Travel in 3rd grade: How many of those girls stick with it through high school?

[Anonymous]

And what about girls who start later?

My daughter is only in 3rd grade and some of her friends are already playing on a travel team. She really likes lacrosse but we didn’t even think about travel yet. It seems in the soccer world, travel starts young and folks make it sound as if your kid will never make a travel team if they don’t start in second or third grade. I thought kids started getting serious about lacrosse a little later than soccer.

[Anonymous]

I started my child at 4... When she was 6 she was "burned out" and gave it up --- never touched a stick again until she was 13

(if she enjoys it, it's okay --travel in 3rd grade seems like too much though)

[Anonymous]

Travel lacrosse in 3rd grade is still new — for example, Stars just started their program within the last 2 years.

[Anonymous]

Not unusual for travel to start summer after third grade these days so hard to say how it will turn out. My daughter started travel lacrosse in Sixth grade and it took her a year or two to work her way into the team she wanted. There are a few new girls every year, so definitely possible, but teams do tend to retain most of their team, so it is easiest to get in on the first entry year.

My dd started rec in first grade, amd is now a rising eighth grader. I would say about two-thirds of the girls she started with now play club
lacrosse.

[Anonymous]

Travel in third grade is just a way for clubs to make money off of paranoid parents. I’d wait until 5th grade to judge how interested she really is before you start spending serious money.

[Anonymous]

My daughter started travel in 4th grade, and in 8th grade it's still one of the best things that she does. If she loves it, I would go for it. It's great to be on a team since it started, she will make great friends, and the tournaments are very fun for all the kids.

[Anonymous]

My daughter started in 5th grade. I don’t think lax is a high burnout sport compared to others I’m familiar with. She loves it still (9th grade)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel in third grade is just a way for clubs to make money off of paranoid parents. I’d wait until 5th grade to judge how interested she really is before you start spending serious money.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

I think people, including the clubs themselves, exaggerate the term "travel". It really just means that you are not playing in a "house league". MGLL is not travel as I would understand it. The kids just play teams from different clubs in the same park every week for the season. NGLL on the other hand does require actual travel, as there are home and away games. Last year, NGLL started at 4th grade and there were no combined 3rd/4th teams. MGLL has a combined 3rd/4th division. I imagine it will be the same this spring. 3rd graders on "travel" teams are only playing MGLL, however that experience could help them if the goal is to make an NGLL team in 4th. The apex for participation in girls lacrosse is 7th/8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter started travel in 4th grade, and in 8th grade it's still one of the best things that she does. If she loves it, I would go for it. It's great to be on a team since it started, she will make great friends, and the tournaments are very fun for all the kids.

This has been our experience. We've seen an improvement in her stick skills and field awareness. The tourneys have been fun for our entire family and it's great to have her lax friends when there's girl drama at school. Most of the clubs have teams for 3rd graders and they emphasize having fun so I think those girls will have an advantage. But, strong rec players should be able to find a team through MS if that works better for your family.

[Anonymous]

In our experience most of the kids start by 5th. Starting after that is hard, because the kids have played together for at least a year and have the club experience under their belt.

There's some attrition. Some kids move on to different teams, some kids don't love club lacrosse and stop playing. 6th and 7th seemed like big "trying to move to the best teams" years to me. My daughter stopped playing before 10th grade, and was probably one of the last doesn't-really-love-club-lacrosse kids to leave her team. The team had been pretty consistent since 7th grade, and a lot of the kids on it in 9th were the kids who started playing in 4th and 5th grade. There's a strong draw to keep playing once you're there. You spend so much time with these kids, that knowing when you leave you're leaving them can make it really hard to leave. And it's fun! Except when it's taken over your life and everyone's talking about being recruited to play in college and then you realize the thought of playing lacrosse in college makes you want to cry.

Anyway. A lot of the kids stick with it. Some kids leave. There's nothing wrong with doing it while it's fun and leaving when you realize it's not.

[Anonymous]

This is what’s hurting the house leagues in the area. There aren’t enough players to have house league and travel programs fielding teams for the spring seasons. Ultimately it’s making lacrosse have smaller numbers.

[Anonymous]

Travel sports in general are just a scam for the younger ones. I agree - the house leagues are hurting because of this nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Our daughter started travel in 4th grade and is playing lacrosse in college. It's been a great outlet for her - but she has also played field hockey and basketball. Taking a break from lacrosse during the year is really important!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel in third grade is just a way for clubs to make money off of paranoid parents. I’d wait until 5th grade to judge how interested she really is before you start spending serious money.

I sort of agree with this, but as long as your kid likes it and practices. Just think she will be able to do nothing until 5th grade then be able to waltz onto a travel team. Kids who play travel get a lot more reps.