Private School Lacrosse Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can starting players on good B club teams play on top high school teams like Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, or do you have to be an A team member?

Can they? Sure.

But your definition of "play" could mean a lot of things. Could they make the team? Probably, especially as they matriculate through the program. But will they start or get significant play time? Most likely, no.

I'm not sure if some parents in this area take it for granted, but the likes of Landon, Prep, Gonzaga etc -- these are literally some of the best boys lacrosse programs IN THE COUNTRY. There is an ebb and flow of talent to be sure, but all can be acknowledged as top tier programs over the course of their history.

This of course isn't to say your son can't improve from a B to A player; obviously they can. But be realistic about expectations if your son isn't putting in the work to improve.

[Anonymous]

Good coaches find ways to develop their own players. Great coaches recognize the different between a good athlete and a good lacrosse player.

As I mentioned earlier, if you are a good athlete, picking up lacrosse is MUCH EASIER than learning how to play golf, tennis, or even baseball.

Just to clarify, I played 4 years of lacrosse in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe its different for boys but B team players do get recruited from top girls' club teams. Also there is movement between the A and B teams even once kids are in high school. Its not a ton of kids but there are a handful that move up and down each year.

Capital is the example I am most familiar with and both these things happen. There are girls on Capital Orange, the B team, who get recruited to play at some DI schools and lots of DIII schools. It is extremely common. And almost every girl on the Capital Blue team (A team) is recruited to play at a DI, and great DIs at that. Sure, a couple may go DIII each year but it is a very small number. Maybe this is because there are fewer great girls lacrosse clubs and Capital is the best in the DC area (not including Baltimore here obviously).

What folks are writing on here in regards to boys' club teams and A versus B teams and does not apply in the girls' lax world. Its very different. In fact, most of the advice on here doesn't apply to girls lacrosse at the highest level, on the top club teams and for those who want to play in college, to be recruited.

That's because there are many more women's programs than men's. That may be the case in the women's games, but not the men's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is so peculiar about lacrosse that B team talent does not develop as a child matures? Are the skills just so basic that the ceiling is so low that it doesn't matter if one gets bigger/stronger/faster? It can't be that A teams all develop more physically than B teams, so physical growth would seem to be a factor that could move you up (or down).

You are the perfect parent for Madlax.

I didn't think you'd have an answer.

When Madlax players move up from B, it's almost always because someone on the Madlax A team left for another club, quit because he is now committed, etc. You guys are doing these newbie parents a disservice by giving them false hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Can starting players on good B club teams play on top high school teams like Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, or do you have to be an A team member?

YES. It depends on how athletic your son is.

Take middle school lax as a grain of salt. Some kids on the MS "A" lax team (take Mad Lax, Crabs, next Level, Club Blue) pan out to be solid players in HS, but some quite frankly hit a plateau. Some kids are clearly older than others in middle school and some have hit puberty and some kids by the time they are through their freshman year are through puberty.

Landon had two kids on their varsity this past Spring who had never even played lacrosse prior to their freshman year - if your son is an athlete, lacrosse is a pretty easy sport to pick up. Its not baseball or golf that require incredible hand eye coordination

This is an interesting question. I played D1 baseball and there were 5 people in the general area where I grew up that went on to play D1 or to the minors the same year as me. All of us were among the very best players in the area by the end of little league and my sense was that almost all other people on our college team had been very good players in little league as well. My experience is obviously anecdotal and I've never looked to verify this beyond that, but my sense is there was a relatively high correlation in baseball between youth performance and high school/college performance.

But my sense is that football is not as much like that, in part, because a lot of people start playing football later and because size/athleticism is more crucial than in baseball (though baseball is changing in that respect). So you couldn't pick out the eventual D1 players in football by watching 5th/6th graders play in the same way you can with little league (this was the pre-youth-travel era when most everyone still played little league).

My question is: For people who've seen crops of players progress from the youth teams to college, is lax more like the baseball example or the football example? So if I watch, say a Madlax 2024 or 2025 game (to pick a better club at random) are the studs there likely the D1 players? Or is the correlation weak for those young of teams?

[Anonymous]

Does Flint Hill emphasize lax?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is so peculiar about lacrosse that B team talent does not develop as a child matures? Are the skills just so basic that the ceiling is so low that it doesn't matter if one gets bigger/stronger/faster? It can't be that A teams all develop more physically than B teams, so physical growth would seem to be a factor that could move you up (or down).

You are the perfect parent for Madlax.

I didn't think you'd have an answer.

When Madlax players move up from B, it's almost always because someone on the Madlax A team left for another club, quit because he is now committed, etc. You guys are doing these newbie parents a disservice by giving them false hope.

Still no answer. You come across as someone who has an ax to grind.

[Anonymous]

Does Flint Hill emphasize lax?

Overall Flint Hill does emphasize athletics. Its the largest school in the MAAC in terms of male enrollment which can give it an advantage.

Flint Hill football, basketball and baseball are very solid for independent schools. As for lacrosse, the MAAC is a pretty weak lacrosse conference, other than Potomac and Flint Hill, there really are no other programs (Sidwell HC just stepped down) in the league trying to establish a lacrosse program. From my understand, Flint Hills best lacrosse players in MS tend to leave for Landon, Gonzaga and other stronger programs in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe its different for boys but B team players do get recruited from top girls' club teams. Also there is movement between the A and B teams even once kids are in high school. Its not a ton of kids but there are a handful that move up and down each year.

Capital is the example I am most familiar with and both these things happen. There are girls on Capital Orange, the B team, who get recruited to play at some DI schools and lots of DIII schools. It is extremely common. And almost every girl on the Capital Blue team (A team) is recruited to play at a DI, and great DIs at that. Sure, a couple may go DIII each year but it is a very small number. Maybe this is because there are fewer great girls lacrosse clubs and Capital is the best in the DC area (not including Baltimore here obviously).

What folks are writing on here in regards to boys' club teams and A versus B teams and does not apply in the girls' lax world. Its very different. In fact, most of the advice on here doesn't apply to girls lacrosse at the highest level, on the top club teams and for those who want to play in college, to be recruited.

Capital is one of very few girls B teams that has players who will be recruited for college play. Even M&D Red is a huge drop off from Black with little movement between the teams (if any) in high school. Same with Rebels and MC Elite - the top teams are light years better than the B team in my daughter's year (2021).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe its different for boys but B team players do get recruited from top girls' club teams. Also there is movement between the A and B teams even once kids are in high school. Its not a ton of kids but there are a handful that move up and down each year.

Capital is the example I am most familiar with and both these things happen. There are girls on Capital Orange, the B team, who get recruited to play at some DI schools and lots of DIII schools. It is extremely common. And almost every girl on the Capital Blue team (A team) is recruited to play at a DI, and great DIs at that. Sure, a couple may go DIII each year but it is a very small number. Maybe this is because there are fewer great girls lacrosse clubs and Capital is the best in the DC area (not including Baltimore here obviously).

What folks are writing on here in regards to boys' club teams and A versus B teams and does not apply in the girls' lax world. Its very different. In fact, most of the advice on here doesn't apply to girls lacrosse at the highest level, on the top club teams and for those who want to play in college, to be recruited.

Capital is one of very few girls B teams that has players who will be recruited for college play. Even M&D Red is a huge drop off from Black with little movement between the teams (if any) in high school. Same with Rebels and MC Elite - the top teams are light years better than the B team in my daughter's year (2021).

Interesting. I know that MC Elite doesnt do all that well with recruiting, or hasnt in the past. They have one or two girls go to great programs every year and a few others go to very mediocre programs. I do wonder if that will change. The MC Elite 2022 has only 1 team as oppossed to two and its an excellent team. If those girls stick together and the best players dont try to move to Capital, they may well see a banner recruitng year that could pay off for the whole program

[Anonymous]

Flint Hill has a great LAX team, the kids have fun and win games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Flint Hill has a great LAX team, the kids have fun and win games.

Great relative to Georgetown Day. Flint Hill gets pummeled whenever they play a decent team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe its different for boys but B team players do get recruited from top girls' club teams. Also there is movement between the A and B teams even once kids are in high school. Its not a ton of kids but there are a handful that move up and down each year.

Capital is the example I am most familiar with and both these things happen. There are girls on Capital Orange, the B team, who get recruited to play at some DI schools and lots of DIII schools. It is extremely common. And almost every girl on the Capital Blue team (A team) is recruited to play at a DI, and great DIs at that. Sure, a couple may go DIII each year but it is a very small number. Maybe this is because there are fewer great girls lacrosse clubs and Capital is the best in the DC area (not including Baltimore here obviously).

What folks are writing on here in regards to boys' club teams and A versus B teams and does not apply in the girls' lax world. Its very different. In fact, most of the advice on here doesn't apply to girls lacrosse at the highest level, on the top club teams and for those who want to play in college, to be recruited.

Capital is one of very few girls B teams that has players who will be recruited for college play. Even M&D Red is a huge drop off from Black with little movement between the teams (if any) in high school. Same with Rebels and MC Elite - the top teams are light years better than the B team in my daughter's year (2021).

Interesting. I know that MC Elite doesnt do all that well with recruiting, or hasnt in the past. They have one or two girls go to great programs every year and a few others go to very mediocre programs. I do wonder if that will change. The MC Elite 2022 has only 1 team as oppossed to two and its an excellent team. If those girls stick together and the best players dont try to move to Capital, they may well see a banner recruitng year that could pay off for the whole program

The 2021 MC Elite has some great players too, especially their goalie who is one of the best I've seen.

[Anonymous]

Is it true DC Express 2021 collapsed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true DC Express 2021 collapsed?

Are you asking whether they still exist?