Carson Krammer is a standout midfielder for the Seattle Starz and ADVNC NDP ‘23 squads committed to playing for the Princeton Tigers.
Carson grew up in the Seattle area playing lacrosse as the youngest of three brothers. Jack Krammer is three years older than Carson and plays for Cal Poly. Quinn Krammer is one year older and is entering his freshman season as a member of the Princeton team.
“I started out playing lacrosse as a goalie,” said Carson. “My brothers said they needed someone to shoot on. It would frustrate me when they’d score on me.”
Carson was an excellent goalie when he began playing lacrosse.
“Carson was really good at goalie,” said his dad, Ted Krammer. “A lot of people spoke highly of him as a goalie and he enjoyed that. But Carson would have amazing, epic meltdowns during those years of being a goalie. He wanted to play with his older brothers and their friends so badly, so they pushed him into goalie. He made it work and did well.”
“The three brothers are so close in age,” said Carson’s mom, Mika Yamamoto. “They were really physical with one another and very competitive. Carson was always the smallest. He tried so hard to keep getting better and keep up. That was a massive motivating factor for him.”
The Krammer’s backyard setup, where many lacrosse battles were fought.
“We’d play together in the backyard all the time,” said Carson. “It usually ended in us not looking at each other for awhile. Someone would get hurt and the others would laugh. That process repeated. But it toughed us all up. We knew if we could beat each other, no one else could really stop us. It helped me a lot mentally.”
Around fourth grade, Carson was ready to come out of the crease. “I became more interested in scoring goals. That was more fun. I liked to celebrate and that created more attention on me.”
He started playing for the Seattle Starz in fourth grade and then the ADVNC NDP in 9th grade.
“As he got older and switched to midfield and attack, he grew up and came into his own,” said Mika. “He made a name for himself. Always trying to keep up with his brothers made him better.”
Krammer with ADVNC NDP at the 2020 Sandstorm in Indio, CA
“Around 9th grade, I got serious about getting in the gym and putting on size,” Carson said. “And I had a serious growth spurt. I soon saw that my brothers couldn’t push me around anymore. I could push them around.”
Currently standing at 6’4”, 220 pounds, he developed into one of the most coveted midfield prospects in the nation in his 2023 class. When September 1st of 2021 rolled around and college coaches could make official offers, Carson was a very sought after player.
“That whole last summer, playing for ADVNC NDP and going to various events, it started becoming apparent what was happening,” said Carson. “Coach Chris Rotelli (ADVNC Founder & CEO) would keep telling me about which colleges were interested in me. That was super motivating. Playing with ADVNC in those east coast summer tourneys helped establish in my mind where I was in terms of what colleges I might be able to go to. Knowing I had someone like him in my corner was super reassuring and helpful.”
“We went out to dinner as a team after the Elite 8 & Midnight Mania event in Delaware,” Carson said. “When midnight hit and it was September 1st, I started getting calls. It was nerve wracking talking to the coaches I had watched on TV growing up. It was exciting and surreal.”
Carson quickly narrowed his list of colleges to four: UNC, Duke, Harvard and Princeton. He stayed on the East Coast and visited all four campuses. “Those first four days of September were insane. Visiting those schools, four days in a row, was one of the best experiences of my life.”
“He started with a long list of 26 schools and quickly narrowed it down to 4,” Mika said. “We had just seen Quinn go through this process. The whole thing is amazing. We never put our kids into lacrosse because we thought they could play in the Ivy League. But along the way, all three of our kids stayed committed to the game and kept raising the bar for one another. Then all of a sudden we realized that Quinn and Carson were earning incredible opportunities for life in lacrosse beyond high school.”
Krammer at the 2021 Naptown Challenge, where he became a highly coveted college prospect.
“It was such an exciting week,” Ted Krammer recalled. “It was surreal to have so many coaches calling and it was hard to manage it all. It was unbelievably exciting to be at each of those four schools that Carson decided were his ‘final four.’ At Princeton, it was nice to be able to see and do a lot more on campus than we could do with Quinn, because of Covid.”
The Krammers returned home from the college tour and Carson took a little time to digest it all. “One of Princeton’s coaches flew out and brought Quinn and Carson team jerseys with their favorite numbers on them,” Ted said.
Quinn had already committed to Princeton a year earlier. “When Quinn saw those jerseys for he and his brother he started crying,” Mika said. Carson decided to join his brother at Princeton shortly after that.
“Princeton is really into family,” Mika said. “They made us all feel like we were part of their family. Carson’s initial drive to keep up set him on a path to break out and make a name for himself vs. being Jack or Quinn’s little brother or one of the Krammer boys. Through all of this travel, scrimmages, and practices, the boys have established an amazing connection. Getting to watch them play on the same field together are the best moments in my life. Getting to see Quinn and Carson both play at Princeton is going to be so incredible.”
As Carson looks back on how he got here, he has this advice for young players who wish to follow in his footsteps. “You have to keep up your love for the game. You need to keep it fun so you want to do the work. If you keep fun and consistent you will keep coming back and wanting to get better.”