Getting Seen Is a Byproduct of Being Good

Getting seen by College lacrosse coaches is a goal of many lacrosse goalies.  But while everyone would love the opportunity to play lacrosse in college, the goal is not “getting seen”, it’s getting good!  If you focus on getting good which is something you can control then getting seen by coaches will happen naturally.

Why Getting “Seen” Is a Byproduct of Being Good

0:13 Coach Edwards says thanks to everyone who has emailed in the last few months.
1:04 Check out LacrosseGoalieuniversity.com for our online membership.
1:38 New ebook in the product section about lacrosse recruiting so get your copy today.
2:00 This weeks question:  How to get seen?
3:20 Why parents, athletes and coaches get confused about the process.
3:39 The attitude Coach Edwards took to be a recruitable lacrosse goalie.

Hey there guys.  Coach Edwards here with www.LacrosseGoalieTips.com and www.LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com.  Long time, no see.  I apologize and say thanks to everyone who has been emailing me and who has been wondering where I’ve been.

Listen, LacrosseGoalieTips.com is the longest running lacrosse goalie specific website on the planet and I’m pretty proud of that. Over the last few months it’s been a crazy transition.  Was in Canada, moved back to the states for a while.  Was in New York for the summer and Boston for the fall and now back up to Canada where I’m really excited to be again working with all of our goalies online.  And so a quick shout out to everybody who has sent me messages.  I really appreciate that.

I want to start the new year off with a bang and tell you about a couple things going on.

1.  Lacrosse Goalie University is still the best resource for lacrosse goalies around the world.  I really appreciate all the goalies who are in there and lots of new videos coming online this year.

2.  LacrosseGoalieTips.com is a huge resources so check out all of our posts and if you have any questions just email me at coachedwards@lacrossegoalieuniversity.com

OK, a couple of things I want to announce.  1) In the products section of LacrosseGoalieTips.com you’ll find a new ebook that I created last year called Lacrosse Recruit Truth:  The Ultimate Guide To Lacrosse Recruiting.  You’re going to want to get yourself a copy. I’ve gotten some great feedback on that which I love.

How Can I Get Seen By Lacrosse Coaches?

The question for this week to start off the New Year was a question I got from a parent on Facebook which revolved around getting seen.  How does their athlete get seen?

I probably get this question, during the spring, about once a week.  In the off-season it trails off, once a month or so.  But “getting seen” is obviously a really hot topic and I want to put an end to that.

Because, here’s the deal:   Getting seen is a byproduct of being good.  Ok?  Getting seen is something is something that you can’t really control.  And if you get eaten up by the lacrosse marketing monster where there’s the recruiting, this travel team, this coach to see.  This Showcase event.  All of this is crazy.  Any lacrosse coach worth his salt will tell you that they don’t like it.  They hate where the NCAA has gone to recruiting athletes at younger and younger ages and no one wats to really do much about it.  There are some things in the work but nothing is really solid.  It’s still happening matter what gets done.  It’s just nuts.

Focus On What You Can Control

So, if you focus on being good, being seen will come from that.  What I find is that too many goalies and players and parents fall into this category where they are just trying to get their kid seen for college.  And it’s really the wrong way to go about it.  Personally, my mindset every day was to be the best goalie on the field.  And I figured that if I did that enough times that I would eventually be the best goalie.  And so every day at practice I wanted to be the best goalie on the field.  I had to be better than all the other goalies on my team.  When we had games on Wednesdays and Saturdays I wanted to be the best goalie on the field again and that meant my save percentage and not just the score on the board.

So I would diligently, after every game, watch video and do my own stats and find out what was my save percentage base compared to the other goalie.  Because if I did that enough, I knew that I would be the best goalie in the league.  And I was.

Start With Local Lacrosse Challenges And Then Branch Out

From there, I then branched out and I then went on and tested myself in different camps over the summer, and different summer events.  Bay State Games which they don’t run anymore in Massachusetts was one of the.  If I did that enough I’d get “seen”.  I encourage you to do the same thing.

Athletes.  Goalies. Here’s the deal.  Everyday be the best goalie on your team.  Here’s an email I get every once in a while.  Hey, you know I’m the best goalie in my program.  I’ve got a 70% save percentage and I’m really, really good.  I want to stop you right there.  If you’re thinking along those lines, you’re want I call,  probably, the cream of the crap unless you’re coming out of one of the hotbeds.  There are other hotbeds now, California for example.  But your save percentage is an internal metric and it’s not necessarily one that you can compare goalie on the East Coast against goalie B on the West Coast.  You really have to get them together.  But the first things first is to be the best goalie you can be and THEN reach out to get “seen”

Be The Best Lacrosse Goalie In Your Area First

Here’s the thing about getting seen.  If you’re the best goalie in your area, in your league.  And you are really good goalie.  Word travels.  The lacrosse community is a tight knit group.  A lot of these guys have played together.  They have grown up together.  They are travelling around all of these lacrosse events and they go out for beers afterwards, and they talk.  They talk about players they’ve seen.  It spreads.  So instead of chasing being “seen”, chase being “good” first.  And then being seen will be a byproduct.

So as we head into this new year.  As we head into this new season.  You’ve got a fresh start.  Ok?  You’ve got a fresh opportunity to be the best goalie that you can be.  So look at your game critically.  See where you are weak and where you are strong.  Bring your weakness up.  Improve your strengths.  And I guarantee you that if you are good, bing seen will be a byproduct of being good.

Tell Me What You Are Focusing On

Ok?  So I’m Coach Edwards of Lacrosse Goalie Tips.com.  Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think of this post.  What do you need to work on this season?  Do me a favour and share this with someone who needs to hear it.  Like it on Facebook.  Tweet it out.  Pin it.  Google plus it.  I sure would appreciate it.  I’ll see you next week.