For many lacrosse goalies, the idea of being recruited and playing at a top Division 1 school is a dream that starts at a pretty young age. In my opinion, this is normal and shouldn't be discouraged. Great big dreams start as little dreams. You never know where they're going to take you!
When I was in junior high school the top lacrosse teams in the country were Syracuse and Cornell. These were the showcase college teams that everyone was trying to beat. Naturally they got the most press and the most t.v. coverage. So it's natural that I wanted to go there too.
To start, it was just a dream. But that dream helped feed my work ethic, and it was something that I could focus on. "Someday, I'm going to play for Cornell!"
Now along the way I realized that my SAT score probably wasn't going to get me into Cornell. And then I realized that I wasn't really interested in living in Syracuse, New York. But I still wanted to play in college, and I still wanted to be recruited to play at a big time lacrosse school.
Here are four tips to see if you're on your way to becoming a recruitable lacrosse goalie:
Step 1) Make sure you're the best on your team!
This may seem a little obvious. But the point is, you want to set the first stepping stone along the way to reaching your big goal. And that is to be the best on your team. Start here. It's important to start small on the road to the big time.
Step 2) Avoid "Cream of the Crap" Syndrome. AKA, "Top of the Bottom of the Barrell" Syndrome.
Once you have established yourself as the top player on your team, it's time to go on to be the best in your league. Then the best in your state. Then the best in your region, country, and so on.
I see a lot of athletes who think they are fantastic because they are the starter on their team. But they never go out and test the waters and see just how good they really are. That's something I did quite early when I started to play lacrosse. I played in summer leagues, and with college age players to test myself and to see just how good I really was.
My idea was that, if I was the best goalie on the field in enough games that eventually I'd be one of the best goalies around. And if I were one of the best goalies around, I would have to be good enough some day to be recuited, and I was.
Step 3) Know What Schools Your Grades Are Going To Allow You To Go To
Your favorite colors might be Black and Orange. Your dad may be from New Jersey. You may have a tiger as a pet. But if your SAT is 1500 you're probably NOT going to Princeton.
Being recruited and ultimately going to University or College depends on a lot of factors but the number one dream-stealer I see is a bad SAT score.
A bad SAT score, or bad grades in general, may derail your dream completely, or it will just force you to redirect your efforts. So you're not Ivy League material. Not a problem. There are a ton of other schools on the planet for you to go to. Don't sweat it, reload, aim, fire again.
Step 4) Make sure the school you want to go to even needs a goalie!
When I was being recruited there was one school who was after me heavily but they already at 6 goalies at the school! Now I was flattered, but I was a little worried that I was going to be on the bench for three years before I could see the field. Another school that I wanted to go to had six goalies and they didn't really want me.
These situations can change your school plans too. So be flexible. The sport of lacrosse right now is exploding. But the number of Division 1,2, and 3 schools isn't really growing with it. That means less spots for more kids.
Bottom line. Have a dream. Go with it. Let it drive you to work harder and harder than the other lacrosse goalies on the field.
But be flexible. While your dream may be one school, the world may not align so perfectly that it's going to happen for you.
OR, you may find that something better arises for you that you never even expected.
Keep your lacrosse recruiting dream alive by being flexible, always working, and being really good!
Jonathan Edwards is "The Goalie Guru" to thousands of lacrosse goalies, parents and coaches. His website http://www.lacrossegoalietips.com/ is read in over twenty-two countries and you can subscribe to his free lacrosse goalie newsletter there. So for the latest tips and tricks to be the best lacrosse goalie you can be go to http://www.lacrossegoalietips.com/
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