Club lacrosse early years - share "wish I had known"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. People stop with the I had a friend whose kid started late and played for Yale or Duke or whatever. Seeking a hook for college is not the only reason people play lacrosse. Some kids actually enjoy the sport and play for reasons other than college admissions.

but travel lacrosse at 4th grade is not necessary. It's fine if you want to do it, but not necessary.

[Anonymous]

It is never necessary. It is a luxury, and an expensive one. The question you need to ask yourself is are the costs (fees, time, etc.) worth the benefits. My middle school kid has played on a club for the last couple years and has received strong positional training. Loves the team and teammates. The competition is fun and, as a goalie, being on the younger end and facing tough competition has built skills and character. We are fortunate that the cost is not a huge sacrifice for us, although the time can be.

We also enjoy and benefit from rec (recognize the limitations there as well, coaching by volunteer parents with limited experience being chief among them). Quality of play is often not as high, of course, but the compete just as hard.

In both cases, kids are kids. They act like kids. This is not a terrible thing. We encourage enjoyment of the game and learning over winning -- not that winning is unimportant, but that it is a result more than a goal.

The advice I would give echoes what others have said. Lacrosse is a recreational activity at that age (really, for most, at any age). No recreational activity should be allowed to become the most important thing in a child's life. One of the early posts said it best -- lacrosse is not more important than school. Even if my kid's skills develop to the point that playing at a top prep program is realistic, we will not be selecting a school on the basis of the lacrosse program. Even if they further develop to the point that college lacrosse is a realistic possibility, we will not be selecting a college on the basis of a lacrosse program. That said, athletics is one of many factors that should properly be considered. Moreover, the lessons learned from club sports translate to off the field and are a benefit even if you are playing on the worst club's worst team.

[Anonymous]

OP here. A lot of this is very helpful in developing perspective. Keep the advice coming!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. A lot of this is very helpful in developing perspective. Keep the advice coming!

Having BTDT, the following may be helpful:

1. Understand what your daughter wants to get out of club lacrosse -- a recreational or more competitive experience.
2. Don't play travel lacrosse if you don't want to travel -- not all clubs travel the same, but be prepared to commit the time and money.
3. Avoid clubs where the skill gap on a single team is wide -- it will cause a lot of frustration for both the highly skilled and not as skilled players. And their parents.
4. Be aware of and stay away from the politics -- there are overly-involved parents pushing their agenda in support of their egos, not in the best interest of their daughters and teams. Club lacrosse is not always fair. The supposed best teams do not always have the best players, so understand you will deal with some head-scratching moments trying to figure out how teams are selected.
5. Look at the coaching -- how committed are the coaches to developing your daughter's game and helping her meet her individual goals.
6. Enjoy the ride -- it goes by fast, but would do it all over again.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Boys lacrosse
Earliest Start is 4th or 5th grade - when your kid himself can reliably catch, throw on the move w/ kids of similar skill around him. It might be fun but don't kid yourself - Rec and clinics will be just as fun, more productive and less expensive and time consuming

Find a club that focuses on fundamentals and LaxIQ so your kid can play in high school. Clubs that use size, speed and holdbacks (kids delayed entry to K or repeat a grade) to win won't take the time to notice or fix the non-starters develop needs.

This will be your coach's 2nd or 3rd job - don't care how great the coach in HS, if he's not present and engaged it's not a great situation. Individual positional coaching (especially in goal) takes a backseat, your kid will need to look at clinics, or summer camps (good ones are few and far between).

News flash: Players get better practicing on their own between team practices. If your kid doesn't practice on his own - his lease on playing w/ the team will eventually expire.


Unfortunately, clubs thrive on ignorant or naïve parents. Ask questions relevant to your kid's skill development, enjoyment and playing time. Don't be that parent who waits til the end of these season or even a few years to find out that your kid isn't progressing, not having fun and is way behind his peers who have.

The first club/team he joins may not be the right fit - be open to exploring options

In middle school years, kids come of the woodwork when little league, basketball and other youth sports finish, get more serious and/or less convenient to parents - marginal kids that have played for years may be cut/benched for stronger athletes that pick up the game.

You are paying for your kid to be coached and play on a club team. If your kid isn't playing and/or developing, find another team.

Don't concentrate on just lacrosse - play other sports which will make your son a more coachable, skilled athlete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boys lacrosse
Earliest Start is 4th or 5th grade - when your kid himself can reliably catch, throw on the move w/ kids of similar skill around him. It might be fun but don't kid yourself - Rec and clinics will be just as fun, more productive and less expensive and time consuming

Find a club that focuses on fundamentals and LaxIQ so your kid can play in high school. Clubs that use size, speed and holdbacks (kids delayed entry to K or repeat a grade) to win won't take the time to notice or fix the non-starters develop needs.

This will be your coach's 2nd or 3rd job - don't care how great the coach in HS, if he's not present and engaged it's not a great situation. Individual positional coaching (especially in goal) takes a backseat, your kid will need to look at clinics, or summer camps (good ones are few and far between).

News flash: Players get better practicing on their own between team practices. If your kid doesn't practice on his own - his lease on playing w/ the team will eventually expire.


Unfortunately, clubs thrive on ignorant or naïve parents. Ask questions relevant to your kid's skill development, enjoyment and playing time. Don't be that parent who waits til the end of these season or even a few years to find out that your kid isn't progressing, not having fun and is way behind his peers who have.

The first club/team he joins may not be the right fit - be open to exploring options

In middle school years, kids come of the woodwork when little league, basketball and other youth sports finish, get more serious and/or less convenient to parents - marginal kids that have played for years may be cut/benched for stronger athletes that pick up the game.

You are paying for your kid to be coached and play on a club team. If your kid isn't playing and/or developing, find another team.

Don't concentrate on just lacrosse - play other sports which will make your son a more coachable, skilled athlete.

This is a really good list!

[Anonymous]

As if this is not happening with club teams when the kids are younger than 11-12, I've had a DS and a DD play on "top" club teams at the younger ages and guess what - 90% of the kids act like 8-10 year olds act, playing hero ball, limited passing/assists and plenty of goofing off issues.

Nah. My DS played both club and rec, and even at that age, goofing off, hero ball, and refusing to pass was overwhelmingly on the rec team not the club team. That's why kids who love the game want to play club - they get to be on a team that consists 100% of other kids who love the game and are motivated, rather than being on rec where it's 50% unmotivated dregs but they get to play anyway.

It is not like the kids are magically more mature once their parents pay $$$ for a club team.

It's not the money that does it. They can and do grasp that being on a club team is not "automatic" like rec. They know that you get to be on the club team if you are skillful and motivated, and you will be cut if you're not.

You people just don't get it. Why on earth would you want to pay $250 a season and play games 10-15 min from your house or 45 min for away games when you can pay 3-5K per year and drive 2 hours to play in the HOCO league? You sound soft. Almost as if you are all a bunch of ungrateful quitters.

Watching the rec team dregs fumble around on the field is so painful that I'd much rather pay 10x as much and drive 10x as far to watch club. And if I feel that way about watching kids who do not suck, my DS feels even more strongly about playing with kids who do not suck.

[Anonymous]

Stay away for profit clubs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. People stop with the I had a friend whose kid started late and played for Yale or Duke or whatever. Seeking a hook for college is not the only reason people play lacrosse. Some kids actually enjoy the sport and play for reasons other than college admissions.

It is for most of the parents who are pushing for certain club teams.

It is the only way their kids will get into certain schools ie ivy league, duke, virginia, unc etc/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. People stop with the I had a friend whose kid started late and played for Yale or Duke or whatever. Seeking a hook for college is not the only reason people play lacrosse. Some kids actually enjoy the sport and play for reasons other than college admissions.

It is for most of the parents who are pushing for certain club teams.

It is the only way their kids will get into certain schools ie ivy league, duke, virginia, unc etc/

Baloney. Think that if you want because it must make you feel good but I can tell you from experience that in lax kids still need to make the SAT scores and GPAs. Basketball and football may be different but lax doesn't bring in enough $$$ to any school that they will significantly lower SAT or GPA requirements. Kids playing lax on Ivy teams, Duke, UNC, UVA and Michigan are making the scores that the non-athletes make. How do I know this? We have 3 kids playing D1/Ivy sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. People stop with the I had a friend whose kid started late and played for Yale or Duke or whatever. Seeking a hook for college is not the only reason people play lacrosse. Some kids actually enjoy the sport and play for reasons other than college admissions.

It is for most of the parents who are pushing for certain club teams.

It is the only way their kids will get into certain schools ie ivy league, duke, virginia, unc etc/

Baloney. Think that if you want because it must make you feel good but I can tell you from experience that in lax kids still need to make the SAT scores and GPAs. Basketball and football may be different but lax doesn't bring in enough $$$ to any school that they will significantly lower SAT or GPA requirements. Kids playing lax on Ivy teams, Duke, UNC, UVA and Michigan are making the scores that the non-athletes make. How do I know this? We have 3 kids playing D1/Ivy sports.

You pretty much don’t know what you’re talking about:

“All applicants to Harvard are ranked on a scale of one to six based on their academic qualifications, and athletes who scored a four were accepted at a rate of about 70 percent. Yet the admit rate for nonathletes with the same score was 0.076 percent—nearly 1,000 times lower. Similarly, 83 percent of athletes with a top academic score got an acceptance letter, compared with 16 percent of nonathletes. ”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. People stop with the I had a friend whose kid started late and played for Yale or Duke or whatever. Seeking a hook for college is not the only reason people play lacrosse. Some kids actually enjoy the sport and play for reasons other than college admissions.

It is for most of the parents who are pushing for certain club teams.

It is the only way their kids will get into certain schools ie ivy league, duke, virginia, unc etc/

Baloney. Think that if you want because it must make you feel good but I can tell you from experience that in lax kids still need to make the SAT scores and GPAs. Basketball and football may be different but lax doesn't bring in enough $$$ to any school that they will significantly lower SAT or GPA requirements. Kids playing lax on Ivy teams, Duke, UNC, UVA and Michigan are making the scores that the non-athletes make. How do I know this? We have 3 kids playing D1/Ivy sports.

You pretty much don’t know what you’re talking about:

“All applicants to Harvard are ranked on a scale of one to six based on their academic qualifications, and athletes who scored a four were accepted at a rate of about 70 percent. Yet the admit rate for nonathletes with the same score was 0.076 percent—nearly 1,000 times lower. Similarly, 83 percent of athletes with a top academic score got an acceptance letter, compared with 16 percent of nonathletes. ”

You have provided a supposed quote with no attribution. You have provided a supposed quote that through its own words applies to all athletes, and you are trying to apply it to lax players. As the parent of a child at said school, I say that YOU don't know what YOU'RE talking about. You probably don't even qualify to go to any upper tier school yourself. So go away little, feeble-minded troll, and get your jollies elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. People stop with the I had a friend whose kid started late and played for Yale or Duke or whatever. Seeking a hook for college is not the only reason people play lacrosse. Some kids actually enjoy the sport and play for reasons other than college admissions.

It is for most of the parents who are pushing for certain club teams.

It is the only way their kids will get into certain schools ie ivy league, duke, virginia, unc etc/

Baloney. Think that if you want because it must make you feel good but I can tell you from experience that in lax kids still need to make the SAT scores and GPAs. Basketball and football may be different but lax doesn't bring in enough $$$ to any school that they will significantly lower SAT or GPA requirements. Kids playing lax on Ivy teams, Duke, UNC, UVA and Michigan are making the scores that the non-athletes make. How do I know this? We have 3 kids playing D1/Ivy sports.

You pretty much don’t know what you’re talking about:

“All applicants to Harvard are ranked on a scale of one to six based on their academic qualifications, and athletes who scored a four were accepted at a rate of about 70 percent. Yet the admit rate for nonathletes with the same score was 0.076 percent—nearly 1,000 times lower. Similarly, 83 percent of athletes with a top academic score got an acceptance letter, compared with 16 percent of nonathletes. ”

You have provided a supposed quote with no attribution. You have provided a supposed quote that through its own words applies to all athletes, and you are trying to apply it to lax players. As the parent of a child at said school, I say that YOU don't know what YOU'RE talking about. You probably don't even qualify to go to any upper tier school yourself. So go away little, feeble-minded troll, and get your jollies elsewhere.

The point is, lacrosse is a huge boost to the chances of a kid getting into a top tier school. That’s what you seemed to claim was “baloney”. There are tons of kids with good grades and scores that get rejected. Lacrosse gives kids an admissions edge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. People stop with the I had a friend whose kid started late and played for Yale or Duke or whatever. Seeking a hook for college is not the only reason people play lacrosse. Some kids actually enjoy the sport and play for reasons other than college admissions.

It is for most of the parents who are pushing for certain club teams.

It is the only way their kids will get into certain schools ie ivy league, duke, virginia, unc etc/

Baloney. Think that if you want because it must make you feel good but I can tell you from experience that in lax kids still need to make the SAT scores and GPAs. Basketball and football may be different but lax doesn't bring in enough $$$ to any school that they will significantly lower SAT or GPA requirements. Kids playing lax on Ivy teams, Duke, UNC, UVA and Michigan are making the scores that the non-athletes make. How do I know this? We have 3 kids playing D1/Ivy sports.

You pretty much don’t know what you’re talking about:

“All applicants to Harvard are ranked on a scale of one to six based on their academic qualifications, and athletes who scored a four were accepted at a rate of about 70 percent. Yet the admit rate for nonathletes with the same score was 0.076 percent—nearly 1,000 times lower. Similarly, 83 percent of athletes with a top academic score got an acceptance letter, compared with 16 percent of nonathletes. ”

You have provided a supposed quote with no attribution. You have provided a supposed quote that through its own words applies to all athletes, and you are trying to apply it to lax players. As the parent of a child at said school, I say that YOU don't know what YOU'RE talking about. You probably don't even qualify to go to any upper tier school yourself. So go away little, feeble-minded troll, and get your jollies elsewhere.

https://youtu.be/lIjqdRiM3Pc

[Anonymous]

So nerds who play sports are more valued than nerds who don't. No kidding.