One thing people have to realize is even NLF and some other tournaments are great interns of coaches attending, don’t expect to get “discovered” at any of the tournaments or showcases. Coaches generally have a list of players they are there to specifically scout l. They aren’t wandering around look to discover talent. It always makes me laugh when people post about winning tournaments in high school. Coaches aren’t sitting around waiting for the championship game. Your team could go 0-4 but if you play well and you are on a list, then you done OK. Nobody cares about wins and losses in high school club.
Out of curiosity...how do the kids get on " the list " that you speak of . Who recommends the players to make the list for the coaches who come to watch
Great question. Lacrosse recruiting, probably like other sports but seems to be very too heavy in lax, is all about connections. The “list” is all about the kids who play in the too high schools and to a lesser extent, the top clubs in the country because that is who the college coaches trust in terms of a pipeline; those high schools (and clubs) who have a proven track record. Go to any high level d1 (or d3) college and the majority (not all) of their roster have blue blood lax high school pedigree. Part of that high school pedigree includes the fact that many of them are excellent at academics so it checks two boxes off for college coaches. That’s how a coaches list is made. Are there exceptions to the rule? Sure but that is how it generally happens.
However I would say this for only the top 30 in d1 and top 15 in d3. For the the remaining d1 d2 and d3 (“less heralded players”) much of their list is actually done as a combination of the above process and through college scouting either through film or actually tournaments and prospect days. So yes it is possible to be “discovered” at these tournaments but in all honesty much of it is spam. My kids, when they went through it, after a tournament would get spammed by a dozen colleges saying they saw him play at “x” tournament and would like them to come to a prospect day, campus visit, or even rarely “an offer”
The one thing I would say though about my above statement about “less heralded” players being discovered? You don’t need to go that route. If you don’t want to play at the top d1 and d3 schools, if your kid is a decent player, they can always reach out to their preferred school and as long as they aren’t an elite lax school and the player is decent, there are plenty of matches that can be made. The problem is that lax has become so top heavy in terms of what we see in social media we tend to forget about the other 75 d3 and 250 d3 schools (and maybe even the bottom 15 d1 schools). Plenty of spots out there. Reach out to a coach and “get on their list” or have your coaches reach out. That coach will come and watch you at any tournament.
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