The New York State Regional Championships is a new event that is and will be a great opportunity for New York State High School lacrosse players to represent their region, Nassau, Suffolk, Parochial, NYC, Hudson Valley, Adirondack, Central or Western, and compete for a State Championship to see what region has the best lacrosse players in New York State. Eligibility for the event requires players to be a resident in NYS from the graduating classes of 2022 through 2019.
Recruiting
The Direction You Choose
The recruiting process can be your own personal journey or someone else’s.
The process can be fun or frantic.
The process can a learning experience or futile.
The process can clear or confusing.
The process can be lead to the best four years or many tears.
The process can get you one step closer to a successful career or lead you astray from your hopes and dreams.
The process can lead to open doors or knock you down to the floor.
The process can keep a stick in your hand or force you to put it down.
Good grades, hard work, persistence, communication, accountability, respect, and hard work (said that twice on purpose), will give you the right to choose how you want to spend the process.
The Calendar
For any studlete going thru “The Process” it’s important to follow some sort of timeline. We call this timeline “The Calendar.” Our recruiting calendar offers some basic insight on when players should email college coaches, visit schools, or focus on their school team vs. club team. Publicizing a timeline and following it proves to be an effective way to organize “The Process.”
Take a peek at FLG’s Recruiting Calendar by clicking here.
The Process
When it comes to getting recruited, every player is different. One studlete wants to fly commercial airplanes one day, another wants to become a college coach. One studlete wants to be High School Social Studies teacher, another wants to be an entrepreneur. One wants a “DI Experience”, another wants to have the luxury of travelling abroad in the Fall.
While no two studletes are the same, they should still follow an intelligent route towards finding the perfect fit. At FLG, we call this path “The Process.” The Process offers our boys and girls a simple guide towards accomplishing the simple goal of finding the right fit after High School.
It’s important to note, the Process does NOT:
Guarantee.
Promise.
Compare.
However, The Process does:
Offer clarity.
Teach accountability.
Stimulate maturity.
Check FLG’s Process by clicking here.
The Inner You
Starting at a young age it is extremely important to have the right mindset and work ethic about everything you do. I am lucky enough to have 2 parents who constantly preach it so I am consistent with it. Growing up there was a kid I played with who was good enough to be the #1 recruit and go to play anywhere he wanted. He would always dominate everyone else and it started getting easy for him. The problem was his head started getting filled by everyone telling him how good he was and he stopped working hard. There started to be a slow decline in his performance. While all this was happening there were many other kids like myself who didn’t get the attention he did. The people with higher work ethics have a higher ceiling than those with lower work ethics even though they might have more talent than you. The best thing to do is use it as motivation and outwork the other kid. With the right attitude and work ethic, anything is possible. Don’t cheat yourself and practice all the time and good things will happen. My Dad always told me to treat everything you do like you are a horse running in a race. They all wear blinders so they don’t get distracted. In life block out all of the noise, keep working hard and good things will come.
Drop the D’s
Whenever we talk to high school lacrosse recruits, we always say drop the D’s when researching schools. Meaning, when doing your research, don’t worry about whether a lacrosse program is Division I, II, or III.
Lacrosse recruit: But, I want to play for a Division I lacrosse program?
FLG: Why?
Lacrosse recruit: I want to travel across the country to play games, I want a more serious lacrosse experience, I want to play with talented players…
At this point, we must interject. It’s fine for an athlete to want all these things. However, it’s wrong to think you can only get these things playing for a Division I program.
Today, I got a chance to attend the Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) Men’s Lacrosse practice. This group flew from Delaware, Ohio to Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island to compete against Messiah College for a non-conference game. Tonight they go to Black Stone steak house, one of the finest restaurants on Long Island. Tomorrow they play a game and fly back on a chartered plane from Republic Airport.
When I first arrived at practice Head Coach, Mike Plantholt, handed me a practice plan with a minute to minute break-down of drills, description of offensive and defensive concepts, offensive and defensive depth chart with positions, last names, and jersey numbers, a complete list of injured players with job descriptions for each guy, reminders for the team, and freshman duties.
During practice, I saw nothing but athletes with speed and quickness. OWU’s style of play…fast!
Ohio Wesleyan is a Division III University that competes in the NCAC for Conference Championships year after year, this group experiences playing in NCAA playoff games, and they look to compete for a NCAA National Championship.
An athlete that only wants to play DI doesn’t know about OWU.
Advice to lacrosse recruits:
- Drop the D’s
- Do your research
- See what OWU is all about ↓
For more photos from OWU’s practice today, check us out on facebook.
Evaluating What’s Best For Your Athletes
Every February break, the FLG Directors meet with each boy/girl recruitable athlete in the FLG Select Program. In our meetings, it’s all about the athlete. We use this time to get to know our athletes on a deeper level.
We like to say, “Lacrosse is why you’re sitting here today. That being said, it’s your interests, passions, and academic expectations that gives a better understanding of what you want in your college experience.”
These meetings aren’t all about lacrosse. They are about getting our athletes on the right path. We want our families to channel their efforts in the right direction. No wasted time. No wasted money. No false hopes.
We shoot it straight.
We ask questions.
We listen.
We make suggestions.
We give advice.
We share stories.
We target schools.
We make a plan of action.
We stay in touch.
We never stop.
We let our families know that we are here to help and guide. We aren’t here to take credit for your son or daughter’s commit. There are so many resources out there for families to use. Guidance counsellors in school, an old youth coach, a neighbor, a twitter account. Take advantage of them, don’t let your club be your only resource or the end-all, be-all.
For more information on what we discuss with our athletes, don’t hesitate to reach out! We too want other clubs, high schools, and teams to build more than just athletes.
The True Meaning of Commitment
In our program, we don’t promote the committed players from our program until they sign their National Letter of Intent or get into the school they are verbally committed to. As players in High School begin to ‘commit’, it’s important for FLG to educate our players on the true meaning of ‘commitment.’ In the eyes of FLG Lacrosse, one might ask, “What is the true meaning of commitment?”
Developing each year in High School as a student and athlete is commitment.
Staying with the community you were raised and developed in is commitment.
Giving back to your community, club, or the game itself is commitment.
Learning about your future home and supporting your future school is commitment.
Fighting to make your teammates better each and every day is commitment.
Verbally telling a coach, “I want to go to your school” is the beginning of a road towards fining the true meaning of committing. It’s a means to the end. It’s not everything.
Below we’ve listed the 2017 studletes who are signed, sealed, and committed to taking their talents to the next level. These studletes know the true meaning of commitment. They’ve worked tirelessly to get an amazing opportunity to play collegiate lacrosse. Congrats to all the great young men and women in the FLG 2017 class who are moving on to play college lacrosse!
Girls
- Karline Bartels – Molloy
- Jillian Mayer – Manhattan
- Grace Steinthal – Manhattan
- Alexa Ritchie – Ithaca
- GinMarie Wilson – Hartwick
- Gabrielle Picolo – Bloomsburg St.
- Giana Kapoosuzian – Bryant
- Jess Losquadro – St. Bonaventure
- Kristen Decicco – LeMoyne
- Maggie Bridges – Sewanee
- Megan Keener – Adelphi
- Talia Maccarino – Molloy
Boys
- Nolan Parisi – George Washington
- Jack Gatto – Franklin & Marshall
- Brian Schindler – Wagner
- Jared Strauss – Williams
- Connor Griffin – Suny Geneseo
- John Mandola – Adelphi
- Justin Malpica – Manhattan
- Peter Scavone – Suny Brockport
- Ryan McAllister – LIU Post
- Tommy Whelan – Wesleyan
- Rob Connors – Suny Oswego
- Kyle Higgins – M.I.T.
- Mark Rafuse – Lycoming
- David Loehle – Salisbury
- Brody Agres – St. Johns
- Joe Miller – Navy
- Liam McAuliffe – Fairfield
- Chris Gray – Boston University
- Kevin Mack – Michigan
- Phil Puccio – Bucknell
- Christian Kuhn – Air Force
Be sure to follow FLG Lacrosse on instagram @flglax to see action shots, high schools, and positions for all our 2017 committed studletes! #LoveTheGame
