Getting seen by college coaches can cost thousands of dollars. But on Nov. 18, current high school boys’ lacrosse players will have an opportunity to demonstrate their potential in front of representatives from some of the top programs in the country for free.
The Breakthrough ID Clinic at Haverford College just outside Philadelphia will have coaches from Franklin & Marshall, Haverford, Ithaca, Kenyon, Muhlenberg, Penn and Wooster on hand to evaluate 75 players from the classes of 2024 through 2027.
Anyone can attend the event, though organizers Richard Carrington of Haverford and Mike Murphy of Penn hope it will make recruiting more accessible for first-generation student-athletes and those from low-income households while diversifying the pool of players college coaches consider for their teams. The NXT Philly Invitational is the next day.
“We go to the same tournaments and showcases. They’re great, but at the same time not everyone can pay thousands of dollars a year to play for club program and gain entrance to those showcases,” said Carrington, who is in his first year as the head coach at Haverford. “If you can’t afford to play, it’s really tough for us to be able to evaluate you.”
A 20-year coach who started the men’s lacrosse programs at Chestnut Hill in 2010 and Tusculum in 2014, Carrington came to Haverford after two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Amherst. He’s also had stops as an assistant at Kenyon, Mars Hill and VMI and as the head coach at Alvernia.
When he got to Haverford in July, one of his first calls was to Murphy, who led the Fords for seven years before taking over at Penn in 2010. It turned out Murphy was working on a similar concept. Given the schools’ proximity and shared ties, it only made sense to combine efforts.
The Breakthrough ID Clinic is part showcase, part prospect day. From 1-3 p.m., college coaches will run stations and small-sided games. From 3-5 p.m., they’ll play full-field games among three teams of 25 players. Whatever team is not playing will attend a Q&A with a college admissions counselor for players and parents.
Carrington said dozens of athletes from inner-city programs like the Brooklyn Crescents, Charm City Youth Lacrosse, CityLax and Harlem Lacrosse have already registered for the event. But he also emphasized that anyone can take advantage of this opportunity while spots remain.
Click here to register.
“It is come one, come all,” Carrington said. “We hope this is just the first of these events. I envision us being able to run the same model in upstate New York, in Brooklyn, in D.C., in Baltimore, in Denver, in Chicago — eliminating more barriers so these participants don’t have to travel all over the country.”
