Recruiting

[Lax101]

In my opinion many of the best defenders in the country were once middies and many were recruited as such, but when you are an exceptional athlete who contributes more between the 30's and not much on offense whether it is because of stickwork, lax IQ or confidence why not convert them to defense where they can play 100 percent of the game and have more of an impact. In many cases the converted middies are just better defenders and better athletes than girls who were straight defenders growing up and were recruited as such. They are also great in transition moving the ball with confidence. If you look at teams like BC who play mostly man to man, many of their current and past AA defenders are converted middies.

[MolonLaxe]

In my opinion many of the best defenders in the country were once middies and many were recruited as such, but when you are an exceptional athlete who contributes more between the 30's and not much on offense whether it is because of stickwork, lax IQ or confidence why not convert them to defense where they can play 100 percent of the game and have more of an impact. In many cases the converted middies are just better defenders and better athletes than girls who were straight defenders growing up and were recruited as such. They are also great in transition moving the ball with confidence. If you look at teams like BC who play mostly man to man, many of their current and past AA defenders are converted middies.

Meh. It depends on the team and the athlete. I've found club teams don't always use their athletes in the best manner. More college coaches understand what, exactly, makes the best defenders, attackers, or middies. I think the HS club game has flowed towards putting the best athletes as mids and for many clubs, their best scorers are mids. This is in conflict with what you'd want with a college team--they want their attackers to be the best shooters/stick handling players on the team. Mids have a role in playing both sides of the ball, but their real value is the overall utility they provide in moving the ball up field and hopefully being the 2nd best defenders on the field.

There are some middies that really shouldn't be middies anyway, as they are probably more similar to SSDMs in the boys game--they don't provide much offensive power. There are some mids you just cannot convert to the defensive side of the ball for various reasons. From a performance perspective, the best mids have the ability to put on miles in a game and they may not be the fastest player on the field, but I'd prefer a decent portion of defenders to have some of the best overall speed/acceleration to insure they don't get beat.

In some instances, I've found some defenders should have been mids, but for various reasons they didn't transition over to that role (lack of confidence, don't like offense or the attention, stick skills, etc.). I think too many club and HS teams take their least talented or worst players and try to hide them on Defense, which is probably the worst spot to hide them at.

[laxdadpat]

There are countless examples middies being converted to very good and/or great defenders. I am in full agreement that defenders need to be great athletes and have a high lax IQ. Those players have typically been middies over the past 10+ years. The talent pool has exploded with growth of the sport and there are now great players all over the field. I do think most college coaches have a blind spot recruiting defenders, most all recruiting classes have 1 defender with 2-3 attackers.
I have questioned why some athletic middies were not shifted to defense on my own daughters' college teams. The answer was often "she doesn't talk enough and understand defense." There will always be some middies that can make that transition, it's just becoming harder because clubs now have some great athletes in their back 4. I do get frustrated when defenders do not take an aggressive role in getting the ball to mid field for the middies and attackers to do their thing.

[LaxDadMax]

There are countless examples middies being converted to very good and/or great defenders. I am in full agreement that defenders need to be great athletes and have a high lax IQ. Those players have typically been middies over the past 10+ years. The talent pool has exploded with growth of the sport and there are now great players all over the field. I do think most college coaches have a blind spot recruiting defenders, most all recruiting classes have 1 defender with 2-3 attackers.
I have questioned why some athletic middies were not shifted to defense on my own daughters' college teams. The answer was often "she doesn't talk enough and understand defense." There will always be some middies that can make that transition, it's just becoming harder because clubs now have some great athletes in their back 4. I do get frustrated when defenders do not take an aggressive role in getting the ball to mid field for the middies and attackers to do their thing.

Agreed. Also, a big difference between being a good individual defender and a good defender within a team defense (and everything that goes along with it).

The coach who recruited my 25 said she will generally only recruit girls she projects as a defender from top clubs. Says lots of girls can play good 1v1 defense but can't make the transition to aggressive team style. Says it's too much of a risk to recruit a girl who has never received top defensive coaching.

[laxdadpat]

I fully understand my recruiting ignorance and the tedious process to filter out players that can contribute at a college level women's lacrosse team. A coaching staff of 3 only has so many hours in the day to spend recruiting. I would practically make it a requirement that all my recruited defenders need to have played high school basketball. College teams need to be able to switch from man to zone on the fly in women's lacrosse, but too many girls just have never been coached to play any type of lacrosse zone defense in high school or club lacrosse.
A well coached zone defense can give athletic offense units fits. What Spallina does with his defenses is not rocket science, just a real organized defensive scheme that play as a unit, not 7 individuals. There will always be the top tier teams that are loaded with super athletes, but I can tell you what they hate the most, playing a Denver zone defense!

[LaxDadMax]

I fully understand my recruiting ignorance and the tedious process to filter out players that can contribute at a college level women's lacrosse team. A coaching staff of 3 only has so many hours in the day to spend recruiting. I would practically make it a requirement that all my recruited defenders need to have played high school basketball. College teams need to be able to switch from man to zone on the fly in women's lacrosse, but too many girls just have never been coached to play any type of lacrosse zone defense in high school or club lacrosse.
A well coached zone defense can give athletic offense units fits. What Spallina does with his defenses is not rocket science, just a real organized defensive scheme that play as a unit, not 7 individuals. There will always be the top tier teams that are loaded with super athletes, but I can tell you what they hate the most, playing a Denver zone defense!

I'd say basketball or hockey, but I'd generally agree with that.

However, many if not all coaches hate watching predominantly zone club teams (even coaches who play zone). They say it is much harder to evaluate real defensive ability.

[laxfan9999]

It is interesting with defense. There were complaints this summer from coaches watching Spallina 25s because they run a gimicky zone. A couple of club coaches from top programs said that the summer of recruiting year, they play man only because college coaches want to see 1 v1 defense. They said their teams always get better results their last summer when they move in and out of zone. It was interesting to hear and see. In most sports it is a harder adjustment moving up a level for defense, as game is faster with bigger and smarter players/

[laxdadpat]

Elite athletes will always be sought out in any sport. Womens lacrosse is no different. It's a must to compete at high levels.

I had a question for a very successful coach when I was a teenager, "What do you do to beat the other teams that are faster than your team?" He looked at me with a smile, almost chuckling to himself and said, "The best way to slow down any player is to make them think."

That's what a zone defense does to super athletic players that have been able to run by defenders their entire lives. Make someone hesitate or second guess themself and you have them!!

[Womenslaxxfan]

Playing zone defense in college is bad enough but at least it’s all about wins and losses at that level. But playing predominately zone in club is crazy to me. Like an inversion of what’s good for player development or exposure.

[laxguy516]

Look at where the defenders, and midfielders, from Spallina team have committed to. If that's any indication, I don't believe playing zone in club hurts players recruiting.

[wlaxphan20]

Playing zone defense in college is bad enough but at least it’s all about wins and losses at that level. But playing predominately zone in club is crazy to me. Like an inversion of what’s good for player development or exposure.

Agreed, and tbh I didn't think club teams spent enough time training together to pull off a 7v7 zone.

[Womenslaxxfan]

Look at where the defenders, and midfielders, from Spallina team have committed to. If that's any indication, I don't believe playing zone in club hurts players recruiting.

You’re talking about one of the top 10 clubs around with Joe personally helping his players get recruited. If every club played zone, i believe it would limit player development and recruitment.

[laxguy516]

It is interesting with defense. There were complaints this summer from coaches watching Spallina 25s because they run a gimicky zone. A couple of club coaches from top programs said that the summer of recruiting year, they play man only because college coaches want to see 1 v1 defense. They said their teams always get better results their last summer when they move in and out of zone. It was interesting to hear and see. In most sports it is a harder adjustment moving up a level for defense, as game is faster with bigger and smarter players/

Yes, that was in response to this post specifically talking about coaches complaints

[jff97]

IL Women has started posting the writeups for the top 10 players in the class, with 6-10 this week. I'm sure you'll be shocked to learn that the goal of every player so far is to win a national championship.
#10 Lacey Downey, Boston College: https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... ous-/62285
#9 Gabbi Koury, Florida: https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... -big/62287
#8 Kylee Colbert, Boston College: https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... tion/62294
#7 Bella Goodwin, Duke: https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... oals/62293
#6 Maisy Clevenger, Maryland: https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... lace/62302

[Relax77]

25 flip. Goes from USC to Penn.

[Kleizaster]

25 flip. Goes from USC to Penn.

helps to provide a little more info..what is this recruit's name?

[McLax9777]

25 flip. Goes from USC to Penn.

Good for them

[Bluecollar]

Anyone here had your girls participate in AU Futures?

Would love your review.

[Relax77]

Anyone here had your girls participate in AU Futures?

Would love your review.

No one answered and the Rangers game is boring right now so I’ll answer. We didn’t do AU but know people who did. They said it was the worst out of all of them. AA, AS and AU. Very little coaching. Very little coaches there. Basically a public relations event. Lesser skilled players there as well that either can’t make or politically left out of the other two.

After going through a non Covid recruiting year here’s the advice I give my friends. If your daughter is on a top 25 team, even 35 team, you don’t need to do any showcase. Save the money and go to college prospect days. 2 to a reach, 2 to a fit and 2 to a safety on her list. If she plays on a top team they will be at basically all your games. If your daughters is in a lower end team, you may want to pony up some money and do some showcases. Especially one like Juniors or UA150.

I will say. After Sept 1 many coaches told my daughter they saw her at her games but a few said they don’t like watching the club games because all the players have specific roles and plays they do. They rather see them just play. I think that makes some sense.

[LaxDadMax]

Anyone here had your girls participate in AU Futures?

Would love your review.

No one answered and the Rangers game is boring right now so I’ll answer. We didn’t do AU but know people who did. They said it was the worst out of all of them. AA, AS and AU. Very little coaching. Very little coaches there. Basically a public relations event. Lesser skilled players there as well that either can’t make or politically left out of the other two.

After going through a non Covid recruiting year here’s the advice I give my friends. If your daughter is on a top 25 team, even 35 team, you don’t need to do any showcase. Save the money and go to college prospect days. 2 to a reach, 2 to a fit and 2 to a safety on her list. If she plays on a top team they will be at basically all your games. If your daughters is in a lower end team, you may want to pony up some money and do some showcases. Especially one like Juniors or UA150.

I will say. After Sept 1 many coaches told my daughter they saw her at her games but a few said they don’t like watching the club games because all the players have specific roles and plays they do. They rather see them just play. I think that makes some sense.

Completely agree on this and commentary on all events. Having been through this multiple times, I have a very clear plan for what my 27 will do.

For my 27, she will do Best In Class and a couple prospect days.

Honestly, if you are looking for supplement events, I'd look at Lacrosse Masters before I'd look at any of the AS/UA/AA type tourneys. Good interaction with coaches and quality event.



During her recruiting year, she will do Best In Class, prospect days, and some showcases before big tourneys (Lax For the Cure, Live Love Lax, Fall Draw). That's it. Only way she will do AS or UA is if she is injured for some reason during her sophomore club season.