Getting to play in the states.

[Hickey7]

Alright now ive got no expectations of playing anywhere good in the states.

But as im about to graduate from uni I'm thinking about taking another course just so i can play lacrosse out in the states with the hope of getting a scholarship somewhere - ambitious i know.

Having not really played at a high standard, BUCS and East 2/3... There is no real evidence of skill etc.

Anyone know who to contact or even where to get started? I've not got the foggiest.

Are there many options to playing lacrosse in the states?

Thanks in Advance.

[plainnash]

I'd be interested to know about this as well, we don't exactly do showreels over here so what do people do to get coaches attention?

[Hickey7]

exactly, its hard enough to get officials for most games let alone a camera man!

Its not like you can make a highlight reel without looking like an arrogant doosh.

[prescott2]

Unless you have been involved in the England set up it is very unlikely that you would be offered a scholarship to play lax. Do give you an idea of the standard Sam Russell (Whittier College) played on the 2010 World Champs team and top scored for the England U19 team at the 2008 world championship and is playing for a mid standard D3 team who give out no athletic scholarships you have to be a seriously talented player and athlete to get funding to play.

[plainnash]

Agreed, Sam was involved in the England set-up and made it into a DIII college which didn't offer scholarships, but what if someone wanted to target a college that DOES offer scholarships?
Or a college not in the NCAA, how about MCLA?

[LPierce]

I understand that most MCLA teams offer open tryouts on top of their obvious attempts at recruitment. However I don't think they give scholarships as obviously MCLA doesn't carry the prestige NCAA does... Best bet would be to email coaches I guess

[plainnash]

A couple of threads from IL:
http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showth ... p?t=134689
http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showth ... p?t=191037

Interesting post by one chap:

'My experience with mcla coaches is if you contact them they will contact you back and you can start a relationship with them. Assuming you have some lacrosse skill you can probably play at any mcla school.'

[Hickey7]

sweet, that my easter filled up, emails galore.

any advice on what to say?

[the pom]

you have to be a seriously talented player and athlete to get funding to play.

top 0.1% in the country at a guess

As most Americans are thick it is easier to go to a school that plays lacrosse on an academic scholarship and there are more of these knocking about and try to get on the squad either that or just pay your way.

[alex_reactions]

dave if you want to be playing college lacrosse you need to be playing for a good premier league 1 team . the lower division 3 teams are like lower division 3 teams !

[alex_reactions]

sorry the last bit made no sense i mean the higher premier league teams are lower divison 3 teams so you need to **** hot to play. how old are you and what position ?

[plainnash]

This is something I'm intrigued about at the moment, not actively hunting for like Hickey is.
My year studying abroad is over three years away and I don't graduate for potentially another three after that; who knows what state the sport will be in then and what my abilities will be like.
FYI, 19, goalie.

[Hickey7]

im only just finishing uni, and need to stay in the country to do my NQT year in teaching. but was hoping to chase the dream after that potentially. Like i said i know the standard between southern and northern lacrosse can be described as "different" and the between the UK and the states is massive. realistically i know i'm not going get in, but if you don't try you can succeed. FYI - 20, Middie.

[webby]

I hear Durham offer some sort of scholarship, American coaching and a team of NCAA D1-3 players....Why move abroad?

[Harry Collins]

Why not try asking some of the guys currently out there? Off the top of my head:


Jack Warzyniak - Stony Brook - D1
Full England and u19s - Heaton Mersey

Sam Russell - Whittier College - D3
Full England and u19s - Poynton

Chris Summers - Endicott - D3
England u19s - Brooklands

[UKLaxfan]

Danny Ives
(Cheadle & Lees-Mcrae)

Eddie Dolan
(Mellor & Lees-Mcrae)

Lees-Mcrae are an NCAA Div II team and Danny Ives is currently their Top Scorer
http://www.lax.com/team_stats.phtml?tea ... 12&year=11

If you are serious I would suggest contacting Ali Hodgeson (Chedle & Marple College) as he was influential in getting Eddie & Danny into L-M

Lees-Mcrae actually had an English guy as Head Coach a few years back whose name escapes me for the moment.
He was an ex Poynton/England player.

Matt Edmunds (thanks Trig)

[young_trig]

Danny Ives
(Cheadle & Lees-Mcrae)

Eddie Dolan
(Mellor & Lees-Mcrae)

Lees-Mcrae are an NCAA Div II team and Danny Ives is currently their Top Scorer
http://www.lax.com/team_stats.phtml?tea ... 12&year=11

If you are serious I would suggest contacting Ali Hodgeson (Chedle & Marple College) as he was influential in getting Eddie & Danny into L-M

Lees-Mcrae actually had an English guy as Head Coach a few years back whose name escapes me for the moment.
He was an ex Poynton/England player.

Matt Edmunds?

[6x6]

A couple of threads from IL:
http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showth ... p?t=134689
http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showth ... p?t=191037

Interesting post by one chap:

'My experience with mcla coaches is if you contact them they will contact you back and you can start a relationship with them. Assuming you have some lacrosse skill you can probably play at any mcla school.'

Dave, I admit I'm one of those thick Americans Pom mentioned but I'll try to intelligently answer some questions as my son went through the recruiting process a few years ago an chose an MCLA school over some offers from NCAA institutions.

I think this has been covered before but I'll bring it up again just in case you're unsure. NCAA DI (the Ivy league schools choose not to) and DII can offer athletic scholarshps, NCAA DIII does not. DI programs, if fully funded by their athletic depts, can offer a maximum of 12.6 scholarships. DII can offer 10.8, I believe. So you can see with 40-45 man rosters a full ride is almost unheard of. I know a DI coach who told me once he recruits all kids but loves rich kids and poor kids. The kids from wealthy families don't need the scholarship and the poor kids can qualify for financial aid, thus leaving athletic scholarship money for the rest of the team.

As mentioned, DIII schools compete by offering academic scholarships, grants, and financial aid packages to offset the high cost found at many schools.

Regarding the MCLA, the quote you cited is not really accurate as some teams do have tryouts and make cuts. The MCLA is kind of like some BUCs schools in some ways. There are schools struggling to start programs, maintain rosters, lucky to have 1coach or perhaps a student coach, only practice once or twice a week and receive little support from their university. Sometimes guys go out for a team and are welcomed even though they are playng lacrosse for the first time.

However, with over 200 MCLA teams in 2 divisions, there is a wide disparity in programs and the lacrosse played at the various instituions. Some teams are very serious and play at a very high level. Here is a link to the University of Michigan website. http://mgobluelacrosse.com/. You'll see they scrimmage NCAA programs(DI Bellarmine) to get ready for the season. I believe last year they scrimmaged Army and another DI team. The more serious schools have 3-5 coaches, practice 4-5 times per week, have access to great facilities, mandatory weight training sessions and so on. These schools actively recruit and they do have tryouts and cut players.

One glaring difference between the MCLA and the NCAA is that MCLA teams are student run programs. The players are the team president, treasurer, secretary. The board hires and fires the coach. In addition, in nearly all instances the players have to pay dues in order to fund the program. The team sets the dues and these fees cover uniforms, ref fees, MCLA league dues, team travel during the season and so on. Again, there is a big disparity. Some may only charge $400-$500, while other schools like Univ of Florida, Boston College, BYU, Colorado, Arizona State and the Univeristy of Texas may charge much more. Michigan dues for example are around $3,500 a year. There are some MCLA schools where the lacrosse team is treated as a full varisty sport like the soccer, tennis, basketball teams etc. and at those schools they are run much like an NCAA program with full school support where nearly everything is paid for by the school.

Regarding the prestige comment, that's true. Michigan lacrosse is not revered the way Syracuse, Duke, Virgina or Hopkins are. However, there are some great players playing MCLA lacrosse. The Univ of Texas for example currently has 6 high school All Americans on it's roster. The main difference is depth of talent where the NCAA DI programs will have a whole squad of AA's. Guys play in the MCLA for various reasons, my son, like others, chose the school because it was a better fit academically, offering more majors in his area of interest, fit his personality better etc. UKLaxFan mentioned Lees-Mcrae and that is a perfect example. Not everybody wants to go to a town of about 1,00 people in the mountains of NC and attend a school with an enrollment of about 800 students. Not picking on LM as it may be a fine uni but there are many small Liberal Arts school that are similar. Just trying to show you why some guys would rather go to UCLA or the University of Oregon to play MCLA over a chance to play in the NCAA.

Sorry to drone on but wanted to provide some insight. I'll close by echoing others comments and that is to reach out to the coaches of any school you may be interested in and start a dialogue. The link below will provide all in the you'll need about the MCLA, including links to team websites.

http://www.collegelax.us/
http://mcla.us/

Good luck.

[webby]

One of the less experienced French players applied and got into CW Post in Long Island. He then trained with the team in an effort to get better for the Worlds. I don't think he ever got into a game for CW Post, but found training by itself with a good quality team highly beneficial. I never saw him play before he went to CW Post, but apparently he came on leaps and bounds.

I'm not sure what sort of fees he was paying.

[Harry Collins]

6 x 6 - Thanks for a great post, which I'm sure a lot of juniors will find very useful.

Can't believe some of our players used to whinge about £30 subs fees, compared to $3500...