|
MARKETING
AND EARLY IDENTIFICATION
1) Prepare a one page “sports
resume”
At the top should be the players
name, school, graduating year, height and weight (if
you think that may be a selling point), and 40 yard
dash time (if it’s under 5.0). You can
include the Extra Curricular activities, Honors and
Awards, Camps and Tournaments. You can also include
stats, employment, etc, if you are a little short on
material. You can attach a small picture but
that is optional.
2) Identify
several schools
Identify 10-25 schools where
you would like to play. Be realistic. Do
you want to play back East? Go to www.ncaa.org to
find a list of schools with DI, DII, or DIII lacrosse
programs. Go to www.collegelax.us to
find a list of club programs.
3) Be
realistic
You want
to be in the top 10 % of players nationwide to make it
in an NCAA program. There are 2430 high schools
with Varsity, JV and freshman teams. There are
224 DI, DII, and DIII programs with 45 players on the
roster. That means you must work hard to get your
name out there. Many students find a good Club
team to be a great experience without the requirements
of an NCAA program. The better club programs will
have tryouts so it is still a good idea to let the coach
know of your interest in their program.
4) Start
writing letters
Coaches
want to know you have a high level of interest in their
program. Add anything to the letter to let them
know you are not writing 20 of the exact same letters.
Be sure to include your sports resume in the first
request for information from the coach. If you
are still a freshman or sophomore you do not need to
send a video/dvd yet, but if you have a good one it
could help. If you are a senior you should try
to get some video footage as soon as possible. Depending
on your grade level, you may not hear anything back
for a long time due to NCAA restrictions. However,
you are allowed to contact a coach (phone or email)
and you can ask if they received your information.
5) Off season camps and tournaments
Exposure is
important. Off season camps and tournaments are
where a West Coast kid is most likely to get the best
exposure. In the summer play club lacrosse at the
highest level you can and go to the recruiting tournaments
if you can. Write to the coaches and let them know
where you will be playing. Also, try to go to at
least one school sponsored camp. Check out the
school and see if you would be comfortable there.
6) Play other sports
Lacrosse
coaches like to see kids play different sports during
the year. Lacrosse coaches value and like to see
the development of the “athlete” and realize
there are attributes you get from playing other sports
which will help you develop as an all around athlete.
7) The role of your high
school coach
Your
high school coach is very busy coaching 30 kids and running
the program at your high school. He does not go
home at night and make phone calls to recruiters on behalf
of your son. He will of course promote his players
when the opportunity presents itself but what is more
likely is that a college coach or recruiter will call
him and ask about the player. Your coach will answer
these questions truthfully as possible because his reputation
is on the line. Here’s what questions are
typically asked by recruiters to high school coaches:
- What are his test scores?
- How are his grades?
- Would you want him on your college
team? (meaning if you were not forced to coach him
in high school would you?) They are looking for
character issues here.
- How does he play in big games?
- What are his weaknesses?
|
