attack or 3 goalies, that might be helpful in thinking another school might need you more.
@twoinanddone @Burgermeister Thank you for the feedback.
I contacted 50 colleges, mostly a wide range of D3s. I’m not really getting any responses. I’d normally say maybe that’s a maybe the coaches saying I’m not good enough. However, my hudl film hasn’t gotten many hits.
That’s making me wonder if I’m emailing them too late or I emailed the wrong information out.
I told the coaches I’m a junior, where I go to school, a link for some compiled film from my current season, my SAT-ACT and GPA.
@twoinanddone I went to laxpower , and I clicked on 2016-2017. That’s the right one for current high school juniors ? There’s a lot of R’s Does that mean people who are expected to get offers?
‘R’ is for the D3, as they won’t sign NLI so aren’t an ‘early’ or a ‘spring’. It is a very informal reporting system (I saw one for a college club team on the list) and you’ll see “E” on a D3 school but they aren’t really getting a written offer. Some coaches/schools won’t post anything until that NLI is signed, sealed and delivered. There isn’t really anything a D3 coach can give except his word that you’d have a spot on the team and sometimes help in admissions, but they are using the “R”. It is just a rough idea, but if you see 15 players for the same school, you know the school recruited early and expects most of those 15 to attend IF they are admitted to the school. Big IF. Even the D1 and D2 schools are verbal commitments at this point, and either the coach or player can decide not to make or accept an offer come November.
I think you aren’t getting responses because it’s the middle of the season. No one is recruiting right now because they are playing. Just keep sending the emails and questionnaires and being a big pain because that’s your job, to get noticed. You can make phone calls, they can’t call you back but they can call your coaches, club or high school. Do you have a coach who can help you make contact?
Well, I say no one is recruiting, but if you have a super game, let the coaches know. A friend had a big game last night and he’s a junior like you. His team won 6-5 in OT, and he scored 4 of those 6 goals including the winner. He’s already committed, but that could be a game changer. Literally.
@twoinanddone Thanks for clarifying. I realize I read the laxpower website wrong and clicked on the wrong year. My goal is D3, and there’s very few D3s for my year, just several D1s.
A few coaches finally emailed back, at least 1 of whom I think watched my highlights because it didn’t seem like a completely formulaic response.
In general, the coaches are telling me they want to watch me play this summer. I expected as much. Are there any showcases in particular you recommend?
I’m mainly wondering if you suggesting going to larger events or ones specifically at the schools I’m interested in. To give you perspective on my interests, I emailed many colleges to cast a wide net, but I’m really only interested in NESCACs and a few comparable ones academically like Union and RPI, as my academics are reasonably good.
Just one clarification: I think D3 coaches don’t have the same communication restrictions as D1/2 coaches. They can respond to you anytime. However, their recruiting cycle is later than D1/2 so while they can talk to you freely, they may not be scouting your grad year until you are a Junior or Senior. That is how it works for girls anyway.
D3 coaches are still trying to fill spots and finish courting students so that they enroll. Basically this is go time for them with a may 1 enrollment deadline for a lot of schools. I see coaches going crazy trying to get those people who were waiting on a financial aid decision to plan visits and many visits will be taking place this weekend. Don’t take it personally, they will reach out most likely after they’ve secure class of 2016 recruits.
Some of these are sold out …Preplaxshowcase (Salisbury, CT), D3 Summer Showcase (Wesleyan), Elite 180 Keene State), NEW ENGLAND TOP 150 LACROSSE (Portsmouth, RI), GOOD TO GREAT LACROSSE SHOWCASE (Amherst). There are more if you search Springfield, Nat175 and Endicott. Email coach that you will be there. Provide bio and game clip; and they absolutely need to see you SATs or ACTs.
Rising seniors absolutely must attend all prospect days of colleges that you are interested in. We got our best return on investment as a rising junior at college prospect days. If you have limited funds skip showcases and go directly to the college pospect days. Hurry up, some of college prospect days are sold out.
Email HC and all assistants. Some HCs do not respond to email.
Also please know that some NESCAC coaches are buddies who share data and some are not. Always be respectful and never trash talk anyone. Be honest in you intentions and do not “play the game”…it’s just like getting an attractive, intelligent and respectable date for the prom.
In addition, register on coach’s prospect webpages. Wackylax has a bunch of showcases on their webpage. Preplaxshowcase is not sold out.
I would strongly suggest that you check out this webinar on how to get massive exposure in the recruiting process. it is 100% free and really give great information http://sportsscholarshipcoach.com/webinar. Best of luck with the recruiting process.
You will get more action this summer, after the college season ends and their fall classes our filled. I too advise going to prospect days, especially if a coach invites you. I wouldn’t spend a lot of money or time showing up to NESCAC prospect days if you have not been invited. Most of the kids there have been invited from their club teams. You can go if it’s convenient, but really the coaches are watching the kids that they have invited the most. I took my son to a few last summer. He emailed the coaches, and then attended the prospect day. At one camp I thought he played particularly well, but afterwards nothing really came from it, even after contacting the coach again. With the NESCAC guys the coaches are really trusting a few elite club teams coaches to send them their best candidates. That’s been my experience. One of my son’s friends attends a NESCAC school, was an invited walk on for this spring. Didn’t make the team. Shocked. He was really good, strong, and smart. I think those teams are incredibly difficult to make, you have to have the total package, talent, commitment, and smarts. Good luck.
@RightCoaster Thank you for the feedback. However, I’m not fully following your advice. Are you saying I don’t need to bother with NESCAC events or that I should focus only on events where I’ve been invited? How do you suggest picking the prospect days.
Also if I’m not hard core about the summer prospect days, do I miss out on D3 recruitment? That is, is the recruitment effectively over this summer? I ask because my brother did football recruitment, and D3 recruitment does not work that way in football. In football, they have summer camps, just like prospect days. However, in football, it’s extremely possible to get D3 offers without going to one summer prospect day, and at very good D3s no less.
For girls lax, going to the prospect day or camp is part of the kabuki theatre. Coaches don’t generally like to make offers to players who aren’t interested in the school. So by going to the camp you are able to establish your level of interest with the coaches.
Coaches also like to understand the “story” of your interest. Alumni parent? Like the bio program? Have a friend who attends? These are the sort of things coaches want to learn to assess your level of commitment. Many schools even in D1 do not recruit “nationally” for lax, in that the team’s geographic makeup will often time more or less match the school’s. So if you are from CA but want to go to Old Dominion, you will need to help the coaches understand why that is your desire, as they will be looking mostly at recruiting in the DMV area. It is not that they are not open to other candidates, but you have to tell them the story of “why” or they may think you are not serious about them and pass on giving you an offer. The prospect day or camp is a good place to communicate that story.
Girls lax also has a big focus on the 5 showcase tournaments. Most attend these with a club team, but a few orphan players go on house teams. Every coach, even those not attending the tournaments, has access to the films, so you can send an email to the coach and say, ‘hi, I was at the Capital Showcase and play DI game 214.’