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Seems like a lot of these boarding schools are pretty aggressive in terms of recruiting lax players. Does anyone on this board have any schools they would “stay away” from. Maybe coaches aren’t straight shooters etc.

My experience has been to stay away from the schools where the coaches aren't getting back to you, and the school communication is lacking. Also ask the coaches if they have spots open for your sons position. See what travel clubs the coaches coach for.

Ask about PGs and bringing kids in at your sons position. Very few schools will affirmatively turn down a stud PG but that is different than actively recruiting PGs. Others will overload at a position (example Faceoff). You will see some schools do it more than others. Look at rosters as this affects playing time and enjoyment and eventually recruitment.

Best scenario is to repeat 11th grade at Prep.

seems like the same schools are always more competitive, Lawrenceville, Taft, Deerfield etc , any downside with those schools?

just playing time, but who cares if you are spending the money to send your son to such high academic institutions.

For the most part they are but there can be some ebb and flow. 2 of the 3 schools you mentioned are now competitive bc of coach turnover (not that they weren't good before but now they are excellent). Taft and Lawrenceville have become beasts bc of new regimes. Nic Bell (few years) and Posner (1 year). Again, as another poster said just look at position and playing time if that's what's important bc for the most part the academics are good all around at these all of these schools. Some are obviously better (Deerfield) but I am making a general comment.

We don't have our yet. And, just hearing the NESCACs are starting to push back their dates. trinity and Amherst went back 2 weeks. Makes me nervous.

The downside to those schools lacrosse wise is that if you aren’t #1 or #2 at your position, the player may never see the field. Your son may not get significant time until they are a Junior or Senior. The other downside is that those 2 schools and schools similar who like to advertise at how good they are, tend to over recruit. And by over recruit, I mean drastically over recruit and bring in more PG’s than other schools.

If you are looking at those schools, better ask the right questions or your kid may have a really sore behind from sitting in the bench for 4 years.

The best way to tell how badly schools like that want your son on their team is by how much FA you get. The best players are there on extremely generous FA. If the coach isn’t contacting your son frequently during the process, that’s a good indicator as well.

people complain about their travel programs all the time, but never hear anyone complain about the prep school situation. if posner at lawrenceville, and Bell at taft etc etc are contacting your kid, with 'we want you " etc etc- - is that a good indication they are truly serious about your child?

Not sure I’ve read anybody complaining, rather giving advice about how to find the right prep school and the right fit. There are a lot of extremely good prep schools out there, most have great academics, and high level lacrosse. Finding a lacrosse program where your child will make the most of his experience takes asking all the right questions.

Everyone should go through this process with their eyes wide open and realize your son isn’t the only one receiving the “we want you” texts from coaches.

A good question would be going to Taft vs Hotchkiss. Basically play the same competition. Taft definitely a stronger program. But a player that might barely see time until 12th grade at Taft might be a starter or at least get a lot of time in grade 10 on.

Completely disagree. Repeat 10th if that’s the route u are going. Then u get 10th to prep for the summer before 11th when all of the recruiting is done.

False

How does the PG year work with recruiting? Does the college drive that with a recruit? Seems the process should be done by the time you get around to that actual school year.