Originally Posted by Anonymous
Having a kid who finished recruiting process and one who may be entering it in a year, I can tell you that comment is off. There are hundreds of kids as good or better than D1 committed kids in high school right now who: 1. didn't go to showcase events (costs a lot to attend them, some people can't afford it), 2. didn't go to a prep school for lacrosse (the focus here is 100% what Madlax or others can do for you, but often a much more powerful advocate is a prep coach, even if your son hasn't even played a game for him yet!), 3. didn't pay up directly or indirectly for the club coach to audition their kid versus the kid standing next to him whose family sent him to every conceivable Maxlax, Crabs, etc. clinic, camp or other event.

Loyalty is a two way street, and the way club guys see it loyalty to them is attending and paying up for upteen events along the way. Parents see loyalty as smile and dial for my son, and making sure that is paid for is the only way it seems to happen in a lot of instances. How does a prep school push a 9th grader before tryouts? Last summer we brought him up for a tournament with our varsity, and golly he is a swell kid and an advanced player for his age. And he is only going to get a lot better in his four years at [fill in blank DC area elite lacrosse team prep school]. Yup, my son goes to a private school for lacrosse and for other desired reasons as we think it is a good school and academic fit for him. But I won't be a hypocrite: his chances of getting a college recruited spot were 0.00% if he rode the club team wave alone since I didn't roll like that to go to all the clinics and other nonsense they kept selling.

If you think your son playing better on the field is nearly enough, you are very mistaken and will learn different as you advance through the process. Our club -- not Madlax -- did NOTHING to help our son get a college spot, but that does not stop the club from taking all the credit for it or listing it on the club website.

This is well written and seems to be way better informed then me. So I have some questions for you. Can you rank in order of importance for a lacrosse D1 spot, Club team, Showcase events, Prep school/Private school, website, highlight video, Call from club coach, call from Private school coach, call/email from you/kid. I think everyone would like some help with this.