My Story

[kryptic]

My Story

So as many of you guys know, I got recruited by the US Naval Academy. Here's my story.

Back in sophomore year, my coach wanted for me to start thinking about colleges and the opportunity to play lacrosse. This was partly because I had good grades and showed quite a bit of potential in my lacrosse career. He also ran this camp during the winter break where coaches from top club level schools attend (Such as Michigan, Sonoma St, BYU, Arizona, and others). During this camp, they also had a night of college talk, having the coaches talk about recruiting, it was my first experience toward that process.

In between my sophomore and junior summer, I played on the "Team Arizona" team that went to Vail. The thing about Vail, is that there is no recruiters there, so don't get your hopes up for that. Right before school started again, I was invited by John Paul, the Univ of Michigan coach, to go to their camp in late July. I had approached him during the camp, saying that I was interested in attending U of Michigan cause I've had family there, and I always liked U of M. They camp was more of an instructional camp, but with a lot of younger kids. But what was nice, was that it provided a visit to the school. Coach Paul had later during that year, started to spread the word about me at some coaches conventions, cause he knew that Michigan was going to be really hard for me to go to. Since there was no athletic scholarships available, tuition would be extremely hard to cover. So during the winter/spring of my junior year, I came into contact with Stevens Tech, one of the schools that heard about me from Coach Paul.

From there, I filled out their questionnaire, but unfortunately, contact between the Stevens coaches and myself kinda broke off. This next summer, I played on 2 more Vail teams, one U-17 and one U-19. Like before, there was no college recruiters, except one of the Denver coaches commented on my game against Cherry Creek. After that, I was invited to the Arizona Starz club team. They were suppose to do a lot of traveling and have exposure to college recruits, so I saw this as good thing. Just after that, I got a call from the head coach of the West Coast Starz team, who was also interested in me playing for them also.

During the summer, we'd travel to California every few weekends to play against other Starz and club teams. Soon after was the first tournament for the West Coast Starz, we played in the UMass Mid-Summer Classic. The following was the Sonoma Shootout in Northern California, there was many of the same recruiters there. I made the Sonoma Shootout All-Star team, but couldn't play in most of the tournament because I had hyper extended my knee in the second game (it got taped up for the playoffs and I played in those). When I got home, there were a few letters in the mail and I started to receive phone calls from coaches. They ranged from mid level club teams to upper DIII and a DI school. The most important thing to do during this part, is make contact in all the schools, even if you don't think your interested. So after filling out questionnaires everywhere, the calls and letters slowed for a bit. Some school wanted me to think about taking visits.

In the fall, the second West Coast Starz trip came around, this time it was at Univ of Maryland. It turns out we have a darn good team, finishing 5-0 (4-1 at Umass). But afterwards, not as many coaches called. Some of the ones that saw me in Sonoma reestablished contact again. My AZ Starz coach was a little confused, he thought I should be getting more calls. He told me to keep my phone line open one night, so I did. During the next 2 hours, I got four phone calls from DI schools: Navy, Air Force, and Lafayette. Evidently, my coach knew these coaches well, and knew the schools offered the major I was leaning towards (engineering). With Navy and Air Force, I had to start their application process right away, cause they were service academies. Later, I planned my first official visit to St. John's, who was interested in me from Sonoma. They said they could offer a part-academic, part-athletic scholarship there, but it wasn't full. The Naval Academy wanted to get me to take their official visit as soon as possible because they were afraid of the St. John's coaches pressuring me to commit. So right after I got back from St. John's I headed to the Naval Academy.

With the semester ending, I had to take my other officials the next semester. Once school resumed, I took a back to back to back visit towards the Air Force Academy, Stevens Tech, and Lafayette. I like all these schools so far. But even after I got back from all of them, I felt like I belonged at Navy, I'll explain later. So calls continued for a few weeks, as they gave me time to think about it. I had to rush to finish my applications, and didn't get some done before the deadlines. But I did get triple qualified for the Naval Academy (academically, medically, and physically). By this time with Navy, I was waiting for my Congressional Nomination. My congressmen had already given out theirs, so it was up to the coaches at Navy to get one for me.

During my senior spring break, I got a call from the Navy coach, who said I got a nomination and my appointment was in the mail. Around that time, I had verbally committed to Navy. From there on, I had to do paperwork for the Academy, and such, standard for all those who receive appointments.

So that was my story.

What helped me to decide was I made a chart. At the top I listed all the schools, in the rows, I listed all the things that mattered in my decision making, such as cost, campus, etc. As figured, Navy came out on top.

What I liked about Navy is that I think it fit my personality quite well, while I was there, I felt like I belonged there almost. They have great academics, along with a great athletic program. I loved the sense of tradition there, and it being free was a good thing. Being in the military didn't really bother me, I've had thoughts of joining, but I've always wanted to go the college. So I'm done now.

I'll try to answer questions, but I'll only touch subjects I completely know about.

[kryptic]

Keys to getting recruited:
1. Be athletic and coachable
Coaches can turn athletes into lax players easier than lax players into athletes
2. Establish Contacts
Get to know coaches around your league, coaches know other coaches....etc
3. Get yourself noticed
It pays to play on club teams. The $1,500 I spent traveling during the summer for tournaments compares no where to the $370,000 that the Naval Academy education costs.

I'll add more later

[Bobsch]

Congratulations, kryptic, and good luck!

[AZlax9]

was it your junior year when you started playing for the starz?
thanks

[goalieskcickay]

I thought Navy was free?

Anyways, you might not know, but do you think the fact that you weren't from a hotbed of lacrosse hurt your recruiting chances? Or did it halp, because there weren't as many other stars? Also, would Navy still be your top choice if you got a full ride to say SU, UVa, Maryland, etc?

[MDlaxin69]

good luck at navy, i hope to come see some of your games...

[laxpro]

Nice story, thanks for posting it and good advice.

Good luck at the Academy.

[smooth87]

I thought Navy was free?


If you call giving up 10 years of your life (flight) "free" then yes it. It also cost nothing (directly) to the family of the plebe, but you're paying for their tution via taxes.

[cbhslacrossemid]

Im visiting the academy on my way up or down from Philly this weekend and what do you suggest I do there? I've talked breifly to Coach Meade and have an intrest going there. I'm going to a camp he hosts here in Memphis and I know I need to talk to him again, what can I say, Id like to bring up me being all state and my f/o winning percentage but I dont just want to blurt it out, how do I bring it up?

[kryptic]

was it your junior year when you started playing for the starz?
thanks

I started in between my Junior and Senior year, I wish I started earlier.

I thought Navy was free?

Anyways, you might not know, but do you think the fact that you weren't from a hotbed of lacrosse hurt your recruiting chances? Or did it halp, because there weren't as many other stars? Also, would Navy still be your top choice if you got a full ride to say SU, UVa, Maryland, etc?

Cost wise, Navy is free, in fact, they pay me to go there. But I have to do 5 years of service as an officer in the Navy. On the topic on not being in a hotbed, I think the downfall was that I didn't get looked at as early as other schools do.

Im visiting the academy on my way up or down from Philly this weekend and what do you suggest I do there? I've talked breifly to Coach Meade and have an intrest going there. I'm going to a camp he hosts here in Memphis and I know I need to talk to him again, what can I say, Id like to bring up me being all state and my f/o winning percentage but I dont just want to blurt it out, how do I bring it up?

Shoot him an email, or try Coach Tillman. You could even try giving them a call. But just mention that your interested in the Academy, and that you will be stopping by soon.

[NickBritt]

You said calls starting coming in after your tourniments.. how did the coachs get your information or did you contact them and tell them to watch you at those touriments?

[rnikec]

Wow congradulations. How long have you been playing lax

[D-Guy770]

is there a starz website for all the states, because i'd like to do it next year in GA...but i will be playing trying out for Team Georgia which i think is similar to Team Arizona...

[An AttACk OfLaX]

so how would one join one of these starz teams? im interested in joining one probaly next summer

[tkrock]

www.starzlax.com

I think this is the website your looking for.

[jory]

good luck at the naval academy

[Hunter]

So the reason you got recruited was not because of your performance on your high school team but because of you getting noticed at the club tourneys you attended? Do you think you could have gotten any exposure just playing lacrosse at your high school but not playing at any tournaments?
I've also been playing on a tournament team and have played at the tournament at Umass and I've played at the Vail Shootout with Team Texas/Lonestar and ,like you said, there is no exposure there. Do you reccomend just attending camps on the east coast to get exposure if there isnt a serious/recruiting club team in your area? My coach has told me about blue chip ,but what are some camps that you know of are good for getting exposure to college coaches?

Congradulations btw on getting to play DI lacrosse, I hope that you have great success at Navy on and off the lax field.

[An AttACk OfLaX]

wait so theres no team for the newengland region on there? what other team would you suggest to get some good exposure

[crazydrew86]

wait so theres no team for the newengland region on there? what other team would you suggest to get some good exposure
i have the same question, or is there a seperate webpage for the east coast starz

[MLPLAX89]

Got the same question for NJ

[kryptic]

You said calls starting coming in after your tourniments.. how did the coachs get your information or did you contact them and tell them to watch you at those touriments?

The tournament hosts will gather everyones information during the sign up and a list will be given to all the coaches.

Wow congradulations. How long have you been playing lax

Five years.

is there a starz website for all the states, because i'd like to do it next year in GA...but i will be playing trying out for Team Georgia which i think is similar to Team Arizona...

No, generally, the Starz teams can only be found on the West Coast. I think there is somekind of SouthEast club team, cause we played them in Vail.

So the reason you got recruited was not because of your performance on your high school team but because of you getting noticed at the club tourneys you attended? Do you think you could have gotten any exposure just playing lacrosse at your high school but not playing at any tournaments?
I've also been playing on a tournament team and have played at the tournament at Umass and I've played at the Vail Shootout with Team Texas/Lonestar and ,like you said, there is no exposure there. Do you reccomend just attending camps on the east coast to get exposure if there isnt a serious/recruiting club team in your area? My coach has told me about blue chip ,but what are some camps that you know of are good for getting exposure to college coaches?

Congradulations btw on getting to play DI lacrosse, I hope that you have great success at Navy on and off the lax field.

Being from Arizona, there was little chance for me to get recruited by playing high school alone there. I would have had to sent a DVD of game film of extremely early, and even then the quality on competition might not be rated high. It was definately playing on club teams that got me where I'm headed. But if your in a place where recruiting isn't present, try to narrow done some schools that have your qualities your looking for in a college, and try to attend their camps. Or just got to a Top 205 or Blue Chip camp

wait so theres no team for the newengland region on there? what other team would you suggest to get some good exposure

Starz is generally a West Coast thing, but there's got to some kind of East Coast travel team you can play on.

[WarriorLax23]

Kryptic, congrats big time on going to Navy to play some lax and own up in engineering! You make us TLFers proud :thumbsup: haha

[rnikec]

wow this is only my second year in lacrosse but your story (sounds corny) motivates me alot.

[Melax]

kryptic I was also at sonoma last year. I wish i would have known who you were and tried to watch you. I was with the hollywood/calgary team with all the canadians with red hockey helmets. Im pretty sure you played with a couple of my buddies on the west coast teams in maryland. Anyways congrats and i have a question about the congressional nomination. what is it and why do you need it? Me being from canada I have no idea but am curious

thanks and good luck at navy

[RottingMind13]

For any service academy in the United States, West Point, Annapolis, or Air Force Academy, you need a recommendation from a congressmen to attend. It's just one of the requirements I think. I dont really know any reasoning behind it.

[Melax]

But I don't get how a congrssmen would give you a recommendation. Like are you personal friends with the congressmen? i donno i guess I just dont understand

[crazydrew86]

is like tri state, leading edge, tru north, etc. like the starz of the east coast

[BioPro29]

How much do you practice each day?

[CHSlax]

But I don't get how a congrssmen would give you a recommendation. Like are you personal friends with the congressmen? i donno i guess I just dont understand


I can field that one you and no you don't have to be personal friends with a congressman you can just apply but it does help luckly I'm very good friends with two congressmen ones my neighbor.

[Melax]

so how do congressmen just give it out or is it an interview process where they have a couple aplicants but they can only pick one?

[RottingMind13]

I think it's just whoever asks for a recommendation first can get it with probably a minimal check into the person's background.

[kryptic]

A congressional nomination is required for attending any of the five service academies. During the process, you basically write to your two senators and district rep. They'll get ahold of your "resume" and nominate 10 kids out of the pool of applicants.

I never got a nomination from a congressman. Instead, mine came from the USNA Superintendent because I was a late recruit.

[thebrettness]

Well, congratulations Kryptic, I hope you do really well next year, I'll be watching.

If I'm really lucky maybe I'll be able to play with you. But I doubt it, being from Canada and all.

But I was under the impression that scouts were at Vail. Because we were told to sign the NCAA Clearing house forms so scouts could talk to you. I wasn't going to sign up becasue I'm a freshmen, but a couple of our other players were going to sign up/already did.

[snell31]

Dude that's awesome, best of luck at navy.

I've been to the camp at cardigan mountain twice and im going next year. Can you give me any advice on good camps to go to? i just don't have a clue and i dont want to waste alot of money.
There's not really any other way i'll get noticed.

[ron_burgundy]

what did you have to do with the ncaa clearinghouse? one of the letters i got asked for a clearinghouse PIN number, but when i went to register for it, i think it said you had to be a senior to do that (i'm a junior now).

[ColtsLax]

i dont see what the Service academies have to offer an athletic recruit. Outside of the obvoius honor of serving your country, why go to Navy, Army, ect, when you can get a full ride from a St Johns or Stevens or Syracuse? Navy doesn't cost you any tuition, so what inscentive is there to play at Navy?

[NuKoN]

i dont see what the Service academies have to offer an athletic recruit. Outside of the obvoius honor of serving your country, why go to Navy, Army, ect, when you can get a full ride from a St Johns or Stevens or Syracuse? Navy doesn't cost you any tuition, so what inscentive is there to play at Navy?


I think its mostly the honor and presteige..

[raykessler]

i dont see what the Service academies have to offer an athletic recruit. Outside of the obvoius honor of serving your country, why go to Navy, Army, ect, when you can get a full ride from a St Johns or Stevens or Syracuse? Navy doesn't cost you any tuition, so what inscentive is there to play at Navy?

you get a cool ring

[ron_burgundy]

i dont see what the Service academies have to offer an athletic recruit. Outside of the obvoius honor of serving your country, why go to Navy, Army, ect, when you can get a full ride from a St Johns or Stevens or Syracuse? Navy doesn't cost you any tuition, so what inscentive is there to play at Navy?

a lot of recruits think this and don't go to the academies. so players who normally would be recruited by like middle of the road or lower D1 teams get recruited by the academies because these schools know they won't be able to get all the top guys they want. one incentive for these kids is that instead of playing on a team that is in and out of the top 20, they can play for a team that can compete for the national championship (at least at army and navy). one of my coaches went to the 2004 finals and he said navy was definitely not as talented as syracuse, but their level of conditioning and discipline put them almost equal to the most talented team in the country.

[Riot]

How did you get in such good shape?

[nictolax21]

How did you get in such good shape?

haha, I would probably say working out and conditioning

[schratxs20]

you might know my friend he got recruited to navy prep too.....hes from LI NY massapequa attack pat campbell..

[0000]

schratxs do you know his number? hes playing at prep?

[thebrettness]

what did you have to do with the ncaa clearinghouse? one of the letters i got asked for a clearinghouse PIN number, but when i went to register for it, i think it said you had to be a senior to do that (i'm a junior now).

Well I didn't sign up, but like I didn't really get what I had to do. Like I had to give what classes I'm in now and stuff, but I'll get more info and wil lsign it next year.

And I asked my coach and he said Vail is full of scouts so either he's misinformed or Kryptic is wrong.

But since Kryptic got a scholarship toi Navy I'm assuming he's right.

And Kryptic, are you going to Vail again this year? Because I'll be going and it'd be cool to meet you.

[GlaxR]

i think this question relates to the topic someone who started playing lacrosse at freshman year but was all ready an athlete could he become a great lacrosse player and get a scholarship to a university or is it impossible?

[nictolax21]

yep, there is probably plenty of people who picked up lacrosse as a freshman and went on to get a scholarship to play somewhere

[kryptic]

i think this question relates to the topic someone who started playing lacrosse at freshman year but was all ready an athlete could he become a great lacrosse player and get a scholarship to a university or is it impossible?

True, one of the first players from AZ to actually go anywhere was Brett Neal, currently at NYIT. He started playing lacrosse as soph in high school. As long as you work your butt off, anything can be possible.

[marflax33]

Isnt AZ becoming somewhat of a hotbed now? I mean, its really close to Cali, which is full of good players, So there must be at least some exposure for coaches and such. Wish idaho would actually get good at lacrosse...

[AofLax]

kryptic there is a kid from my school who is going to Navy for lax
are you goin 2 navy prep or straight to navy

[DukeLax2]

navy doesnt land as big name recruits they just work real hard and play as a team.

[ron_burgundy]

i think this question relates to the topic someone who started playing lacrosse at freshman year but was all ready an athlete could he become a great lacrosse player and get a scholarship to a university or is it impossible?

one kid like that would be matt kelly who starts on defense for national champion virginia as a freshman there. he has now been playing lacrosse since his freshman year in high school and he is from chicago of all places.

[atlax30]

one kid like that would be matt kelly who starts on defense for national champion virginia as a freshman there. he has now been playing lacrosse since his freshman year in high school and he is from chicago of all places.

He's sick-nasty, a lot of people (believe it or not) start playing their freshmen year or maybe 8th grade

exceptions of course (Dan Hardy, Matt Danowski etc.)

Just play as much as you can

[socalax]

Kryptic, you said in your story that your connection with Stevens broke off. I was wondering how that happened because I am being recruited from them also, and I dont want that to happen to me, and by the way, how was the visit to Stevens?

[laxdevil666]

A kid from my High School who graduated 2 or 3 years ago plays for Navy. Hes dosnt get as many points as he did in HS, but at the Arym-Navy game that our team went to see, he plays a ton. Hes a great guy, and im sure you will get to know him.

[ATLredgoalie55]

hey might i ask your height, weight, and GPA? My coach gave me a list of colleges that might fit the style of how i'd like to play in college, but when i get to filling out the recruiting forms I end up Xing out of them when it asks for my height and weight and i decide to fill it out after i gain some weight. haha i know this sounds weird, but it really would help me out.

[spartacus9]

You said calls starting coming in after your tourniments.. how did the coachs get your information or did you contact them and tell them to watch you at those touriments?
I know that at sonoma they have a contact booklet/list thing that they give to all the recruiters.

[OPlax31]

good luck man

[GBaschski]

Hey guys, just a couple questions:

Should you apply for the college you want to play for, and then talk to the coach about getting recruited, or should you wait to apply until after the coach has recruited you?

Also, when (what year) should you start contacting coaches?

[ron_burgundy]

hey might i ask your height, weight, and GPA? My coach gave me a list of colleges that might fit the style of how i'd like to play in college, but when i get to filling out the recruiting forms I end up Xing out of them when it asks for my height and weight and i decide to fill it out after i gain some weight. haha i know this sounds weird, but it really would help me out.

just put a higher number on there. if youre really planning on gaining weight then thats what coaches will be recruiting. worst comes to worse, they see that you're not as heavy as you told them and you say you lost some weight. inflated stats are all over the place.

[FPDefense]

i dont see what the Service academies have to offer an athletic recruit. Outside of the obvoius honor of serving your country, why go to Navy, Army, ect, when you can get a full ride from a St Johns or Stevens or Syracuse? Navy doesn't cost you any tuition, so what inscentive is there to play at Navy?

Naval Academy is one of the top engineering colleges in the world, like Havard is to law schools. You will be guarenteed a job basically. Kryptic will 99% likely have a 6 figure job when he gets out of the military. In fact I'll bet 100 bucks to anyone who says other wise.

And just a personal question Kryptic, are you going into the Marines or the Navy after you graduate? And why?

[schratxs20]

17 in high school
yes hes going to prep

[GAlax3]

Kryptic, you said in your story that your connection with Stevens broke off. I was wondering how that happened because I am being recruited from them also, and I dont want that to happen to me, and by the way, how was the visit to Stevens?
a kid that played on my team and his brother both were recruited by and played at stevens..the older played 2s year and got hurt temporarily and quit when he cam back after a while..and the younger quit and transfered after a semester in his freshman year and interestingly what he said to me about it was something along the lines of "stevens sucks so bad dont ever consider it".......but im sure theres lots of people that would like it i guess they just werent cut out for it

and i guess the point of what im trying to say is that they just rushed into it and agreed to go there cus they were getting looked at by them without thinking about wether or not the school was right for them and wether or not stevens was a team they wanted to play for and play that style of lax and for that coach

[GAlax3]

hey might i ask your height, weight, and GPA? My coach gave me a list of colleges that might fit the style of how i'd like to play in college, but when i get to filling out the recruiting forms I end up Xing out of them when it asks for my height and weight and i decide to fill it out after i gain some weight. haha i know this sounds weird, but it really would help me out.
coach kelly or aitken gave it to u?...and should i be getting this form, flood?

[ATLredgoalie55]

coach kelly or aitken gave it to u?...and should i be getting this form, flood?

aitken gave it to me toward the end of the season. i mightve been the only one he had to the chance to talk to so far. coach kelly is probly going to do it for u sometime soon.

[An AttACk OfLaX]

does anyone know what teams from newengland go to vail

[headlinenewsrox]

So I am very interested in playing lacrosse for the Navy(womens in 2009), but I was wondering since you are required to serve for 5 years after you graduate do you actually go to iraq or go to the fighting zones or do you stay in the us or germany or another place that is not in the middle of the fighting?

[bpercival]

Everywhere has atletic people as an example of Kryptic just because you live in a non hotbed doesnt mean you dont have a chance. Yes, it may slim them, but its all up to your wantingness and training to determine if college coaches think your good, or not.

[Ill_lax]

I am just wondering everyone seems to play more than one sport besides lax Do you think its the way to go Would the time better sbe spend working out for lacrosse and concetrating on your grades?
thanks

[BlueDevil14]

do you have to be apart of a ROTC program at your high school to be recruited by USNA?

[Bobsch]

do you have to be apart of a ROTC program at your high school to be recruited by USNA?
No. Any extra curricular activities help, but JROTC isn't required.

[Bobsch]

So I am very interested in playing lacrosse for the Navy(womens in 2009), but I was wondering since you are required to serve for 5 years after you graduate do you actually go to iraq or go to the fighting zones or do you stay in the us or germany or another place that is not in the middle of the fighting?
It all depends on your assignments, and you'll usually have at least two, plus schools, in the first five years (or more, depending on what schools you attend, flight school, for example, means a longer commitment). By the way, there aren't a lot of Naval Academy grads in Germany (mostly pretty senior ones who are in Stuttgart). Some people spend all of their time in the states, some get a few deployments. And you never know where or when the next "hot spot" will be.

[smooth87]

Well actually depending on what rank you graduated, you can chose your base. So if you graduate 1st in your class, you're guaranteed to get you're first choice, and probably the same for 2nd and 3rd. The lower your rank is, the less selection you get. Of course, getting you're first choice, doesn't mean you're not going to get deployed in the future.

[will#18]

does anyone know if army is free like navy?

[egrlax10]

does anyone know if army is free like navy?

yes, it is, and so is air force.

[wolfie8914]

It's free if you graduate and go into service afterwards.

[goalie30]

What exactly were your grades, because I am going to Top 205 this summer and i assume that I have very high grades with a solid 3.75 GPA and a 183 on psats (~ a 1830 on the real SATS) also the school I go to is very rigorous academically. All in all, is this a high academic record for lacrosse or just average, and how much will it actually help me to be able to play for a good D1 team?

[lilaxgurl23]

What exactly were your grades, because I am going to Top 205 this summer and i assume that I have very high grades with a solid 3.75 GPA and a 183 on psats (~ a 1830 on the real SATS) also the school I go to is very rigorous academically. All in all, is this a high academic record for lacrosse or just average, and how much will it actually help me to be able to play for a good D1 team?

Your GPA is pretty good, but depending on your skill level and what school's you're looking at, a 1830 may not be high enough (Duke, Ivies, etc). Basically coaches look for skill first, obviously. But as soon as they start recruiting you or show interest, they're going to ask for your grades. I've found that if they're serious about you, you can be under the school's admission standards (not by a whole lot, but they have some pull), but if they just show some interest, you're more than likely going to have to have the grades for a non-athlete. Either way, it's best just to get the best grades you can. It can only close doors if you don't have the grades along with the skill. Note that your academics aren't going to determine playing time or anything, but they'll help you get onto a team and with financials.