East Coast Travel
We have put endless hours into determining what are the best events for our players to not only become the best versions of themselves, but to maximize their opportunities at the next level. The recruiting process is confusing and challenging, and for this we wanted to give you a better understanding of our decision making process and why we are going east early and often.
First, let's talk about college lacrosse. College lacrosse provides an invaluable opportunity for our young men by leveraging the sport to get into better academic institutions they might not otherwise, and to create potential to receive scholarships and financial aid packages (although funds can be limited). In addition, playing college lacrosse at any level provides an extremely beneficial framework to help young men develop in all areas of their lives; from the support system colleges provide to student-athletes, to the academic motivation and accountability, to the relationships and social networks, to the unmatched health and fitness benefits, to the essential time management skill development, to the fun and stress relief sports provide, to the teamwork and leadership skill development, to the competition that challenges us to be great. You can ask any member of our coaching staff and they will all agree that playing lacrosse in college was one of the best decisions they ever made and pivotal to them becoming a better man, coach, sibling, husband, and/or father.
In addition to all the benefits of playing college lacrosse, here is why we have decided to head to the East Coast early and often:
Maximum Exposure by Quantity: East Coast events are hands down the best way to maximize your recruiting exposure by volume. The number of college coaches that attend East Coast events is easily triple that of West Coast events, if not more.
Maximum Exposure by Quality (Decision Makers): Head coaches and top assistants do the majority of their recruiting on the East Coast, and more often than not those are the coaches making the final decisions on you.
Evaluation Against Top Competition: In order to be recruited effectively, college coaches need to see you play against quality competition. The best competition for lacrosse by far is the East Coast.
Multiple Evaluations: It is rare for a college coach to see you one time and then make an offer. They typically need to see you 3-4 times (if not more) and/or have each of their coaches see you before making a final decision as to whether you are a good fit.
Condensed Recruiting Window for Quality Evaluations: With the new recruiting rules, it has naturally condensed the decision making process surrounding Sept 1 of your junior year. Thus it is critical to have multiple East Coast events surrounding this time.
Cost Difference vs Value Proposition: We understand the cost provides a challenge; however, in our experience and comparing costs East vs West, the major difference is the flight cost, which can be mitigated by booking early. The cost might be $100-$200 more for a flight, but the value gained is exponentially more. That said, we are currently exploring the best options to help mitigate this… from ‘carpooling’, to team specific donations/scholarships, to sharing flight miles, to chaperoning, etc.
Why travel freshman teams to the east? Competing against the best in the country in the hot summer months and the cold winter months, and traveling coast-to-coast to do so takes practice- a lot of practice. The sooner our players and teams start experiencing this the better and more prepared they are for the narrowed recruiting window.
Team Chemistry: We have proven that Oregon teams can compete nationally. If you want to maximize quality exposure, the best way to do so is on a team with chemistry and great coaching. This allows for more ball movement and more exposure for all players on the team. Not to mention, provide an amazing and fun opportunity to represent Oregon lacrosse.
College Coaches Agree: We are constantly in touch with college coaches to advocate for our players and to keep up-to-date with top recruiting events. In talking with numerous college coaches, they agree that maximizing East Coast travel is the best strategy for development and quality recruiting exposure, given you are attending the most competitive and well attended events. More often than not, even if a college sees you play at a West Coast event, they will typically need to see you again at an East Coast event to gain a better evaluation.