5 Tips for Lacrosse Players Who Want to Play in College

What’s your end goal when it comes to lacrosse? Do you just want to have fun and play through high school or do you have dreams of getting to the next level and playing in college?

If you do want your lax career to extend beyond high school, consider these five tips when going through the college admission process in your junior and senior year.

Play in Summer Leagues

You want to be careful about overtraining and overuse injuries, but playing on club teams in summer tournaments – outside of your normal school team schedule – is a great way to get yourself on the radars of coaches at the next level.

It’s pretty common to see college coaches attend these tournaments, which is good because it also gives you a chance to meet and/or chat with them after a game is finished. If things fall right, it could end up being a coach from one of the schools you’ve had an eye on already. Or, even better, it’s a totally new school that you hadn’t considered yet, but has everything you’re looking for.

Use Your Current Coaches as Resources

Unless you’re a top lax recruit, extra effort is necessary to help you achieve your dream of playing at the college level. So don’t be shy about your goals – talk to your coaches about them! They’re not just around to help you play now. You never know who they’ve come into contact with during their own lax career (either as a player or coach). That fact in itself makes it a worthwhile exercise to sit down and have a conversation with them.

This also teaches you some skills you’ll need for your professional life down the road, such as networking with like-minded people and advocating for yourself and your skills.

Make a Highlight Video

Think of this as like a visual resume. You can’t expect a coach to immediately be interested in recruiting you upon just hearing you talk about your lax career – they need to see some proof. It’s just like how just about no employer would hire someone based off what they say in an interview. They need to see a resume, and sometimes, talk to references that can vouch for your worth ethic and abilities.

Plenty of places will put together a highlight video for you, but there are just as many free software editing tools that’ll allow you to do it on your own.

Making an Impression on College Coaches

You can reach out to coaches whenever you want, but be sure you’re aware of whatever the updated NCAA recruitment rules state. Just because a coach doesn’t respond to a message or phone call doesn’t mean they’re not interested – they just may not be allowed to initiate any kind of contact yet.

When you are able to have a conversation with the coach of any program you’re interested in, remember that they’re typically short on time, so giving background on yourself, your grades, position, and playing career should be summed up in a span of a couple sentences.

Also, don’t forget to tell them what makes their program so interesting to you!

Consider All Aspects of a College Search

If the goal is to play lacrosse in college, then it makes all the sense in the world to only look at schools that have a lax program. While playing your favorite sport may be the main driver in the college process, don’t forget all the other aspects of a school that are important, like the location, price, social scene, and whether or not they have the major(s) you’re interested in.

What if things don’t work out and you end up not playing lax there despite being an enrolled student? Would you still enjoy your experience and get a quality education, or would you have to go through the transfer process? Be sure to take a holistic look when trying to find the right college for you.

If you’re interested in learning more about our GameBreaker Lacrosse Camps this summer, click here to find a camp near you and be on your way to becoming a better lacrosse player!