US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2025-10th Grade Fall 2022/Summer 2023

Nice, but who is really moving the last year?

People who decide that being on the field to be seen is more important than cool gear or brand names?

Okay, better late than never. Ideally for a team showcase event there should be at a 5 poles and 2 LsMs, 1 fogo or 2 if they are 50/50, 6 offensive mids, 2 dmids, 5 attack and 2 goalies. That is if exposure is the goal. You can add another attack and goalie, and a middie. But that is it. And everyone has to play.

And if a team is having supplemental tryouts or looking for players on social media posts. Imho, you might want to do some research, because exposure while losing 10-2 is not good.

I'm not sure you know how exposure works. College coaches don't care if your club team wins. They are also smart enough to recognize talented players on mediocre teams.

Brand. Names. Don't. Matter. Anymore.

Agreed, name on the jersey doesn't mean much at team showcases. But how much exposure is an attack going to get if losing 10 -2 and everything is happening in your own end?

Less but if you're relying only on club games to be seen you're not going to get very far anyway. It's just a piece of the puzzle. And still better than not even being on the field on an "elite" team.

The piece of the puzzle is not going to a team showcase and getting blown out. If your son's team is overmatched…nobody is making head turning plays. So if your son's coach selects events they don’t belong at, it’s a waste. And it has nothing to do with the Jersey or wins or losses, it’s about playing competitively vs good competition and not playing over your head. It’s same thing for the team winning 14-2, you think the college doesn’t look at that differently, of course they do. A coach made a point at a recent showcase, pick your highlights carefully, because we look at both sides of the play and know weak competition vs a strong play.

What you're forgetting is that it only takes one coach to see one play at one moment to start a relationship. You're both overthinking all this. Get on lists. FIlter through the form letter prospect day invites to find the real ones. Go to those. See how it goes.

Everyone is right and everyone is wrong as well. Why? Because it all depends what level college you are looking at. High d1 and high d3, along with being an exceptional talent, you have to have “The Connection” whether through club or high school. It just so happens that the top clubs and high schools also happens to have the best players. But in general, colleges don’t care about the score of a tournament game when scouting a player. They are smart enough to know if a player is good enough on a team that stinks around him/her.

For those not seeking high level college lax it matter less what high school or club though the better either are, the more it helps. But there are ton of options for people to play in college. Many of those coaches will come see your team if you are winning or losing 14-2. They have your name on a list. They show up for 1/4 or 1/2 and then move on to the next person on your list after making sure you have the skill level to their satisfaction. They are not at the tournaments watching only the good clubs play hoping to “discover” someone.

Prospect days are sometimes helpful but usually only if you are invited, especially true the better the college is. Otherwise most of them are money grabs to help supplement assistant coaches.

Long story short, find yourself a club or high school with the connections to the college you want and make sure your talent is on the same level as your college expectations. And If they are a match, you will find your college. Don’t worry about the results of tournaments in high school. The only people who care about wins and losses in high school club tournaments are delusional parents.

Recruiting , in the first three months, is about 3, 4 or 5 stars. That what the coaches competing for. And that is what helps recruiting, not a recruiting coordinator imho , The rest of us have to do 95% of it on our own.

Yes and no. The 3-5 star player almost always get recruited 1st. Those kids usually do not need the help of the recruiting coordinator. But many kids who are not in that category get phone calls and emails. Some even make commitments in the early fall. Look at last year there were at least a dozen kids who were not star recruits made commitments in the fall the recruiting coordinator can help market your kid. I do agree with doing a lot of it on our own. My 2023 started to get phone calls and emails in November. That was because we were very proactive in sending film and emailing. He started sending film in July and filling out recruitment questionnaires.

Who determines these 'stars'? Show me the list.

Inside lacrosse

More pay-to-play [Censored]. You don't need to be on the IL lists to get recruited.

Yes, you do not. But be prepared to work at it.

That’s not a lot. There was only one 5 star on Long Island (Ty Xanders list), which is still the standard for now. And I think 6 in the top 50 were from LI. So there many great players not even on the list. Think of how good some of the ‘24 LI teams where.

How are the parents in this group handling prospect days that are happening during football season this fall? I've heard at least one college coach say that he don't like when recruits blow off football commitments but he's still having a prospect day.

If I was coach and found out you came to my prospect day and left your teammates for individual achievement, I would not recruit him. Just my opinion. Not saying a player shouldn’t play other sports, he should. Send an email and say you are committed to football, but here are my highlights and I’ll be sure to attend the next scheduled day.

Yes, and I am done with the debate. To each his own and good luck to all. because agree or disagree, doesn’t matter. I am of the opinion that apart from the starters or kids that play meaningful minutes on the AA teams, nobody should expect to get calls on Sept 1. If they come in great. The fall is the time to get on a team where your son gets the most minutes, find good showcases, and pick a few prospect days. The clock is on and you can’t turn it back time. Maximize all the opportunities in the next 10 months.

Agree with this. Minutes are more important IF you don’t care where you play college lax. But if your goal is the upper crust of d1 or d3 you have to be on a good team AND get good minutes. For 90% of people they shouldn’t be sweating the whole college process and just enjoy it

True. And playing vs good competition. That’s is one of the reasons the NLF was created I think.

It's fun watching parents who have overpaid for "AA" teams/programs for 10 years saying you need to be on one of those teams to play top D1 or D3. Don't rationalize.

If your son is good enough they will find you even no a B team that plays B competition.

You just need to be ON the field.

Not one of those parents but the majority, not all, best college players come from the AA rope teams. That’s just what the data supports. But if your goal isn’t to be on a top d1/d3 team then you don’t need to be on a top AA team so I agree with that. Take out the 80 d1 programs and the top 20 d3 programs. That leaves probably 300+ programs for your kid to find a spot so chances are they will play. But agree, you need to be on the field to even get those programs.

That being said if your kid is choosing a college to play lax instead of getting the best degree at the right school for them, not sure I would agree with that but that’s a whole different discussion…

[/quote]

Not one of those parents but the majority, not all, best college players come from the AA rope teams. That’s just what the data supports. But if your goal isn’t to be on a top d1/d3 team then you don’t need to be on a top AA team so I agree with that. Take out the 80 d1 programs and the top 20 d3 programs. That leaves probably 300+ programs for your kid to find a spot so chances are they will play. But agree, you need to be on the field to even get those programs.

That being said if your kid is choosing a college to play lax instead of getting the best degree at the right school for them, not sure I would agree with that but that’s a whole different discussion…[/quote]

As a parent of a 2031 would your advice be to have my kid on the field of a B team vs bench of an A team?

B TEAM

As a parent of a 2031 would your advice be to have my kid on the field of a B team vs bench of an A team?[/quote]


Playing time above all else. But know the situation, there is great B team situations and not so good. I just saw a social media post from a team still looking for players. I would ask questions first or go to a practice before deciding.

As a parent of a 2031 would your advice be to have my kid on the field of a B team vs bench of an A team?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

IMHO yes

This "data" doesn't exist. I see plenty of "AA" kids who are committing to good-not-great schools. You simply do not need to be on one of those teams to play at at top program.

I do agree that often those top programs aren't the best fit for the bulk of kids.

The data does exist. Just look at the rosters of most top d1 d3 programs. Most of them came from top AA programs, not all but most.

I do agree that there are plenty of AA kids commiting to mediocre programs but that’s natural as there aren’t teams with 20 superstars. Not every kid on a AA team is good enough to play at a high level. I would say the majority of them end up on mediocre college teams.

Top programs are not for everyone but it is the easiest pathway to a top d1 d3 program…if you are good

As a parent of a 2031 would your advice be to have my kid on the field of a B team vs bench of an A team?[/quote]

If I was a parent of a 2031 my advice (which is just an opinion with some real world data to maybe support it) is: first have a real conversation internally with yourself and your kid about what their goals are and how they will project. It’s hard to project 6 years down the road when recruiting actually happens but if your kids goal as well as yours, is to play lacrosse anywhere regardless of the level then go for playing time on a B team. It’s the most enjoyable and he will make great friends and have great memories

But if you think your kid will project out to being a student 6 years down the road AND he wants to play high d1 d3, at this age, I would say go for the less playing time on the AA team. That way he can really work at the game, gain strength and speed and work his way up the pecking order and hopefully gain more playing time. But as a 2031 you have that luxury of time to develop. If this was advice to give to a 2026 or 2027, by this point you are unlikely to gain more playing time and sadly his dreams of playing high level d1 and d3 are very unlikely to happen so I would go for playing time on the B squad. But as a 2031 you have time.

By the way, At this age, invest in speed and footwork drills. Invaluable for overall development and translates to all positions and ages.

Again this is just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions..

Just level set expectations that September 1st is just another day on the calendar for most kids. If you’re son is not a starter on the top 91, Express, legRush teams, and Igloo odds are no call will come.

Totally agree with this. Sep 1 has set an unreasonable expectation for the lacrosse world. If you aren’t in the top 10% of players focus more on the long game until December for d1 and the following end of august for d3

Close to correct. Many D3 won't even start on 2025s until January. But plenty of kids not playing for 91/Express/LR/Igloo are going to get calls in early September. Doesn't mean anything will be offered, but initial calls and texts will happen. Does every year. There are lots of D1 programs now and more every year.

Your coaches should know (and tell you) if you're going to get calls in September. If they haven't mentioned it you're probably not getting any. That doesn't mean you won't get them later though. 9/1 is the starting point not the end.

Only the following 2025 teams will have calls for sept 1, 91, PT, LIE, HHH, LXC, LE, WCS, SL. Otherwise you have to work hard until the call comes.

This simply isn't true. They may get the bulk of the calls but there are talented kids on other teams that will be the focus of non-top 10 programs. You're not giving college coaches enough credit.

Just not true. Those teams will do fine but plenty of other clubs will get calls

3D Red New England
As Bc
Bbl
Dc Express
Eclipse
Hawks
Madlax
Next level
Team10
Thunder Blue

All have done well and inevitably other clubs not mentioned will each have 1-2

Something else to remember, only the top kids from these teams will get calls. It's about the player not the color of the uniform.

True but color of the uniform if only because that uniform usually has the connections or the pipeline. That’s why these clubs do so well with recruiting. Not because they have the best players (though they are usually better) but because the kids who wore the uniform before them were a proven commodity.

Let’s be real. Outside of the transcendent player tier, the next tier, lets those who grade out from 85-93 are all interchangeable and the one thing that gets them over the hump is the color of that uniform. The 3rd pole from express is not better than the top pole on, say a club like Albany Power (no offense to them). But it’s the express kid that gets recruited because of his club.

Setting all calls direct to voicemail. Playing hard to get.