Division 1 Dreams

Junior Ryan Kemp’s journey to play at the next level.

About 8 million high school students play a sport in the united states, and of those kids, only about 6 percent go on to play in the NCAA. These staggering odds become even steeper as a lacrosse player from Indiana.

“The recruiting out here (Indiana) is pretty limited,” junior Ryan Kemp said. “not many coached come all the way out the Midwest to recruit kids.”

Kemp is an extremely talented lacrosse player. He started as a freshman and was announced as the state championship MVP in 2018 after scoring three goals in the fourth quarter to beat Culver. Just last year he had over 150 points in the regular season alone. That being said, his opportunities will still be limited just due to the fact that he lives in Fishers.

“The respect that people get in Indiana compared to the east coast is pretty bad,” Junior Tate Medcalfe said. “You see a lot of people focusing their attention out there.”

Though many coaches don’t come here to recruit athletes, there are some genuine new opportunities in the Midwest. This summer, Kemp joined a team based out of Michigan called Juiced Cherries which gathers all of the best talent in the Midwest to fly out east and compete in front of all sorts of NCAA coaches.

“I joined a club team for the fall and the summer,” Kemp said. “We went out east to a bunch of the tournaments, there was a lot of college coaches watching on the sidelines.”

The recruiting process is long and grueling for any high school athlete trying to make it at the next level. Despite all of these difficulties, this doesn’t stop Kemp from pursuing his dreams. Story by EJ Reichert