Lacrosse Scholarships to Help Your Child Through College

Many parents and athletes often ask how to get a scholarship for college in lacrosse. The best way to enter into consideration for an athletic scholarship in lacrosse is to increase your exposure to college recruits. It’s not too early to begin presenting a video of gameplay to recruits. Some athletes begin as early as freshman year sending their packages to colleges. It’s not enough to simply attend a summer lacrosse camp or showcase to be recruited. Colleges need more information about your gameplay and your style than one game can expose. While your coach may provide some information about schools that you may be good for you, it’s not their job to get you a scholarship package.

Playing varsity sports is a rewarding high school experience that is of irreplaceable value. It may be hard to believe, but that all the fun of playing a sport can additionally be profitable. Lacrosse student athletic programs are the best way for students to play lacrosse and be noticed as a great player. While the chances of receiving a scholarship are markedly better for students who play on a lacrosse team either at school or on a club team.  The competition for a lacrosse scholarship is intense because the majority of open spots are with division three NCAA teams at smaller colleges without funding. This reality is particularly challenging for students that hope to attend a division one school or a large college or university. For athletes that desire a lacrosse scholarship, it is important to remain open to all options.

Getting Started

If you are committed to a particular college, work early to develop a relationship with the coaching staff at the school. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the school and invite them to games and practices. Coaching staffs are inundated with request to make scouting visits so making an early request is key. Send coaches your team schedule and highlight any tournaments worth noting. Coaches are striving to build a total team atmosphere that includes talented players and great attitudes. Some athletes miss this integral piece when working on their game skills. Begin working on sportsmanship and attitude now to help advance your chances in this category.

To be recruited for college level lacrosse, students need to be playing on a competitive club team. You will also need great grades to round out your recruiting package. Students often ask if they have to be superstars to get looked at by recruiting staff, and the quick answer is no. Yes, you will have to meet certain requirements, but if you play on a club team that is competitive, you are likely already within the standard. Not all colleges offer scholarships. Many Ivy League schools opt out of athletic scholarships and because lacrosse is an equivalency sport, most scholarships will not be full rides.

What Not to Do

Discussing what to do to get a lacrosse scholarship is very helpful as you begin planning for the recruiting process. It’s also very important to make note of what not to do. If you are unsuccessful the first time around, don’t give up. If you make the team freshman year without a financial package, that doesn’t mean that all the money is gone in the coming year. Work hard and makes sure the athletic department is aware of your commitment. Don’t close yourself in a box of only seeking full ride packages. A scholarship is not always for the entire four years of school. They have to be renewed unless stated otherwise. Don’t assume that schools have an endless supply of money. The realization is that only NCAA Division I and II schools have only 30 percent of their athletes on athletic scholarships.  Division III schools do not give scholarships.

Simple math will exhibit that there are limited funds for even the best players. For example, both men and women’s Division I lacrosse teams that are fully funded have only 12 full scholarship available to them. Those 12 scholarships are seldom if ever given out in whole. Scholarships are typically divided into smaller partial scholarships and spread out in a predetermined fashion. Don’t assume that the divided scholarships are all for freshman because that too is a myth. Coaches occasionally give scholarships to loyal juniors and seniors on their team to round out smaller packages from previous years. Don’t wait until the summer to make money plans for the fall. The recruiting process is very rigid. Once a school is interested in bringing a player on the team, they will be able to give you a better picture of the financial package this available.

There is no need to wait around and potentially miss out on other opportunities while you wait for information. If a school has said they are interested, then money is the next obvious topic. As discussed earlier, given the realities of college athletic scholarships, financial packages are in short supply so don’t wait around and risk losing an opportunity.