Lacrosse Contact Period: How Prospects can Become College Lacrosse Recruits
What is a Contact Period?
First, let’s start by defining a contact period: A contact period is a set time determined by the NCAA when coaches can contact athletes. It isn’t the only time an athlete and a coach can speak with each other, but there are less restrictions on communication. Coaches are allowed face-to-face contact with athletes on their college campus, as well as at an athlete’s school or in their home.
When Does the Contact Period Occur in Men’s DI Lacrosse?
There is a two week contact period that runs from January 7 to January 21, 2013. There is a secondary, longer contact period starting March 1 that continues until May 23, 2013, with a brief break for a dead period from April 15-18.
Going from a Prospect to a College Lacrosse Recruit
In the NCAA’s eyes, playing a sport for your school and graduating 8th grade qualify you as a prospect. A recruit is an athlete that has had phone conversations with coaches, received personalized mail and e-mail (not simply generic letters and questionnaires), and have seen coaches interest start to increase.
The process of going from a prospect to a college lacrosse recruit isn’t what most people expect. Most people expect that if they play well for the right teams and in the right tournaments that coaches will find them. The situations where coaches discover unknown athletes are very rare, and considering the NCAA allows student-athletes to contact coaches at any time, why would you want to sit around and leave your collegiate future in the hands of fate?
Contact Coaches Prior to the Contact Period
To become a college lacrosse recruit you will want to start contacting coaches prior to the contact period. This may seem a little counter-intuitive, but remember that you can contact a coach at any time; it’s because of that reason you don’t want to wait until the contact period to reach out to coaches. Think about it: if you can contact a coach at any time, that means there are college lacrosse recruits that are talking to coaches RIGHT NOW! What do you think that means coaches are doing during the contact period? That’s right; they are meeting athletes in person- whether it’s on their college campus, at the athlete’s school, or in their home.
You need to get in touch with coaches now, before the contact period, if you hope to meet them during the contact period. You can get started right away by locating coaches’ contact information on our free recruiting database, and you can get other ideas about what you can do by checking out our Winter Break Recruiting Checklist.
Create a Lacrosse Recruiting Video to Show Coaches
Creating a highlight video will help coaches get an immediate impression of you, which will help them determine if they want to recruit you. To expedite your recruiting process, start working on video now, as long as you have good-quality film. Nothing will turn a coach away faster than poor-quality film. You can upload your short highlight film (it should only be about 3 minutes and consist of 20-25 plays of your best plays- leading off with the best and working your way down) to YouTube and send the link to coaches. Here are some tips on creating a highlight video and how to get recruited using your highlight video.
If you have any questions about the lacrosse contact period, or how to become a college lacrosse recruit, please leave your question in the comments section below, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!
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