Loudoun High School Lacrosse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the girls side you can drop names in a hat and pick a winner. The county has been leaking talent the past two years. Not sure if kids just aren’t playing anymore or if soccer has hurt numbers given the two are Spring sports. Woodgrove has the top player, but not much of a supporting cast. Dominion will be way down, but all teams are much weaker this year, so they will still win their district.

Agree. Girls have been leaking to privates for a few years now. Visi, PVI, SSSAS etc. The leagues are much better and help prepare the players for playing in college. If playing in college isn’t a goal, it doesn’t make sense to pay the price tag unless there is another reason (academic curriculum, etc)

This is also happening with boys in Loudoun.

Several years ago Riverside had a boys team that competed with some of the private schools and graduated several D1 commitments but every year since they have been getting weaker in talent. Still have to beat them to win a state class 5 title.

Anyone go to the Turkey Shoot? What’s your assessment of those results? No surprises to me. For the most part the good teams are still the good teams.

I know that some good kids in Loudoun are going to play at Private Schools, but it does seem that lacrosse does not have the same excitement/energy as it did in years past.

I would agree with the lack of energy. I think it’s just watered down now. The way I look at it, Public school lacrosse is an extension of rec. lacrosse while Private school lacrosse is an extension of travel lacrosse. It’s unlikely a top travel kid would play public school ball unless there were issues with tuition or something else.

[Anonymous]

You mean for the boys or girls?

[Anonymous]

I'm sure people will disagree with me on this, which is fine. And, this isn't a reflection of every kid who plays lacrosse in Loudoun. Over the post 5-10 years with Covid being right in the middle, there just aren't as many boys playing lacrosse at the youth level as there was 10 years ago. This impacts the number is experienced kids coming into High School with Playing experience, and the increased number of High School's being opened went up, watering down that incoming experience. In 2012, when John Champe High School opened, there were two schools prior to that (Briar Woods & Freedom) that the youth program was feeding into. You were getting 12-15+ kids from the youth program each year, at various degrees of talent. In 2025, there are 6 Public High Schools, and then PVI taking some of the top talent from Loudoun and the surrounding area, and the same number, or even less kids playing lacrosse.

Back in 2012, there was Cavalier Lacrosse, and before that Fuze, and VLC. These were not year-round travel programs, but had a summer and fall season, and maybe some winter training or box league. The cost was reasonable, not everyone made the team, and the coaching was solid.
The travel/club scene exploded, there were teams everywhere lasting on a few years at best, it became a year-round commitment with huge costs, and average coaching. Everyone made the team, because they needed players.

For me here is the real reason, kids aren't starting until 9th grade, and even the athletes take a year or two to real develop into a lacrosse player. The rise, exposure and success of the MCLA teams in Virginia, and East Coast is very attractive for these players who have found the game, but aren't good enough to play D1 at the big schools. So, if they love lacrosse and want to continue to play, it's a small D3 School, which may be smaller than their High School, or they can try and play at JMU, VT, South Carolina, Tennessee, Clemson, etc.. and have a great college experience, and solid education. But, even these MCLA schools are very competitive, and have 120+ kids trying out. Just look at one of the top former coaches in Virginia, Earl Brewer, who runs the VEL-Fall League and recently became the Head Coach at Coastal Carolina (MCLA Program) and he had over 100 kids tryout.

In the end, there are some kids in Loudoun that are great lacrosse players, driven, play on top travel team, dedicated to his development and want to play at the next level, as high as they can go. Good for them, and I hope they find the right college team for themselves. There are way more boys in Loudoun, that found the game late, play other sports, and simply love playing and want to be out there competing with their friends on their High School Team.

Not every kid wants to play in college, even some of the best public HS lacrosse players aren't pursuing it.

[Anonymous]

Solid post. Very well articulated.