We were at the same tournament with the 28 Hawks. My kid is on Prostart, for what it's worth. I am not as familiar with lax as others are. I spoke with a couple of dads on our team who said a bunch of high school coaches were watching the Hawks team. Is this really a thing that happens?
For private school more yes. There are athletic scholarships for lax. If you are interested in a school go to their events, talk to the coach.
They have athletic scholarships for LAX? "The More You Know"
If your kid is on ProStart the SMA guys already know who he is. In general I would suggest reaching out to the coaches of the schools he's interested in. They will go to your games. My son is fortunate enough to be on a team where coaches are at a bunch of games. I know some of the kids on our team have received some money (all talk) but it's the kids that are game changers, like kids who will play as freshman in MIAA-A type players. Others just get recruited but will pay their own way.
You should also remember that some of the schools can't contact you unless you get on their admissions list. Others will reach out through mutual acquantences to get you to touch base with admissions then will reach out full force. All of the coaches we've spoken to have been really easy to deal with and frank.
Hope this helps.
Solid advice. To add: I know that your son (yes you) is very talented and definitely going upper D1. But these schools can be picky all day, every day and by 8th grade, the typical (competitive) lax kid is about 5'5", 125lb and has a 65-70mph shot if he plays offense. The 8th grader who "gets money" is more likely 6'1", 170lb, with an 80mph shot and also has good grades and a good student conduct record.
At the most holistic level, the sports coaches are only given X amount of "pure passes" in terms of admissions and financial aid. Many of the 9th grade lax kids are coming from private K-8 schools with 3.9+ GPAs and a decent lax resume', and typically a solid second or third sport too. Those kids will get offered $0 in aid. There's a reason these BOTC boards get 70% less active once the posters' sons hit 9th grade. Cause #1 - "Oh my kid's actually NOT gonna play varsity in 9th...and probably not 10th, and is getting $0.00 in financial aid after all. Embarrassing (really, it's not)." Cause #2 - "My kid didn't get into an MIAA or IAC school that we were willing to pay for....the closest MIAA-C school is not even as good as our public school. Humiliating! (really, it's not)."
A few important data points:
Acceptance rates at the "top 50% in lax" private schools: 6th grade (40-50%), 7th grade (0-10%), 8th grade (0-10%), 9th grade (10-30%)
Athletic Aid given to 9th graders who aren't "virtually guaranteed" to make Varsity in 9th: Typically $0
Academic Aid given to 9th graders who have less than a 3.5 in private school or 3.75 in public school: Typically $0
9th graders who make Varsity at "good lax schools": 0 to 5 per school, per year.
# of kids who will try out for lax every spring at the "major lax schools:" 125 to 175 (there were 80+ 2028s at Loyola's prospect night this week).
