Every year when the Fall club lacrosse recruiting showcase events come around I’m always raising my hand and saying, “I don’t get it” like Tom Hanks in the movie BIG.
I’m even more confused about the need and the demand for the fall recruiting events in the last two years with the new NCAA rules in place that permits college coaches from speaking to recruits until September 1st of their junior year.
Why are events including any graduation years beyond 2021?
College coaches are still searching for Uncommitted seniors.
There are events with all of these graduation years involved and little to non Uncommitted 2020’s on display. Don’t tell me their aren’t any seniors still searching for homes because there’s a ton of talent out there waiting to be found.
The Fall events are overlapping with the end of the high school fall sports seasons where kids play football either Friday and Saturday and then get up the next day for an 8am club lacrosse event game in the freezing cold. The quality of the lacrosse isn’t great, the fundamentals aren’t there, there’s a lot of ball hogging, and club coaches screaming at kids rather than using this time to teach the game.
Also, the fall events are now being scheduled later in the month and even into December/January. When does it get to be too much? How long until your son or daughter get burned out from it all? And is it really helping them getting recruited? Questions parents and their kids should be asking themselves.
The type of events that should be happening and are good are the National High School Lacrosse Showcase and the Central Pennsylvania Showcase event that Frank Corto from York Suburban HS put on earlier in the fall.
Events that involve the high school teams are beneficial. It allows a chance for college coaches to speak with the high school coaches, who know the kid the best. And it doesn’t feel like a money grab and a chance for the high school team to get an idea of what they need to work on between now and the start of the spring season.
The Central PA Showcase was fantastic and will continue to praise it and it should be the model going forward.
If there should be fall recruiting events, especially in the northeast and Midwest, they should be middays on Sundays, the first two weekends of November, and for only uncommitted seniors. And they should be played at indoor facilities, (outside is fine in warmer climates). Everyone wins in that scenario, parents, players and coaches are warm. The players aren’t waking up early the morning to play a game after a tough football or soccer game and are at least somewhat fresh to play lax around 11 am. And it gives seniors a chance to show what they can do and not feel like they’ve been forgotten about by the club program.
But change needs to happen. It’s too much right now for no reason. Recruiting should be only for uncommitted seniors. Kids are going to burn out and hate the game if it keeps going the way it is.