2024 Girls Lax WCAC ISL Outlook

[Anonymous]

Wow!

[Anonymous]

Visi went out strong, goalie played an amazing game with over 65% save rate (with a broken thumb) and used the clock to their advantage. Sjc had too many turnovers and missed shots to be competitive, particularly after giving up 5 goals right away.

[Anonymous]

So not true, and those are typos. KJ is well-liked and loved! The players and parents are having a positive experience and like the team/school. These families have the means to go to any school they want but chose SSSAS. Despite injuries with some top players SSSAS did respectable , especially against STAB, which had 10-12 seniors playing who are all D1 commits. Making it to a state championship game is amazing. Any team in this area that loses its top few players to injury would not fare as well as Saints. They have depth,
skill, and talent on that team. Go Saints!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Any actual game report instead of coach criticizing? As to the STAB and SSSA game I saw yesterday, it was good, a lot of quality players on both sides, good coaching on both sides. Pretty clean game, referee calls the usual benefiting/hurting both teams and can quibble with calls but the players determined the outcome. Tie game at half.

A Game of momentum, STAB out to 2-0 lead, then SSSA 3-2 with 8 meter near end of first half for chance to go up 4-2, but STAB D holds and STAB ends up scoring to stop the bleeding and ended up 3-3 at half. STAB had a steady 3rd quarter whereas SSSA doesn’t score and STAB up a couple into 4th. SSSA makes late run but not enough and 8-6 is a fair outcome that could have gone either way with a few possessions here and there outcome determinative. STAB has great size and length and had the better Offense. SSSA pretty balanced and had the better Defense. Both Goalies were excellent and that was even. Clearing game pretty even with some miscues on both sides. The difference in the game was the Draw and Circle GBs where STAB probably winning 75%, and that was the margin with STAB with more possessions and good probing dodges and effective overloads.

Impressive 22-1 season for STAB only losing to GC, who objectively was the clear class of the DMV and deserves all their accolades. Also a good season for SSSA, with 18 wins and plenty of close games and a nice win against a talented Potomac team that is only getting better with real quality in their 25 and 26 squads. Don’t sleep on Potomac, whose worst loss was 5 goals to SSSA but the other 7 losses all by one or two goals against quality competition, including two one goal losses vs STAB. That will be a good team for at least the next couple years. Visi will be good again too next year as they work through the coaching transition, SR probably a step back with talent graduation and consecutive ISL championships, which is impressive and hard to do. SSSA also will be very good next year, and too early to tell if they will rise back to historic standards of top 10 and winning ISL. They have the potential.

As for coaching staffs at these programs, every coaching staff gets criticized on this board, my guess is largely by parents whose kids aren’t getting playing time and who self-validate their frustration on this board by program bashing. No program is perfect, but the reality is that these are college prep level lax programs — if kids aren’t improving on their own through hours of weekly shooting, wall ball, reps, conditioning, all outside of team practice and games (and all of which is difficult on top of academics and a social life) they aren’t going to improve enough to assure their playing time.

As a coach myself outside of lax, it is not hard to see who is putting in the time and who isn’t outside practice, and even when a hard worker may not be as talented as another, their higher compete factor and toughness often earns them more time than a player without that level of effort and without that mental positivity. Before you bash a program, ask whether your daughter is doing everything within her control to earn playing time and to make it hard on coaches to keep her on the the bench. If your daughter wants to play D1 lacrosse, get used to having to earn everything she gets at the college level, get used to tough coaching without coddling, and get used to multiple players vying for her position, with each year starting over to earn her spot again as the transfer portal is the new normal (with the exception of the Ivy’s). Getting comfortable with hard competition is one of the virtues of sport and preparing kids for reality of professional life, performing in a job and operating in an environment where mom and dad can’t solve their problems by complaining to their boss or posting negative messages on an anonymous chat board.

As for the specific poster opinion about KJ, I’ll respectfully disagree. That coach has as experienced and credentialed a coaching staff as it gets at the high school level, with young former college players and mature former college coaches, and with a current college coaching network that produces consistent college placement results. That program is easy to envy. There are also nice girls on that team who have treated our teams respectfully. KJ and staff are good for DMV lax, as they schedule broadly, give VA publics a shot every year, bring college coaches to this area for girls in all programs to be seen, and they also travel to play. Just my opinion, but I’m rooting for all these local HS programs to keep DMV relevant nationally and to keep the competition and college placements flowing. I enjoy following local players and wish them well when they proudly represent the DMV on the national stage in college. That includes rooting for the success of the club teams too like CavLax, Cap, Pride, etc. I loved the days when BI was also a force and we had at least 3-4 teams in the top 25 every year. I like to see Visi and GC with competitive programs, along with up-and-comers like StJ. Lax is a great sport and these girls benefit tremendously from participating when taking a healthy perspective to the activity, with frustration, success and relationship building all being part of it.

. 100% agree with this! Also a very happy Saints parent!

[Anonymous]

However much these two sssa parents love kk and keep talking about how great they are, the fact remains that placing number two in VA playing a weak schedule does not an “amazing” team make

[Anonymous]

*kj

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s not really a reasonable perspective. The busy coach is in multiple lacrosse Hall of Fame locally and other places. He coached Rec, He coached a nationally ranked Mad lax Team for boys. And I would be willing to bet that through travel and rec, he has coached at over 20 D1 women’s lacrosse players. Don’t crap on your coach by crapping on mine.

You're right. I apologize. Should of just stated simply "outcoached".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s not really a reasonable perspective. The busy coach is in multiple lacrosse Hall of Fame locally and other places. He coached Rec, He coached a nationally ranked Mad lax Team for boys. And I would be willing to bet that through travel and rec, he has coached at over 20 D1 women’s lacrosse players. Don’t crap on your coach by crapping on mine.

You're right. I apologize. Should of just stated simply "outcoached".

First actual mean culpa I've ever seen on this! Congratulations and thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The antics are she will get better get stronger get faster she will be just fine . Wish she was on my team .

She'd be even better if she stopped all of the extras. Her shot is both powerful and accurate, but a lot of other players also have that that don't do all of the flopping and complaining that she does.

Strong player but size comes into play at many schools. Some college coaches care about antics and others don’t.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for that amazing break down and a perspective every parent should have!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only does SSAS have the best 2026 class probably in the entire country they have the GOAT in KJ . STAB was so lucky today .

What is this based upon? The 2026 class might be strong locally but in the entire country? Ummmm no.

And they only have the 2026 class next year. Nothing else to back it up. Other schools have depth because they are actively developing each grade. Times have changed.

[Anonymous]

I think I’ve got it now. Saints play a weak schedule, don’t have athletes good enough to compete, only have one grade of players because nobody wants to go to that school, don’t develop young players, coaches are old and out of touch, play an ugly style of lacrosse that is offensive to most readers of this forum, and parents are all drunk on kool aid. Did I miss anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Any actual game report instead of coach criticizing? As to the STAB and SSSA game I saw yesterday, it was good, a lot of quality players on both sides, good coaching on both sides. Pretty clean game, referee calls the usual benefiting/hurting both teams and can quibble with calls but the players determined the outcome. Tie game at half.

A Game of momentum, STAB out to 2-0 lead, then SSSA 3-2 with 8 meter near end of first half for chance to go up 4-2, but STAB D holds and STAB ends up scoring to stop the bleeding and ended up 3-3 at half. STAB had a steady 3rd quarter whereas SSSA doesn’t score and STAB up a couple into 4th. SSSA makes late run but not enough and 8-6 is a fair outcome that could have gone either way with a few possessions here and there outcome determinative. STAB has great size and length and had the better Offense. SSSA pretty balanced and had the better Defense. Both Goalies were excellent and that was even. Clearing game pretty even with some miscues on both sides. The difference in the game was the Draw and Circle GBs where STAB probably winning 75%, and that was the margin with STAB with more possessions and good probing dodges and effective overloads.

Impressive 22-1 season for STAB only losing to GC, who objectively was the clear class of the DMV and deserves all their accolades. Also a good season for SSSA, with 18 wins and plenty of close games and a nice win against a talented Potomac team that is only getting better with real quality in their 25 and 26 squads. Don’t sleep on Potomac, whose worst loss was 5 goals to SSSA but the other 7 losses all by one or two goals against quality competition, including two one goal losses vs STAB. That will be a good team for at least the next couple years. Visi will be good again too next year as they work through the coaching transition, SR probably a step back with talent graduation and consecutive ISL championships, which is impressive and hard to do. SSSA also will be very good next year, and too early to tell if they will rise back to historic standards of top 10 and winning ISL. They have the potential.

As for coaching staffs at these programs, every coaching staff gets criticized on this board, my guess is largely by parents whose kids aren’t getting playing time and who self-validate their frustration on this board by program bashing. No program is perfect, but the reality is that these are college prep level lax programs — if kids aren’t improving on their own through hours of weekly shooting, wall ball, reps, conditioning, all outside of team practice and games (and all of which is difficult on top of academics and a social life) they aren’t going to improve enough to assure their playing time.

As a coach myself outside of lax, it is not hard to see who is putting in the time and who isn’t outside practice, and even when a hard worker may not be as talented as another, their higher compete factor and toughness often earns them more time than a player without that level of effort and without that mental positivity. Before you bash a program, ask whether your daughter is doing everything within her control to earn playing time and to make it hard on coaches to keep her on the the bench. If your daughter wants to play D1 lacrosse, get used to having to earn everything she gets at the college level, get used to tough coaching without coddling, and get used to multiple players vying for her position, with each year starting over to earn her spot again as the transfer portal is the new normal (with the exception of the Ivy’s). Getting comfortable with hard competition is one of the virtues of sport and preparing kids for reality of professional life, performing in a job and operating in an environment where mom and dad can’t solve their problems by complaining to their boss or posting negative messages on an anonymous chat board.

As for the specific poster opinion about KJ, I’ll respectfully disagree. That coach has as experienced and credentialed a coaching staff as it gets at the high school level, with young former college players and mature former college coaches, and with a current college coaching network that produces consistent college placement results. That program is easy to envy. There are also nice girls on that team who have treated our teams respectfully. KJ and staff are good for DMV lax, as they schedule broadly, give VA publics a shot every year, bring college coaches to this area for girls in all programs to be seen, and they also travel to play. Just my opinion, but I’m rooting for all these local HS programs to keep DMV relevant nationally and to keep the competition and college placements flowing. I enjoy following local players and wish them well when they proudly represent the DMV on the national stage in college. That includes rooting for the success of the club teams too like CavLax, Cap, Pride, etc. I loved the days when BI was also a force and we had at least 3-4 teams in the top 25 every year. I like to see Visi and GC with competitive programs, along with up-and-comers like StJ. Lax is a great sport and these girls benefit tremendously from participating when taking a healthy perspective to the activity, with frustration, success and relationship building all being part of it.

.
This post is actually thoughtful and positive. Best post on this entire thread!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Any actual game report instead of coach criticizing? As to the STAB and SSSA game I saw yesterday, it was good, a lot of quality players on both sides, good coaching on both sides. Pretty clean game, referee calls the usual benefiting/hurting both teams and can quibble with calls but the players determined the outcome. Tie game at half.

A Game of momentum, STAB out to 2-0 lead, then SSSA 3-2 with 8 meter near end of first half for chance to go up 4-2, but STAB D holds and STAB ends up scoring to stop the bleeding and ended up 3-3 at half. STAB had a steady 3rd quarter whereas SSSA doesn’t score and STAB up a couple into 4th. SSSA makes late run but not enough and 8-6 is a fair outcome that could have gone either way with a few possessions here and there outcome determinative. STAB has great size and length and had the better Offense. SSSA pretty balanced and had the better Defense. Both Goalies were excellent and that was even. Clearing game pretty even with some miscues on both sides. The difference in the game was the Draw and Circle GBs where STAB probably winning 75%, and that was the margin with STAB with more possessions and good probing dodges and effective overloads.

Impressive 22-1 season for STAB only losing to GC, who objectively was the clear class of the DMV and deserves all their accolades. Also a good season for SSSA, with 18 wins and plenty of close games and a nice win against a talented Potomac team that is only getting better with real quality in their 25 and 26 squads. Don’t sleep on Potomac, whose worst loss was 5 goals to SSSA but the other 7 losses all by one or two goals against quality competition, including two one goal losses vs STAB. That will be a good team for at least the next couple years. Visi will be good again too next year as they work through the coaching transition, SR probably a step back with talent graduation and consecutive ISL championships, which is impressive and hard to do. SSSA also will be very good next year, and too early to tell if they will rise back to historic standards of top 10 and winning ISL. They have the potential.

As for coaching staffs at these programs, every coaching staff gets criticized on this board, my guess is largely by parents whose kids aren’t getting playing time and who self-validate their frustration on this board by program bashing. No program is perfect, but the reality is that these are college prep level lax programs — if kids aren’t improving on their own through hours of weekly shooting, wall ball, reps, conditioning, all outside of team practice and games (and all of which is difficult on top of academics and a social life) they aren’t going to improve enough to assure their playing time.

As a coach myself outside of lax, it is not hard to see who is putting in the time and who isn’t outside practice, and even when a hard worker may not be as talented as another, their higher compete factor and toughness often earns them more time than a player without that level of effort and without that mental positivity. Before you bash a program, ask whether your daughter is doing everything within her control to earn playing time and to make it hard on coaches to keep her on the the bench. If your daughter wants to play D1 lacrosse, get used to having to earn everything she gets at the college level, get used to tough coaching without coddling, and get used to multiple players vying for her position, with each year starting over to earn her spot again as the transfer portal is the new normal (with the exception of the Ivy’s). Getting comfortable with hard competition is one of the virtues of sport and preparing kids for reality of professional life, performing in a job and operating in an environment where mom and dad can’t solve their problems by complaining to their boss or posting negative messages on an anonymous chat board.

As for the specific poster opinion about KJ, I’ll respectfully disagree. That coach has as experienced and credentialed a coaching staff as it gets at the high school level, with young former college players and mature former college coaches, and with a current college coaching network that produces consistent college placement results. That program is easy to envy. There are also nice girls on that team who have treated our teams respectfully. KJ and staff are good for DMV lax, as they schedule broadly, give VA publics a shot every year, bring college coaches to this area for girls in all programs to be seen, and they also travel to play. Just my opinion, but I’m rooting for all these local HS programs to keep DMV relevant nationally and to keep the competition and college placements flowing. I enjoy following local players and wish them well when they proudly represent the DMV on the national stage in college. That includes rooting for the success of the club teams too like CavLax, Cap, Pride, etc. I loved the days when BI was also a force and we had at least 3-4 teams in the top 25 every year. I like to see Visi and GC with competitive programs, along with up-and-comers like StJ. Lax is a great sport and these girls benefit tremendously from participating when taking a healthy perspective to the activity, with frustration, success and relationship building all being part of it.

.
This post is actually thoughtful and positive. Best post on this entire thread!

Agree! Great post. Solid insights. Welcome tone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I’ve got it now. Saints play a weak schedule, don’t have athletes good enough to compete, only have one grade of players because nobody wants to go to that school, don’t develop young players, coaches are old and out of touch, play an ugly style of lacrosse that is offensive to most readers of this forum, and parents are all drunk on kool aid. Did I miss anything?

Yah, the call from the jerk store.