Saturday, July 25, 2009
New Blog Address!
Thank you for following LacrosseRecruits.com's blog. We have decided to switch to another blog application through our homepage. To follow new updates, please visit www.lacrosserecruits.com/blog.
Monday, February 2, 2009
As Seen on InsideLacrosse.com's Recruiting Blog
Chris Meade, co-founder of LacrosseRecruits.com, reports on this past weekend’s Nike SPARQ lacrosse combine from Long Island
The first run through of The Lacrosse Combine featuring Nike SPARQ testing was a great success. Thirty-one participants from Long Island’s top high school and travel programs congregated at Fast Edge’s Training Facility in Hauppauge, N.Y. to see how they compare to elite players and their peers in lacrosse specific training events and to learn more about the recruiting process.
The testing consisted of four Nike SPARQ tests: a 20-yard sprint, a vertical jump, a 5-10-10-5 shuttle run with a stick and a rotational powerball throw. These tests were developed by Nike SPARQ to accurately gauge the athletic ability of lacrosse players in lacrosse specific movements. The times and scores were collected and sent to SPARQ headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. and will eventually produce a SPARQ score that will allow each player to see how he or she stacks up against players in their age group. The group was impressive as a whole, with results in the range of top Division I recruits who have completed the tests.
As the game of lacrosse grows, more combine events are popping up on the recruiting calendar and should become more and more important as college coaches look for new ways to gauge talent. An integral part of The Lacrosse Combine was a seminar ran by LacrosseRecruits.com’s founders, Matt Wheeler and me. The seminar focused on how to use the LacrosseRecruits.com tools and Combine results to differentiate you from other recruits. The Lacrosse Combine provided players and their parents with a unique experience that blended a “Combine event” with recruiting insight.
Below are the top results for boys and girls in the four different events.
Boys Participants
20-Yard Sprint
1. Kevin Nasionski, Ward Melville 2.56
2. Brian Fischer, Garden City 2.63
3. Matt Xirinachs, St. Anthony’s 2.66
Vertical Jump
1. Brian Fischer, Garden City 30”
2. Brett Miller, SWR 28”
2.. Charlie Raffa, St. Anthony’s 25”
30-Yard Shuttle
Leftside
1. Sean Mahon, Chaminade 6.44
2. Christian Bernardo, St. Anthony’s 6.47
2. Greg Danseglio, St. Anthony’s 6.48
Rightside
1. Joe LoCascio, St. Anthony’s 6.42
2. Brett Miller, SWR 6.44
3. Christian Bernardo, St. Anthony’s 6.50
Rotational Powerball Throw
1. Charlie Raffa, St. Anthony’s 42’7”
2. Joey Leonard, Hicksville 42’7”
3. Ryan DeSimone, Smithtown East 39’
Girls Participants
20-Yard Sprint
1. Makenzie Hommel, Ward Melville 2.94
1. Lauren Schwalje, St. Anthony’s 2.94
2. Kelly Nasionski, Ward Melville 2.97
Vertical Jump
1. Kelly Nasionski, Ward Melville 17”
2. Alyssa Handel, Patchogue-Medford 16”
2. Betsy Holland, St. Anthony’s 16”
2. Lauren Schwalje, St. Anthony’s 16”
30-Yard Shuttle
Leftside
1. Kelly Nasionski, Ward Melville 6.95
2. Lauren Engelke, Garden City 7.20
3. Kerrin Mauren, St. Anthony’s 7.22
3. Lauren Schwalje, St. Anthony’s 7.22
Rightside
1. Alyssa Handel, Patchogue-Medford 7.21
2. Lauren Engelke, Garden City 7.32
2. Lauren Schwalje, St. Anthony 7.32
Rotational Powerball Throw
1. Betsy Holland, St. Anthony’s 33’4”
2. Lauren Engelke, Garden City 29’10”
3. Kelly Nasionski, Ward Melville 29’6”
Meade is Co-Founder of LacrosseRecruits.com, an innovative online application developed to help streamline the recruiting process for high school players, their parents and college coaches.
The first run through of The Lacrosse Combine featuring Nike SPARQ testing was a great success. Thirty-one participants from Long Island’s top high school and travel programs congregated at Fast Edge’s Training Facility in Hauppauge, N.Y. to see how they compare to elite players and their peers in lacrosse specific training events and to learn more about the recruiting process.
The testing consisted of four Nike SPARQ tests: a 20-yard sprint, a vertical jump, a 5-10-10-5 shuttle run with a stick and a rotational powerball throw. These tests were developed by Nike SPARQ to accurately gauge the athletic ability of lacrosse players in lacrosse specific movements. The times and scores were collected and sent to SPARQ headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. and will eventually produce a SPARQ score that will allow each player to see how he or she stacks up against players in their age group. The group was impressive as a whole, with results in the range of top Division I recruits who have completed the tests.
As the game of lacrosse grows, more combine events are popping up on the recruiting calendar and should become more and more important as college coaches look for new ways to gauge talent. An integral part of The Lacrosse Combine was a seminar ran by LacrosseRecruits.com’s founders, Matt Wheeler and me. The seminar focused on how to use the LacrosseRecruits.com tools and Combine results to differentiate you from other recruits. The Lacrosse Combine provided players and their parents with a unique experience that blended a “Combine event” with recruiting insight.
Below are the top results for boys and girls in the four different events.
Boys Participants
20-Yard Sprint
1. Kevin Nasionski, Ward Melville 2.56
2. Brian Fischer, Garden City 2.63
3. Matt Xirinachs, St. Anthony’s 2.66
Vertical Jump
1. Brian Fischer, Garden City 30”
2. Brett Miller, SWR 28”
2.. Charlie Raffa, St. Anthony’s 25”
30-Yard Shuttle
Leftside
1. Sean Mahon, Chaminade 6.44
2. Christian Bernardo, St. Anthony’s 6.47
2. Greg Danseglio, St. Anthony’s 6.48
Rightside
1. Joe LoCascio, St. Anthony’s 6.42
2. Brett Miller, SWR 6.44
3. Christian Bernardo, St. Anthony’s 6.50
Rotational Powerball Throw
1. Charlie Raffa, St. Anthony’s 42’7”
2. Joey Leonard, Hicksville 42’7”
3. Ryan DeSimone, Smithtown East 39’
Girls Participants
20-Yard Sprint
1. Makenzie Hommel, Ward Melville 2.94
1. Lauren Schwalje, St. Anthony’s 2.94
2. Kelly Nasionski, Ward Melville 2.97
Vertical Jump
1. Kelly Nasionski, Ward Melville 17”
2. Alyssa Handel, Patchogue-Medford 16”
2. Betsy Holland, St. Anthony’s 16”
2. Lauren Schwalje, St. Anthony’s 16”
30-Yard Shuttle
Leftside
1. Kelly Nasionski, Ward Melville 6.95
2. Lauren Engelke, Garden City 7.20
3. Kerrin Mauren, St. Anthony’s 7.22
3. Lauren Schwalje, St. Anthony’s 7.22
Rightside
1. Alyssa Handel, Patchogue-Medford 7.21
2. Lauren Engelke, Garden City 7.32
2. Lauren Schwalje, St. Anthony 7.32
Rotational Powerball Throw
1. Betsy Holland, St. Anthony’s 33’4”
2. Lauren Engelke, Garden City 29’10”
3. Kelly Nasionski, Ward Melville 29’6”
Meade is Co-Founder of LacrosseRecruits.com, an innovative online application developed to help streamline the recruiting process for high school players, their parents and college coaches.
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Lacrosse Combine - Preview
We have been working hard in advance of the first "The Lacrosse Combine." We will be the first group in the country running the Sparq Lacrosse Assessment. Nike Sparq just finished the tests that comprise the Sparq Lacrosse Assessment and we will be running 30 of the best players on Long Island through the test on Saturday, Jan. 31st.
InsideLacrosse.com just posted the article below previewing the event.
http://blogs.insidelacrosse.com/2009/01/30/recruiting-roundup-long-island-combine
A full post to come in the coming days. Chris will also be a contributing blogger for InsideLacrosse.com's recruiting coverage.
Have a great weekend!!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
LacrosseRecruits.com's January Update!
As always, my favorite thing to do while traveling is writing posts to update visitors and members about what is going on at LacrosseRecruits.com.
The past 19 days have been a constant push to get our year off to a great start.
1. Working with Long Island Express to offer memberships to their 2010, 2011 & 2012 boys and girls teams.
2. Working with Lacrosse Unlimited to institute referral programs through their store managers – Effectively increasing our salesforce from 2 to 23. (Well our current salesforce may be 3, if my dad continues to sign people up in the grocery stores of Long Island)
3. Locking down camp and tournament appearances for the upcoming summer – our full schedule will be finalized in the upcoming weeks. It looks like we will be putting another 12,000 miles on the company car.
4. Attending USLacrosse Convention and getting the chance to personally walk hundreds of players, parents, coaches and industry insiders through the features of LacrosseRecruits.com. By the end of the weekend, Matt Wheeler could have given a site tour in his sleep.
5. Finalizing our print campaign for Lacrosse Magazine. We are running full page and third page ads adjacent to the Recruiting U. series in the February, March, April and May. We are excited about the ads and are grateful to our friends who helped us through the process. As well as Kira Muller as USLacrosse!
6. SEO! At the beginning of December, we were getting crushed in google searches. Crushed! LacrosseRecruits.com would show up somewhere between the 36th and 59th result. Search lacrosse recruiting… 9th! Thanks Fruition! We are on our way to number 1.
7. Last but not least, we would like to thank Connor Prescott, Endicott 2012, for being our intern for the month of January. Connor plays on the lacrosse team at Endicott and did a tremendous job for us. We wish him and the Endicott lacrosse team luck this upcoming season. Unless, of course, they cross paths with Wesleyan at some point.
The past 19 days have been a constant push to get our year off to a great start.
1. Working with Long Island Express to offer memberships to their 2010, 2011 & 2012 boys and girls teams.
2. Working with Lacrosse Unlimited to institute referral programs through their store managers – Effectively increasing our salesforce from 2 to 23. (Well our current salesforce may be 3, if my dad continues to sign people up in the grocery stores of Long Island)
3. Locking down camp and tournament appearances for the upcoming summer – our full schedule will be finalized in the upcoming weeks. It looks like we will be putting another 12,000 miles on the company car.
4. Attending USLacrosse Convention and getting the chance to personally walk hundreds of players, parents, coaches and industry insiders through the features of LacrosseRecruits.com. By the end of the weekend, Matt Wheeler could have given a site tour in his sleep.
5. Finalizing our print campaign for Lacrosse Magazine. We are running full page and third page ads adjacent to the Recruiting U. series in the February, March, April and May. We are excited about the ads and are grateful to our friends who helped us through the process. As well as Kira Muller as USLacrosse!
6. SEO! At the beginning of December, we were getting crushed in google searches. Crushed! LacrosseRecruits.com would show up somewhere between the 36th and 59th result. Search lacrosse recruiting… 9th! Thanks Fruition! We are on our way to number 1.
7. Last but not least, we would like to thank Connor Prescott, Endicott 2012, for being our intern for the month of January. Connor plays on the lacrosse team at Endicott and did a tremendous job for us. We wish him and the Endicott lacrosse team luck this upcoming season. Unless, of course, they cross paths with Wesleyan at some point.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Lacrosse Recruiting Camp Guide
PLEASE VISIT OUR UPDATED CAMP GUIDE ON LACROSSERECRUITS.COM/RECRUITINGCAMPGUIDE.PHP
We field daily calls from parents and players asking about the following camps, so we thought it would be beneficial to provide write ups for the top summer recruiting camps. Each camp write up consists of a "summary" from the camp's website, an "overheard" section quoting players and coaches and an "our take" section which gives the LacrosseRecruits.com's perspective on what players should attend each camp.
Blue Chip 225
Bryant College, RI
Summary:
It is the premier recruiting camp for high school lacrosse players in the Northeast. You can expect to be coached during the week in both practice and game situations by college coaches, and to be observed by other college coaches who attend camp as observers and evaluators. You can expect to learn about the college recruiting process from the people who do it. What are the recruiting rules; who to talk to; what to expect on visits, how to communicate with coaches and a whole lot more.
Overheard:
"This camp is the best of its kind in the Northeast. If you aren't going to Jake Reed's Blue Chip and you want to play up North, you better be going to this Blue Chip."
Our Take:
It is on point to say that this is the best recruiting camp in the Northeast. Coach Spencer does a great job drawing top talent to the camp along with loads of D1, D2 and D3 coaches. This year, he joined forces with Coach Pressler to host the camp at Bryant. The new location secures its spot as a Northeast destination. Blue Chip 225 is one of the best options for players who do not attend Jake Reed's camps and want to attend college in the north.
Elite 180 Lacrosse Camp
Keene State, NH
Summary:
As the Head Coach of the Amherst College Lacrosse team, Coach Tom Carmean found it to be ineffective to travel to each and every recruiting venue looking for that small faction of student/athlete who could meet the academic and athletic demands of the Northeast's most prestigious colleges. In turn, Elite 180 seeks to bring together the nation's best student/athletes with the some of the nation's best colleges.
Overheard:
"We found that your camp allowed our players to get that early look from these highly competitive schools that they might not gotten elsewhere. This exposure no doubt, allowed our players to get a better handle on the recruiting process as it relates to these schools." Ken Miller, Owner Long Island Sting
Our Take:
Elite 180 focuses on exactly what Coach Carmean set out in his camp's mission statement. Giving players the opportunity to be seen by coaches from high level academic schools (Ivy, NESCAC, Patriot) in a competitive atmosphere. Unlike some of the larger camps, like 205 or Peak 200, Elite 180 keeps their limit of campers low. If you visit their website, they provide a unique list of camp alumni, schools where players move on include, Kenyon, Dartmouth, Haverford, Bucknell, Providence, etc.
Jake Reed's Blue Chip
UMBC, MD
Summary:
It is the premier recruiting camp for high school lacrosse players. 2009 will be the first year of Jake Reed's Nike Blue Chip camp for rising Sophomores. Just like the Junior and Senior camps, the rising Sophomore camp will be held at UMBC. Invites are sent by the camp in the fall to players that pass a strict referral process. Acceptances are due by November 22nd, 2008. There is a 120-player limit for each session of the camp. If the invites are not accepted, additional invitations will be sent to alternates. All current invitees accept by November 22nd.
Overheard:
"If you think your son or player is good enough to play at the highest level, do everything you can to get them at this camp. Be proactive, try to get as many respected coaches as possible to lobby for your son's spot at this camp."
Our Take:
If you get an invitation to this camp… go. It is that simple, if you want to play at the highest level of college lacrosse, this camp is your best opportunity to impress top tier coaches by showcasing your skills against the highest level of competition. The number of total players is kept to a manageable level, so coaches are able to get a good look at each player.
New England Top 150 Lacrosse
Portsmouth Abbey, NH
Summary:
The New England Lacrosse Camp Top 150 provides the experienced high school player with excellent competition and advanced coaching techniques. Each player will have the opportunity to improve their individual techniques and tactical knowledge and to compete against strong competition. Over 50 Colleges are in attendance providing student/athletes an opportunity to meet college coaches.
Overheard:
"The camp has the best corral of Ivy and NESCAC coaches out there. They aren't just scouting, they are getting players better. And you will see lots of high level, intelligent lacrosse players."
Our Take:
Coach Brown puts together one of the best camps in the country for players who want to improve their game and compete at a high level. This is one of the rare recruiting camps that teach players how to become better. It also boasts a full roster of coaches from the top programs in the Northeast. Every level, D1 to D3. From UMASS, Yale, Tufts, Providence, Bryant, Vermont, Middlebury, Bates, to name a few. The coaching staff is excellent, and they care about the players and helping their game. The experience is more personal than most camps out there.
Peak 200
Springfield, MA
Summary:
The Peak 200 Lacrosse Camp is a focused, competitive program designed to provide the best possible advanced coaching and playing experience for the nation's most exceptional secondary school players. Each player will be on a team with its own complete coaching staff and will be exposed to individual, position and team training. Emphasis will be placed on advanced techniques, tactics and strategies from some of the top coaches in the country.
Overheard:
"It is a fun camp that has good competition, good numbers and a number of scouts."
Our Take:
Having a college coach as the coach of your team at Peak 200 gives you an opportunity to be exposed to great coaching for the entire week. Not only are you getting better, but as you play all the other teams at the camp, it also gives you the opportunity to play in front of a lot of coaches. Peak 200 also has a great “College Fair” night where each school in attendance sets up a booth and you are given time to speak with all the coaches.
Showtime Recruiting: National Recruiting Showcase
WCSU, CT
Summary:
160 of the top rising sophomores (Class 2012) and juniors (Class of 2011) with college lacrosse aspirations will compete from July 13th - July 16th, 2009 at Western Connecticut State University, in Danbury (Fairfield County), CT. Participants will have the opportunity to showcase their skills while being individually assessed during position specific instruction and game sessions. CT. Many top DI, DII, and DIII coaching staffs will be in attendance. In 2008, some of the nation's top coaching staffs were in attendance, headlined by Johns Hopkins and Syracuse.
Overheard:
"The camp is still in its second year, so if you can go to Blue Chip, Top 205 or Blue Chip 225, you may be better off there. But Paul, Joe and Mike have lots of coaching connections and will be able to build their camp into a first choice camp for upcoming players."
Our Take:
This camp is run by former Syracuse standouts, Paul Carcaterra, Joe Ceglia and Mike Springer. They offer invite only spots to rising Sophomores and Juniors. The camp is in its 2nd year at Western Connecticut State University. Last year's camp drew a wide range of top-notch players from throughout the country. The lowdown on this camp is that it is a great place to be seen by some big time programs. Word is that Syracuse found 4 or 5 players who are high on their recruiting lists for the upcoming season. As mentioned above, Hopkins was also patrolling the sidelines. The camp also drew a number of D1 and top D3 programs in the tri-state area. Since the camp is only open to rising sophomores and juniors, this camp is for top players that want to play at the highest level.
Texas 99
Summary:
The camp covers the Top 99 players in the state selected by the HS coaches. Over 50 colleges were represented. Top 20 D1 schools like Harvard, Notre Dame, Yale, Towson, Ohio State, Navy, Army, Air Force, Maryland, Dartmouth and Penn State as well as developing programs like Hartford, Bellarmine and Manhattan College. Additionally, top D2 and D3 programs like Washington and Lee, Salisbury State, Merrimack College, Bates College, Bowdoin, Limestone, etc attended.
Our Take:
Coach Byrne from ND runs a very well attended camp. You can see by the schools that they list above on their website. The camp is a lifeline for strong high school players from Texas who might not have the opportunity to attend camps on the East Coast.
Top 205
College Park, MD/Towson, MD
Summary:
The original recruiting camp. It is still regarded as one of the best opportunities to be seen by the top-level coaches. They offer three sessions for players, rising juniors and two open Top 205 camp sessions. The 4 days provide players with the opportunity to go from unknown to on the tip of the coaching communities tongues with an impressive couple of days of play.
Overheard:
"Do not expect to get much individual instruction, this camp is almost all playing, but coaches are camped out on the sidelines."
Our Take:
The camp is known as a stronghold for colleges from the South. The opportunities are there to be seen. It is the best alternative to Jake Reed's Blue Chip camp. If you make the All Star team you are guaranteed looks from top 10 Division 1 programs.
If you have any suggestions for additions, please feel free to email me directly at chris@lacrosserecruits.com.
We field daily calls from parents and players asking about the following camps, so we thought it would be beneficial to provide write ups for the top summer recruiting camps. Each camp write up consists of a "summary" from the camp's website, an "overheard" section quoting players and coaches and an "our take" section which gives the LacrosseRecruits.com's perspective on what players should attend each camp.
Blue Chip 225
Bryant College, RI
Summary:
It is the premier recruiting camp for high school lacrosse players in the Northeast. You can expect to be coached during the week in both practice and game situations by college coaches, and to be observed by other college coaches who attend camp as observers and evaluators. You can expect to learn about the college recruiting process from the people who do it. What are the recruiting rules; who to talk to; what to expect on visits, how to communicate with coaches and a whole lot more.
Overheard:
"This camp is the best of its kind in the Northeast. If you aren't going to Jake Reed's Blue Chip and you want to play up North, you better be going to this Blue Chip."
Our Take:
It is on point to say that this is the best recruiting camp in the Northeast. Coach Spencer does a great job drawing top talent to the camp along with loads of D1, D2 and D3 coaches. This year, he joined forces with Coach Pressler to host the camp at Bryant. The new location secures its spot as a Northeast destination. Blue Chip 225 is one of the best options for players who do not attend Jake Reed's camps and want to attend college in the north.
Elite 180 Lacrosse Camp
Keene State, NH
Summary:
As the Head Coach of the Amherst College Lacrosse team, Coach Tom Carmean found it to be ineffective to travel to each and every recruiting venue looking for that small faction of student/athlete who could meet the academic and athletic demands of the Northeast's most prestigious colleges. In turn, Elite 180 seeks to bring together the nation's best student/athletes with the some of the nation's best colleges.
Overheard:
"We found that your camp allowed our players to get that early look from these highly competitive schools that they might not gotten elsewhere. This exposure no doubt, allowed our players to get a better handle on the recruiting process as it relates to these schools." Ken Miller, Owner Long Island Sting
Our Take:
Elite 180 focuses on exactly what Coach Carmean set out in his camp's mission statement. Giving players the opportunity to be seen by coaches from high level academic schools (Ivy, NESCAC, Patriot) in a competitive atmosphere. Unlike some of the larger camps, like 205 or Peak 200, Elite 180 keeps their limit of campers low. If you visit their website, they provide a unique list of camp alumni, schools where players move on include, Kenyon, Dartmouth, Haverford, Bucknell, Providence, etc.
Jake Reed's Blue Chip
UMBC, MD
Summary:
It is the premier recruiting camp for high school lacrosse players. 2009 will be the first year of Jake Reed's Nike Blue Chip camp for rising Sophomores. Just like the Junior and Senior camps, the rising Sophomore camp will be held at UMBC. Invites are sent by the camp in the fall to players that pass a strict referral process. Acceptances are due by November 22nd, 2008. There is a 120-player limit for each session of the camp. If the invites are not accepted, additional invitations will be sent to alternates. All current invitees accept by November 22nd.
Overheard:
"If you think your son or player is good enough to play at the highest level, do everything you can to get them at this camp. Be proactive, try to get as many respected coaches as possible to lobby for your son's spot at this camp."
Our Take:
If you get an invitation to this camp… go. It is that simple, if you want to play at the highest level of college lacrosse, this camp is your best opportunity to impress top tier coaches by showcasing your skills against the highest level of competition. The number of total players is kept to a manageable level, so coaches are able to get a good look at each player.
New England Top 150 Lacrosse
Portsmouth Abbey, NH
Summary:
The New England Lacrosse Camp Top 150 provides the experienced high school player with excellent competition and advanced coaching techniques. Each player will have the opportunity to improve their individual techniques and tactical knowledge and to compete against strong competition. Over 50 Colleges are in attendance providing student/athletes an opportunity to meet college coaches.
Overheard:
"The camp has the best corral of Ivy and NESCAC coaches out there. They aren't just scouting, they are getting players better. And you will see lots of high level, intelligent lacrosse players."
Our Take:
Coach Brown puts together one of the best camps in the country for players who want to improve their game and compete at a high level. This is one of the rare recruiting camps that teach players how to become better. It also boasts a full roster of coaches from the top programs in the Northeast. Every level, D1 to D3. From UMASS, Yale, Tufts, Providence, Bryant, Vermont, Middlebury, Bates, to name a few. The coaching staff is excellent, and they care about the players and helping their game. The experience is more personal than most camps out there.
Peak 200
Springfield, MA
Summary:
The Peak 200 Lacrosse Camp is a focused, competitive program designed to provide the best possible advanced coaching and playing experience for the nation's most exceptional secondary school players. Each player will be on a team with its own complete coaching staff and will be exposed to individual, position and team training. Emphasis will be placed on advanced techniques, tactics and strategies from some of the top coaches in the country.
Overheard:
"It is a fun camp that has good competition, good numbers and a number of scouts."
Our Take:
Having a college coach as the coach of your team at Peak 200 gives you an opportunity to be exposed to great coaching for the entire week. Not only are you getting better, but as you play all the other teams at the camp, it also gives you the opportunity to play in front of a lot of coaches. Peak 200 also has a great “College Fair” night where each school in attendance sets up a booth and you are given time to speak with all the coaches.
Showtime Recruiting: National Recruiting Showcase
WCSU, CT
Summary:
160 of the top rising sophomores (Class 2012) and juniors (Class of 2011) with college lacrosse aspirations will compete from July 13th - July 16th, 2009 at Western Connecticut State University, in Danbury (Fairfield County), CT. Participants will have the opportunity to showcase their skills while being individually assessed during position specific instruction and game sessions. CT. Many top DI, DII, and DIII coaching staffs will be in attendance. In 2008, some of the nation's top coaching staffs were in attendance, headlined by Johns Hopkins and Syracuse.
Overheard:
"The camp is still in its second year, so if you can go to Blue Chip, Top 205 or Blue Chip 225, you may be better off there. But Paul, Joe and Mike have lots of coaching connections and will be able to build their camp into a first choice camp for upcoming players."
Our Take:
This camp is run by former Syracuse standouts, Paul Carcaterra, Joe Ceglia and Mike Springer. They offer invite only spots to rising Sophomores and Juniors. The camp is in its 2nd year at Western Connecticut State University. Last year's camp drew a wide range of top-notch players from throughout the country. The lowdown on this camp is that it is a great place to be seen by some big time programs. Word is that Syracuse found 4 or 5 players who are high on their recruiting lists for the upcoming season. As mentioned above, Hopkins was also patrolling the sidelines. The camp also drew a number of D1 and top D3 programs in the tri-state area. Since the camp is only open to rising sophomores and juniors, this camp is for top players that want to play at the highest level.
Texas 99
Summary:
The camp covers the Top 99 players in the state selected by the HS coaches. Over 50 colleges were represented. Top 20 D1 schools like Harvard, Notre Dame, Yale, Towson, Ohio State, Navy, Army, Air Force, Maryland, Dartmouth and Penn State as well as developing programs like Hartford, Bellarmine and Manhattan College. Additionally, top D2 and D3 programs like Washington and Lee, Salisbury State, Merrimack College, Bates College, Bowdoin, Limestone, etc attended.
Our Take:
Coach Byrne from ND runs a very well attended camp. You can see by the schools that they list above on their website. The camp is a lifeline for strong high school players from Texas who might not have the opportunity to attend camps on the East Coast.
Top 205
College Park, MD/Towson, MD
Summary:
The original recruiting camp. It is still regarded as one of the best opportunities to be seen by the top-level coaches. They offer three sessions for players, rising juniors and two open Top 205 camp sessions. The 4 days provide players with the opportunity to go from unknown to on the tip of the coaching communities tongues with an impressive couple of days of play.
Overheard:
"Do not expect to get much individual instruction, this camp is almost all playing, but coaches are camped out on the sidelines."
Our Take:
The camp is known as a stronghold for colleges from the South. The opportunities are there to be seen. It is the best alternative to Jake Reed's Blue Chip camp. If you make the All Star team you are guaranteed looks from top 10 Division 1 programs.
If you have any suggestions for additions, please feel free to email me directly at chris@lacrosserecruits.com.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
LacrosseRecruits.com hires Fruition.net for SEO Marketing Project
This week, LacrosseRecruits.com hired fruition.net , a full service internet marketing firm based out of Denver, to work on LacrosseRecruits.com's SEO Marketing project. Matt and I heeded the advice of numerous advisers to get our website in the top results for a variety of lacrosse recruiting key words. As we all know, it is increasingly important to create a search engine presence. Especially as we move closer to the upcoming lacrosse season. On average, lacrosse related key word searches increase between 250% and 325% during the spring months. Below, you will find Fruition's mission statement from their website.
Fruition’s Mission Statement
Fruition’s mission is to help companies get online, stay online, and use the Internet as a competitive advantage.
Fruition is a Denver web development and Internet marketing company that will help your company increase its online revenue in a cost effective manner. Fruition delivers the highest level of expertise in all aspects of online and off line marketing including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) ad management for Google, Yahoo, and others, as well as addition forms of online marketing. Fruition is also highly experienced in off-line marketing matters including print advertising campaigns, creatives, public relations (PR), radio, direct mail, and various other marketing arenas. This gives Fruition the ability to integrate your marketing initiatives to maximize your ROI.
We asked the Fruition team to tackle a number of key words, ranging from "lacrosse recruiting" to "lacrosse recruiting website" to "lacrosse recruiting tournaments." Currently, we are most concerned with "lacrosse recruiting." The first result that includes our site falls at #38 on the list. We feel that it is crucial to be improve our ranking as we try to draw more web traffic.
I love the idea of how important google searches are for the success of a web application like ours. If you think about the person who is searching a key word like "lacrosse recruiting," they are probably a person who would be interested in LacrosseRecruits.com. If our website is one of the top results for their search, they are being pushed towards our site by a trusted source. (the google rainmakers) Matt and I are excited to work with the Fruition team and develop our search engine presence.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Highlights From Darien HS/UNC Coaching Clinic
This past weekend, I attended the Darien High School/UNC Coaching Clinic in Darien. It was great to see the large amount of youth and high school coaches that attended the event. It goes to show how influential and respected Darien Youth Lax and Darien HS’s coaching staff are in the CT lacrosse community. There was lots of lacrosse philosophy focusing on everything from team drills to promote transition & unsettled situations to UNC’s offensive and defensive goals for the upcoming season.
We were fortunate enough to have Darien’s Head Coach Jeff Brameier say some very nice things about LacrosseRecruits.com. He explained to the audience that there isn’t a better tool out there to help a player through the recruiting process. Also, Coach Breschi from UNC commented on the changing recruiting environment.
“The recruiting process is so important to a program. Especially a program with a new coaching staff. We have players as early as 8th and 9th grade on our radar screen. You need to get your games taped, get yourself out there. Work hard to have your transcript in order, study for the PSAT, SAT and ACT. “
With ten Class of 2010 verbal commitments to UNC (including the #1 rated recruit), you have to listen to the man...
Outside of Lacrosse: From Tom Peters, the author of Thriving on Chaos
"Instant, mindless cutting of R&D or training or salesforce travel in the face of a downturn is often counterproductive-or, rather, downright stupid. Tough times are in fact golden opportunities to get the drop, and the longterm drop at that, on those who respond to bad news by panicky across-the-board slash and burn tactics and moves that de-motivate and alienate the workforce at exactly the wrong moment."
Sunday, December 7, 2008
LacrosseRecruits.com Featured In Lacrosse Magazine
November was a very exciting month for LacrosseRecruits.com. We finished and tested the girls side of LacrosseRecruits.com (to be released to the public very soon), we finished guided flash tours of LacrosseRecruits.com (which will be live this week!), and we continued to grow our membership base. An added bonus was a phone call out of the blue from a reporter at Lacrosse Magazine asking for a few quotes from us for their "Recruiting U" series. They had heard about LacrosseRecruits.com through the lacrosse community and were very impressed with our website and the tools we offer our members.If you are not familiar with the series, "Recruiting U" is a series in each month's issue of Lacrosse Magazine that tackles a different aspect of recruiting. For the month of December, Lacrosse Magazine was taking a look at the myth regarding athletic scholarships. It seems like everyday you hear about somebody going somewhere on a "full ride." The fact is, however, the NCAA allows only 12.6 scholarships for every DI men's lacrosse program and 12 scholarships for every DI woman's program. That being said, not every DI lacrosse team is fully funded and receives all of the scholarship money allowed per NCAA guidelines. We had heard from numerous sources that the number of lacrosse players to EVER receive a full athletic scholarship could be counted on one hand. In the article (which can be viewed here), Coach Dom Starsia of UVA had this to say, "In my 17 years at Virginia, I think we've done it three times, where we've given somebody a full scholarship."
I had a great talk with the reporter and this is what was printed regarding LacrosseRecruits.com:
"If you just look at the scholarship offerings, you're probably talking about the top 150 guys in the country, and there's probably 4,000 kids going in to play college lacrosse at all the levels every year," said Matt Wheeler, a four-year letterwinner at Wesleyan University who, along with former teammate Chris Meade, co-founded lacrosserecruits.com -- a Facebook-style Web site designed to market high school lacrosse players to college coaches.
We suggest you read the whole article as Lacrosse Magazine is absolutely right in everything they touch on in this article.
Also featured in the December issue of Lacrosse Magazine was A High School Athlete's Recruiting Guide To College Lacrosse, which is the recruiting guide we wrote and currently sell on LacrosseRecruits.com. This guide was included in "The Scoop" section as a great holiday gift.The guide helps high school players plan for the recruiting process and helps them avoid the mistakes many high school lacrosse players make. Using this guide along with a LacrosseRecruits.com profile puts any player at a distinct advantage over his or her peers.
Stay tuned for more from LacrosseRecruits.com as we launch the girls side of LacrosseRecruits.com and push the guided flash tours live!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Women's Photographs for LacrosseRecruits.com
Over the past month, Matt and I have searched through thousands of photographs of women lacrosse players to select our images for the launch of LacrosseRecruits.com for Girls. The process was not as simple as the boys selection, which entailed finding a picture, contacting the photographer, purchasing the photograph, and loading it to the homepage. We completed that process in a total of 6 days.
On the women's side, the process was a bit different. Matt and I wanted to include photographs of the William & Mary's team that we found on InsideLacrosse. Everything seemed to be moving smoothly until we found out that the two photographs that we chose, had current W&M players, therefore risking the players NCAA eligibility for the upcoming season. Instead of ruining their careers, we turned to our friend, Larry French, to send us a number of other options that he thought would be great replacements.
Both photographs in this post will rotate on our homepage with the Jump & Bump photograph. We are excited to have these up and running on Monday afternoon. The total time to finalize our photographs, about 23 days.
Along with having the women's photographs on the homepage, we are very close to opening up the women's side of LacrosseRecruits.com for registration. As we find out time and time again, launch dates are not always the easiest to predict. Please look out for our launch email this week.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Lacrosse Recruiting Timeline
Below are a few pointers we at LacrosseRecruits.com put together. Having a LacrosseRecruits.com profile helps a high school lacrosse player stay organized throughout the recruiting process. A LacrosseRecruits.com profile makes it easy for a college coach to view your profile and game video, increasing your odds of being recruited.
The four most important points we want every high school lacrosse player to understand are:
1. Work hard in the classroom and study hard for the SATs / ACTs. The better your grades and the higher your board scores, the more schools that can recruit you. The more schools that can recruit you, the more options you have. The more options you have, the less stressful the recruiting process will be.
2. Be realistic about your ability. The number of players that play at the top Division 1 schools is a very small percentage of the number of college lacrosse players across Division I, Division II, Division III and MCLA (club). Being realistic about your ability from the beginning will make the recruiting process a lot less stressful and ultimately more rewarding.
3. Do not pick a college just because you can play lacrosse there. Choose a college or university that is a good fit for you academically. Use lacrosse as a vehicle to get you into the best college possible.
4. BE PROACTIVE IN THE RECRUITING PROCESS. Just like anything else, the harder you work, the better your results will be. Create a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com and send your profile to every school you are interested in. Call the schools you are interested in. Introduce yourself to the coaches you are interested in when you see them at camps / tournaments. The more you put into the recruiting process, the more you will get out of it.
Rising Freshmen-
* Focus on academics!! Start your high school career off right by doing well in school. When the time comes and you are recruited, grades are VERY important. You can be the best player in the country but with poor grades, top tier academic institutions will not be able to recruit you. By working hard in school, the number of schools able to recruit you increases exponentially, giving you more options.
* Improve your lacrosse game. Keep a stick in your hand in the off-season and try to play a lot of lacrosse in the summer. Be sure to stay in shape if lacrosse is your only sport. If you are a multi sport athlete, that is terrific. College coaches like well-rounded athletes, but if lacrosse is your main sport, try to hit the wall during the off-season to stay sharp.
Rising Sophomores-
* Continue to work hard in school. Mistakes made sophomore year academically can really hurt your chances of being recruited by top academic institutions. The harder you work in the classroom, the more options you will have when being recruited. You do not want a coach that is interested in your athletic ability to not be able to recruit you because you did not take pride in your academics.
* Begin thinking about college and what kind of college you are looking for. Do you want a big school? Small school? Northern? Southern? Speak to your teachers about schools you are interested in and do research online.
* Create a LacrosseRecruits.com profile. You can choose schools you are interested in and each coach is alerted immediately of your interest. One click and any coach in the country can view your complete profile and video. This is the best way to get on the coach’s radar because a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com makes it convenient for the coach to view your profile and video. Instead of being another letter or e mail, you have a personal webpage that can be viewed by any college coach. For an example, view www.LacrosseRecruits.com/Chris_Hines
Rising Juniors-
* Again, keep working hard in school! This year is critical when you are applying to college. Take challenging classes. If you can take Advanced Placement classes, take full advantage.
* Make a list of 15-20 schools you are interested in. Be realistic about your lacrosse ability. Talk to your high school coach about what level you should be focusing on. Having a realistic list of target schools will make your life a lot easier when the recruiting season starts. Lacrosse should be used as a vehicle to get you into a better academic institution. Get the best education possible!
* By now, you should have a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com. Your profile has all academic and athletic information a college coach needs to evaluate your talent. The coach can also watch your high definition video with the click of a button.
* Having a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com allows coaches from every DI, DII and DIII school to search for athletes that fit their recruiting profile. Coaches run searches for athletes that fit their recruiting profile and are able to watch their video and connect with recruits they are interested in.
* College coaches are under a lot of pressure and giving them a convenient way to evaluate your talent increases your odds of being recruited. Instead of just sending a letter / DVD and crossing your fingers, your LacrosseRecruits.com profile makes it easy for the coach to see you play and see your grades. Including your custom web address in every e-mail and letter to coaches lets coaches quickly and easily evaluate your talent.
* Log into your LacrosseRecruits.com account to see where the coaches from the schools you are interested will be during the summer recruiting season. Every lacrosse program has a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com with a list of the Camps and Tournaments they plan to attend.
* In all correspondence with college coaches, include a link to your LacrosseRecruits.com profile. If your name is Chris Hines, your profile would be www.LacrosseRecruits.com/Chris_Hines. This allows a coach to quickly and easily see your profile and game video. When the coach logs into his account, he is able to see contact information and academic information.
Rising Seniors-
* Create a list of your top 15 choices. Connect with the coaches at each of these schools and include a link to your LacrosseRecruits.com profile. These coaches can view your profile / video and make a note to see you during the summer on the recruiting trail.
* If a coach contacts you and you are not interested, tell the coach. Coaches respect honesty.
* Again, be realistic about your ability. If you are not receiving letters from the top DI schools, do not take it personally. Play hard during the summer and focus on the schools that have shown interest in you. By the end of the summer, you will know where you stand recruiting wise.
* Upload game film to your LacrosseRecruts.com profile so a coach can see how you play in the flow of a game. Consider cutting down the game to only the plays you are involved in. Highlight tapes are important to show the coach your most athletic plays, but every coach is interested in seeing how you play over the course of a game. Everyone looks like a star in their highlight tape!
* Study hard for the SAT / ACT. Just like poor grades can keep you from being recruited, poor SAT / ACT scores can close doors from a recruiting standpoint. Do the best you can on these tests!
* BE PROACTIVE IN THIS PROCESS. Create your LacrosseRecruits.com profile to make it easy for a college coach to see you play, but do not be afraid to call a coach and introduce yourself. If you see a coach at a camp / tournament and you are interested in that school, introduce yourself. There are too many great lacrosse players out there to sit back and hope you are recruited. Take pride in your ability and reach out to schools you are interested in. Always follow up with coaches who have expressed interest in your ability.
The four most important points we want every high school lacrosse player to understand are:
1. Work hard in the classroom and study hard for the SATs / ACTs. The better your grades and the higher your board scores, the more schools that can recruit you. The more schools that can recruit you, the more options you have. The more options you have, the less stressful the recruiting process will be.
2. Be realistic about your ability. The number of players that play at the top Division 1 schools is a very small percentage of the number of college lacrosse players across Division I, Division II, Division III and MCLA (club). Being realistic about your ability from the beginning will make the recruiting process a lot less stressful and ultimately more rewarding.
3. Do not pick a college just because you can play lacrosse there. Choose a college or university that is a good fit for you academically. Use lacrosse as a vehicle to get you into the best college possible.
4. BE PROACTIVE IN THE RECRUITING PROCESS. Just like anything else, the harder you work, the better your results will be. Create a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com and send your profile to every school you are interested in. Call the schools you are interested in. Introduce yourself to the coaches you are interested in when you see them at camps / tournaments. The more you put into the recruiting process, the more you will get out of it.
Rising Freshmen-
* Focus on academics!! Start your high school career off right by doing well in school. When the time comes and you are recruited, grades are VERY important. You can be the best player in the country but with poor grades, top tier academic institutions will not be able to recruit you. By working hard in school, the number of schools able to recruit you increases exponentially, giving you more options.
* Improve your lacrosse game. Keep a stick in your hand in the off-season and try to play a lot of lacrosse in the summer. Be sure to stay in shape if lacrosse is your only sport. If you are a multi sport athlete, that is terrific. College coaches like well-rounded athletes, but if lacrosse is your main sport, try to hit the wall during the off-season to stay sharp.
Rising Sophomores-
* Continue to work hard in school. Mistakes made sophomore year academically can really hurt your chances of being recruited by top academic institutions. The harder you work in the classroom, the more options you will have when being recruited. You do not want a coach that is interested in your athletic ability to not be able to recruit you because you did not take pride in your academics.
* Begin thinking about college and what kind of college you are looking for. Do you want a big school? Small school? Northern? Southern? Speak to your teachers about schools you are interested in and do research online.
* Create a LacrosseRecruits.com profile. You can choose schools you are interested in and each coach is alerted immediately of your interest. One click and any coach in the country can view your complete profile and video. This is the best way to get on the coach’s radar because a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com makes it convenient for the coach to view your profile and video. Instead of being another letter or e mail, you have a personal webpage that can be viewed by any college coach. For an example, view www.LacrosseRecruits.com/Chris_Hines
Rising Juniors-
* Again, keep working hard in school! This year is critical when you are applying to college. Take challenging classes. If you can take Advanced Placement classes, take full advantage.
* Make a list of 15-20 schools you are interested in. Be realistic about your lacrosse ability. Talk to your high school coach about what level you should be focusing on. Having a realistic list of target schools will make your life a lot easier when the recruiting season starts. Lacrosse should be used as a vehicle to get you into a better academic institution. Get the best education possible!
* By now, you should have a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com. Your profile has all academic and athletic information a college coach needs to evaluate your talent. The coach can also watch your high definition video with the click of a button.
* Having a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com allows coaches from every DI, DII and DIII school to search for athletes that fit their recruiting profile. Coaches run searches for athletes that fit their recruiting profile and are able to watch their video and connect with recruits they are interested in.
* College coaches are under a lot of pressure and giving them a convenient way to evaluate your talent increases your odds of being recruited. Instead of just sending a letter / DVD and crossing your fingers, your LacrosseRecruits.com profile makes it easy for the coach to see you play and see your grades. Including your custom web address in every e-mail and letter to coaches lets coaches quickly and easily evaluate your talent.
* Log into your LacrosseRecruits.com account to see where the coaches from the schools you are interested will be during the summer recruiting season. Every lacrosse program has a profile on LacrosseRecruits.com with a list of the Camps and Tournaments they plan to attend.
* In all correspondence with college coaches, include a link to your LacrosseRecruits.com profile. If your name is Chris Hines, your profile would be www.LacrosseRecruits.com/Chris_Hines. This allows a coach to quickly and easily see your profile and game video. When the coach logs into his account, he is able to see contact information and academic information.
Rising Seniors-
* Create a list of your top 15 choices. Connect with the coaches at each of these schools and include a link to your LacrosseRecruits.com profile. These coaches can view your profile / video and make a note to see you during the summer on the recruiting trail.
* If a coach contacts you and you are not interested, tell the coach. Coaches respect honesty.
* Again, be realistic about your ability. If you are not receiving letters from the top DI schools, do not take it personally. Play hard during the summer and focus on the schools that have shown interest in you. By the end of the summer, you will know where you stand recruiting wise.
* Upload game film to your LacrosseRecruts.com profile so a coach can see how you play in the flow of a game. Consider cutting down the game to only the plays you are involved in. Highlight tapes are important to show the coach your most athletic plays, but every coach is interested in seeing how you play over the course of a game. Everyone looks like a star in their highlight tape!
* Study hard for the SAT / ACT. Just like poor grades can keep you from being recruited, poor SAT / ACT scores can close doors from a recruiting standpoint. Do the best you can on these tests!
* BE PROACTIVE IN THIS PROCESS. Create your LacrosseRecruits.com profile to make it easy for a college coach to see you play, but do not be afraid to call a coach and introduce yourself. If you see a coach at a camp / tournament and you are interested in that school, introduce yourself. There are too many great lacrosse players out there to sit back and hope you are recruited. Take pride in your ability and reach out to schools you are interested in. Always follow up with coaches who have expressed interest in your ability.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
A Coach’s Perspective: Fall Tournaments & Initiating Contact
This Sunday, I headed up to Lehigh's King of the Mountain tournament. On top of $1.95/gallon gas prices that I took advantage of in New Jersey, the Fall Ball jamboree was very worthwhile. There were forty teams there from all over the northeast, including one team from Canada. The weather was cold and windy, forcing most of the players to wear sweatpants/leggings throughout the day, except for the Canadians of course.
This was my third tournament I have attended this fall, and the old adage held true that the third camp was the charm. I arrived at King of the Mountain looking for two types of players. One, I was looking for a couple of athletic poles to add to an already talented list of defensive recruits. And two, I looked for an offensive player who had the potential to quarterback an offense. In general, however, I was looking for seniors with potential who have slipped through the cracks and remained under the radar for one reason or another.
My criteria for evaluating defensemen consisted of the following: Most importantly, does he have the speed to keep up with his attackman/middie? Not looking for take away artists, does he play solid angles and stay on his attackman/middie's hands, making him as uncomfortable as possible without getting out of position? Looking to play an upbeat style of play, a defenseman with the ability to get the ball up off the ground and have composure with the ball in his stick is key. He must be able to move it upfield by either passing it to a teammate ahead of the play or legging it himself. I found a couple defenseman who fit this mold and contacted them first thing Monday morning.
On the offensive end, I was looking for someone to come in and be a quarterback of an offense. Currently, our list of recruits is loaded with athletes on the offensive end. I was looking for an attackman or middie who understood how to play within the offense of their respective club team, communicated non stop, and possessed the intangibles. Players who can dodge through six guys and score at the high school level are most likely not going to be as successfull at the college level. All the pressure for kids to stand out at these Jamborees often forces them to play out of their comfort zone. I was looking for a player that saw the field well and communicated what he saw to his teammates.
In the end, every coach at every level is looking for hustle. After a mistake, will the player compound the mistake by either getting a penalty or not hustling back on defense or off the field? Coaches keep track of every positive thing they see on the field. They also keep track of every negative thing they see on the field. For instance, I received a highlight tape from a high school player in the mail. I watched it, and the kid looked talented. I showed the tape to the head coach. He referenced his notes from the summer to see if he missed this kid. Next to the kids name was written "absolutely not-no hustle!" That closed the book on our relationship with this kid. So, when in doubt, hustle.
Initiating Contact
I received e-mails from a bunch of players notifying me that they will be attending the tournament. I appreciate the effort, therefore, the first teams I watch play are those who have contacted me ahead of time. If other coaches are like me, I advise high school players to contact the head and assistant coaches of their schools of interest. It is like dealing with a warm lead if you were a salesman, which many college coaches are.
A few tips on what to include in your initial e-mail.
1) Your name.
2) The club team you are playing for.
3) The jersey number you are wearing. If you are not wearing the number listed on your teams roster you might as well not show up.
4) Your position.
5) Keep it brief and spell check. Do not e-mail coaches as if it were a text message.
Do not write "im gonna be at lehigh this sunday and was hopin that you could watch me play. i really wanna play college lacrosse." We, of course, appreciate the interest. But, let the coach decide how casual the e-mails will be. It does not matter how talented a recruiting class is if they cannot stay academically eligible for the spring. An e-mail with poor grammar will do more harm that good, it will either indicate lack of effort, lack of attention to detail, lack of interest, or lack of intelligence. So, have your mom, dad, brother, sister, or college advisor proofread all e-mails if you do not trust your own writing.
~Anonymous Coach
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Straight Shooters & Jason Fried
We are leaving the rain behind in CT and hitting the road for Philadelphia. In standard LacrosseRecruits fashion, we are trying to cram in as much as possible into the weekend. A few meetings with lacrosse friends in Philadelphia (Ricky Choi of Lacrosse & Co., Mike Winkoff of LI Select), a Kings of Leon concert, then hitting the road early in the morning to make it to the MVP tournament at Rutgers.
Straight Shooters
On Thursday, I ended my day by checking Google Analytics to monitor traffic on our pages. I was excited to see a large number of visitors referred from laxmagazine.cstv.com. I clicked the referral link and was guided to Lacrosse Magazine Online’s Straight Shooters article, “Should We Be Clubbin?” by Matt Zash. The article covers the growing importance of the club lacrosse scene in lacrosse and highlights LacrosseRecruits as a means to gain recruiting exposure.
We were excited to see LacrosseRecruits mentioned in the article. Discussing LacrosseRecruits.com, Matt wrote, “For a look to the future, last year lacrosserecruits.com launched a Facebook-like interactive Web site which is especially helpful to those who play in new and emerging lacrosse markets. Players can fill in academic grades, position, honors, etc., in information fields, upload game tape, and select colleges they might be interested in. Coaches can then use this information to search for players based on a number of fields entered. It's a win/win.”
Keynote with Jason Fried of 37Signals
I always check TheBrilliance.com for fresh perspectives on everyday happenings, from a review of the new MacBook to Hyundai going luxury with its new Genesis to innovation in the business world. This past week, Benjamin featured a 15-minute keynote by Jason Fried at the Business Innovation Summit. Fried is the founder and CEO of 37signals. He spearheaded the concept, design, and development of Basecamp, 37signal's web-based project management tool for designers, freelancers, and creative services firms.
Fried’s keynote made me think of a few common sense points that we can focus on to improve our marketing efforts…
1) Educating your target audience - We are going to share more about our everyday experiences - From helping players navigate the recruiting process, to camp previews, to new features
2) Why we buy certain products – Focusing on the process that a player or parent follows to create a profile
3) Building a LacrosseRecruits community – instead always trying to “reach” people, building our audience through our blog, facebook and video features
Straight Shooters
On Thursday, I ended my day by checking Google Analytics to monitor traffic on our pages. I was excited to see a large number of visitors referred from laxmagazine.cstv.com. I clicked the referral link and was guided to Lacrosse Magazine Online’s Straight Shooters article, “Should We Be Clubbin?” by Matt Zash. The article covers the growing importance of the club lacrosse scene in lacrosse and highlights LacrosseRecruits as a means to gain recruiting exposure.
We were excited to see LacrosseRecruits mentioned in the article. Discussing LacrosseRecruits.com, Matt wrote, “For a look to the future, last year lacrosserecruits.com launched a Facebook-like interactive Web site which is especially helpful to those who play in new and emerging lacrosse markets. Players can fill in academic grades, position, honors, etc., in information fields, upload game tape, and select colleges they might be interested in. Coaches can then use this information to search for players based on a number of fields entered. It's a win/win.”
Keynote with Jason Fried of 37Signals
I always check TheBrilliance.com for fresh perspectives on everyday happenings, from a review of the new MacBook to Hyundai going luxury with its new Genesis to innovation in the business world. This past week, Benjamin featured a 15-minute keynote by Jason Fried at the Business Innovation Summit. Fried is the founder and CEO of 37signals. He spearheaded the concept, design, and development of Basecamp, 37signal's web-based project management tool for designers, freelancers, and creative services firms.
Fried’s keynote made me think of a few common sense points that we can focus on to improve our marketing efforts…
1) Educating your target audience - We are going to share more about our everyday experiences - From helping players navigate the recruiting process, to camp previews, to new features
2) Why we buy certain products – Focusing on the process that a player or parent follows to create a profile
3) Building a LacrosseRecruits community – instead always trying to “reach” people, building our audience through our blog, facebook and video features
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
LacrosseRecruits' Midweek Breakdown
It has been a hectic week at LacrosseRecruits.com. We are rolling with new memberships from players throughout the country, securing sponsorship from Reebok Lacrosse & Maverik Lacrosse and fielding lots of emails about the girl’s launch. (We are launching in the next 10 days. Our head programmer is the proud father of his first child, we are going to wait until he is back in the office to oversee a smooth launch)
Lacrosse: Growth Is Good
When we launched LacrosseRecruits.com, we preloaded every NCAA team that competed during the 2008 season. In the past week, we have had a number of new colleges
register to use our tool; Husson University, Mercy College, Calvin College, Missouri Baptist University and Willamette College. The addition of these schools is a great example of the growth of the sport at the college level. We are excited that schools feel that LacrosseRecruits gives them a leg up in the recruiting process and helps them market their new program. Please visit our Participating Schools page on LacrosseRecruits.com.
Tech News: Why Google Will Rule the World
Yesterday, Google rolled out voice and video chat to GChat. It pretty much makes the need for IChat nonexistent on my MacBook. Instead of opening another program to video chat with my brother or other “employees,” I can do it through my GMail, which is always open on my desktop anyway. Both TechCrunch and VentureBeat covered this on their blogs, but I appreciated VentureBeat’s blog title more, “Gmail’s awesomeness increases with video chat.” Click the link to read more.
Note to Google: If you can incorporate free (or very cheap) internet and telephone calling, I fully support taking down Skype…
Inspiration: Why AVC.com draws as many visitors as it does
Fred Wilson had a chance to take an early look at Seven Lessons For Radical Innovators by Umair Haque. Fred posted this quote from Haque’s book on his blog, “Bigness of purpose is what separates 20th century and 21st century organizations: yesterday, we built huge corporations to do tiny, incremental things - tomorrow, we must build small organizations that can do tremendously massive things.” This idea made me rethink the importance of the tools that we use to communicate and interact with each other on the web. I am excited to see the enormous scalability of these tools and how they will connect people and commerce in our lifetime. As always, cheers to Fred Wilson, not Fred Smith.
Personal: Why Ambien is an option : )
This morning, I forced myself out of bed at 7:30AM to break my current sleep cycle of going to bed sometime between 2AM and 3AM and waking up at 9:45AM. If you do the quick math, going to bed at 2AM and waking up at 9:45 almost gets me a healthy 8 hours of sleep. For some reason, everyday I wake up and look at my alarm and see 9:45, I feel like a complete slacker. I completely blame this on Jon Serko and Mitch Barnett at Cushman & Wakefield for making me get to the office everyday for two years by 7:30AM. Just joking, kind of…
Lets go through the things that keep me up at night…
1) I run a start up (yes, it is that simple)
Lacrosse: Growth Is Good
When we launched LacrosseRecruits.com, we preloaded every NCAA team that competed during the 2008 season. In the past week, we have had a number of new colleges
register to use our tool; Husson University, Mercy College, Calvin College, Missouri Baptist University and Willamette College. The addition of these schools is a great example of the growth of the sport at the college level. We are excited that schools feel that LacrosseRecruits gives them a leg up in the recruiting process and helps them market their new program. Please visit our Participating Schools page on LacrosseRecruits.com. Tech News: Why Google Will Rule the World
Yesterday, Google rolled out voice and video chat to GChat. It pretty much makes the need for IChat nonexistent on my MacBook. Instead of opening another program to video chat with my brother or other “employees,” I can do it through my GMail, which is always open on my desktop anyway. Both TechCrunch and VentureBeat covered this on their blogs, but I appreciated VentureBeat’s blog title more, “Gmail’s awesomeness increases with video chat.” Click the link to read more.
Note to Google: If you can incorporate free (or very cheap) internet and telephone calling, I fully support taking down Skype…
Inspiration: Why AVC.com draws as many visitors as it does
Fred Wilson had a chance to take an early look at Seven Lessons For Radical Innovators by Umair Haque. Fred posted this quote from Haque’s book on his blog, “Bigness of purpose is what separates 20th century and 21st century organizations: yesterday, we built huge corporations to do tiny, incremental things - tomorrow, we must build small organizations that can do tremendously massive things.” This idea made me rethink the importance of the tools that we use to communicate and interact with each other on the web. I am excited to see the enormous scalability of these tools and how they will connect people and commerce in our lifetime. As always, cheers to Fred Wilson, not Fred Smith.
Personal: Why Ambien is an option : )
This morning, I forced myself out of bed at 7:30AM to break my current sleep cycle of going to bed sometime between 2AM and 3AM and waking up at 9:45AM. If you do the quick math, going to bed at 2AM and waking up at 9:45 almost gets me a healthy 8 hours of sleep. For some reason, everyday I wake up and look at my alarm and see 9:45, I feel like a complete slacker. I completely blame this on Jon Serko and Mitch Barnett at Cushman & Wakefield for making me get to the office everyday for two years by 7:30AM. Just joking, kind of…
Lets go through the things that keep me up at night…
1) I run a start up (yes, it is that simple)
Monday, November 10, 2008
Digital Next
LacrosseRecruits Learns on the Web
Earlier in the week I posted a link to a blog post, "How to Target a Facebook Ad to a Specific Individual" by Sam Lessin from adage.com. It is a welcome to the world of nano-targeting using our favorite social networking site, Facebook. Lessin wrote, "I created a series of nano-targeted advertisements targeted at specific individuals. For example, I set one up for my girlfriend, "Sending my love ..." All I needed to do was target an ad to: "Wall Street Journal reporters who are 25, graduated from Harvard with a history degree and live in San Francisco."
After reading this post, it made sense that we could run targeted LacrosseRecruits ads to males and females, 14-17 years old, in high school that have an interest in lacrosse. We finished our one day trial yesterday and were very happy with the results. The ads drove visitors to our website from all over the country. We are excited to continue the ads as soon as we roll out our next round of updates.
LacrosseRecruits Reads Lacrosse Magazine
I just want to say how impressed I am with Lacrosse Magazine's November Issue. It is not as flashy as InsideLacrosse but the editorials throughout the magazine are dead on with current trends in recruiting and the growth of the game. If you have a chance, please read "Educated Consumers Make the Best Parents" by Steve Stenersen and "Recruiting U: Too Vested in Verbals?" by Brian Delaney. Both articles are necessary reads for parents who have children that plan on playing travel lacrosse on a "select" team and playing lacrosse in college.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Colorado Trip
I am flying back to New York after spending the past six days in Denver. Each time I travel to western cities, I understand more and more why Easterners visit and end up spending the rest of their lives there. I had six days of 70 + degree weather, blue skies, and clear views of the snow capped Rockies.
The trip was a great opportunity to visit with friends and meet with members of the Colorado lacrosse community. I sat down with Jamie Munro, DU’s Head Coach & Director of Mile High All-Stars, Trevor Tierney, the Director of Icon Lacrosse, and Greg Bastis, current Icon coach, MLL player and Middlebury Alum. I was excited to show off LacrosseRecruits.com and explain how our profiles can help their players gain recruiting exposure. Our tool was well received and I look forward to getting players from both programs on board.
At times, it seems like all I can think and talk about is lacrosse. As everyone knows, I love lacrosse. But spending a few days outside of the office, daily trips to get bagels or pancakes, only one cup of coffee a day, enjoying Fat Tires on the stoop and spending time up in Frisco & Breckenridge helped me regroup/prep as LacrosseRecruits ramps up for a busy holiday season.
Blog of the Week:
www.avc.com - Fred Wilson's (Union Square Ventures) blog is a great resource to understand how a VC Rockstar views the current VC/Technology markets.
Moment of Zen:
Response on InsideLacrosse to Quint Kessenich's Take on the MLL's 4th Pole
By patlax on Nov 4, 2008 | Reply
"Quint, I can’t wait for lax season to start, so I can turn the sound down when you give us your insight... "
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Homecoming Weekend Recap & New LacrosseRecruits.com Developments
Last weekend, Matt and I headed to Wesleyan for Homecoming Weekend. The weekend was full of good times and opportunities to connect with friends and fellow alumnus. We even threw on our pads and got back on the field to take some runs against current Wesleyan lacrosse players.
Matt and I have been extremely busy as we approach 4 months of operation. We have broken the 200-member mark, and are almost ready to roll out travel team pages, launch the girl’s side of LacrosseRecruits.com and incorporate interactive java tours. There has been so much great feedback from the lacrosse community about these features that we are very anxious to get everything up and going.
Also, we launch our new ad management system in the upcoming weeks. We recently negotiated advertising arrangements with Under Armour and Vineyard Vines. Both of these companies are increasingly active in the lacrosse community and we are thrilled to work with them as we grow our business.
Belated Thank You: We want to thank Dan Latzman, the sports editor of Wesleyan’s school newspaper, for running a story on LacrosseRecruits.com and our recent success. You can click here to read the article.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A High School Athlete's Recruiting Guide To College Lacrosse
In the last year, the LacrosseRecruits team worked to put together a recruiting guide that would make high school lacrosse players and their parent's lives easier. We have answered hundreds of emails and have spent countless hours helping players and parents navigate the recruiting process. We are happy to offer A High School Athlete's Recruiting Guide To College Lacrosse to the lacrosse community. We set out to provide a resource that answers difficult questions and sets players on their path to success, and I know our guide accomplishes that task.
A High School Athlete's Recruiting Guide To College Lacrosse is your road map to achieving results, tracking progress and evaluating college programs. The guide addresses many issues including:
1. Admissions
2. Financial Aid
3. NCAA & MCLA Eligibility
4. What Coaches look for in a player
5. How to get noticed by college coaches
6. The parents role and responsibility
7. The recruiting timeline
8. How to be proactive, a personal "action plan" and more.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.
Thank you, Chris Meade
chris@lacrosserecruits.com
Monday, September 29, 2008
The Acceleration of the Recruiting Process
As the game of lacrosse continues to grow, we are seeing the recruiting process commence earlier than ever. Matt and I have experienced the momentous changes as we help the members of LacrosseRecruits.com, their parents and the coaches who have used our tool to identify and communicate with players. The pressure to compete in fall recruiting tournaments is forcing high school athletes to make decisions that prior players never faced.
Please take a moment to read Free Fall, the featured recruiting article in Lacrosse Magazine, that discusses the new pressures placed on high school athletes.
I say, “play other sports, and create a LacrosseRecruits.com profile.” A membership allows a player to have a portfolio of his/her academic and athletic achievements in one online location, automatically notify coaches of their interest with a click of a button and still play football or soccer.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
LacrosseRecruits.com/LoLax Custom Dyed Head Winner Announced!
We would like to thank everyone who participated in this giveaway. We had another great response with over 30 members send us lists of invitees.
We put everyone's name on pieces of paper and threw them into a hat... The winner of the custom dyed head is Skyler Berkman from Fishers High School in Indianapolis, IN.
Special thanks to LoLaxLacrosse.com for doing a great job on the head.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
We teamed up with LoLaxLacrosse.com for another giveaway...
LacrosseRecruits.com/LoLaxLacrosse.com present our second giveaway. This is another invite challenge with a twist. Instead of just asking you guys to invite as many friends as possible, we are going to ask you to invite 20 players from your high school lacrosse team or travel lacrosse team. Invite them, copy the list, send it over to chris@lacrosserecruits.com - and everyone who does this will be entered into a drawing for a custom dyed LacrosseRecruits head created my our good friends at LoLaxLacrosse.com.
From YumYumLax, NYC, "LacrosseRecruits.com is a new way to bridge the gap between players and coaches. Two former Wesleyan Lacrosse standouts created this nifty online tool that allows players from across the country get the exposure they need in order to be recruited."
Lolax Lacrosse Inc. is dedicated to bringing you the best deals on all your stringing supply needs. We offer professional stringers and dyers to design you your dream stick.
The contest ends next Wednesday, July 16th.
Thank you, Chris, Matt, John, Sean and Peter
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