By Brett Hughes

ESPN RISE wants to bring as much knowledge, advice and entertainment as possible about all things high school lacrosse. Lately, I have been inundated with kids writing me trying to figure out the most important question in HS lacrosse. How do I get recruited? I want to take a second to reassure you there is only one real way to get where you want to be in lacrosse and life. There is no substitute for hard work.

Just about every coach has said, hard work, stick skills, grades, dedication& all things that relate to hard work plane and simple.

The one downside to the increased coverage of our sport is the same thing the plagues most other sports. You see the world's best:  Ryan Boyle, Kevin Huntly, Kyle Harrison, Brodie Merril, John Grant Jr., Joe Walters&etc playing on the weekends, but the sports world can't show you what they did before they became stars.

I want to make no mistake before my readers go any further that most important to getting recruited is the hard work you do with your lacrosse stick on a field in practice, game or by yourself. Practice stick skills (not stick tricks) proper shooting, and footwork carries the day and every player at the top has said it again and again.

Here is what a few coaches from around the lacrosse world said for up and coming kids. So when you get back from the wall at night and are done with schoolwork you can follow a few easy ideas to make it easier on yourself to get recruited.

"Communication is the best way for kids to get on the radar (beside playing very well)--being proactive and not always waiting to hear from a school first.  Sending a simple introductory letter with athletic and academic resume, game film and list of summer events/spring schedule helps us identify prospects and do our job of evaluating if the prospect is a good fit for us.
Mark Van Arsdale (UVA Asst. Head Coach)

"Follow up their initial letter or email with voice contact if there is a school in which they have strong interest.  They should do the talking. Not mom or dad.  The player conveys a great deal to a coach there will be time for mom and dad to get involved.
Guy Van Arsdale (Asst. Coach Penn State)

A couple tips I usually give kids who are looking to get recruited, particularly by D3 school but all over as well: be proactive, let coaches know well in advance of camps and tournaments you'll be attending.  Be persistent and answer emails and letters.  At our level, like I said, we're sending out letters to 600 kids, so it really helps us if a kid sends back a questionnaire or emails Coach to say that he wants to visit campus.  Finally, film always helps.  Even if you have taken an unofficial to a school or if the Coach has written to you, film is a great way to remind us about you.  Again, we have written to about 600 kids, and of those, Coach Koudelka has probably only seen 200.  It really helps me to get you recruited if I can pop in your film and show Coach how you rip nets.
Joe Starsia (Lynchburg Asst. Coach)