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Seen and Get Recruited
By Dave Campbell
April 2003
The recruiting process in collegiate athletics has been
accelerated across the board at every level and in every sport over
the last few years. While lacrosse hasn’t reached the point that
football and basketball have in terms of money put into the process,
it has become similar in terms of the timing and some players have verbally
committed to a school during their junior year. The sport itself has
also been growing with new high school programs starting each year and
huge increases in the number of participants. Even of greater significance
are the opportunities to play in the summer from camps to summer leagues,
to traveling club teams. As a college coach, there are only so many
places you can be in the summer, so the question for a player who wants
to be recruited is, where do you need to be in order to be seen by the
schools you’re interested in?
I believe that even with the increase in participation
at all levels, that there are still opportunities for a high school
player to continue to play lacrosse in college whether that be Division
I, II, III or club. However, the higher your aspirations are, the earlier
you need to become involved in the process. I will take you through
what I think are some important steps regardless of where you want to
end up. Unless you are one of the top 100 players in your class (in
which you will not need to initiate the correspondence) it is in your
best interest to begin a dialogue with the schools you’re interested
in as early as possible. By the fall of your junior year, almost all
D-I programs and the top D-III schools will already have a list of prospects
that they intend to email and write over the course of the year.
During the fall of your sophomore year or during the season,
it wouldn’t hurt to sit down with your high school coach and have
an honest discussion of what level you are capable of playing at and
from there, what schools interest you academically and athletically.
Once you do this you should write those coaches with some information
about yourself, a coach’s recommendation, an updated transcript,
and a copy of your schedule. This way a coach has seen your name and
knows there is an interest from your end. Another good thing to send
along would be a game film. A few minutes of highlights are good to
get a feel about your game but coaches like to watch an actual game
film so they see how you play without the ball on defense or how you
ride when you don’t score or how you react when you don’t
make a save.
Coaches above all else value what they see in person over
a video or a coach’s recommendation. Once you have decided what
schools you’re interested in, then you need to find out what camps
they will be attending so you have a chance to be seen. You can do this
by writing, emailing or even calling those coaches (however unless you’re
a senior, they won’t be able to call you back) and asking where
they’ll be during the summer. If you have a top choice then going
to that school’s camp may be a good investment since you’ll
be able to meet the coaches, see the campus and they will have a chance
to watch you play. If you aspire to play D-I lacrosse then it is in
your best interest to do all of this before the fall of your junior
year.
Once you hear back from the schools you’re interested
in, you can plan out your summer. Try to attend the camps where you
get the most exposure to those schools you’ve decided are good
fits for you. Also go out and visit as many of those schools as you
can so you get a chance to see the facilities, ask questions, walk the
campus and most importantly get a feel for the school. If you’ve
done all this going into your junior year, then you have put yourself
in a good position to be recruited by those schools your interested
in, now the question is have you been honest with yourself about what
level you can play at? If you have, then you should hear from those
coaches. If not, you shouldn’t give up but should probably have
another honest discussion about what level you can play at. The good
thing about this approach is that you have another year to hit the books,
work on your game and to try and make an impression during your season
or during the summer. Now the next step is dealing with the recruiting
process itself and most importantly, how you end up at the right school
for you.
A Glance at Our Guest: Dave Campbell
Mens Lacrosse Assistant Coach, University of Notre Dame
Former Mens Lacrosse Assistant Coach, Middlebury College (VT)
Standout goalkeeper at Middlebury College, four-year letterwinner, 1997-2000
NCAA Division III national title (2000)
USILA third-team Division III All-America selection (2000)
USILA first-team all-New England selection (2000)
USILA second-team Division III All-America selection (1999)
First-team all-NESCAC and Honorable Mention all-New England (1999)
Finished his career third on the school's all-time saves list and ranked
second with a 7.83 goals against average.
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