Committing to Division 1 colleges is a dream many young athletes have. This month, five juniors from Westhampton Beach committed to Division I schools for lacrosse, including UNC, Binghamton, Quinnipiac, and UPenn. Committing to a good school to compete in sports and continue their education can be difficult, but there are steps that athletes can take to be seen by college coaches.
Junior Lily Graves, who recently committed to Binghamton, says, “Emailing coaches your highlight film and what tournaments you are attending is super important to get on their radar. I think the best thing you can do to be recruited to one of your top schools is to attend all of their prospect camps and email them often.”
Reaching out to coaches is super important when you are looking to get recruited. There are ways to make the process easier; according to Lily, “Having a set list of your top schools will help tremendously. Or at least having a set location and set school size so you know what schools to invest your time into.”
These are steps to take early because once colleges start looking, these are essential factors to know when they look at you. Lily says colleges start looking as early as “fall tournaments of your 10th-grade year. Then, at summer tournaments, you will see way more coaches at your games recruiting.”
Colleges look at many things in an athlete on and off the field. Graves also talked about the characteristics of an ideal athlete, such as “plays you set up for your teammates to score, how you can control the defense, and like to see you on the sidelines cheering your teammates on.” These steps could help you on your path to your final decision.
Making the final decision on a school is one of the challenging parts of the recruiting and commitment process. There are multiple aspects of colleges that certain athletes need for their education and overall experience. For Reese King, a UNC commit, the factors that played a part in her decision were that “the lacrosse team has incredible talent and history, and the academics are also amazing.” These were essential aspects for her, so UNC was one of her top schools even before recruiting.
Knowing what you want in college and what you want to get out of it, including academics, athletics, the people, and the environment, helps you filter out which colleges are and aren’t a match. Reese also says that once you figure these features out, “just remember to work hard and stay patient. Showing coaches you are a team player and a great teammate is super important. During the recruiting process, stay organized, answer every text and call, and explore your options.” Recruitment and commitment can be stressful, but taking specific steps will work out for you.
Committing and playing a sport in college while pursuing your education for the future is a very complicated process. Taking it step by step and putting yourself out there is crucial. With their motivation and hard work throughout their seasons and the recruiting process, they were all able to commit to the highest division in girl’s college lacrosse. Congrats to all of the commits!
