The Complete Parents’ Guide To Men’s College Lacrosse Recruiting: Covering All Three NCAA Divisions, Youth, Club, and High School

By The Lax Dads

Written by two parents of current men's Division 1 and Division 3 lacrosse players and edited by one of the top high school lacrosse coaches of all time, this book is a step-by-step guide to the complicated and competitive college recruiting process. The book includes insight on the recruiting rules and timeline, club and high school participation, what college coaches look for in their prospects, and what to expect as a college player. The book covers club, high school, and youth lacrosse, and explains the role of recruiting events such as prospect days and showcases.

Edited by Chuck Ruebling, former head boys’ lacrosse coach of the Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey and director of the club program, Patriot Lacrosse. At Delbarton, Ruebling had 523 wins and 114 losses. He won 16 New Jersey Non-Public A State Championships and six Tournament of Champions. Patriot consistently fields top teams at all grade levels. Many of Ruebling's former players are at Duke, Notre Dame, Villanova, West Point, and other top D1 programs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Apr 24, 2019

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Copyright © 2020

Updated June 2020 with Appendix Two for Corona Pandemic

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher who can be contacted at:

[e-mail]

The LAX Dads LLC

www.guidetomlax.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

GLOSSARY

BRIEF HISTORY OF LACROSSE

YOUTH AND HIGH SCHOOL PARTICIPATION

RECRUITING: DEFINITION AND REASONS

COLLEGE PARTICIPATION AND RECRUITING ODDS

D1 RECRUITING PROCESS AND TIMELINE

THE NEW RULE

D1 ACADEMIC CONCESSIONS

D1 ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIPS

GOOD QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILD

WHAT COLLEGE COACHES SEEK (AND DON’T SEEK)

TACTICAL TIPS

FINER POINTS OF D1

DETERMINING A COLLEGE’S RECRUITING STATUS

EXTERNAL RESOURCES

YOUTH LACROSSE: WHERE IT ALL BEGINS

CLUB LACROSSE

HIGH SCHOOL

POST-GRADUATES

RECRUITING EVENTS: PROSPECT DAYS

RECRUITING EVENTS: SHOWCASES

SPECIALTY RECRUITING EVENTS

D1 CONCLUSION: WHAT TAKES PRIORITY?

DIVISION 2

DIVISION 3

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX ONE: TITLE IX

APPENDIX TWO: COVID-19 EFFECTS ON RECRUITING

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this book

Men’s college lacrosse recruiting is as complicated as it is competitive. The primary purpose of this book is to provide you with an understanding of the process to improve your child’s chances of admission to a college that, perhaps, he would not be able to qualify for otherwise.

Another objective is to save you time and money. Parents can easily spend more than $20,000 on club team dues, tournament registration fees, equipment, hotels, gas, and the like for their child to participate in club lacrosse and undertake various recruiting endeavors. However, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) limits the athletic scholarship dollars that Division 1 (D1) programs can offer, and many college administrations are not willing or able to fund to the maximum. The Ivy League conference in D1 and all Division 3 (D3) programs prohibit themselves from offering athletic scholarships. Finally, you should consider an intangible cost: time away from other family members.

We hope to manage expectations regarding academics. Grades and standardized test scores matter at the good colleges. The academic concessions that college coaches can offer recruits for easier admission are not to the scale of urban myths circulating many sidelines filled with chattering parents. Being the best lacrosse player in the country does not get a C student into Harvard.

Parents need to understand the competitive landscape. Due to the explosive growth of club lacrosse, more kids than ever in the history of the sport are playing during their elementary and middle school years. Once in the 9th grade, these student-athletes continue to play club and join high school lacrosse programs, complete with experienced coaches, off-season field time, and strength and conditioning regimens. The result: there is no shortage of talented high school players competing for a limited number of spots at the top colleges.

What this book is not

This book is not a tell-all exposé of recruiting violations. We never experienced such activity. The same holds true for every other parent whom we know whose children were recruits. Also, we found the end-results to be fair. Recruits generally enroll at colleges that are a good fit for them. College coaches know that their own success and, indeed, their jobs depend upon your child succeeding on the field and in the classroom.

This book is not full of lists of the top high school programs, club teams, and tournaments. Several websites dedicated to the sport provide various rankings and other useful information. We caution that, due to the sport’s explosive growth, any list can become outdated rather quickly. We review most of the top showcases, given our personal experience and that of a close friend.

This book is not a promotional vehicle. We have not received and will not be receiving money from the organizations we name. We are not NCAA-registered recruiters and are not offering consulting services.

Where did we get the idea to write this book?

A former fellow club team parent noticed us fielding many questions from players and parents alike during weekend tournaments. She, half-jokingly and half-seriously, suggested that we write a book to avoid repeating ourselves so often.

After a thorough review of the existing resources available, we saw an opportunity to share our insight and knowledge on a broader scale. No source has it all in one place. Blogs and forums present mostly anecdotal evidence, not researched data. The abundance of information from Google searches is overwhelming. Much content on the subject is confusing. We hope that this book addresses these issues.

Speaking of trying to help

We are donating 15 percent of the profits from the sale of this book equally among three non-profits important to the lacrosse community.

CityLax, through a public-private partnership model, develops and expands lacrosse programs in New York City public schools. Through lacrosse and character-based coaching strategies, our organization serves as a catalyst for assisting schools in their effort to bring more of these opportunities to their students.

Harlem Lacrosse empowers special education and highly impoverished students to rise above their challenges and inspire for a better future. The team culture, perseverance, grit, and confidence that Harlem Lacrosse emphasizes translates directly into the classroom and our students’ personal lives. The New York Times recently profiled Harlem Lacrosse .

The US Lacrosse Foundation advocates for a rewarding lacrosse experience for all children, supports coach and player development, ensures the sport's safety, and underwrites the training of the U.S. National Team. The Foundation fully supports US Lacrosse, the sport's national governing body which provides leadership, structure, and resources to fuel the sport's growth and enrich the experience of participants.

What makes us qualified to write this book and what is up with not providing our real names?

We are the fathers of two children who play men’s college lacrosse, one for a top 50 D1 program and the other for a ranked D3 team (the NCAA ranks only 37 of the 200+ D3 programs).

From their high school sophomore fall to their rising senior summer, they played on the same elite club team that performed well at the top tournaments. The D3 player was on this club team for several years prior.

The D1 player had looks from programs in the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Patriot League, Colonial League, and Big East collegiate athletic conferences. He attended four unofficial visits and accepted a verbal commitment to one of these colleges during his rising junior summer. The player enrolled at this college. He attended the invite-only Jake Reed Blue Chip Camp and played for an Under Armour All-American team. Inside Lacrosse identified him as one of the top ten entering college freshmen at his position.

The other author is the parent of a student-athlete whom a D3 college recruited during his high school junior year. This player attended the invite-only Maverik Showtime event. Both children attended the Prep School Lacrosse Showcase.

We are calling ourselves The Lax Dads to protect our children from possible backlash, not from their current and former coaches and teammates, but from others who may not be so supportive. We respectfully ask that you do not try to identify us. We welcome constructive feedback to improve future editions at [e-mail].

Chuck Ruebling, former head boys’ lacrosse coach of the Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey and director of the club program, Patriot Lacrosse, edited this book. At the end of the 2017 season with yet another New Jersey state championship and prominent national ranking, Ruebling retired from coaching Delbarton varsity lacrosse after 31 seasons. He remains in the same role at Patriot and the school as Assistant Headmaster.

At Delbarton, Ruebling had 523 wins and 114 losses. He won 16 New Jersey Non-Public A State Championships and six Tournament of Champions.¹ Patriot consistently fields top teams at all grade levels. Ruebling chaired the US Lacrosse Men’s Game Coaches Sub-Committee, coached at the U-19 World Championships, and served on the US Lacrosse National Convention Committee. He is well-respected for his knowledge of the game, ability to evaluate talent, dedication to academics, demeanor with players as young as ten years old, and credibility with college coaches.

GLOSSARY

While dense with details and technicalities, this Glossary will help you understand terms specific to athletics, lacrosse, and recruitment. We use these terms throughout the book.

Academic concession: is a college’s acceptance of an athlete with a lower Grade Point Average (GPA) and standardized test score performance than other applicants. Lower admission standards increase the size of the talent pool which a coach can use to identify recruits. The athlete benefits by attending a college which he may not have qualified for otherwise. Athletes are not the only pool of applicants to receive such admission assistance. A college, at its discretion, determines the size of the concessions and number of students receiving them. Several colleges with men’s lacrosse programs are test optional, meaning they do not require a standardized test score for admission.

Athletic scholarship: is a discount on college tuition expense. An athletic scholarship is separate and distinct from financial aid, academic/merit scholarships, grants, and loans. The athlete saves money on tuition and, in some cases, attends a college that he could not otherwise afford without securing other types of tuitions discounts or assuming student debt. For men’s lacrosse, D1 and D2 programs can offer athletic scholarships except for those in the Ivy League conference. The service academies provide free tuition to all cadets and midshipmen. The Patriot League conference did not offer D1 athletic scholarships until 2012. D3 colleges do not