Royal Bay Secondary Lacrosse Academy
All inquiries email Lucas MacNeil at lmacneil@sd62.bc.ca
Royal Bay Lacrosse Academy is a development program that also gives the opportunity to compete across North America. The goal of the travel is to prepare student athletes for the recruiting process and to provide them with opportunities to earn athletic/academic scholarships. Royal Bay staff is in constant communication with Universities all across North America who are always looking for Canadians.
Students who register for lacrosse academy have the opportunity to be on our turf field 5 days a week (6+ hours). Students receive their PE credit for lacrosse academy and credit for an elective. Lacrosse academy is every day, within the regular school time table, allowing students to find jobs or play other sports after the school day. On average, we are on the field for 3 blocks a week. The remaining blocks are spent doing fitness, strength and conditioning and minor PE units. We believe cross training is essential in improving as an athlete which in turn, makes a more competent lacrosse player.
Throughout the year, every student receives 4 report cards. Specific to our lacrosse academy, students are recommended (not mandatory) to take 4 online courses a year that are worth 4 credits each and count towards graduation. These courses cover nutrition, strength training, cross training, sport psychology, leadership, speed, agility, endurance, and overall health & wellness. We also have an online class that guides students with a step by step process on how to become eligible to play in the NCAA. The course looks specifically at, what is the NCAA, timeline and eligibility requirements, applying for the NCAA and SAT preparation, creating sports resumes, scholarships, recruiting timelines and resources. We also work with students who want to create highlight tapes and provide feedback with how it can work best for each individual student. We also have school councilors that help with the process and are in direct commination with universities to help calculate GPA for core required courses and ensuring requirements are met.
Each year, we offer a recruiting package to the families, showing you what process looks like, scholarship expectations, information on the NCAA Clearing House, and NCAA recruiting rules and information (DI, DII, DIII). In order to make the process smooth, we ask that the families work together with us. Ultimately it is each student’s responsibility to stay on top of their academics but we have found that when parents are in touch with their child’s teachers and communicate with us on where they stand, we can be proactive in ensuring a successful future.
Although we are still young (starting our 5th year) we have had great success. We have welcomed students who are brand new to lacrosse into the academy, and have helped send students to play lacrosse at the highest level and attend Universities like Denver, Cornell, Tusculum, Indianapolis and many more. We believe that it is the student athlete who decides what their future holds. We as coaches provide the ground work and instill work habits, but the student is the main driver of their future. Our teacher and coaches have very wide experience ranging from JR A, Senior A, NLL, NCAA experience, as well as a certified personal trainer. With 2 regular full-time staff and 2-3 part time coaches, we are able to provide different aspects of teaching and coaching. In addition, we will always have at least 2 coaches at each tournament/game to keep consistency and continuity between the student athletes and staff.
Excellence through Commitment
Recent University Commitments
Congratulations to 2022 graduate, Jaden Eves for earning a scholarship to Lindenwood University in Missouri. Jaden plans on taking business at Lindenwood, while playing NCAA lacrosse for a top 10 Division 2 program. Well done to Jaden!
Ayden McDonald has committed to NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) where he will be playing Division 1 lacrosse and earning his degree.
Kalum LaChance, a 2020 graduate has committed ed to playing Division 2 lacrosse at Colorado Mesa University.
Alec Billings has committed to Johns Hopkins University where he will be playing Division 1 lacrosse in Bal more, Maryland.