University of Maryland '98 - Women's Lacrosse

From a very young age I knew I loved sports and had the killer instinct.  I got involved in playing AAU club basketball at a very young age and traveled and played basketball all year round.  When I was in about second grade I decided to pick up soccer as well, within a few years I was playing soccer all year round on club teams.  Then in third grade this new sport was presented to me called lacrosse.  I really wasn’t that interested in it but all my friends from the neighborhood were going to try it so I figured why not. 

Lacrosse was the only sport out of the three sports that was only in the spring.  I didn’t have to play it all year round to be considered dedicated to it so it definitely took a back seat to my other sports. I remember in sixth grade missing lacrosse practice in lacrosse season to go to basketball and soccer practice which were out of season.  I also remember going to lacrosse, leaving early to go to soccer and then heading to basketball practice.  I was getting warn out to say the least.

By the time I reached high school I had developed a love for lacrosse.  Lacrosse is an athletic sport; if you are a great athlete you can be successful.  I was able to incorporate all the things I had learned over the years from playing such ridiculous amounts of basketball and soccer into lacrosse. 

When I reached freshman year in high school I did play basketball, soccer, and lacrosse.  As a freshman I was on junior varsity for basketball and soccer, but shockingly made the varsity lacrosse team at St.Mary’s in Annapolis!  Believe me this was a big deal, it was almost unheard of to make varsity as a freshman.  You were lucky to make junior varsity as a freshman.   It was then I realized that lacrosse was my sport. I wasn’t burned out on it like the other sports that I had played for years all year round.  More exciting then just making the lacrosse team, I started as a freshman and continued to start for four more years. By my sophomore year I quit basketball, continued to play soccer for one more year on the varsity team and my junior year quit soccer too. I picked up volleyball for fun and just continued with my lacrosse career.  I had no idea the opportunities that were in store for me, when back in third grade, but I sure am happy I decided to give lacrosse a shot.

The recruiting process was exciting.  I received tons of letters from schools all over the country.  I had no idea that all these schools were interested in me or even knew about me.  It did start to become a little overwhelming sifting through all the mail and all the weekly phone calls. In the summer before my senior year I decided to take some road trips and set up some unofficial visits to colleges and meet with coaches so I could downsize my huge list of choices. That was very helpful to me because there were quite a few schools that once I saw the campus or met the coach I knew I didn’t want to attend. It wasn’t easy but I came to my conclusion about the five schools I was going to visit.  I went to the University of Maryland, the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, Loyola College, and Vanderbilt University. 

In the fall of my senior year I went on paid official visits to my top five schools and spent a weekend with the team in order to get to know them and meet with the coach.  It was amazing!  I had so much fun on all of these visits and it was great to spend time with the players and coaches.  I had such a hard time making my decision though. 

In retrospect, I always knew I was going to be a Terp!  I loved the University of Maryland, there style of play and the team.  I didn’t come by this decision easily though and really agonized over the whole thing.  This is such an exciting time in your life but it’s also a very tough time in your life.  You’ll figure it out so be patient and open.

My Advice:

• If you decided you didn’t want to play anymore would you still want to be at this school? 

• Look at teams and the way they practice along with their style of play. Think about whether or not you like their style or if you could adapt to it.  A lot of people don’t think about this, but a sport takes up a lot of your time and will be a big part of your college life so you want to enjoy it.  You want to have fun with it!  I know I did.

Once a Terp always a Terp!

Kate Robinson

For more information check out the Active Recruiting 101 special section.

Dartmouth College '01 - Men's Lacrosse

I remember my recruiting period as being a total blast. I was behind the ball in getting to know colleges and gathering an idea of where’d I’d like to go to school. So through recruiting camps, and receiving letters from different colleges, it opened up a whole world of colleges I had never thought of.

My recruiting process began by mailing out letters and resumes to the coaches of the schools I was initially interested in my junior spring. I was pretty certain I wanted to attend a bigger school in an urban atmosphere. After a few weeks of correspondence and speaking with different coaches that summer, I had a sizeable list of schools where both I and the coach there shared a mutual interest. As a recruit you’re only allowed five official visits to D-I schools, so I had to make some early choices.

Initially, my list included schools of every size and shape, from Washington College to the Naval Academy. I had a wide range of choices. I quickly narrowed down my choices to three schools, Boston College, Dartmouth College, and Brown University. Though Dartmouth College didn’t fit my initial criteria, it was recommended to me by one of my high school coaches whom I had a lot of respect for, so I figured I would at least explore the idea.

My interest in Boston College stemmed from the fact that my older brother had played there. I had already spent a lot of time there and didn’t really need to take an official recruiting trip. I had essentially been taking recruiting trips there since I was 14. I knew what the school was about and knew I would really like it there.

The only two official visits I took were to Brown University and Dartmouth College, on consecutive weekends my senior fall, and I couldn’t have visited two schools that were more different from each other. I enjoyed my weekend at Brown University. I got along great with the coaching staff, was really impressed by the athletic and academic facilities, and definitely felt like I could have gone there. However, the one catch was that socially, I didn’t really click with anyone I met there outside of the lacrosse team. I came away weighing the pros and cons – it was a top caliber lacrosse program, but would I enjoy my time there off the lacrosse field?

The following week I traveled to Hanover to visit Dartmouth College – small school, remote, and not anywhere near anything resembling a city. I figured there was no chance this school was for me, but I figured, “What the heck? At least it will be a weekend away from home.” My first impressions were that it was one of the most beautifully classic campuses I had ever seen. It was small, pastoral, with the central green surrounded by the old brick and tin roof buildings, and the clock tower crowning the far end of the green. It also didn’t hurt that it was the peak of the fall foliage season.

I met with the coaches after my arrival and got a tour of the athletic facilities. Right off the bat, I knew that the head coach and I would never have a great relationship – his style of coaching was very different from the style I best responded to. On top of that, the facilities at Dartmouth College at the time were pretty poor, especially next to those at Brown University and Boston College. My first afternoon there didn’t do much to change my initial lack of interest in the school. I then spent the weekend with some guys from the team, and I was immediately struck at how happy everyone was at this school. The more I spoke with people, both athletes and non-athletes; I was amazed how almost no one had a bad thing to say about their experiences there. And the more time I spent in social settings there, the more comfortable I was with the people around me, especially compared to my time at Brown University.

I spent a weekend at Dartmouth College and came away with essentially the opposite impression of my time at Brown University – I wasn’t thrilled with the athletic side of the college, but I was enamored by the academic and social structures.

Now came the hard part – the decision. Generally, college coaches will require a commitment from you before they will take your name through the admissions process. Both of the staffs at Brown University and Dartmouth College were pretty clear, I wasn’t being admitted without committing to play. I was offered an academic scholarship by Boston College, so I knew I was in there. I agonized for a week over my choices, pouring over each college’s information package, plowing through college selection books. I was trying to find a very hard, quantifiable reason why I should choose one over the other.

Each had something I liked, as well as things I didn’t like. I loved that Boston College was in a big city with a big time sports program and was offering me a full academic ride, but I felt compelled to get out from under my brother’s shadow and blaze my own path. I loved the lacrosse program at Brown University and its campus in Providence. At Dartmouth College, I knew I’d love my time there socially and in classes, but was not excited to play in a lacrosse program with those facilities and a coach I had a bad feeling about.

In the end, I made probably the most mature decision I’ve ever made. In a moment of unexpected clarity, I simply asked myself, “If I get hurt and cannot continue to play lacrosse, where will I be happiest?” When I looked at it from this angle, it was such a simple decision for me. Against my initial requirements of a bigger school in a big city, I chose the small, rural college in New Hampshire. For once, I put my academics ahead of my athletics. It was the best decision I ever made. As fate would have it, I ended up sustaining a career ending injury my sophomore year and I loved every single day I spent on that campus for four years.

My Advice:

• Be on your best behavior at all times. College coaches are just as concerned about who you are off the field as on. I received a letter from one coach, essentially terminating their interest in me. I later found out it was because they saw me slam my stick on the ground in frustration during a game. There are so many athletes out there these days that coaches are looking for reasons to cross you off their list.

• Don’t pigeonhole yourself to one type of school. What you’re interested in as a sophomore or junior in high school can quickly change as you mature.

• Don’t choose a school based solely on the sport you play. If suddenly you can’t play anymore, you sure don’t want to be stuck at a school you can’t stand outside of your sport.

• If you are really interested in a school, but are not hearing from the coach, don’t give up. Coaches love players that are persistent and show a real interest and determination to play for their program.

• Lastly, don’t play one sport in high school. Collegiate coaches want athletes, not specialists.

John

For more information check out the Active Recruiting 101 special section.

University of Richmond ‘08 - Women's Lacrosse

Lacrosse for me began in fourth grade. All of my friends had just signed up to play for a Green Hornets team, our local sports organization, and I decided I didn’t want to miss out. From then on I began to realize how popular of a sport it was within my area and how big a part it was going to play in the rest of my life.

After I made my high school’s junior varsity lacrosse team my freshman year, I began to notice that almost all of the seniors on both the girls and guys varsity teams had been offered the chance to play in college, with many of them being for Division I teams. I wanted to have this same chance.

I started to attend overnight lacrosse camps the summer after my freshman year. Attending the camps was advantageous in several ways; they allowed you to visit different campuses, learn from experienced players and coaches, and gain valuable recruiting visibility. Many of the camps offered today not only have coaches from the school where they are hosted, but they also have coaches from other schools so you are able to meet a variety of different coaches.

The next three summers were filled with camps and tournaments. I was doing everything I could so that I could be seen by any coach that saw potential in me. I had no idea where I wanted to go, all I knew was that I didn’t want to go anywhere that was going to be too cold and I wanted to play lacrosse; so needless to say my mind was wide open to any option.

During my sophomore year I put together a player profile, sort of like a resume but for sports. I included my contact information, GPA, SATs, position, awards, and any camps or tournaments I had attended or was planning to attend. I sent these profiles to any college coach’s email address I could get my hands on; I just wanted to get my name out there. After a while I began to get a lot of correspondence through the mail. Schools would send their information along with a questionnaire for me to fill out. When July 1st of my senior summer finally approached, I just remember being so nervous to see if any coaches would actually call me. I received a couple of calls and decided to take three of them up on their offers for me to attend official visits.

My first visit was to Penn State University. I remember driving onto the campus and being in awe of how big the school was. The team was nice and I had met the assistant coaches several times at various camps so I felt comfortable and ready to learn more about the school. My next visit was to the University of Richmond. This visit was the weekend directly following my Penn State University visit so I was feeling a little stressed, but that all changed when I pulled up on the campus.  My Mom and Dad drove me down for the visit. We got to the school a little early so we were able to drive around and take a look at the campus. Everyone told me that you’ll know which school is right for you the moment you step on the campus. I thought that was ridiculous and that would never happen, but to my surprise I was wrong. The campus was gorgeous, the coaches made me feel wanted and important, and the team seemed like such a cohesive group. I was sold, but I still had one more visit to take. My last visit was to Loyola College in Maryland. It was a short trip from my house and I ended up going at the same time as two of my friends. The school was very similar to the University of Richmond and I loved the housing situation and their food services, but I decided that it was just a little too close to home and at the time, many girls from my high school already played there and I wanted more of a change.

I left Loyola College on a Sunday night and by Tuesday I had made my decision. I called Sue Murphy; the Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at the University of Richmond and told her I wanted to be a part of her team. She was very excited and helpful; she told me how to handle the other coaches that I was turning down. She said to be very kind and to send them a thank you note in the mail; with coaching changes and all conference nominations you never know who will have a say in your future lacrosse career. As soon as I hung up the phone I felt like a thousand pounds had been lifted off my chest, all my hard work had paid off. It was the beginning of October and my college decisions were already made, when everyone else was stressing I was able to sit back and enjoy the rest of my senior year, it was a great feeling.

My Advice:

• Start early. It’s never too soon to get your name out there and start communication with different coaches.

• Attend Camps and Tournaments. Not only do they give you visibility, but they also give you valuable playing and learning experience.

• Attend any Junior Days or Unofficial Visits you can. Take advantage of any chance you get to see a college campus or meet the coach or team.

• Attend all of your Official Visits you have committed to. I have heard so many stories of players who almost didn’t attend their last official visit – which actually ended up being the school they attended.

Erin

For more information check out the Active Recruiting 101 special section.

University of Richmond ‘08 - Women's Lacrosse

When I first picked up a lacrosse stick in the 4th grade, I had no idea how many doors it would open.  My parents, on the other hand, knew exactly what they were doing when they signed me up for my first lacrosse clinic.  Every year they heard of more and more girls going to college on lacrosse scholarships and wanted to get in on the action. Luckily for them, I fell in love with the sport.

Summer camps and winter clinics dominated my free time.  Not only was I getting better at lacrosse, I was being seen and taught by coaches from some of the most dominant lacrosse schools in the country.  By my sophomore year in high school, letters began arriving from coaches.  I sent countless emails and letters to every D-I and D-III program I had even the slightest interest in.  My junior year was a whirlwind of questionnaires and emails, but during the summer before my senior year I had narrowed my list down to three schools.

I was offered official visits at Duke, James Madison University, Cornell and the University of Richmond.  I declined the official visit to Cornell (too cold!), and packed my bags for my big trip South.  James Madison was my first visit and one I made primarily to please my father who had fallen in love with the school and was convinced that I would too.  He was wrong.  I meshed well with the team and with the coaching staff, but something didn’t feel right.  Plus, I secretly knew I was going to commit to Duke and be a Blue Devil and a Cameron Crazy and live it up in Durham for four amazing years.  Wrong again.  After building it up for four years, my visit to Duke was a complete disappointment and I felt confused and frustrated at the end of my visit.  I was running out of schools!  Why had I turned down Cornell?  Richmond had been my last choice, and I begrudgingly left my high school friends for one last weekend to visit the school.  Even though the campus had just been decimated by a hurricane, it was beautiful.  The team was amazing and the students were unbelievably nice.  Everything just felt right.  I gave my verbal commitment before leaving the campus.

My Advice:

• Do not turn down a school “just ’cause”.  I am still kicking myself for turning down Northwestern University – three time defending National Champions - simply because I had never heard of them and they were from Illinois (everyone knows the only good teams are on the East Coast!). 

• I highly recommend taking all of your official visits.  If I had had it my way, I would have committed to Duke before even taking an official visit and it would have been the biggest mistake of my life.   

• Lastly, go into each visit with an open mind and be polite to the people who are hosting you.  Being courteous and respectful will get you far in life, and in the recruiting process. 

Have fun, and good luck!  It’s a crazy time, but it’s definitely worth it in the end.

Samantha

For more information check out the Active Recruiting 101 special section.

University of Richmond '08 - Women's Lacrosse

My experience with the recruiting process for college lacrosse began at an early age. My destiny was written by the high school I chose to attend: St. Mary's of Annapolis. This school had a legacy of producing fantastic, talented women's lacrosse players, and was arguably one of the best programs in the country. I had been playing lacrosse since the early age of seven years old; always played above my year, and always played with girls that were years older than me.

My high school coach was also my club lacrosse coach, Sue Chittim. Chittim, as we lovingly referred to her as, was one of the best coaches in the Anne Arundel Area, and had a lot of history and connections with college coaches. Early on in my sophomore year fall, I began to write letters expressing my interest in different college lacrosse programs. I sent my letters EVERYWHERE! I sent letters to every Ivy League school, to Hopkins, Maryland, Notre Dame, Stanford, basically every college or university across the nation I could ever be interested in to play Division I lacrosse. I included academic information about myself and expressed interest in their lacrosse programs. I immediately began a correspondence with these schools, and invited them to watch me play in tournaments and game throughout the rest of my career.

By the end of my junior year of high school, I began to stand out as one of the best high school lacrosse players in the area. I was named All-County, All-Metro, and All-American. This was the most important recruiting time of my life: Junior year summer. I went to as many tournaments as I could, played lacrosse all through the year, and tried my best to stand out as an all-around talented athlete. This time in my life could have been severely stressful, although I never perceived it to be. To me, I was just playing the sport I loved and having the time of my life with my teammates, who were also my best friends.

On July 1st, I began to receive phone calls from various coaches around the country who had seen me play. I was recruited by Yale University, University of Notre Dame, Penn State University, Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Delaware, University of Richmond, Princeton University, and Loyola College, among various other schools. I was also recruited by many D-III schools, but was uninterested in pursuing that venue.

This was a process of mutual selection. The schools that were interested in me had to want me due to my criterion as a player, and respectively, I had to want them due to their criterion as a college. I talked with countless coaches, assistant coaches, and consulted my parents as much as possible. I finally narrowed it down to the following: Penn State University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Richmond and Princeton University. As an athlete, you can only take five official visits to various colleges. I decided four was enough for me.

My first visit to Penn State University was unreal. I got to be on the same football field as Joe Paterno, one of the most admired football coaches of his time. The lacrosse coaches were very nice and welcoming. My mom came with me, and we were both blown away. Penn State University was enormous and despite its size, I was still able to meet with the President of the entire school.  Everyone loved being apart of the chaos. It was overwhelming. But, it wasn't truly me.

The next visit I went to was University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution, extremely impressive. Everyone I met was incredibly intelligent. I was blown away by the prestige and the dignity that this institution was known for. The coach was very classy and the team seemed very together and dedicated. To be honest, I was intimidated. I doubted myself, was I really Ivy League material? I had no idea.

My last visit was to the University of Richmond. I was unsure of what to expect.  I knew it was small, I knew the South wasn't so up to date on lacrosse culture and I knew they didn't have a boy's lacrosse team, which I wasn't thrilled about.

However, the moment I arrived in Richmond, I knew something was different about this school.  I walked onto campus and it just felt right. I loved the close knit feel of the university. I loved the fact that I could walk the entire campus in under 45 minutes. I hung out with the team, and felt the immediate chemistry you feel when you stumble into something truly real, truly unique. I loved the camaraderie between the teammates, from the senior class down to the freshman class as everyone was treated equal on this team. Something clicked in my heart and in my head; I knew I was at home.

I've been at the University of Richmond for four years now. It's the end of my senior year, and I am finally forced to look back on the four years I've spent on my academics, athletics, and interpersonal relationships.

Well, time has certainly flown. The recruiting process made me follow my heart. I've learned that when you follow your instincts, you can't go wrong.

My advice:

• Listen to your parents; accept their advice, but ultimately:  decide for yourself. Life will not be over if you choose to go against their wishes. In fact, life is just beginning for you.

• Don't discount yourself. If you think you deserve more credit, more recognition, more accountability, then ask for it! What do you have to lose, if you never inquire?

• Don't settle for second best. Push yourself, just like you would on the field, until you know you can truly be happy.

• Be real. Honestly, if a coach treats you like "all that" when she is recruiting you that doesn't mean you will be when you are on the team. You are going to be at the bottom of the totem pole when you get to college and you are the 'freshmen' and the 'youngest' again.  Don't be fooled into thinking you are going to start for college coaches the moment you walk on campus, you'll have to prove yourself to your coaches and teammates.

• Don't sweat the small stuff. In the beginning of the recruiting process, you might get ultra frustrated, but it will be fine. There are bumps in the road that is life. Just keep putting the effort in.

Jenna

For more information check out the Active Recruiting 101 special section.