Saturday, March 7, 2015




Building Your Future

Every parent and every athlete dreams of being recruited to a top DI school.  The vision of athletic scholarship is both an honor and a financial benefit against rising college costs.   The essential reality is that being a quality lacrosse player can benefit you in college in ways that are not quite so obvious.

It's Not the Money
* High school men's lacrosse players: 170, 632
* Average scholarships per program per year: 3.15
* Average players per recruiting class: 12
* Average estimated scholarships: 26 percent
* Fully funded programs: 35
* Total scholarships available: 441
* Players receiving some scholarship over four years: 1,470
* Odds of any high school male landing any Division I scholarship: 0.86 percent
 

Click here to view college lacrosse programs and their scholarship award amounts. 

OK, If It's Not the Money, What is it?
Colleges have goals for the qualities they seek in students.  They use admissions and financial aids to obtain the characteristics they desire.  All colleges have the ability to select students based on factors such as having a parent who is an alumnus, musical talent, geographic origin and many other factors.  

Research has demonstrated that most broadly recruited athletes have the greatest preference in admissions.  A study at Princeton University found that this advantage ranges from 30% in many schools to up to 50% in Ivies and other highly selective schools.  In other words, you may not get more money for education, but you may get more education for the money.  The "recruited athlete's advantage" is a powerful benefit in college admissions. 

Finding A College?
Ideally, you select college without regard to lacrosse and  then evaluate the programs your choice schools offer and try to be recruited.  But most often people start by looking at the lacrosse schools and seeing which fit them. 

 There are 69 DI programs in the country.  If your goal is DI your choice must be one of these 69.  But there are some of these which you rule out by location, program, or other reason.  So your choice of college is far smaller.  Good if it works and there is a good fit.  Now that you've picked the group of colleges you want, you have to get them to want you in competition with the other 40,000 in your graduation year.  

Now look at the DII schools, (59 of these).  They have fewer maximum scholarships, but they offer quality play and another set of schools to find your favorite school.  Check these out and add the ones you like to your list of recruiting efforts.  

The status and glory go to the DI and DII winners of athletic scholarships, but there are many reasons to look at the more than 223 DIII schools.  There are great colleges in this group spread widely around the country, and there are many reasons to choose a DIII program.  While DIII schools can't give athletic scholarships, the total financial package may rival that of other divisions, and is not subject to year to year athletic performance. 

And there many people stop looking at college lacrosse, but they miss a large part of college lacrosse in the MCLA - the non-NCAA programs of more than 200 colleges across the US and Canada.  Offered in two divisions, (I  and II), these programs are competitive, and represent some high quality colleges in a wide geographic area. 

In finding the college that is the best fit for you start your search with the broadest selection from among the more than 500 colleges fielding teams. 

 
Blue Chip 225 Connects with Colleges
In keeping with this approach, we believe that the broader set of opportunities you have to connect with colleges the more likely you are to find (and be found by) a college which fits both your athletic and academic goals.   

Blue Chip 225 will have more than 100 colleges  from across the spectrum of divisions and areas represented at one or more of it's Showcase Sessions.  Many more will view the live webcast all-star game for each class.  Every Blue Chip 225 game is made available on video files for every college coach in the country. 

 Join us and make your college connections count for your future.


Ted Spencer

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