US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2018 Fall 2014/Summer 2015

My son is 2018 player with a 2000 birthyear; ie, not a holdback, who is verbally committed. We spent the Summer and Fall on the tournament and camp circuit; below are my observations on some of the points that get debated on this site. These are my observations, my perspective of the truth, and I understand others may have a very different experience or point of view, but here we go:

1. Age matters a lot - in the tournaments and at the camps. All Star games and prospect camps are dominated by players who are a year or two older. Age/grade appropriate boys who haven't gotten through or started puberty are not going to get looked at until they can compete physically with the older boys. It is legal, it may or may not be fair, but it's the reality of 9th grade lacrosse, where 2000 birth years regularly compete against 1998 birthyears for the same coaches attention.

2. Camps are worthwhile if your son gets an introduction to the coaching staff and hopefully a visit. The camps say a lot about the schools in how they are organized and run. If you go to a camp with a hundred other boys and your club or high school coach hasn't spoken to the college coaching staff, then know going in your son is not one of the boys they're looking at. It may be good experience, but they're not focussing on your son.

3. What club team your son plays on is really important. You will hear that it's better to play on a weak team and be a star than to play on a strong team and be one of several very good players - that isn't true. The coaches aren't watching the 23rd best team at fl$ in 3d next Summer; they just aren't. They are going to watch carefully a handful of the best teams in the age group - that is where they spend the lion's share of their time. Winning matters; winning games matters; advancing in tournaments matters - college coaches go watch the players on the best teams - the best teams win games - everything else is a rationalization - get your son on the best possible team, with the best possible coach. My son's 2018 team is one of those teams and it made a huge difference to be on that team for him.
4. Your high school coach matters a lot. Many of the colleges won't speak with your club coach - they want to hear from your high school coach and will only work through him, as they think the club coaches are too biased.
5. Half the dads you're speaking with are making it up, in terms of how interested colleges are in their son. Take all those sideline comments with a big grain of salt so you can enjoy the game - a lot of what you hear is what someone is hoping will happen, not what is actually happening.
6. There are a lot of very good players out there, and the numbers are overwhelming the coaches. This sport is exploding in terms of the number of participants, and the recruiting process is not keeping pace. College coaches are inundated with parent and player requests for time and offers. If you don't hear back right away, don't panic - that coch is getting 10 calls a day from parents/players asking to commit to the school. When your son is really interested in one or two schools, get focussed on those schools with your coaches and make sure the colleges know how interested your son is in them - that will help a lot.

7. Social media puts a lot of pressure on your son. He knows every kid who commits the minute it happens. You may not be interested in real time updates, but your son is all over it and this will put a lot of pressure on him.

Those are some of my thoughts - I hope they help those gearing up for the process.