Showcase Club Lacrosse Tryout Prep: The 6-Week Plan
Showcase clubs are the top layer of club lacrosse: programs whose summer and fall schedules are built around recruiting events, the tournaments and camps where college coaches stand on the sideline with a roster sheet. Most of them run on an invitation model. Tryouts exist, but a large share of the roster is filled by kids the coaches have already seen at a tournament, at a camp, or on a lower-level team inside the same club. An open tryout at this level is usually for the handful of spots that model did not fill.
That is not a reason to skip it. It is a reason to understand what the day is: a short, fast evaluation of whether your kid can produce with strangers, at a position, against players who have all done this before. Coaches at this level are not looking for potential. They are looking for a kid who can catch a bad pass with the weak hand in traffic, win a ground ball with a body on them, and make the right play in the first ten minutes, because that is what a college coach on a sideline will see in a twenty-five-minute showcase game.
The cost and the travel are real and worth naming before the first email. A showcase club season commonly runs in the range of $3,000 to $7,000 before travel, with recruiting events and camps often billed separately at a few hundred dollars each and hotels on top. Ask for the all-in number. The plan below assumes a player who has played club lacrosse, has a wall and a partner some days, and has about six weeks.
What coaches are actually looking for
At the showcase level, the baseline is assumed: both hands, ground balls, conditioning. What separates kids is what they do with it under pressure and with strangers. Coaches watch for the player who catches in traffic without bringing the ball to their chest, who goes through a ground ball with a defender on their hip and comes out clean, who rides hard on a turnover they did not cause, and who takes a correction from a coach they met an hour ago and applies it on the next rep. That last one matters more than people expect, because these coaches are choosing who they want to spend forty weekends with.
Position is everything. A showcase club is building a roster for college coaches to watch, which means they need a defined faceoff player or draw specialist, two goalies who can talk and clear, long poles who can carry the ball out, and midfielders who play both ends at full speed for the whole shift. Attackers are the deepest position at every tryout; a kid whose only position is attack should be ready to show midfield. Ask before the tryout what the roster needs at your kid’s graduation year. Coaches at this level will usually tell you plainly.
In the boys’ game the scrimmages are full contact under the rules, and coaches want kids who defend with footwork and stick first and use their body legally, not kids looking for a highlight hit. In the girls’ game, coaches watch for tight marking, clean checks, and discipline around the shooting space, because a foul-prone player costs a showcase team goals in front of the people the team is there to impress. None of this is practiced at home with contact. No checking or body-contact drills in the yard, at any age.
How invitations, evaluations, and the cost actually work
Most showcase clubs post tryout dates for each graduation year, usually one or two sessions in the summer window after the school season. Some require a registration and a tryout fee; some are invitation-only and you have to email to ask. It is fair to email a director with your kid’s graduation year, position, and current club and ask whether the roster has openings at that position. A straight answer saves you a tryout fee and a drive. The evaluation itself is usually ninety minutes to two hours: a short warmup, position-specific work, then mostly scrimmage against the club’s current players, which is the point. The coaches want to see the new kid against their own.
Offers usually come by email within a week, with a short deadline and a deposit. Some clubs offer on the spot. If there is no offer, ask where your kid stood and whether there is a second team inside the club or a supplemental tryout later; many rosters churn in the fall when kids commit elsewhere or quit. If there is an offer, ask for everything in writing before the deposit: the season fee, uniform and gear costs, which recruiting events are included, which cost extra, the travel expectations by weekend, and what happens if your kid misses an event.
The all-in number is the honest one. A season fee in the range of $3,000 to $7,000 is common at this level, recruiting events and camps often add a few hundred dollars each, and hotels and flights for a summer of out-of-town weekends can double the total. Recruiting itself, in plain words, is college coaches watching games at these events and then contacting players by the rules of their division, which have timing restrictions that vary. A club that is clear about what it does and does not do to help with that is worth more than a club that promises. Nobody can promise.
This was written for every showcase club lacrosse player. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Their position, their team, what they’re working on, and what the next few weeks actually look like. Two minutes, nothing to sign up for.
Tryout day checklist
- Stick strung legal and a backup stick; showcase clubs check pocket depth and strings and will not wait while you restring.
- Boys’ game: helmet, shoulder pads, arm pads, gloves, mouthguard, cup. Girls’ game: goggles, mouthguard, and any required headgear. Goalies bring full goalie gear including throat guard and chest protector.
- Registration, waiver, tryout fee, and graduation year confirmed online before you arrive.
- Cleats and turf shoes both in the bag; these sessions are almost always on turf.
- The pinnie color the club asked for, plus a second shirt.
- Two water bottles and a real meal three hours before, not a new food.
- Arrive early enough to warm up both hands on a wall, including catching on the run, before the coaches start.
- Go through every ground ball at full speed, ride every turnover, and play the position you were asked to play, not the one you prefer.
- Talk on defense from the first rep and take corrections with "yes coach" and the next rep.
- After the session, write down three things that went well, one thing to fix, and the position you were evaluated at. Then let it go.
How much does showcase club lacrosse cost?
A season fee somewhere in the range of $3,000 to $7,000 is common, with recruiting events and camps often billed separately at a few hundred dollars each and travel on top, which can double the total over a summer. Ask for the all-in number in writing before any deposit.
How do you get invited to a showcase club tryout?
Most clubs post dates by graduation year, and some require an email to a director. Email with your kid’s graduation year, position, current club, and a short schedule of where they are playing next; a director who has an opening at that position will usually say so plainly. Being seen at a lower-level team inside the same club is the other common route.
What do college coaches actually see at a recruiting event?
Short games, often twenty-five minutes a half, from the sideline, with dozens of players on the field they have never seen before. They notice ground balls, both hands, hustle on rides, and communication far more than goals. Contact rules by division set when a coach can reach out, so a good club is one that is clear about the timeline rather than one that promises results.
Is a showcase club worth it if my kid is not sure about playing in college?
Often not, and that is fine to say. The main thing a showcase club sells is exposure at recruiting events. A kid who wants better lacrosse without the recruiting piece usually gets more from a strong regional club at a fraction of the cost and travel, and can move up later if the goal changes.