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

A must event? really

Probably more like 600 kids for 50 spots. Many received direct invites.

Yes, if you're kid stands out. Just read twitter and all standouts are mentioned and at the end they'll likely be a larger write up. Those write ups have recruiting value. And that's just the tryout. Then they'll be the actually Jake Reed event with the coaches and social media coverage. So, again, "really" if you think your kid can stand out, it is a must recruiting event. That said, this stuff will drive us all nuts.

JR is NOT a "must" event and the opinions of Casey Vock and Ty Xanders have absolutely no recruiting value. Many of the top 2018 commits never attended JR last summer. If your son plays on a top team that is attending top tournaments then you don't need it. The top programs are at Platinum and Big 4 and a few others. If your kid is a top 20 talent, he will be recruited immediately and thus doesn't need JR. If he is more like a top 20 thru 100 player, then the upcoming fall is more important. Again, JR not a must, in fact making Philly freshmen the must. If your son falls inline after the top 100, then Maverik would become your "must". JR is nice and a lot of top players are there, along with quite a few coaches, but nothing like Philly or Maverik, or even JR rising sophs. Definitely not a "must". Also, if you feel that any coaches give damn about anything Vock or Xanders say, you are sadly mistaken. Pretty well known a large chunk of what they write is from program directors/club coaches. Sometimes they show up and watch a few minutes of a game and all of a sudden they have a kid pegged. Great for little Johnny's ego (probably more for parents ego), but meaningless for coaches. Coaches will watch your kid and either they like him or they don't.

Yes, if you're kid stands out. Just read twitter and all standouts are mentioned and at the end they'll likely be a larger write up. Those write ups have recruiting value. And that's just the tryout. Then they'll be the actually Jake Reed event with the coaches and social media coverage. So, again, "really" if you think your kid can stand out, it is a must recruiting event. That said, this stuff will drive us all nuts.

I was told no direct invites for 2019 age group and that all players must try out in Florida. If they play well they will get a letter thereafter...

That is what Jamie Munro and company read from a script every time, and it is both surprising and disappointing that they are not more forthright. There are a lot of direct invites. Our son's club gets 4-5 direct appointments each year for each class based on the owner's relationship with JR. JR's last influence on this now all corporate show is that...he can steer direct appointments and he does. The 3d party line is to emphasize that this is 100% merit based and you must go to Florida and pay up. That is good for business, and if they let be known that is an audition only camp with long odds, would that be good for business? NO. Honest, yes, good for business, NO.

I'd gain a bit more respect for these hit and run showcase guys if they had an ounce of integrity to select the best players, and to also just stop lying to every fresh batch of 9th grade parents like you guys this year and the 2019s next year and the 2020s after that.

I have a 2020 son and take upon myself to let parents know what a tremendous waste of money is having gone all in for it once. Yes my son got a D1 opportunity, but he also would have gotten that if we had done a fraction of this showcase garbage. Play on a good team and stand out at club tournaments. Be brutal on your club. Tell them if they won't stop selling you this lax bro garbage to pay their buddies at Maverick, JR, etc. and if they don't start advocating you direct to the NCAA coaches, then you will go find club lacrosse somewhere else. Right now lacrosse parents are all rats who won't jump off flooding ships when pressured to wave a credit card 12-15 times a year to "Get noticed"...take it from someone who got rocked once and has something else to say about it. Disagree all you want, but going to 4-6 showcases will not make your son a good lacrosse recruit. Playing lacrosse at a high level for his club team will.

Looking for information regarding college prospect camps. I have a 2019 rising freshman.

How do I go about getting an applicaition?
Should I be contacting or he be contacting the athletic dept of a school????

Example: 2019 Attackman would love to attend ND. How do I go about having him apply to camps at colleges????

I am off today and read a lot of interesting info here on BOTC about 3d and showcases. Hope to hear from all who have gone through this process recently.

Go to your son's club coach and owner with a list of schools he may be interested in. He's an 8th grader not even in high school, but neither here or there, so you will need some guidance through it and remember that NCAA rules prohibit coaches from emailing or calling kids or you, so the club is your conduit. Every club coach and owner should be informed about prospect days at the colleges which have them, and should be letting you know about them in advance. This does not apply for you until next fall anyways, but get prepared. These things are a free for all, so if you don't get a head's up one is announced, even a few days can cost you a chance to enroll before it is full. Second, I'd ask for and welcome a reality check from your coach and club owner. If the kid is a great student, are you really going in for Delaware, Denver or High Point just to chase the D1 spot? If your kid is not a great student, is ND and Duke or Princeton really a logical strategy? Now a lot of that is must impossible to an extent because he's not even in high school or has he sat for a needed standardized test. Considering 60+ D1 schools is a bad start, and a money hole. Know what you want, ask if what you want is obtainable and then see how it goes. It helps when you are in 9th grade to know if you are interested in 3-5 of them, and if that interest is mutual.

you are going to send your kid to school either way so use lacrosse to get in to a better school then you could have gotten into without it.

West Point = full ride.Diploma is probably second only to ivies.

Full rides do happen but there are very few. I personally know of 2 in this class and there may be a couple others that I'm unaware of. It is a very rare occurrence and happens only with who the coaches perceive to be the best at their positions. It is also true that a great many recruits only get 10-15% or below and a very good recruit will get 30-50% on average. Bottom line - scholarship money is all over the board. It can be zero all the way up to 100% in rare cases. It depends on several things which include different situations.

ABSOLUTELY FALSE ON FULL RIDE WITH EXCEPTION TO MILITARY ACADEMY. ANYONE TELLS YOU DIFFERENT THE ARE GRUBERING YOU.

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.

Good luck with the three schools with interest in your son. I spent weeks trying to figure out the level of interest different schools had in my son, as you are trying to do. High school coach had a different read from the club coach; what my son heard on a coaches call was different at times too. I have a couple of thoughts for you, first make sure your club/HS coach is telling you the truth, not what you want to hear. Club coaches are under huge pressure, to deliver on the promises they make to get boys to play for them re commitments and an easy way to get anxious parents off their back is to say 'college x is interested in your son' - that makes your ride home from the tourney/camp a lot better, but it may not be the truth. Overpromising by coaches hurts you in the long run, because you keep wondering why the offer hasn't come if college x is so interested. You have every right to ask the HS/ club coach a lot of questions about timing, interest, where your son is rated by the college, what more they need to see, scholarship money, etc - the more detailed the answer back to you, the more interested that school is in your son. If your son really wants to go to one of those three schools, then make sure they and the coaches know it - the colleges want to make offers to boys who have a high chance of accepting, and it is to your son's advantage to let the college know his high degree of interest in them too. Being coy doesn't work - be direct if he and you have a strong point of view to cut through the chatter.

Looking to 2018 parents who have traveled to JR Camp in LarryMiller and had your son come home with an invitation to attend the JR Blue Chip Camp in July.

We are heading down this weekend as a 2019 player/parent and have heard that since this was the last weekend, not to expect much.

It was my understanding that LI players are considered Mid-Atlantic Region players according to JR. I did see some upper classman registered as North East players for JR even though they played for SMithtown, Massapequa, Garden City or Chaminade.

Who has some insight for me?

Does it make a difference which region I registered my son for? I was told I could select any weekend if there were openings. I was also told LI players are Mid-Atlantic.