Originally Posted by Anonymous
So Cage, if your son, or daughter, is B/B+ type player, on a program's 2nd team (B, White, Gold, Purple, etc), would you say the following is the right approach?

1. Come up with a list of schools they'd like to attend, send their schedules, some bio info, and maybe a video clip, to those coaches, and hope they'll show up to check him/her out?

2. Find out if those schools have their own on-campus camps, or clinics, and try to get to a few of those.

3. Try hard to get into a showcase, or invite only, event, if there's any way to pull that off.

4. Ask your travel program director, or coach, for help, based on the type of player your child is, and see what they suggest.

Most people talk about these showcases, and invite only type events, and high-end tournaments, which I assume are geared towards the A/star type players, and not your everyday b/b+ type player, who's probably headed for DII or DIII.

This is the situation I'm in, with my oldest in 9th grade now, so I'm trying to figure out the best plan of attack.

I think there are many people in my boat, although they may not realize it, or admit it, yet! Any advice, or suggestions, would be greatly appreciated.
This is precisely the purpose of our College, Coaches, and Recruitment threads on the College Forum here on BOTC. Note that the corresponding College Forum on BOTN (our sister soccer site) has a College Forum replete with more than six years of research on exactly these points.

Your student-athlete should start by identifying with your family any specific limits on school selection. These might include financial concerns, distance concerns (travel distance, car, flights, trains), academic concerns (major selection), and overall campus environment.

Two lists should be formed; a Top Ten Athletics list which looks at lacrosse institutions from Division I, II, and III, and a Top Ten Academics list which only considers academic programs in the absence of lacrosse. The Acedemic list should include three stretch schools, four match schools, and three safety schools. At least one option in both lists should be a local institution which would not require any dorming.

The overlap of these two approaches, usually about four to six schools to start, can form the core listing for your initial starting point.

The lists will morph over time, so please do not think that a freshman year collection of schools will end this discussion.

Write to these coaches and invite them to your tournaments. Be sure that your club coach is aware of the coaches that have accepted invitations to be assured of game time when your target coaches are at the field.

College camps should be used after a particular college has expressed interest in your player via a showcase, game visit, or other viewing. Do not exclusively use a college camp for recruiting purposes if this is the first time the coach will have seen the student-athlete.

These points form the thumbnail sketch. Be sure to avail yourself of the posts and information on our College Forums.