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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Hmmm. Not sure which school you're at. But at ours, one of the all boys schools talked about quite a bit on this board, the lacrosse boys consistently end up at the best colleges. They may not have the highest gpa, or perfect scores, but it would appear that their lacrosse skills help make up for that. Not sure I would call that "stupid" in the grand scheme of things.

[Anonymous]

They end up there because many of the D1 lacrosse programs are at the "good schools"

if they had to get in academically most of them would be in trouble.

They may get in to these schools but ot sure what it will do for them after college when you have to be able to do math, read and write intelligently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They end up there because many of the D1 lacrosse programs are at the "good schools"

if they had to get in academically most of them would be in trouble.

They may get in to these schools but ot sure what it will do for them after college when you have to be able to do math, read and write intelligently.

The inability to "do math, read and write intelligently" that you attribute to said lax players apparently hasn't hampered their success on Wall Street, where playing lacrosse seems to be, if not a prerequisite, at least something seemingly highlighted on incoming resumes . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They end up there because many of the D1 lacrosse programs are at the "good schools"

if they had to get in academically most of them would be in trouble.

They may get in to these schools but ot sure what it will do for them after college when you have to be able to do math, read and write intelligently.

The inability to "do math, read and write intelligently" that you attribute to said lax players apparently hasn't hampered their success on Wall Street, where playing lacrosse seems to be, if not a prerequisite, at least something seemingly highlighted on incoming resumes . . .

It may get them there but the truly successful guys on wall street are not lacrosse players.

[Anonymous]

All of these gross generalizations about lacrosse players are getting old. My son plays the game and he loves it. He is also smart, considerate, thoughtful, interesting and creative. So far his love of this game hasn't negated all of these other wonderful qualities. It is so silly to paint with such a broad brush.
Maybe the issue with lacrosse (as with plenty of other sports and activities) is a lack of parenting and a lack of discipline. In other words, maybe participation on a school sports team should be dependent on good grades, good behavior, etc. Maybe that is all that is necessary to clean up the reputation of many of the sports at our schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of these gross generalizations about lacrosse players are getting old. My son plays the game and he loves it. He is also smart, considerate, thoughtful, interesting and creative. So far his love of this game hasn't negated all of these other wonderful qualities. It is so silly to paint with such a broad brush.
Maybe the issue with lacrosse (as with plenty of other sports and activities) is a lack of parenting and a lack of discipline. In other words, maybe participation on a school sports team should be dependent on good grades, good behavior, etc. Maybe that is all that is necessary to clean up the reputation of many of the sports at our schools.

One of the issues as I see with lacrosse is TOO MUCH parenting. Have you actually ever seen a lacrosse game, either club or school? I've never seen so many dads present at any of the other sporting events my kids participate in. Dads not providing quiet support, mind you. Lots of screaming and sideline coaching. Very engaged dads who can do little to mask the fact that they're reliving their glory days through their sons.

[Anonymous]

I was thinking the same thing as this poster. It seems folks jump on lax because it generally is played by upper class white boys. People don't jump on football, as this posted stated. Football probably has the most rape cases and assaults and they barely register. Weird. I'm not in favor of violence of any sort -- just consistency.

Anonymous wrote: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:

Anonymous wrote:All of these gross generalizations about lacrosse players are getting old. My son plays the game and he loves it. He is also smart, considerate, thoughtful, interesting and creative. So far his love of this game hasn't negated all of these other wonderful qualities. It is so silly to paint with such a broad brush.
Maybe the issue with lacrosse (as with plenty of other sports and activities) is a lack of parenting and a lack of discipline. In other words, maybe participation on a school sports team should be dependent on good grades, good behavior, etc. Maybe that is all that is necessary to clean up the reputation of many of the sports at our schools.

One of the issues as I see with lacrosse is TOO MUCH parenting. Have you actually ever seen a lacrosse game, either club or school? I've never seen so many dads present at any of the other sporting events my kids participate in. Dads not providing quiet support, mind you. Lots of screaming and sideline coaching. Very engaged dads who can do little to mask the fact that they're reliving their glory days through their sons.

I agree with you about some of the "parenting" on the sidelines. I cringe at some of what I hear. But, I mean a different kind of parenting. The kind where you don't let your child participate unless and until the child is doing all the right things off the field (behavior, academics, etc.).

But, you are probably right to a large degree: parents bad behavior rubbing off on kids. This too, sadly, happens on the sidelines of lots of sports (even K soccer games I've been to).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I was thinking the same thing as this poster. It seems folks jump on lax because it generally is played by upper class white boys. People don't jump on football, as this posted stated. Football probably has the most rape cases and assaults and they barely register. Weird. I'm not in favor of violence of any sort -- just consistency.

Anonymous wrote: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.

coz most posters here are white upperclass?

[Anonymous]

These days? Are you kidding me? I graduated in '92 from UNC and the lacrosse teams in the area had terrible reputations. I witnessed some really awful events. I would NEVER allow my son to play that sport even if he were a great guy. "Culture" is difficult to change and hard for those immersed in it to completely ignore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apart from the recent murder at UVA, what bad press do you mean?

How them Duke boys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sweet, nice, kind, adorable 9 year old loves playing lacrosse. We were recently at a tournament with his whole team and it is truly a great group of boys and parents. I love how supportive and inclusive and kind these little guys are of/to each other. My son loves the game and loves his team and is showing potential.

When I hear these stories about the "culture" of Lax players at highschools and colleges it just freaks me out. I know all the boys who play lax, even the best players, can not all be bad, immoral a-holes. Read any newspaper these days however and it really sounds like they are equivalent of the a$$hat football players of Hollywood movies from the 80s, a stereotype I thought had kind of been exposed, ridiculced and mostly excised. Why is this "type" now showing up again but as the Lax players?

Even if I firmly believe that my son would be the exception, I wouldn't want him around other males with those attitudes, lack of morales, and sense of entitlement, regardless of how kind and "grounded" he is/will be. I would hate to tell him he can't play lacrosse anymore but if the sport really is dominated by such a cesspit of immorale jerks, I will. Opinions? Predictions? Will it change due to all the bad press? Are there any schools where the lax players are the "nice" boys, the real scholar-athletes?

Most Lacrosse players are short guys that can't make the football team so a fringe sport like Lacrosse is the only game in town. It's Mighty Mouse syndrome, little tough guys towel snapping each other in the locker room, calling each other "bro" and hoping for a nod of the head from one of the big, dreamy football players.

[Anonymous]

Ridiculous. Newsflash: there are good and bad people in every sport, club, activity and school. If you have a good kid who likes and excels at this sport, then go for it. If you don't like the influences on his team or club: move him to a different one. It sounds like many posters on here traffic in stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sweet, nice, kind, adorable 9 year old loves playing lacrosse. We were recently at a tournament with his whole team and it is truly a great group of boys and parents. I love how supportive and inclusive and kind these little guys are of/to each other. My son loves the game and loves his team and is showing potential.

When I hear these stories about the "culture" of Lax players at highschools and colleges it just freaks me out. I know all the boys who play lax, even the best players, can not all be bad, immoral a-holes. Read any newspaper these days however and it really sounds like they are equivalent of the a$$hat football players of Hollywood movies from the 80s, a stereotype I thought had kind of been exposed, ridiculced and mostly excised. Why is this "type" now showing up again but as the Lax players?

Even if I firmly believe that my son would be the exception, I wouldn't want him around other males with those attitudes, lack of morales, and sense of entitlement, regardless of how kind and "grounded" he is/will be. I would hate to tell him he can't play lacrosse anymore but if the sport really is dominated by such a cesspit of immorale jerks, I will. Opinions? Predictions? Will it change due to all the bad press? Are there any schools where the lax players are the "nice" boys, the real scholar-athletes?

Most Lacrosse players are short guys that can't make the football team so a fringe sport like Lacrosse is the only game in town. It's Mighty Mouse syndrome, little tough guys towel snapping each other in the locker room, calling each other "bro" and hoping for a nod of the head from one of the big, dreamy football players.

u must be a dad?

[Anonymous]

Those LAX players from Duke were never convicted, in fact they were the victims. How would you feel if it was your son being *convicted by the press*?