Shortly after Adrenaline’s Black Card and NSCLA Championship, the most exclusive national recruiting weekend, the Adrenaline team will make its way back for the top western recruitment event, the Adrenaline Showcase. It's springtime and collegiate coaches are immersed in driving their respective programs to championships while aspiring top-level high school players have their eyes glued to the TV hoping to get a shot to play at the next level. Adrenaline Lacrosse looks to bring these two worlds together officially on July 11th -12th for the Adrenaline Showcase at Sonoma State University in Rohnert, California. As stated in its name, this event serves to provide western players with the opportunity to ‘showcase’ their talent in front of top tier college recruiters who will ultimately choose if they have what it takes to play at the next level.
As the premiere individual summer recruiting event in the West, the Adrenaline Showcase is back for its 6th year, with talent easily trumping years past. With the support of its proud sponsors, STX, Gatorade, Knockaround, SKLZ, Athletes Performance, and Adrenaline Apparel, this has proven to be an extremely competitive event with an elite feel, offered to the top 2% of western players. This year’s Showcase players will represent ten states and two provinces: Minnesota, Missouri, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, California, and British Columbia and Alberta in Canada. Over the course of the event, these players will come together to perform in front of over 90 NCAA and MCLA recruiters. Not only will players participate in scheduled games, but Adrenaline also organizes NCAA coach-led cutting edge clinics as well as Adrenaline-led recruiter education seminars. “One of the biggest differentials for us in addition to the Showcase itself is giving the recruiters a hands-on feel through coaches’ clinics,” says Jono Zissi, Director of Recruiting. “It gives them the ability to work with and get to know prospective recruits.” As an added bonus, the venue is set in the picturesque region of Sonoma, CA with wonderfully manicured fields and a first class operational set up.
The competition has achieved the highest levels in the West, as lacrosse has become a priority sport for many athletes on the West Coast. The Adrenaline Evaluation Team (AET) carefully selects the best players west of the Mississippi to play in the Showcase. The open selection process includes AET evaluations accumulated over the year from various Adrenaline and western events, trusted coaches’ recommendations, highlight video reviews, and specific player requests from college recruiters. Once the tournament reaches full capacity, players are assigned to rosters and set to play with their newly formed team in two days worth of games and clinics. The open and fair selection process has manifested itself in astounding college placement statistics and has established a trusting relationship amongst the college recruiters. “We are proud to say that this is the event that has taken the western player and put him on a national stage. It has been hugely successful thanks to the hard work of our team and the trust in our system from mission-based coaches, club directors and community advocates who get their kids involved,” says Alex Cade, President and CMO of Adrenaline. In 2012, 89% of western players who attended the Adrenaline Showcase are now on NCAA rosters, adding to Adrenaline’s overall college placement success rate (CPSR) of 80%. From 2009 to 2012, Adrenaline saw a 53% increase in recruiters attending its events. Just as the talent level of players has grown, so has the awareness and need for college recruiters to attend such events. Beginning as an off the radar recruiting event and becoming a trip recruiters are reluctant to miss, more and more college recruiters have jumped on board. “The talent this year is unreal and as college coaches watch the number of players from our system having an immediate impact in today’s game, it should only get better,” adds Cade. Recruiters present at past Showcases include University of North Carolina, University of Maryland, University of Notre Dame, University of Denver, and Salisbury University.
The player experience is top flight, as they are adorned with customized and coveted Adrenaline Treatment gear as well as STX sponsored equipment. Players also get custom Knockaround sunglasses and Gatorade is fully activated on site with their G-Series line to be sure that athletes are properly fueled for optimal athletic performance. In addition, these players achieve maximum exposure to college recruiters with the Showcase as the precursor to the famed Adrenaline Shootout. Recruiters come for the three day experience to see the Showcase players perform in a small environment against the best players in the West, and can then track and follow these players in a team setting the next two days. Moreover, recruiters get to see how each of the Showcase players operate in a system and a team framework where they are more comfortable and familiar with teammates and coaches, allowing for a more thorough recruiter evaluation opportunity.
Adrenaline plans to take Sonoma by storm once again for the majority of July, starting the Shootout series off right with the Showcase, the top tier event that many players hope to attend.
With roots in lacrosse, Adrenaline is one of the most unique companies in all of sports due to its multi-faceted and truly authentic nature. Adrenaline fosters the lacrosse lifestyle through cutting edge apparel, charity Awareness initiatives, LXM PRO professional tour, training programs, recruiting events, Starz Clubs, tournaments, camps and leagues. Training programs, designed by professionals—Trylax, Skills, LXM Positional, Adrenafit, and K18 Impact—are based on the Adrenaline Cyclical Developmental model, which allows players to progress in an organized manner through a powerful lacrosse system. Adrenaline’s robust Recruiting system boasts the top Collegiate Placement Success Rate (CPSR) and owns the top national recruitment event the Black Card. Adrenaline Starz is the largest Club network in the sport including the top ranked Adrenaline West Coast Starz Teams. Corporately, Adrenaline dedicates much of its efforts towards enacting a positive social change by utilizing the power of sports under the Adrenaline Movement. This movement includes our Awareness Initiative, which calls on the lacrosse community to rise above the “lax bro” stigma, lead by example, and partake in positive social movements and charities. Tired of the average and mundane? Adrenaline is the antidote.
For more information, visit: http://www.adrln.com/events/adrenaline-boys-showcase/