Why Does "Lacrosse Culture" in Highschool and College seem to be so BAD these days?

[Anonymous]

White kids who can’t play other real sports

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:White kids who can’t play other real sports

Weird I actually see plenty Asian/black/Latino kids on local rosters but I guess you have some racial resentment you need to work on

[Anonymous]

It was just as bad as OP describes decades ago. Back then, the root cause was that Lacrosse was a hook to get DC into any Ivy. So it was hyper-competitive to be recognized as a good Lacrosse player.

There also is an unofficial, but very real, Lacrosse pipeline from some Ivys to high salary jobs at Wall St firms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's the last bastion of wealthy white boys with middling athletic skills. Golf and tennis are gone. So will lacrosse, now that public schools (and football players) are starting to play. My son goes to a big lacrosse school and I'm SO glad he plays other sports. And the parents are obnoxious.

This is still ringing true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was just as bad as OP describes decades ago. Back then, the root cause was that Lacrosse was a hook to get DC into any Ivy. So it was hyper-competitive to be recognized as a good Lacrosse player.

There also is an unofficial, but very real, Lacrosse pipeline from some Ivys to high salary jobs at Wall St firms.

Which coincides with PP's observation about the changing culture of rowing. It's all hyper-competitive, Ivy or bust, I'm the best, chest thumpers now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both my sons started lacrosse in kindergarten and have played ever since, and are rising 9th and 11th graders at a DC Catholic school, so they're obviously the target for a lot of the dislike here, based on what I've read.

What I will say from my experience as a parent involved with the sport is that you have a small group of complete f--kwits, a small group of genuinely nice/awesome people, and then a large group of just average types who aren't always nice but are also nice enough that I wouldn't throw them in the f--kwit group.

I.e., it's generally a bellcurve of behavior and --OMG--I'm pretty sure you'll find that same distribution across all competitive sports, and in all public and private schools. Lacrosse players are no more or no less obnoxious than your average teenager.

There's such a strong tendency across this whole message board to divide up society into "good"/in groups (of which the poster is a member) and "evil"/out groups (it's okay to attack them--they're the BAD guys!). It's pretty tiresome and if you're an adult doing this maybe look in the mirror and try to be better.

Where there's a pattern, there's a problem. That doesn't mean everyone follows the pattern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both my sons started lacrosse in kindergarten and have played ever since, and are rising 9th and 11th graders at a DC Catholic school, so they're obviously the target for a lot of the dislike here, based on what I've read.

What I will say from my experience as a parent involved with the sport is that you have a small group of complete f--kwits, a small group of genuinely nice/awesome people, and then a large group of just average types who aren't always nice but are also nice enough that I wouldn't throw them in the f--kwit group.

I.e., it's generally a bellcurve of behavior and --OMG--I'm pretty sure you'll find that same distribution across all competitive sports, and in all public and private schools. Lacrosse players are no more or no less obnoxious than your average teenager.

There's such a strong tendency across this whole message board to divide up society into "good"/in groups (of which the poster is a member) and "evil"/out groups (it's okay to attack them--they're the BAD guys!). It's pretty tiresome and if you're an adult doing this maybe look in the mirror and try to be better.

Where there's a pattern, there's a problem. That doesn't mean everyone follows the pattern.

Right, and where's the "pattern," exactly? A bunch of resentful white wine moms posting anecdotes from their HS and college years that are more than likely completely fabricated? Wtf are you people on about, there's toxic kids in every sport, there's toxic kids in theater, there's toxic kids in debate, etc. Don't work out your issues here just because some Chad you were crushing on when you were younger never paid attention to you, Karen.

[Anonymous]

It’s toxic

[Anonymous]

In a different metro, the really insidious thing about Lacrosse was that public schools did not have teams, only 3 privates. And the coaches at each of those schools organized a local “travel team” for competitive Lacrosse — as a private business. Would-be players had to pay to be on that team. The same coaches also had separate Lacrosse teams at elementary school age and at middle school age. If a kid did not start playing by 2nd grade, it would be hard to catch up with the students who started earlier. The outside school cost structure also meant that only wealthy families could afford it.

The kicker was that those 3 privates pretty regularly could get 3-5 “extra” kids into an Ivy in a given year by using a Lacrosse player hook. It also was a hook for UVa, W&L, and some other east coast colleges. Some Ivys might be more serious about Lax than about Baseball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White kids who can’t play other real sports

Weird I actually see plenty Asian/black/Latino kids on local rosters but I guess you have some racial resentment you need to work on

It’s ok to bash white boys don’t you know that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has always been the men's lacrosse culture .... it is not THESE DAYS.. you were just unaware.

You’re probably not going back far enough. Lacrosse in the 70s and 80s didn’t have that culture. Maybe people associate it with rich kids because before it became popular everywhere it was only in private schools that had the space and money to add on every sport out there.

In the mid 80s I had friends and family members at D1 schools. A couple of them went pro although the pay was dismal.

My brother and his friends who played football and lacrosse were nothing like any of the stereotypes. More like dorks with no game with the ladies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I didn't get that -- I'm from the Midwest -- but I'm starting to understand I think. Why would it be so, so important for a child who is only 60 months old to excel at LAX? (when it's fine to be laid back and developmentally appropriate regarding soccer or swimming)? Hm.

b/c there is no expectation (desire) that their child will swim or play soccer at the college level.

With lacrosse, once you have a step up vs your peers on skills, you get more playing time. More playing time = more time to further improve your skills. It is a cycle. You can't just put a stick in his hands in middle school and expect for him to pick it up.

I hope you are not a coach. Because this is completely untrue--you can absolutely start in MS or HS. You are probably one these dickhead Dads who coach and trying to relive some faded glory. The better you are does not and should not be the only factor for playing time, esp. at the MS level. The boys and girls are there to develop their skills and have fun. At the Varsity level in HS and college you can start play your star players all the time. I hate the culture of any sport that tries to make it all about the most gifted players from day one--it's absurd! Kids are developing into good sportsmen in the early years.

Of course you can start in middle school or high school and excel at it. The misinformation and gross stereotypes here are surprising. A lot of you are talking about youth sports where you pay to join a club.

Players can get into a specific sport on their own during school or pick up games. They find they like basketball or lacrosse and start to play in school. The obnoxious parents can’t be as involved in school sports like they were in pay to play sports. They can’t go to every practice like they did when the kids were younger. They travel spend tons of money and are way too invested. And the kids who started in middle school are at the same pace as the ones the ones who spent way too much money on it.

Lacrosse is a game that doesn’t need years of training or private coaches. It’s a fun sport. Have any of you played?

[Anonymous]

Please do not be silly. People who did have years of training and private coaching will be more competitive than those without either - in any sport - including Lax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's lax team has the highest average GPA of all the D1 athletes at their university. They also do community service year round as do many of the other teams.

This is the problem.. It's like maintenance alcoholics in the making. It is not okay to drink excessively, treat women like they are disposable, and be an entitled a$$hole ... Then say but I get good grade and volunteer so it is okay.

This is true!! The culture is toxic. They love to trash talk women. Treating others like crap is their sport because lacrosse is just weird.

Lacrosse was a prep school sport when I grew up in 70s , when did it become popular around here? Our kids did not get into lacrosse, DD played for a year but never really got into the game. It was looked down as a rich kids sport when I was a kid, no one, and I mean no one played lacrosse in central PA in 70s and 80s except for kids that went to prep schools.

The northeast public schools all had varsity lacrosse in the 70s. It was as common as baseball.

I don’t doubt the farther south you go the less likely it was played or even heard of. It might have started in a handful of private schools but it’s been popular in northern public high schools for over 50 years.

Fun fact - Lacrosse is Canada’s official summer sport and hockey is Canada's official winter sport. Both sports popular in states close to Canada.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son has started lacrosse. He’s a strong swimmer and does club swim as well but wanted a team sport in addition to his individual activities.

He’s kind of a little bro, but I don’t discourage it. He seems well liked at school and at all of his activities so I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s only ten now, so I’ll report back when he’s 17 lol.

Reading your first paragraph i assumed he’d be older. He’s only ten. I hope he likes it. My cousin. on the small size, went pro years ago but they were never able to get a following so no big salaries. There are big guys that play too. It’s not a really hard game to learn but it can be intense. My brother broke his nose in a game. That was before they doubled their safety equipment, when it was more like rugby tough.

Get some balls and lacrosse sticks and play in the backyard or park. It’s fun!