Sometimes in the collegiate recruiting process, you’ve got create your own momentum.
That’s exactly what Western Albemarle’s Schuylor Dickerson did two years ago.
Dickerson knew he wanted to play collegiate lacrosse, so he showed up at an open tryout for a summer travel team. In Northern Virginia.
“He had a Western Albemarle helmet on and so I asked ‘did you guys just move to the area?’ and he said ‘no’,” said NOVA Tribe coach Vic Goeller. “I said ‘how long did it take you to get here? You know we practice twice a week? and he said ‘Yeah I know.’”
Dickerson made the cut to join the Tribe’s U-15 team and never missed a practice according to Goeller. He moved on to a similar travel program, NOVA West, last summer.
He played in showcase-style travel tournaments each year and developed into a shifty scorer and playmaker. Those long car trips made all the difference for Dickerson.
“It was absolutely the fairness that the coaching provided,” Dickerson said. “Out there it was completely fair and your skills spoke for yourself. They took a gamble on me.”
In turn, Dickerson got looks from collegiate coaches, eventually earning opportunities to play from Division II Lees-Mcrae and Lenoir-Rhyne. Dickerson chose Lees-McRae in November and will head to the small liberal arts school in the mountains of North Carolina next fall.
“First and foremost you have to look at the academics to see your best fit,” Dickerson said. “As my parents told me, lacrosse comes second. And Lees-McRae has a business administration program that really appealed to me.”
Dickerson provided some significant scoring punch for the Warriors last year along with Abbot Wallenborn and Ben Turner.
He will join a Bobcats team trying to change directions under new head coach Andy Nesdill, a Lees-McRae alum who’s taking over this year. The Bobcats have struggled over the last six years to win more than three games and actually went winless in the 2011 campaign. With a new head man leading the way though in Nesdill, the Bobcats should start turning the corner over the next few years.
It’s clear from his commitment over the summer that Dickerson is going to be willing to do whatever it takes to help make that happen for the Bobcats.
