Questions to ask a college lacrosse coach

Why the questions matter as much as the answers

Coaches are evaluating you during these conversations, and the questions you ask are part of that evaluation. A recruit who asks about roster need and development sounds like someone who has thought about the next four years. A recruit who asks nothing sounds like someone who has not.

Write your questions down before the call. Nobody thinks clearly with a college coach on the phone for the first time.

Roster and fit

• How many players are you recruiting at my position in my class?
• Where do you see me fitting, and what would my first year realistically look like?
• Who is ahead of me at my position, and what year are they?
• What does your roster look like at my position in two years?
• What would I need to improve most to compete for time here?

That last question is the most valuable one on the list. The answer tells you whether the coach has actually watched you closely, and a vague reply is itself informative.

How the program actually runs

• What does a typical week look like in season, hour by hour?
• What does the off season commitment look like, including summer expectations?
• How do you handle players who are struggling academically?
• What is your coaching style when things are going badly?
• How many players from your last recruiting class are still on the roster?

Academics and life outside lacrosse

• Can I major in what I want, and are there majors that are difficult to combine with the schedule?
• How do players handle labs, clinicals, or studio time that conflicts with practice?
• What academic support exists specifically for athletes?
• Do players study abroad, and has anyone on this roster done it?
• What is the graduation rate for players in the program?

If a coach reacts badly to a question about a demanding major or study abroad, that reaction is the answer.

Money, asked correctly

How you ask depends on the level. At Division III there is no athletic aid, so asking about a scholarship signals you have not done your homework. Ask about the aid mechanism instead.

1. At D3: what does merit aid look like for a student with my transcript, and do you have a relationship with admissions?
2. At D1 and D2: does the percentage apply to tuition or to total cost of attendance?
3. Is the award renewable, and what specifically would change it?
4. What happens to my aid if I am injured and cannot play?
5. Can athletic aid be combined with academic and need based aid here?

Ask for anything important in writing. A coach who means it will not mind, and a coach who hesitates has told you something.

Questions to skip

• Anything answered on the first page of the program website, which reads as not having looked.
• Am I going to start as a freshman, which no honest coach can answer and which invites a non answer.
• Do you think I am good enough, which puts the coach in an awkward spot and tells them you are unsure.
• Questions a parent asks over the athlete, which coaches notice and remember.

Also worth asking the players, not the coach: current team members will tell you things on a visit that no coaching staff will, and asking to speak with a couple of them is a completely normal request.