Georgetown Visitation Lacrosse- Recruiting Practices

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I can only say that our experience with Visitation lacrosse and the current coaches has been nothing short of excellent. I think there are parents who don't understand that there is nothing wrong with wanting to win and putting forth your best players to achieve that goal. Our experience is that these coaches put the Visitation motto of "faith, vision and purpose" first - and winning, second. Our girls do service as a team, help run clinics as a team, worked at our first Visitation Cub Classic as a team, and several helped out with tryouts for a Northern Virginia club team not named Capital. I could not ask for better role models for my daughter than these coaches. And as for the parent who commented that these coaches "pull the strings," well, I should hope so. Because there is nothing worse than parents pulling the strings through the AD to run the team.

I have had several daughters attend Visi, and they have been on many teams (not lax). I have my share of complaints about the school, but after following the posts on this thread, I have to say I don't recognize the school some of them are talking about. Apart from maybe the basketball team, I have not seen the "win at all costs" mentality. There are definitely things that could be fixed in the athletic department - there should be more accountability by the AD and coaches, and parents/students should be able to voice their concerns to an objective ear - but I feel like some of what has been said here is sour grapes from parents whose daughters just didn't make the cut for legitimate reasons.

I have to agree as well. The patent(s) who keep going in about "girls who have paid their dues" and "shown dedication and leadership" sounds like a parent who thinks her daughter is more important than the team. If a person isn't good enough to rise to the top on the full combination of merit, hard work and talent, then that person did not earn it. If you daughter isn't one if the best players then she hasn't actually earned the right to play. That is how sports goes. Just like if she doesn't have the highest GPA, no matter how hard she worked she doesn't deserve to be valedictorian. This isn't Stoddert rec where everyone plays the sane and everyone gets a trophy. By the the time you get to highschool it actually is about ability and talent.

+1000
Visi's lax team was ranked 25th in the country (pre-season). There are lots of excellent lacrosse players -- I'm talking about girls who have played on good club teams for years and who work hard and are dedicated lax players -- that are just not going to make the cut on merit at a top-25 lax school. They would be starters on most other schools, but not at a top-25 school. That is a difficult reality to accept for a parent and child who have both spent lots of blood, sweat, tears (and money) on lacrosse but it is just reality. So complaining about a HS coaches' "conspiracy" against kids from club A or B is just silliness.

I would agree with you if they didn't recruit. How would you like your daughter to have been a starter after playing/practicing/going to school at Visi for years. Then find out the coach recruited players from public schools, brought them in the last 1-2 years while your child was benched her Junior/Senior year? You think that is fair. The actual coaches who coached her gave up and found others taught by other coaches. What does that say about the coach's skill, ethic, and thought for the Catholic school?

What is says is that your daughter isn't a very good lacrosse player. Nothing else.

It's not enough to work hard if you don't have athletic ability and talent and you picked a top-ranked school in your sport. If PLAYING is the Most important thing to you, go to a school that doesn't have a nationally ranked team in your sport.

Visi gets its name known by being nationally ranked girls lacrosse high school team. That IS important and it's pretty clear so, if you love lacrosse but just aren't that good, pick another school like Holy Cross, SR, Holy Child, SJC, where even a mediocre lacrosse player will get playing time. No coach can turn a mediocre athlete into a great lax player. You can't blame that on a coach.

You sound as if you are a high school student? Are you?

Are you a parent who never played sports at a high level yourself and worries overly about the self esteem of your daughter who isn't a great athlete either?

[Anonymous]

Who are the new coaches?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who are the new coaches?[/quote
great question! Who are the new coaches???? Again the athletic director is of no help

[Anonymous]

didnt the head coach quit 3 months ago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I can only say that our experience with Visitation lacrosse and the current coaches has been nothing short of excellent. I think there are parents who don't understand that there is nothing wrong with wanting to win and putting forth your best players to achieve that goal. Our experience is that these coaches put the Visitation motto of "faith, vision and purpose" first - and winning, second. Our girls do service as a team, help run clinics as a team, worked at our first Visitation Cub Classic as a team, and several helped out with tryouts for a Northern Virginia club team not named Capital. I could not ask for better role models for my daughter than these coaches. And as for the parent who commented that these coaches "pull the strings," well, I should hope so. Because there is nothing worse than parents pulling the strings through the AD to run the team.

I have had several daughters attend Visi, and they have been on many teams (not lax). I have my share of complaints about the school, but after following the posts on this thread, I have to say I don't recognize the school some of them are talking about. Apart from maybe the basketball team, I have not seen the "win at all costs" mentality. There are definitely things that could be fixed in the athletic department - there should be more accountability by the AD and coaches, and parents/students should be able to voice their concerns to an objective ear - but I feel like some of what has been said here is sour grapes from parents whose daughters just didn't make the cut for legitimate reasons.

I have to agree as well. The patent(s) who keep going in about "girls who have paid their dues" and "shown dedication and leadership" sounds like a parent who thinks her daughter is more important than the team. If a person isn't good enough to rise to the top on the full combination of merit, hard work and talent, then that person did not earn it. If you daughter isn't one if the best players then she hasn't actually earned the right to play. That is how sports goes. Just like if she doesn't have the highest GPA, no matter how hard she worked she doesn't deserve to be valedictorian. This isn't Stoddert rec where everyone plays the sane and everyone gets a trophy. By the the time you get to highschool it actually is about ability and talent.

+1000
Visi's lax team was ranked 25th in the country (pre-season). There are lots of excellent lacrosse players -- I'm talking about girls who have played on good club teams for years and who work hard and are dedicated lax players -- that are just not going to make the cut on merit at a top-25 lax school. They would be starters on most other schools, but not at a top-25 school. That is a difficult reality to accept for a parent and child who have both spent lots of blood, sweat, tears (and money) on lacrosse but it is just reality. So complaining about a HS coaches' "conspiracy" against kids from club A or B is just silliness.

I would agree with you if they didn't recruit. How would you like your daughter to have been a starter after playing/practicing/going to school at Visi for years. Then find out the coach recruited players from public schools, brought them in the last 1-2 years while your child was benched her Junior/Senior year? You think that is fair. The actual coaches who coached her gave up and found others taught by other coaches. What does that say about the coach's skill, ethic, and thought for the Catholic school?

What is says is that your daughter isn't a very good lacrosse player. Nothing else.

It's not enough to work hard if you don't have athletic ability and talent and you picked a top-ranked school in your sport. If PLAYING is the Most important thing to you, go to a school that doesn't have a nationally ranked team in your sport.

Visi gets its name known by being nationally ranked girls lacrosse high school team. That IS important and it's pretty clear so, if you love lacrosse but just aren't that good, pick another school like Holy Cross, SR, Holy Child, SJC, where even a mediocre lacrosse player will get playing time. No coach can turn a mediocre athlete into a great lax player. You can't blame that on a coach.

No. Now answer my question.

You sound as if you are a high school student? Are you?

Are you a parent who never played sports at a high level yourself and worries overly about the self esteem of your daughter who isn't a great athlete either?

[Anonymous]

No, I'm not. Now answer my question, are you a high school student?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I can only say that our experience with Visitation lacrosse and the current coaches has been nothing short of excellent. I think there are parents who don't understand that there is nothing wrong with wanting to win and putting forth your best players to achieve that goal. Our experience is that these coaches put the Visitation motto of "faith, vision and purpose" first - and winning, second. Our girls do service as a team, help run clinics as a team, worked at our first Visitation Cub Classic as a team, and several helped out with tryouts for a Northern Virginia club team not named Capital. I could not ask for better role models for my daughter than these coaches. And as for the parent who commented that these coaches "pull the strings," well, I should hope so. Because there is nothing worse than parents pulling the strings through the AD to run the team.

I have had several daughters attend Visi, and they have been on many teams (not lax). I have my share of complaints about the school, but after following the posts on this thread, I have to say I don't recognize the school some of them are talking about. Apart from maybe the basketball team, I have not seen the "win at all costs" mentality. There are definitely things that could be fixed in the athletic department - there should be more accountability by the AD and coaches, and parents/students should be able to voice their concerns to an objective ear - but I feel like some of what has been said here is sour grapes from parents whose daughters just didn't make the cut for legitimate reasons.

I have to agree as well. The patent(s) who keep going in about "girls who have paid their dues" and "shown dedication and leadership" sounds like a parent who thinks her daughter is more important than the team. If a person isn't good enough to rise to the top on the full combination of merit, hard work and talent, then that person did not earn it. If you daughter isn't one if the best players then she hasn't actually earned the right to play. That is how sports goes. Just like if she doesn't have the highest GPA, no matter how hard she worked she doesn't deserve to be valedictorian. This isn't Stoddert rec where everyone plays the sane and everyone gets a trophy. By the the time you get to highschool it actually is about ability and talent.

+1000
Visi's lax team was ranked 25th in the country (pre-season). There are lots of excellent lacrosse players -- I'm talking about girls who have played on good club teams for years and who work hard and are dedicated lax players -- that are just not going to make the cut on merit at a top-25 lax school. They would be starters on most other schools, but not at a top-25 school. That is a difficult reality to accept for a parent and child who have both spent lots of blood, sweat, tears (and money) on lacrosse but it is just reality. So complaining about a HS coaches' "conspiracy" against kids from club A or B is just silliness.

I would agree with you if they didn't recruit. How would you like your daughter to have been a starter after playing/practicing/going to school at Visi for years. Then find out the coach recruited players from public schools, brought them in the last 1-2 years while your child was benched her Junior/Senior year? You think that is fair. The actual coaches who coached her gave up and found others taught by other coaches. What does that say about the coach's skill, ethic, and thought for the Catholic school?

What is says is that your daughter isn't a very good lacrosse player. Nothing else.

It's not enough to work hard if you don't have athletic ability and talent and you picked a top-ranked school in your sport. If PLAYING is the Most important thing to you, go to a school that doesn't have a nationally ranked team in your sport.

Visi gets its name known by being nationally ranked girls lacrosse high school team. That IS important and it's pretty clear so, if you love lacrosse but just aren't that good, pick another school like Holy Cross, SR, Holy Child, SJC, where even a mediocre lacrosse player will get playing time. No coach can turn a mediocre athlete into a great lax player. You can't blame that on a coach.

You sound as if you are a high school student? Are you?

Are you a parent who never played sports at a high level yourself and worries overly about the self esteem of your daughter who isn't a great athlete either?

[Anonymous]

didnt the head coach quit 3 months ago?

The head coach did not quit. She was let go by the AD. A handful of parents complained and put incredible pressure on the administration to fire the coach because their daughters either did not start or did not get enough playing time. And the administration caved. The problem is that 2 of the other 4 coaches resigned because of severe parental involvement and the remaining 2 resigned for personal reasons. So Visitation currently has no lacrosse coaches. Actually, I take that back. My daughter has received several emails from "Coach Zeff" so it looks like the AD may be stepping into the role. I know concerned parents have approached potential coaches, asking them to apply for the head coach position, but no one is interested because of the constant, inappropriate intervention of parents in the program. And for what it's worth, I heard that SSSA, Holton and Stone Ridge have all offered jobs to the Varsity coaches who were let go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:didnt the head coach quit 3 months ago?

The head coach did not quit. She was let go by the AD. A handful of parents complained and put incredible pressure on the administration to fire the coach because their daughters either did not start or did not get enough playing time. And the administration caved. The problem is that 2 of the other 4 coaches resigned because of severe parental involvement and the remaining 2 resigned for personal reasons. So Visitation currently has no lacrosse coaches. Actually, I take that back. My daughter has received several emails from "Coach Zeff" so it looks like the AD may be stepping into the role. I know concerned parents have approached potential coaches, asking them to apply for the head coach position, but no one is interested because of the constant, inappropriate intervention of parents in the program. And for what it's worth, I heard that SSSA, Holton and Stone Ridge have all offered jobs to the Varsity coaches who were let go.

Visi has been freaking out about not being able to beat SSSAS in lacrosse for over a decade (one win in 20 years or so) and they've had lots of coaching turnover in the lacrosse program. Lots of great kids who play and have played there but the job comes with a lot of pressure. Good luck to the outgoing and incoming coaches -- it is only October so I'm sure they will have someone lined up before too long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:didnt the head coach quit 3 months ago?

The head coach did not quit. She was let go by the AD. A handful of parents complained and put incredible pressure on the administration to fire the coach because their daughters either did not start or did not get enough playing time. And the administration caved. The problem is that 2 of the other 4 coaches resigned because of severe parental involvement and the remaining 2 resigned for personal reasons. So Visitation currently has no lacrosse coaches. Actually, I take that back. My daughter has received several emails from "Coach Zeff" so it looks like the AD may be stepping into the role. I know concerned parents have approached potential coaches, asking them to apply for the head coach position, but no one is interested because of the constant, inappropriate intervention of parents in the program. And for what it's worth, I heard that SSSA, Holton and Stone Ridge have all offered jobs to the Varsity coaches who were let go.

What a train wreck of a school. Good ole Catholic values.

[Anonymous]

Catholic parents have always been uber obsessive over high school sports. You see the same parents at Prep, Gonzaga and even Visi games act like classless jerks. Not all but a few

[Anonymous]

Please banish this thread to "Sports and Fitness" like the other lacrosse threads. Fair is fair...

[Anonymous]

How about bringing back the other lax threads? It all deals with private school lax and under sports it states it can be..

"School team topics can be posted either here or the school forums, but please do not cross-post.

So no need to banish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about bringing back the other lax threads? It all deals with private school lax and under sports it states it can be..

"School team topics can be posted either here or the school forums, but please do not cross-post.

So no need to banish.

I am the PP who wrote the posting about the banishment because I am made that the lacrosse threads were redirected to the Sports and Fitness threads because they are dealing with independent school sports teams. I think it was misguided, mean spirited and patronizing-- JEFF... Parents want to know about what is happening in their child's school sport. We are intelligent enough to ignore the neurotic, obnoxious parents. It is a real disservice to parents who are seeking information.

[Anonymous]

^^ Mad not made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about bringing back the other lax threads? It all deals with private school lax and under sports it states it can be..

"School team topics can be posted either here or the school forums, but please do not cross-post.

So no need to banish.

I am the PP who wrote the posting about the banishment because I am made that the lacrosse threads were redirected to the Sports and Fitness threads because they are dealing with independent school sports teams. I think it was misguided, mean spirited and patronizing-- JEFF... Parents want to know about what is happening in their child's school sport. We are intelligent enough to ignore the neurotic, obnoxious parents. It is a real disservice to parents who are seeking information.

I agree with you 100%. I am upset as well that is was moved to the Sports and Fitness.