Looking for some insight, my daughter is a 7th grader who starts on one of the better clubs in the area. She has expressed that she really wants to go private for high school to play lacrosse. Not sure if it's bc friends from her team will be going or already going to several different private schools or if it's a burning desire to play tougher competition
A few questions: 1.) Do MIAA coaches actually recruit? What grade do they start engaging players? Do you need to connect with coaches to let them know your daughter is interested in playing? Should we assume that a large percentage of everyone's rosters have been recruited to play there?
We are in the same situation. Some of the girls already attend the private middle schools...assume they would just transition to the high school. Not sure how they reach out to he public school girls.
Intended with all due respect......there are only a couple ways this happens in the 7th-8th grade years:
1) Your club coach has a real life relationship with a HS coach *AND* (key word) is willing to reach out to that coach during admissions
2) Your daughter attends a camp, mini-camp, "skills session" etc at the HS and gets noticed. Coaches will pull aside players and parents who are playing "lights out." The other 90% of capable players there? Not so much.
3) Your daughter has a relationship or plausible excuse, or insanely good timing, to get herself in front of that coach in a playing environment, aka taking shots on the field with the HS coaches' kids when the coach comes to pick up their kids.
For both boys and girls, the most important things IMHO are:
1) Put the educational fit, first. One day it will be their last day of lax. You don't know when it will be. 10th grade? 12th grade? Tomorrow due to injury?
2) Try to have a good and realistic understanding of your daughter's likelihood to make the roster at her preferred school. In the current senior class, what clubs do the girls play for? Does your daughter play on equivalent clubs? We have personally seen this with both our kids, as families with "the best kid in rec" or "the top recruit from Arkansas!" rolls in and assumes they are going to dominate the lax world in their new private school.
3) Money - assume you will get zero aid for lax. It won't be a difference maker, regardless.
