Women’s lacrosse recruiting
Competition for a roster spot on a women’s college lacrosse team is fierce. Student-athletes need to be more than just athletic, they need to be well-rounded, versatile competitors that excel athletically and academically. As student-athletes begin their recruiting journey, they should start with a strong recruiting profile and commit to clear and timely communication with college coaches at prospective schools.
To find the right college fit, student-athletes must first understand what collegiate level they are qualified to compete in. Once an athlete understands this, they can begin to build a list of target schools within that division to pursue during the recruiting process. Student-athletes can prepare to market themselves to these schools by building a profile, creating highlight video, contacting college coaches, competing in tournaments and attending prospect camps.
NCAA women’s lacrosse recruiting rules and calendar
College lacrosse coaches are now held to the strictest recruiting rules of any NCAA sport regarding communication. Contact is no longer permitted between student-athletes and college coaches until September 1 of the athlete’s junior year. While the NCAA has strict recruiting rules for Division 1 sports, some divisions have less restrictive recruiting rules that allow coaches to contact athletes earlier.
NCAA Division 1 women’s lacrosse recruiting rules
College coaches and student-athletes are held to the most restrictive rules at the NCAA Division 1 level. Rules vary from sport to sport.
Any time: Student-athletes can receive non-recruiting materials. College coaches can send questionnaires, nonathletic institutional publications, camp brochures and official NCAA educational materials.
September 1 of junior year: Athletes can begin to receive emails, text messages and direct messages from college coaches. College coaches can also begin sending recruiting materials and verbally offer scholarships.
September 1 of junior year: Student-athletes can begin scheduling unofficial visits and official visits after this date.
September 1 of junior year: College coaches can conduct off-campus evaluations. Evaluations must take place at the recruit’s school or home during their junior year.
NCAA Division 2 women’s lacrosse recruiting rules
The same NCAA Division 2 recruiting rules apply to all sports. These rules are far more flexible than those in place for NCAA Division 1 schools.
Non-recruiting materials: College coaches can send non-recruiting materials to student-athletes at any time. This includes camp NCAA materials, non-athletic recruiting publications, brochures and questionnaires.
Printed recruiting materials: Beginning July 15 after an athlete’s sophomore year, college coaches can begin sending printed recruiting materials.
Telephone calls: Coaches are permitted to start calling athletes, beginning June 15 after an athlete’s sophomore year.
Off-campus contact: Starting June 15 after an athlete’s sophomore year, off-campus communication is permitted between coaches and athletes and/or their parents.
Unofficial visits: Student-athletes can make unofficial visits at any time.
Official visits: Student-athletes may schedule official visits after June 15 of their sophomore year.
NCAA Division 3 women’s lacrosse recruiting rules
NCAA Division 3 schools have the most lenient recruiting rules of all NCAA divisions. These rules apply to all sports.
Recruiting materials: Student-athletes may receive recruiting materials at any time.
Telephone calls: College coaches may call student-athletes at any time.
Digital communications: Digital communication between college coaches and student-athletes is permitted at any time.
Off-campus contact: After an athlete’s sophomore year, athletes and coaches can begin communicating off-campus.
Official visits: Athletes can schedule official visits starting January 1 of their junior year.
Unofficial visits: Student-athletes can make as many unofficial visits as they would like.
View more information on the NCAA lacrosse recruiting rules and calendar.
How good do you have to be to play women’s college lacrosse?
Playing women’s college lacrosse takes more than just athleticism. College coaches want to fill roster spots with athletes who are versatile, demonstrate high lacrosse IQ and have the mental and physical strength to perform against strong competition. This section answers the question, “how good do you have to be to play college lacrosse?” by breaking down the experience, skills and other factors that athletes in each position require to be recruited at each tier level.
Find out what lacrosse college coaches are looking for in student-athletes.
Women’s lacrosse scholarship
How many players on a women’s lacrosse team receive scholarships each year? The NCAA allows each Division 1 women’s lacrosse program to award a maximum of 12 full-ride equivalent scholarships. There are even fewer lacrosse scholarship opportunities at the NCAA Division 2 level, with 9.9 scholarships per team. Unfortunately, not every lacrosse program is fully funded, which means some programs have fewer than the maximum number of scholarships to award student-athletes. To learn more about scholarship opportunities and how to get an athletic scholarship at NCAA programs, as well as the NAIA and NJCAA, visit the scholarships guide page.
Learn more about women’s lacrosse scholarship opportunities.
How to get recruited for women’s lacrosse
The recruiting process can feel like a juggling act between maintaining a recruiting profile, communicating with college coaches and attending camps and tournaments. While it can be stressful at times, student-athletes who are diligent during the process better situate themselves to get recruited for women’s lacrosse. Our goal in this section is to alleviate some of the stress that comes with the recruiting process through tips about when to communicate with college coaches, how to write a recruiting letter, select what camps to attend and more.
Familiarize yourself with the college recruiting process.
Create a lacrosse recruiting video
A lacrosse recruiting video gives college coaches insight into an athlete’s ability to play the game with a variety of skills. Student-athletes will need to include in their three to four-minute video what college coaches are looking for in athletes that play at their position. For example, an attacker’s highlight video should include game clips that demonstrate confidence in competition against top talent and the ability to clearly communicate with teammates during play.
After student-athletes have a variety of game footage to work with, they can begin to organize, edit and upload their highlight video. After student-athletes upload their recruiting video, they can begin to share it with college coaches. In this section we walk student-athletes through the entire process of making a strong highlight video.
Learn how to create a lacrosse recruiting video.
Women’s lacrosse camps
Student-athletes must take advantage of opportunities to compete in front of college coaches and showcase their skillset. Lacrosse camps are a great way to be seen by college coaches and develop as athletes under their guidance. College coaches use this time to interact with athletes and evaluate talent that they have begun recruiting. This section we help student-athletes understand the importance of lacrosse camps and find a camp near them.
Find women’s lacrosse camps near you.
NCSA is the official recruiting partner of USA Lacrosse
List of colleges with women’s lacrosse
How many college lacrosse teams are there for women lacrosse players? There are 550 four-year institutions and 18 junior colleges that offer women’s college lacrosse. While athletics is a large factor in a student-athlete’s search for the right college fit, there are many other factors that student-athletes consider. Factors such as academics, cost, size and location weigh heavily in a college search. This section gives a more detailed look at women’s lacrosse programs at the NCAA, NAIA and the NJCAA levels.
Find the right college fit with our guide to women’s lacrosse colleges.
Other helpful websites
There are a number of other valuable resources that student-athletes and their families can turn to during the college recruiting process. Some of these resources include collegecrosse.com, insidelacrosse.com and uslaxmagazine.com. Student-athletes who are interested in seeing how each women’s college lacrosse programs ranks can reference NCSA’s Power Rankings and the NCAA’s website.
View our list of the best women’s lacrosse colleges.
*** This information was taken from https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-lacrosse. Please visit the website for more information on recruiting guidelines and tips.