D3Lax talks to Dan Kaplan, former York Spartan and current events and data coordinator for Inside Lacrosse. He co-hosts IL's weekly podcast on Division III lacrosse.
Why did you choose to play Division 3 lacrosse?
"Like a lot of D3 players, D3 life often chooses you. I grew up in the Baltimore area with aspirations of playing the most competitive lacrosse I could play. That experience set me to attend Lynchburg out of high school before ultimately graduating from, and coaching at, York College. I also had a stop at Howard Community College in between and remain extremely thankful for the time spent and relationships made in the NJCAA world."
What are the positives and negatives to playing D3 lacrosse?
"Passion is the biggest motivator in DIII, so much of the experience in D3 programs involves the concept of what you give you get. The more you invest your time and effort into your team as a player, the more the team, program, coaching staff, and teammates give back."
What do you think will help D3 lacrosse grow its audience?
"I love and enjoy how many people are continuing to grow an appreciation for the level of play. The more general lacrosse fans realize the quality of play within D3 lacrosse, and not just within the top 20 teams in the country, the more the fan base will grow."
What do you think lacrosse needs to do to gain respect and become a more recognized sport?
"Olympic growth continues to be a huge topic in our sport and is a tremendous motivator for both growth and additional worldwide recognition. PLL gave us a great look at the format recently with their Championship Series adopting a sixes format."
What do you look for on the IL Summer Circuit when it comes to evaluating players?
"IL summer recruiting is a huge piece of the yearly calendar here for IL employees. When it comes to on field play one of the things I personally invest effort in evaluating is a players experience and savviness around picks. Whether it's an offensive player working in two man situations or a defender working to navigate a picker. A player's IQ, composure, coachability, and skill is often revealed when it comes to how polished their pick play is."
What advice would you give to players when it comes to catching the eye of recruiters and evaluators?
"Dom Starsia has a famous quote about players earning playing time and the best way to do so that is also applicable here. 'Wow them with consistency.' Coaches really do their homework so do your absolute best to not judge based on your best or worst performances. A huge piece of getting recruited and convincing a coach that they want you in their program is displaying a wowing level consistency."
Do you feel there will be a time where a highly rated recruit chooses to commit to a top D3 school or a D1 school?
"In my opinion we already see this happen all the time particularly at D3s with unique academic offerings. Many D3 rosters are littered with players who elected to attend a D3 to be immediately competitive with playing time while pursuing a degree of similar prestige to a potentially larger institution."
What is your pregame song?
"I played and coached my best riding the emotional high of a 7/10. Too exciting of a song and I'll come out of the gates at a 15 out of 10. That said, the proper dose of rap and calm down was the go to mix for me. IF I had to go with one song that was a lock in the rotation, I'd lean on a song that was in the repertoire for a long time - Til I Collapse."
You're at a gas station, what three snacks are you grabbing?
" Take 5 bar, elite sweet + salty combo. Mood altered bag of chips, probably a mesquite bbq of some type. Apple snapple. Honorable mention to Reeses (cups not pieces), Beef Jerky."
Why did you choose to play Division 3 lacrosse?
"Like a lot of D3 players, D3 life often chooses you. I grew up in the Baltimore area with aspirations of playing the most competitive lacrosse I could play. That experience set me to attend Lynchburg out of high school before ultimately graduating from, and coaching at, York College. I also had a stop at Howard Community College in between and remain extremely thankful for the time spent and relationships made in the NJCAA world."
What are the positives and negatives to playing D3 lacrosse?
"Passion is the biggest motivator in DIII, so much of the experience in D3 programs involves the concept of what you give you get. The more you invest your time and effort into your team as a player, the more the team, program, coaching staff, and teammates give back."
What do you think will help D3 lacrosse grow its audience?
"I love and enjoy how many people are continuing to grow an appreciation for the level of play. The more general lacrosse fans realize the quality of play within D3 lacrosse, and not just within the top 20 teams in the country, the more the fan base will grow."
What do you think lacrosse needs to do to gain respect and become a more recognized sport?
"Olympic growth continues to be a huge topic in our sport and is a tremendous motivator for both growth and additional worldwide recognition. PLL gave us a great look at the format recently with their Championship Series adopting a sixes format."
What do you look for on the IL Summer Circuit when it comes to evaluating players?
"IL summer recruiting is a huge piece of the yearly calendar here for IL employees. When it comes to on field play one of the things I personally invest effort in evaluating is a players experience and savviness around picks. Whether it's an offensive player working in two man situations or a defender working to navigate a picker. A player's IQ, composure, coachability, and skill is often revealed when it comes to how polished their pick play is."
What advice would you give to players when it comes to catching the eye of recruiters and evaluators?
"Dom Starsia has a famous quote about players earning playing time and the best way to do so that is also applicable here. 'Wow them with consistency.' Coaches really do their homework so do your absolute best to not judge based on your best or worst performances. A huge piece of getting recruited and convincing a coach that they want you in their program is displaying a wowing level consistency."
Do you feel there will be a time where a highly rated recruit chooses to commit to a top D3 school or a D1 school?
"In my opinion we already see this happen all the time particularly at D3s with unique academic offerings. Many D3 rosters are littered with players who elected to attend a D3 to be immediately competitive with playing time while pursuing a degree of similar prestige to a potentially larger institution."
What is your pregame song?
"I played and coached my best riding the emotional high of a 7/10. Too exciting of a song and I'll come out of the gates at a 15 out of 10. That said, the proper dose of rap and calm down was the go to mix for me. IF I had to go with one song that was a lock in the rotation, I'd lean on a song that was in the repertoire for a long time - Til I Collapse."
You're at a gas station, what three snacks are you grabbing?
" Take 5 bar, elite sweet + salty combo. Mood altered bag of chips, probably a mesquite bbq of some type. Apple snapple. Honorable mention to Reeses (cups not pieces), Beef Jerky."