We were fortunate to catch up with Brooke Diamond O’Brien, the head coach at Washington and Lee University and Co-Founder of the Mid-Atlantic Elite Lacrosse Winter Showcase, which will debut January 4th, 2014 at the Roland Park School in Baltimore, Maryland.
O’Brien is currently in her seventh season as the head coach at Washington and Lee, where she has been named the ODAC Coach of the Year in three of her first six seasons at the helm. The Generals have won five ODAC titles over that span.
A former standout goaltender at Amherst College, O’Brien led her team to an NCAA Championship in 2003. In her playing career, she was a two-time First Team All-America and two-time Kelly Award winner, given annually to the DIII Goalkeeper of the Year.
The Mid-Atlantic Elite Lacrosse Winter Showcase is a one-day instructional recruiting showcase designed for elite level 2015 and 2016 student-athletes who are exploring DIII opportunities. The day will feature a unique blend of coaching, instruction and education aimed at increasing the awareness of attendees to opportunities at the DIII level.
Below is our Q & A with Brooke, who discusses the Showcase, her experience in the recruiting space and the importance of players being educated about the various collegiate lacrosse options available to them.
On the genesis of the Mid-Atlantic Elite Lacrosse Winter Showcase:
The idea came from informal conversations that [Showcase co-director and former Dickinson College women’s lacrosse coach] Carol Hatton and I had while on the recruiting trail over the past few years. We feel as though, in the Mid-Atlantic in particular, a lot of student-athletes don’t have an understanding of their Division III options and what it means to play at the Division III level. We wanted to do something to bring people together not only to provide an opportunity for them to work with college level coaches and to be evaluated as prospective student-athletes, but more importantly, we truly want to provide student-athletes with general information about the Division III experience. We think that this educational piece is what makes our program different from other general showcases.
On the educational component of the Showcase:
In addition to the playing opportunities, there will be talks given by a variety of presenters. We will have a certified strength and conditioning coach providing information to the student-athletes on what they should be doing to prepare to play college lacrosse. Later in the day after the games have ended, the college coaches will be on a panel to answer general recruiting questions about the Division III process. Due to NCAA regulations, none of those coaches can speak specifically about their school, but they will provide a general understanding of the timeline and process for recruiting at the DIII level.
Most importantly, the coaches will also communicate the tremendous opportunities that exist when playing lacrosse at the DIII level. First and foremost, student-athletes should know that at the highest levels, DIII lacrosse is extremely competitive and fulfilling lacrosse. That said, the DIII experience means that student-athletes can have competitive lacrosse while also having a balanced college experience.
Extremely talented lacrosse players choose to attend and play for DIII schools for a variety of reasons including the ability to prioritize their academic studies, the chance to study abroad in the fall term, the opportunity to play more than one varsity sport and the possibility of being involved in other clubs, activities and interests on campus. While no one can do everything during their college experience, DIII student-athletes can be involved in more than just lacrosse and their academics.
On the importance of being educated about the different collegiate possibilities:
At times, I feel like students only hear about Division I opportunities from their club or high school coaches, media outlets and other sources. Basically, they don’t know about the other great options that exist at DII and DIII schools. If they knew, maybe they could make a more educated decision about what the right fit is for them in their college experience.
I’m not saying that one experience is better than the other, but I do believe that there is a right fit for each player. It is important that they understand all of their options before they make a choice. For one player, DI is exactly where they belong. For another, who is interested in having a more well-rounded college experience, DI may not be the right choice. So the trick is really in just trying to educate people about their options so they can then make an informed decision about which level is the best choice for them.
On the central theme of the Showcase and guest speakers:
Education is the biggest piece. We are having an Admissions and Financial Aid counselor from a Division III school come and speak on those processes so that everyone understands that the financial aid component at DIII schools is different. It’s different in that there are no athletic scholarships available, but there are numerous other options for merit and need based financial aid at DIII schools.
We will also have a professor from a DIII school on hand to discuss what life is like for DIII student-athletes. Again, the idea is that we want this event to be different from just another showcase; we want to provide the attendees with significant knowledge about the DIII experience.
On keeping teams together with coaches at the Showcase to enhance instruction and networking:
The same coaches will be coaching the same team throughout the day, and there will be a team practice to start the day as well. We purposely used this model so that the coaches can build a relationship with the players and can provide the student-athletes with feedback on their areas of strength and areas of improvement going forward. College coaches will be able to see how these student-athletes take feedback and apply their coaching tips and student-athletes will be able to see what type of coaching style their coaches implement.
On how the recruiting process has changed at the DIII level:
I would say not that much has changed for us [at Washington and Lee], being a school where our recruiting is so tied to the admissions office. We can’t really get into the race of early recruiting because our admissions office won’t look at anything until after a student-athlete’s junior year of high school. So we are ‘protected’ from the early recruiting process in that way.
One thing that has changed over the last four or five years is that student-athletes are having to make the decision between Division I or Division III much earlier as a result of the accelerated DI recruiting timeline. Typically, student-athletes are being asked to reply to DI offers before the end of their junior year. Conversely, we are not able to provide feedback to student-athletes on whether or not their academics are the right fit for our school until after they have completed their junior year in high school. As a result, student-athletes are being forced to make decisions about where to attend college without having all of their options in front of them. I think this is a really unfortunate position for prospective student-athletes to be in.
On what she and her staff look for when recruiting:
We are looking for athleticism, quickness and speed – those are the things that we cannot teach. In addition, game sense and technical skills are things we value. But really, what I have learned over the past few years is that it is most important to find someone who is passionate about the game and who loves to play and to compete.
The love of playing and competing is so fundamental to being successful in anything, but it is especially important at the DIII level. Playing DIII lacrosse, you are playing because you love it, not because you are on an athletic scholarship. You play lacrosse and work towards championships with your team because you love playing and enjoy being a part of the process with your program.
On the biggest adjustment for players coming from high school to college:
I think that finishing is a lost art. The lack of finishing skills that even great high school players have when they arrive at the college level boggles my mind at times. Simply being disciplined enough to fake and move the goalkeeper or to change the level within your shot is such a rare thing to see in college First-Years. That said it is also something that can be worked on and improved through repetition. It’s an easy fix if you put the time in to make the change.
On the timing of the Mid-Atlantic Elite Winter Lacrosse Showcase:
We are holding it in January with the idea that the 2016s will be towards the beginning of their college search process and the 2015s will either be well along in their DIII search process, or perhaps may be investigating DIII opportunities for the first time following the end of the fall club tournament season.
The nice thing about this event is that it is for people who want to learn about Division III and want to be exposed to the coaches from many Division III schools. The schools attending offer a wide variety of options in terms of location and academics. It is a great way to get a strong initial understanding of what Division III is about. Student-athletes will then have the ability to follow-up with the specific schools that they are interested in pursuing.
Thanks so much to Brooke for her time!
For more information, go to https://midatlanticelitelax.com/index.php.
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