Potomac School Girls' Lacrosse Program - is it improving under Bordley?
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Anonymous
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Claire Bordley (Holton All-American, UVA All-American) has been in charge of the girls' lax program at Potomac School for a couple of years now. She has a solid lax pedigree having been a high school and college All-American, on the winning USA U-19 team, Virginia lax 2008 Player of the Year, and on the 2008 All-ACC Tournament team. Seems like she played several different positions over the years which should be good for heading up a program.
I get that Potomac is not known for having top level athletic teams and is only in the MAC but, she seems to have the tools to make a difference in their program IF that is why she was brought on board at Potomac. Any noticeable improvement since she has been there? Do the girls seem to respect her? Like her? Is she a good coach? Is the Varsity starting to improve? Is she developing the youngest players at Potomac? Is she recruiting (as much as a private school coach really can) since she is also in admissions? Is she associated with/coaching any any girls club or travel teams? Just trying to get an idea of how the Potomac school girls' lacrosse program is doing and if it might be on the way up. The Saints need some competition beyond Bishop Ireton. Could Potomac ever make it to the top level of girl's lacrosse with Bordley at the helm? |
Anonymous
| Yes substantially. The GW lacrosse women's coach was telling me that the program there is getting stronger and stronger. We discussed St. Stephens St. Agnes and other schools as well. |
Anonymous
| Is she a Bordley, of the Landon Bordleys? |
Anonymous
Well, for starters, girl's sports are not in the MAC; that's a boy's league. Most girls' private/parochial teams in the DC area play in the ISL (independent school league), either AA (upper half) or A (lower half). Potomac is ISL AA, same as Holton, Visi, and SSSA. So that's about as high as you can go around here... |
Anonymous
| This is good to hear. We plan to look at Potomac for my DD who is a rising 8th grader next fall. She is a great lacrosse player and wants to play for a strong team. I like Potomac a lot for her in terms of curriculum so it would be great if lacrosse was a good fit too. |
Anonymous
Sorry, knew that about MAC/ISL but temp brain freeze. As far as AA ISL being high as you can go - I am not asking about "around here." I am asking about nationally. SSSAS and BI are nationally in top 10 this year, and top 25 for a while now, and Visi gets in there some years as well. If you have a daughter with great potential, Potomac is not currently on the list of local schools to consider. What I am wondering is, for a younger girl, say middle school aged, if Potomac might be somewhere to consider. If Bordley (yes, daughter of Landon's Rob Bordley) is there to build Potomac up into a truly top program, a nationally-ranked program, then it might be a place to consider. |
Anonymous
| If you want the best, let her board at McDonogh School. |
Anonymous
Honestly, I don't think you can "count" on Potomac as even with a hook like Lacrosse, it is not an easy school to get into. We had a hook as well and strong academics and were still sweating. |
Anonymous
| The boys team seems to be improving as well. Looks like lacrosse has become a priority at Potomac. Yes! |
Anonymous
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If you "need" a nationally ranked high school for your daughter to attend I would NOT select a non-ranked school in the expectation that a particular coach will get the school to a higher level.
It is just very hard to bring a school to national prominence in a sport in such a short period of time, and the vast majority of efforts to do so at various schools just do not succeed for a multitude of reasons. Of course, there are some exceptions, like what Rick Sofield has done at BI.... but I would never assume that a team currently in the "middle of the pack" will somehow be nationally ranked 2-3 years from now. Indeed, the Potomac coach you are all excited about might not even be at the Potomac in 2-3 years. |
Anonymous
| Is your goal, or should I say her goal, to get recruited? I'd imagine her club can provide much of that exposure, and someone like Coach Bordley can certainly be helpful in that regard. If the goal is to play for the best team, yes, you may want to look elsewhere for now. |
Anonymous
Yes, indeed, and this is why I am asking if Bordley's positioning as head Varsity Lax coach AND as an admissions person means Potomac may be looking to "recruit" some solid girl lax players. The signs seem good but hard to tell for sure. It would be fun to be in a rapidly improving program and seems like now is when they would be looking to get some good girls lax players in for the 7th-9th grade classes. |
Anonymous
Agreed. This is my thought as well but didn't know she was on the admissions team as well. Our daughter is a top student at another private but looking to move for high school and her profile fits Potomac well. Their middle school team seems to be ok but not outstanding so it would make sense that they hope to recruit a few girls to build out their team in high school. |
Anonymous
Yes, to play DI lax is HER goal. My "goal" is to get her the best possible education (she is pretty smart and a high achiever even in this area with all the 99% test takers - LOL). Therefore I am looking to satisfy both of us and its not easy from what I see locally. Potomac would be ideal IF their lax program is picking up. Hell, if Rick Sofield can do it, why can't Claire Bordley? I am familiar with Rick and his (and Charlotte's) story. he knew npothing about lax before BI. Claire has the lax chops, and is clearly super smart, so why not? |
Anonymous
Wrong. Some sports at Potomac are ISL AA. Some are ISL A. |