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

[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.

Is it supposed to be "easier" to play college lacrosse than other sports?

No - it is actually harder now than just a few years ago. But Dad's have a desire for their sons to have their same experiences. My husband grew up playing ice hockey and lacrosse (upstate NY) - and wants to give our sons those experiences.

[Anonymous]

This whole thread kind of stings. I'm a lacrosse player going into my Junior year and the guys you're describing either go to private school or have elitist parents. The school in MD I go to has alot of poor players, myself included, we're a little quieter, you wouldn't know we play if our team picture wasn't posted. And some of our players think they're chick magnets or are ball hogs.
From experience, the overly confident players are the ones who usually get into those D1 programs because the know they can play and can afford it. I'm broke, I just want to play. No car, no big house, none of that. It all depends on the person playing. But I do know that some coaches like to really boost their players so they'll play harder and it usually goes to his head, especially in private schools. I don't know a whole lot about why so many players go nuts but at some high schools it's usually girls who think LAX Bros are hot. For boys that went to an all boys school they end up worse because now
they've discovered girls, alcohol, and no parents. This all observation on players I've met. Please don't let the bad ones destroy your faith in the game it's a blast... But watch teammates like a hawk.

[Anonymous]

There has been some soul-searching since the Love murder within lacrosse world about their toxic culture. Not enough, but some acknowledgment and concern. While there are many lovely young men playing the sport, the problem with its culture is real. Alcohol has a lot to do with it and I read somewhere that alcohol abuse is worse for lacrosse players than any other kind of athlete.

The answer is to become part of the solution. Individual players, parents and coaches can set the tone. It will take aggressive efforts but if everyone comes together to create a different culture for the sport, it can happen.

[Anonymous]

I am not a big fan of anecdotal evidence.

Here is a study done by the NCAA on the issue of drug abuse in sports.

http://ncaapublications.com/p-4266-research-substance-use-national-study-of-substance-use-trends-among-ncaa-college-student-athletes.aspx

As you can see Lacrosse and Ice Hockey are the biggest drinkers at the 95% but really besides Basketball and Track everybody is in the 80% range.

What stands out to me is the Marijuana use which is significantly higher in LAX.

I could not find the raw data on the graduation rate but the graduation rate of Lacrosse plays is the highest of all other sports (88%) (tied with skiing and gymnastics) and the graduation rate of a student athletes is higher than the general population.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/e9eb8a0048d2623fb424ffb1fe52de76/GSR+and+Fed+Trends+2011+-+Final+10_20_11.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=e9eb8a0048d2623fb424ffb1fe52de76

My son plays many sports and he plays LAX. My feeling is when a kid has a LAX uniform and acts like a boy people think he is a rich a$$. I have had people say to my son (and we do not have money) I hate you rich LAX players (that was a ref). I told him when he has his LAX gear on he is treated a certain way and he has to understand that.

When his soccer friends show up with their $200 cleats on and act like a boy nobody really imposes a judgement on that.

I do not see this as a LAX problem. Alcohol and marijuana use is just a problem.

[Anonymous]

I played boy's/men's lacrosse in the 1980s and this is not new. It is a jock culture that is not limited to one particular sport. If you take a bunch of guys and have them spend 60 to 70 percent of thier time with the same bunch of guys, you get a group of guys with a limited world view of what is funny, what is acceptable behavior, what is "cool," etc.. The fact that you are a team only heightens the us vs everyone else mentality.

My views expanded when I got to college and stopped playing sports, because I was exposed to a greater variety of people.

When you have teams, like swiming, where the boy's and girl's team seem to interact more, I think you see less of a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I played boy's/men's lacrosse in the 1980s and this is not new. It is a jock culture that is not limited to one particular sport. If you take a bunch of guys and have them spend 60 to 70 percent of thier time with the same bunch of guys, you get a group of guys with a limited world view of what is funny, what is acceptable behavior, what is "cool," etc.. The fact that you are a team only heightens the us vs everyone else mentality.

My views expanded when I got to college and stopped playing sports, because I was exposed to a greater variety of people.

When you have teams, like swiming, where the boy's and girl's team seem to interact more, I think you see less of a problem.

I don't really understand this. I played sports and I have my BB friends, my school friends, my neighborhood friends. I have many brothers and 1/2 played high level sports and they had multiple groups of friends. Grant it they did not play LAX but they did play football and they did not just hang with the football team. They had multiple groups of friends and all the groups drank, etc. It was the 80s.

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

fencing?

[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.

Please name a sport where parents are not obnoxious. Love to know.

So far I have found rock climbing and kayaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please name a sport where parents are not obnoxious. Love to know.

So far I have found rock climbing and kayaking.

those are not even team sports you don't interact with others

soccer and baseball are down to earth people's sports

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please name a sport where parents are not obnoxious. Love to know.

So far I have found rock climbing and kayaking.

those are not even team sports you don't interact with others

soccer and baseball are down to earth people's sports

Soccer - you are kidding right?
We have not done baseball but soccer is out of control especially when little johnnie gets "pushed" or "slide tackled" and johnnie's mommy doesn't know the rules. I have had moms come onto the field after kids on our kids team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please name a sport where parents are not obnoxious. Love to know.

So far I have found rock climbing and kayaking.

those are not even team sports you don't interact with others

soccer and baseball are down to earth people's sports

Ha Ha! You've never been around these parents during all-star or travel time tryouts, have you?

[Anonymous]

having done 4 yrs of soccer for 2 kids on 2 different teams, and 3 yrs of baseball for 2 kids on 2 different teams, i've yet to see a single parent of our or the opposing teams act inappropriately at games or practices.

these are rec teams preK-3rd maybe that's why.

in any case i feel sorry for your experiences, PPs 12:45 & 13:06.

[Anonymous]

Why is Ben Roethlisberger is able to have rape cases without you somehow connecting that to the sport he plays? What makes lacrosse different? By the way, none of those Duke lacrosse players were convicted, so it didn't seem like it ever even happened. Also, if your playing any sport in college in today's world then you don't have time to be a degenerate, you're either studying or at practice. Even D2 and D3 schools will require their athletes to practice almost every day in season with work outs and meetings in off season. I played lacrosse in high school and it's absurd to apply those stereotypes subjectively. Every pretty boy quarterback in high school history is stereotyped as a womanizing, no moral, unintelligent creep and I'm sure you'd be perfectly fine with your son playing football if he doesn't already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the physicality of the sport (contact, aggression) attracts a certain type of boy who is by nature more aggressive, physical, and confident? Similar to football? My son, who plays tennis, disdains the LAX BROS as well. But he also reports that the worst students (in his words, the most "stupid" kids) also tend to be lacrosse players, and I don't know why this would be true, unless it is part of the culture to act as though school is "uncool."

My tennis playing son says the exact same thing. He said a teacher at his all boys' school once asked who played lacrosse, and all of the worst students raised their hands. Of course there are exceptions, but not enough to dislodge the stereotype. Son also reports that the lacrosse players are the guys he knows who drink and smoke pot.