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Tier Lacrosse: How To Get Recruited

Editor’s note: Please welcome Trevor Tierney back to the Lax All Stars! This week, we posed a few burning questions to Trevor about high school athletics and getting recruited to play in college. For more information on recruiting, make sure you check out his “How To Get Recruited” series at TierLacrosse.com!

Got a question you want Trevor to answer in next week’s post? Drop it in the comments section below and we’ll make sure he sees it!
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Tier Lacrosse

High school fall ball vs. playing a fall sport – What’s the best option for an aspiring lacrosse athlete? Why?

As I wrote in my blog on TIER Lacrosse, “How To Get Recruited : Be A Great Athlete”, I really feel that it is important for young lacrosse players to play at least one other sport in high school. I also understand that the recruiting process has been pushed so far back by coaches, that it is important for lacrosse players to get exposure in the fall. Since this is the case, the ideal situation would be that a lacrosse player try to play a fall sport at their high school and play for a club or high school lacrosse team in the fall, if their schedule allows for it. If not, then that player could play fall lacrosse and then play a winter sport before the spring lacrosse season gets going.

The reason that I think playing another sport is so important is that different sports develop your athleticism in different ways. It has become so competitive to play at the college level, whether it is DI, DII, DIII or MCLA, that a young player needs to be a great athlete in order to have the opportunity. Just playing lacrosse might turn you into a great lacrosse player, but it will not help you to become the best athlete that you can be in the same way that playing multiple sports will.

Also, playing other sports through elementary, middle and high school will teach young student athletes how to manage their time, which will be an important part of their success in college, both in the class room and on the field. I played football, hockey or basketball and lacrosse from the time I was around nine or ten years old. I learned from a very young age that I had to use my time wisely and that really helped me down the road.

When it comes to recruiting, what is a college coach’s perception of a 1-sport (lacrosse only) athlete vs. a 2-3 sport athlete?

College coaches LOVE lacrosse players that play other sports in high school. There is the general feeling that athletes who just play lacrosse are not as athletic as those who play other sports. Many coaches seem to think that lacrosse players who also play football are tougher individuals. Those who play soccer are better conditioned, those who play hockey have better hands, and those who play basketball have a better overall field sense. Whether or not these assumptions are true is a whole other topic, but, if this is what coaches think, then it’s going to be easier to get their attention by playing another sport of your choosing.

As a coach, do you prefer football players above athletes with other sports backgrounds? Why or why not?

As a former high school football player myself, I have a bias towards the sport. The discipline and overall mental and physical toughness of playing football is unmatched in any other sport. But, as I mentioned in my answer to the previous question, I believe every sport has its own qualities that can lend themselves to help a player succeed in lacrosse. The biggest aspect to all of this is that if you are going to be a college athlete, you are going to have to absolutely love being an athlete to not only succeed, but also just survive. If you love being an athlete, you are going to want to take advantage of playing other sports when you have the chance. Some of my memories as a high school football and hockey player are some of my fondest memories of my entire athletic career!

Thanks and I look forward to being able to answer anyone’s questions on LaxAllStars.com in the future. Check out the rest of my blogs at TierLacrosse.com!

– Trevor

Tier Lacrosse 

Check out TierLacrosse.com for more great articles from Trevor Tierney.