BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2018-10th Grade Fall 2015 Summer 2016

Best way to get recruited is to be a very good player on one of the Top Club Teams. Crabs, Sweetlax, 91, Laxachussets, FCA, Express, HHH, Dukes, Etc...

The Top Club Teams play in tournaments that attract the most college coaches and most certainly all of the Coaches from the best college programs.

The recruiting circuit has evolved over the past few years. This past summer saw select tournaments that had many of the Top D1 coaches (Head Coaches) all over the 2018 and 2019 games.

College coaches want to see kids play against the best competition. If your kid is a great player but he is not playing with a team that goes to the top tournaments it will be harder for him to get on a coaches radar.

If your son is a very good player but playing against some random HS or club teams in second tier tournaments the recruiting road will be more difficult than that of an similar player playing for 91's top team.


Showcases and Prospect camps are good but college coaches want to see the kid play in a team setting against the best competition possible.

If there are 100 plus 2018 boys committed, the large majority of them all play club and I bet most play for a Top Club Team. The top 8 - 12 kids from the Top 10 - 12 Club Teams is where the current 2018 commits are from.

Most likely if you are not on one of those teams you are not on the radar at this time.

Good or bad, that is the way it seems to be and I don't think it will change any time soon. Ask the 2018 kids that are committed if they think they would be committed if they played for a lesser known club in less competitive tournaments.

All of this does not mean that a kid who does not play for a top club will not find a place to play, it just means it will likely take a little longer and he may have fewer options.

Agree with just about everything you said and will add a few more observations.

I think not only do you need to be on a good team, but you need to be on a good team (preferably one that has one team per age group) that proactively advocates its players to coaches in advance of tournaments where the team will be playing. The attention span of coaches at recruiting events seems to be about 10 seconds, and unless a kid makes an all star game, or is playing in one of the small team events, the summer club season can be a real crap shoot.

My son played on a very mediocre team that happened to get into top quality tournaments such as Crab Feast, Legacy, and the Philly Invitational and to your point almost no coaches were watching them despite have a handful of legitimate DI prospects. What was most surprising is even when they were playing adjacent some strong teams such as 91 Extreme, Laxachusetts, Mesa Fresh, and others there were not a lot of coaches even watching those games. So my takeaway is you can't necessarily rely on the team circuit to get you much exposure.

I put a lot less credence on the mantra that if you are good they will find you, but as you pointed out prospect days are one way to get noticed even if you are not on a great team. That's what worked for my son, and now he has serious interest from several schools and it was all from individual
stuff.

Does not matter what team you are on if your son can play he will get noticed.-period-
Happen to my son
Go to schools showcase if your son can play he will get noticed.
When I talked to head coach he hardly new what were top teams at each age group-he was actually asking me who teams were.
Best way by far to get noticed is schools showcase

What level program? Most ACC know the big names. Give me a division and conference please.

Recruiting Rundown lists 2018 commits along with club name.

For thus of us entering into this process for the first time and whose kid is not on one of those named programs, hard to know what to do. A poster above talks about how his son's team went to three big-name tournaments and there were almost no coaches on the sidelines. And it's easy to see all the midlevel clubs that go to these big-name tournaments side by side with the named clubs and all of them combined might only have a couple of commits.

Is all the talent that concentrated? Seems doubtful. Do you work the system to get your kid to play (but not practice if you are distant) with these big-name clubs? Focus on prospect days? Showcases (and folks keep asking which ones)? Or do you just let your kid develop into the best HS player he can be and figure if he's good enough to play - really play - at the DI level and has good grades, he'll end up with a great program even if he just goes to his local ACC or Big 10 school (on the 60% in-state scholarship).

recruiting--haven't typed here in a while but will share my long winded thoughts. No snarky responses required...

I do not think there is one best answer or one best option. People keep asking do I need to have the big club, which tournament, which showcase, prospect days...

all any of us can do is put our boys in the best possible position and there are many ways to accomplish. I don't think big club experience is a requirement, but let's all be clear that it certainly doesn't hurt. Why do you think the college coaches line the sidelines of 91/express/crab/all the top clubs/ games? Because they think that they have the best shot of seeing the most talent when the best teams are playing, makes sense from their perspective and is basic time management. Go where the odds of finding a player to fit your team are the highest.

That doesn't mean that they won't find other boys on other fields where the top teams aren't playing, it just means that because they have limited time to recruit, they are trying to see as much as possible in that time. So, if I was in their shoes, would I travel to some small tourny to potentially see that one kid, or would I travel to the big team tourny to potentially see many kids...

That said, I would stay away from B teams on these big clubs as they will certainly not put you in a position to get noticed and even if they do get to the "right " tourny, those college coaches will always want to know why you are not playing on the A team...

One thing that worked for us (and we have big team experience) tell the coaches of the schools that your son thinks are a good fit, here is my highlight film I am playing at these three tournaments this summer and would love a chance for you to see me play. Follow through and follow up. If they have a prospect camp, make sure you go and before you get their send an email saying --i am really excited to attend your camp next week. can't wait to meet you and here is my gpa through 9th grade. I want to be an engineer and your school has a great program...

No matter what anyone says, unless your are the one in a million athlete, it is hard to get noticed. If your son is that one in a million kid--everyone already knows you and him and it doesn't matter where you play. If he is not that kid, you need to be proactive. Hoping that your kid that gets a few minutes on varsity as a 10th grader gets noticed, is a long shot, of course, his odds are better if he is getting those minutes on one of the big name lax schools--sme, smw , wm, garden city, syosset, pequa, wi... But if he is getting minutes at bayshore or longwood, coaches not nearly as likely of finding him.

So, spend your time and your dollars wisely by focusing on the schools where you have the right grades and the right environment for your boys. Not spending alot of time on harvard if your kid is a solid B student. Not spending alot of time looking at Holy Cross if you cant afford the tuition and won't get financial aid.

Spend your time and resources the same way the college coaches do--understanding your son and his brains and athletic ability, your pocketbook and the odds of success at any particular school.

Understand who else is already committed to that school-if you are a fogo or a goalie, spending time on a school that already committed one in your age is probably not the right approach...

And after doing all of the above, I know several boys that didn't get committed, after they got over it, they picked up the stick and their college of choice and joined the club team at that school and are having the time of their lives without the 40 hour work week required to play d-1, high level d-2 or d3...

For all you parents, enjoy this time because it is coming to an end quickly. If it all works out for your son great, congratulations, but don't put more pressure on these kids. This is a sport with no future earning potential and limited scholarship dollars. Have fun, always remember that is why they picked up the stick to begin with...

My son is one of the 2018 commits and I will share his experience. He is fortunate to play for one of the top club teams and has a coach that knows what tournaments to play at and is able to get him the invites to the individual showcases. He got on the radar of some coaches in the fall of his 9th grade year by playing at some of top team tournaments and at Philly Freshman Showcase. Then in June and July his coach had the team play at tournaments that had at least 15-20 D1 coaches on the sidelines at each game. My son attended Blackcard, Jake Reed and Maverick Showtime which are individual showcases that needed invites and were loaded with coaches. In his experience, Blackcard was the showcase the got him the most attention and put him on the map for many top D1 schools. He did not attend any prospect camps simply because it would have been too much lacrosse and honestly we couldn't afford it. I'm sure everyone's recruiting process is a bit different. Just sharing what worked for my son. I am not sure if I believe that if you're good it doesn't matter, you will be seen. This may work for a handful of kids, but I do not feel that is the norm. These players may be very deserving of a spot on a top D1 school, but may not have had the exposure. In addition to lacrosse, grades are huge. If my son did not have the grades, this really would have limited his choices. I know the process can be overwhelming. Good luck to your son.

recruiting--haven't typed here in a while but will share my long winded thoughts. No snarky responses required...

I do not think there is one best answer or one best option. People keep asking do I need to have the big club, which tournament, which showcase, prospect days...

all any of us can do is put our boys in the best possible position and there are many ways to accomplish. I don't think big club experience is a requirement, but let's all be clear that it certainly doesn't hurt. Why do you think the college coaches line the sidelines of 91/express/crab/all the top clubs/ games? Because they think that they have the best shot of seeing the most talent when the best teams are playing, makes sense from their perspective and is basic time management. Go where the odds of finding a player to fit your team are the highest.

That doesn't mean that they won't find other boys on other fields where the top teams aren't playing, it just means that because they have limited time to recruit, they are trying to see as much as possible in that time. So, if I was in their shoes, would I travel to some small tourny to potentially see that one kid, or would I travel to the big team tourny to potentially see many kids...

That said, I would stay away from B teams on these big clubs as they will certainly not put you in a position to get noticed and even if they do get to the "right " tourny, those college coaches will always want to know why you are not playing on the A team...

One thing that worked for us (and we have big team experience) tell the coaches of the schools that your son thinks are a good fit, here is my highlight film I am playing at these three tournaments this summer and would love a chance for you to see me play. Follow through and follow up. If they have a prospect camp, make sure you go and before you get their send an email saying --i am really excited to attend your camp next week. can't wait to meet you and here is my gpa through 9th grade. I want to be an engineer and your school has a great program...

No matter what anyone says, unless your are the one in a million athlete, it is hard to get noticed. If your son is that one in a million kid--everyone already knows you and him and it doesn't matter where you play. If he is not that kid, you need to be proactive. Hoping that your kid that gets a few minutes on varsity as a 10th grader gets noticed, is a long shot, of course, his odds are better if he is getting those minutes on one of the big name lax schools--sme, smw , wm, garden city, syosset, pequa, wi... But if he is getting minutes at bayshore or longwood, coaches not nearly as likely of finding him.

So, spend your time and your dollars wisely by focusing on the schools where you have the right grades and the right environment for your boys. Not spending alot of time on harvard if your kid is a solid B student. Not spending alot of time looking at Holy Cross if you cant afford the tuition and won't get financial aid.

Spend your time and resources the same way the college coaches do--understanding your son and his brains and athletic ability, your pocketbook and the odds of success at any particular school.

Understand who else is already committed to that school-if you are a fogo or a goalie, spending time on a school that already committed one in your age is probably not the right approach...

And after doing all of the above, I know several boys that didn't get committed, after they got over it, they picked up the stick and their college of choice and joined the club team at that school and are having the time of their lives without the 40 hour work week required to play d-1, high level d-2 or d3...

For all you parents, enjoy this time because it is coming to an end quickly. If it all works out for your son great, congratulations, but don't put more pressure on these kids. This is a sport with no future earning potential and limited scholarship dollars. Have fun, always remember that is why they picked up the stick to begin with...

How many tournaments did Outlaws 2018 Black or 2018 AA as they will be called win during the 2015 summer season in the top division? Is the team going to have the expanded roster? With Smithtown East and West announcing they will be having a summer season next summer will you be able accommodating for the fact that many of these players will not be at 4 tournaments if they make the team .

Isn't this what this forum is for? Ask questions and get answers. I can answer the posters question. Pretty sure they didn't win a single tournament other than the Blue and Gold at Hofstra playing in the B division.

Isn't this what this forum is for? Ask questions and get answers. I can answer the posters question. Pretty sure they didn't win a single tournament other than the Blue and Gold at Hofstra playing in the B division.

At this age why do you care so much about how many tournaments the team wins? That should be your least concern

At this age why do you care so much about how many tournaments the team wins? That should be your least concern

Swimmingly!

Don't take the bait!

Express results are out. Team "Channy" has 40 something players. Basically the Terps + Wolves + a handful of other players. He is splitting those players up and bringing them to recruiting tournaments. Team "Moran" is basically the third team + kids from the Wolves he didn't want. He tried to do this a coupe of years ago. Terps and Terps Black. It did not go well...Good Luck to those 40 something kids who had no idea this was the way he was going pick the team.

With the additions of all the new High School Varsity coaches as directors for Outlaws who's players are going to get priority. Will it be Smithtown East Smithtown West, Cold Spring Harbor, or Walt Whitman players getting the preferential tratment. So there will be an A, B and C or as club teams like to say an AA, A, B.

With the additions of all the new High School Varsity coaches as directors for Outlaws who's players are going to get priority. Will it be Smithtown East Smithtown West, Cold Spring Harbor, or Walt Whitman players getting the preferential tratment. So there will be an A, B and C or as club teams like to say an AA, A, B.