So here is the deal

[PBJ]

Well, first off hey everyone this is my first thread on these forums. Im a freshman and this season will be my first season playing lax. I live in the seattle area so very few schools have lacrosse teams and the sport in general is not very well known yet; although it is gaining popularity.. I am already pretty decent because i play alot with my friends who are on the local club team. My main question, is do you think its possible for me to get good enough in the remaining 4 seasons/years left before college to go to college on a lacrosse scholarship? perhaps even an east coast school? Are there any suggestions you guys have that would help me to reach my highest potential?

thanks for any help
-newb

[GCSLAXER75]

no don't listen to him.
Even though your from Seattle it doesn't matter. My suggestion to you is to practice as much while you can on your own. Get up against the wall and work on your off hand. Colleges like to see a kid that is solid both hands. Work on ground balls. The other things colleges look for is athletic ability. If you can do things with the ball like run it down the field dodge and make things happen that looks really good regardless of where your from. I played against a kid from seattle 2 weekends ago and he had offers from army and loyola. two very good division one programs. now being from the west your going to have to work harder to get your name out there. travel east and play in tournaments and tell the coaches that your there so they can watch you. Its going to be how bad you want it.

[hankooklax]

I've seen plenty of cases at my school where kids who started their freshman year got really good when they left high school and played at some good schools. give it a shot, there is no harm in trying

[WHEELAX2]

go to as many camps and tourneys as you can.. preferrably tourneys in lax hotbeds, or recent lax hotbeds.... work on each aspect of your game, lift weights<can't stress this enough, and watch as much good lacrosse as you can... tivo those games of the weak, tape mll games, etc.. watch as much and learn as much as you can.. and keep on asking questions on how to get better.

[LordLaxemort]

I think that if you start your freshman year you can still be real good, but even if you are a ridiculous athlete you will probably have your breakout year as a senior which makes it harder to get a lacrosse scholarship. Just practice alot and send out films if you cant get to camps out east. Its all aout promoteing yourself though, one of my team mates that graduated last year was leading scorer in the state his senior year(like 63 goals) and like third in state his sophmore year(like 43 goals) but is now at adams state playing d2 football

[PBJ]

cool, thanks for the advice guys.. My friend who has been playing for years suggested to try out for the starz team after my first season. If i get on it would take me to tourny's all over the west coast so that will probably get me some exposure... About going to the east coast tho, that chance is pretty slim cause my family isn't that well off. But it sounds like i need to start conditioning and working out alot more... thanks again for the advice

[GBaschski]

My advice is...Be an Athlete. Be the fastest person on your team, be able to bench 150% of your body weight. Be able to run a ridiculous mile. That is key when college coaches are looking for recruits. Stick Skills are also extremely important, and you'll have to work twice as hard on that, considering kids from the East Coast will probably have much better stick skills to begin with.

[lyonslax98]

if you really want a scholarship, you have to go out east and perform really well in the camps. if this is not in the cards, you can always go to a college as a normal student and then walk on the team. there are also a lot of great club teams on the west coast. teams like uscb, sonoma state, byu, and arizona are usually contenders for the club national championship. these teams have a similar, or a bit more of a time committment then a d3 team...a top 5 club team could probably beat most of the schools in d3. the downsides to club are that they can't give athletic scholarships and they don't have any influence in admissions, and you have to pay yearly dues in the area of $1,000-$2,000.

[pantherLax]

Concentrate on lacrosse as much as possible, and surround yourself with lax. Thats what im trying to do, and i started lax last year as a freshman also. I used to play soccer, bball, lax, but im gonna stop soccer and stop bball if i dont make the team.
Get USlacrosse or Inside Lacrosse magazine

[MeRattack]

i was talking to college players and some of the best on the teams started in 9th/10th grade too. It just matters if your committed to the sport and practice on a wall almost everyday and go to the weight room and practice shooting, theyll be good bonuses. Also, go to some east coast lacrosse camps^, so youll get practice with some of the best lacrosse players, no offense to anyone who lives in other parts of the country

[pat]

sense youre old enough, lifting wouldnt hurt. Also practice as much as possible like wall ball, just plain shooting, . You never know you could get a scholarship. There was a kid on my bros jv team who had just started that year in 10th grade and he started at mid and he was real good so its possible. Again, practice.

[twin58]

I live in the seattle area so very few schools have lacrosse teams and the sport in general is not very well known yet; although it is gaining popularity..

Seattle is far from a lacrosse wasteland.

Walax Northwest Lacrosse (http://www.walax.com/)

Boys HS Lacrosse (http://walax.com/Boys_HS/boyshs.htm)

Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association (http://www.whsbla.org)

And so forth.

[PBJ]

yeah i have seen those, but there is not nearly as much exposure over hear as in the east coast.. I will be playing for the tacoma dragons division 2 team... I think i should get pretty good since practices are 2 hours every weekday and a game every week