You are right - while the invites come directly from Jake, he certainly has a trusted network of high school and club coaches who he solicits input from. Whether or not there are "dedicated slots" I can't say, but to think he does this in a vacuum in foolish.
I just saw him at the 3d Blue Chip in Florida, and at best he was a passive observer of the the kids playing their four games. While the invite says Jake and Jamie they are obviously relying heavily on the two evaluators. Jamie is a lot more tuned into the games.
Let's be blunt...what you wrote is exactly why 3d is hated in Baltimore (and JR is a Baltimore guy, long time former M.I.A.A. coach). JR sold out for the money, the money is very good and he is basically getting rich for being a disinterested spectator. JR is just a namesake, it is a 3d camp with his brand name on it. The prestige of that is rapidly diminishing and deservedly so.
Totally agree with you - the overall talent at the first session in Florida was mediocre at best. There were some good players who could hang with anyone from any region, but was astonished with the overall level of play and kids who seriously couldn't catch and throw - I think by the time you take the direct invites and the one's picked via the 3d Blue Chip you have a pretty solid group, but this is turning into a money grab. I don't want to totally diss 3d, because the training is good, and it exposes kids to techniques many of them have never seen before, but at this point they need fewer kids or fewer cycles to maintain the quality of play.
I was the poster above and appreciate this response...lacrosse is a fairly immature sport in high growth mode and I get it that kids from other regions can play in front of the coaches they want to be recruited by. I think 3d lost their soul along the way. Yes, they have good coaches and instruction for their teams. But at another level they are doing harm with overdoing the recruiting showcase extortion. We're idiots. This is a 12.6 scholarship for 45 spots sport. So those of us who pay $700 for Florida then $700 for U.N.C. camp on way home are basically investing what we HOPE will be yielded in scholarship cash? Someone needs to start doing parent financial advisory showcases for this group. Anyone want to partner up with me on that? $700 a session. Debit or PayPal.
You need to set your sights on good academic schools in DIII. If your son has decent grades he can get $15,000 to $20,000 a year or more in academic and merit money. Seems floe freely for lax players. Oh, and if your son decides he doesn't want to play or has an injury the money is still there for all four years. $60-80k in merit and academic money compensates ol Dad for a lot of tournaments, lessons, camps and clinics....
Your going to need more than "decent" grades to get into a NESCAC, Patriot or Ivy.
True with regard to NESCAC. Patriot and Ivy are not DIII. Poster above was referring to economics of fractional scholarships at D1 schools and how little money they dole out. The other poster offered D3 as an alternative that will give money for good students and are free with merit money for athletes. Further, unless your son is interested in studying liberal arts, then NESCAC schools are not for your son. Unless he is completely hooked on grad school, I'm not sure what he will do with a liberal arts degree? Regardless of how well regarded the school is. It has been well documented recently in the WSJ that there is little or no value in a liberal arts degree. It ranks as the major with the highest level of joblessness amongst all degrees. Before you all jump out of your skin to prove me wrong, I suggest you read the articles. Further, I suggest folks stop with all name brand school stuff. I hope you realize in many instances you are paying through the nose for those brands. I will tell you as someone who has hired many people in my career for very good six figure plus positions, I never made my decision to hire someone based on the school they went to. I'm all for giving kids as much opportunity as you can, however the equation doesn't always add up to the perception.
