Back of THE CAGE Forums NEW JERSEY LACROSSE NEW JERSEY MAIN FORUM Top Boy's Club Teams in New Jersey

My goodness… detest LE all you want, but give some credit where its due. They had a good weekend! The NJ clubs all played in different brackets at each age level. No one had a cupcake schedule.

Clubs can play a very large role in the recruiting process at the D1 level.

Having the size, speed, etc. is 100% essential to get noticed, but coaches look at more than that. Take their perspective for a second. They see hundreds, maybe thousands of players each weekend. They may watch your son’s team for a half, if you’re lucky. Watch a half, check out both teams, move to another field and repeat.
- It becomes really hard to compare their favorite player from game 1 to a very similar player in game 20.

No matter what club you are on, they will reach out to the coach to learn more about the player. These relationships build over the years and become valuable when making tough decisions.

If you trust your club coach, and the college coach trust’s their opinion, then you are in a good spot! But do not under estimate the role that they play in the process.

Yes. Agreed for the top players on each club. There are about 25 3 star plus players in NJ each grad year.

The rest of the players on the back 85% end of every NJ club 22 or 23 roster and the back 70% of LE for you LE heads need to do a lot of the recruiting work themselves. Those players realize they have to go to D1, D3 and D2 showcases and college prospect days. That is what a lot of these seniors do in their junior/senior summer and fall. There is nothing wrong with this process. A club is not the complete answer for most of our children.

Very well said. The club coaches and directors play a significant role in the recruiting process, particularly in the kids that may not be a top 1-5 player. (These types of players standout and would get recruited no matter what)

There’s really no credit due. 2025s played good. The rest not so much.

I disagree. Club coaches relationships are extremely important for the kids that fall outside of the top studs. The top dogs are going to go to big time schools with or without that director or coach pushing them. The next crop of kids are the ones that need the coach advocating for them to become a solid recruit and land them a home that best fits their academic and lacrosse ability.

What many people don’t realize is that there is a very small group of schools that often fit a players academic and lacrosse ability as a perfect match.

I personally think our club coach and director will play a vital role in finding that match.

Prospect days and camps are often money grabs for schools to help pay their volunteer assistant coaches. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure some kids can stand out and get picked up from a prospect day, but a good majority are money makers.

Complete answer, no. But they should be helping you through the entirety of it. If your son is a D3 level player, I would hope the club coach is honest enough with them to say hey, “UNC’s prospect day might not be a great fit.” Also advising on which showcases are actually worth attending and which are money grabs.

If the club coach is not giving this advice, or speaking to college coaches on behalf of every kid, they aren’t doing their job.

As a side note: The D3 recruiting process can be different from D1 given there isn’t scholarship money, contact restrictions, etc.

Agreed. The club coach is helping the player find the match of lacrosse ability & academics.

To even further the point, they shouldn't be jamming kids down D1 coaches throats if they do not fit. Eventually that can come back to haunt them because the school will lose trust in the director or coach pushing kids that don't belong.

It is about finding the fit.

I can’t stand LE because they are liars and you can’t trust them at all. It’s that simple. I had my son play with them for 5 years and they F’d us his junior year.

Why would bbl need new people? Is it because they have a pretty weak coaching staff? I am just curious.

Any updates on the remaining NJ 2023's for recruiting? This was a big weekend with NLF, NXT and Pinnacle with all the NJ teams basically playing in one of these tourneys. After Florida in December, the focus shifts to the 2024's on June 1st (minus HS ball).

Need staff at director level.

Coaching is team by team. The coaches are good because the teams practice so much the jobs are pretty good and consistent for part time lacrosse gigs.

What updates do you want? There will be some more 2023 D1 commits shortly, then a slow trickle of kids committing through spring and summer. Next summer you will see a bunch of D3 commitments through the fall. The top 2024s will commit next Fall and the cycle continues.

Exactly, it's the same as every other year.

Does anyone have experience with Tim Roy as a high school coach? He is now at Chatham.