Feedback on Next Level Lacrosse?

[Anonymous]

Between the holdbacks and pulling kids in from all over the east coast to attend high school, lacrosse has become as dirty as the other main sports (football, basketball). What a joke. Kids don’t even learn the value of working hard with their teammates year in and year out to achieve team goals and win championships. It’s all about the individual and getting recruited to play in college. Doesn’t matter the team goes 2-10 if little Johnny gets into a good school. Youth sports have become a business and the kids are the ones getting cheated.

[Anonymous]

Your observations are true, but only with respect to a very small percentage of teams. If your son is in 7th through 11th grade in one of the four elite programs in the DMV, then yes, the main emphasis is college recruiting. There is nothing dirty or funny about it, that is simply the objective of families on those teams. But there are tons of rec teams and less competitive travel programs and teams where lacrosse is played for fun and love of the game. And by the way the team’s record is important because college coaches will assume that a 2-10 team is lacking in talent and be less likely to come to their games to recruit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your observations are true, but only with respect to a very small percentage of teams. If your son is in 7th through 11th grade in one of the four elite programs in the DMV, then yes, the main emphasis is college recruiting. There is nothing dirty or funny about it, that is simply the objective of families on those teams. But there are tons of rec teams and less competitive travel programs and teams where lacrosse is played for fun and love of the game. And by the way the team’s record is important because college coaches will assume that a 2-10 team is lacking in talent and be less likely to come to their games to recruit.

Forgot to mention HS lacrosse - that is where kids learn teamwork and try to win championships with their friends. But travel programs are for recruiting. It took you how long to figure that out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your observations are true, but only with respect to a very small percentage of teams. If your son is in 7th through 11th grade in one of the four elite programs in the DMV, then yes, the main emphasis is college recruiting. There is nothing dirty or funny about it, that is simply the objective of families on those teams. But there are tons of rec teams and less competitive travel programs and teams where lacrosse is played for fun and love of the game. And by the way the team’s record is important because college coaches will assume that a 2-10 team is lacking in talent and be less likely to come to their games to recruit.

Forgot to mention HS lacrosse - that is where kids learn teamwork and try to win championships with their friends. But travel programs are for recruiting. It took you how long to figure that out?

Yes. No recruiting at HS. All is club. There are more than four elite HS programs.

[Anonymous]

Yes. No recruiting at HS. All is club. There are more than four elite HS programs.

In the DMV? Name them.

[Anonymous]

Should be 5 - St. John's, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis and Landon
PVI, Episcopal and SSSAS are more one-off's depending on the class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Should be 5 - St. John's, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis and Landon
PVI, Episcopal and SSSAS are more one-off's depending on the class

PVI Episcopal and SSSAS have had a lot on talent over the years but no championships. Can any of these schools reach the next level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your observations are true, but only with respect to a very small percentage of teams. If your son is in 7th through 11th grade in one of the four elite programs in the DMV, then yes, the main emphasis is college recruiting. There is nothing dirty or funny about it, that is simply the objective of families on those teams. But there are tons of rec teams and less competitive travel programs and teams where lacrosse is played for fun and love of the game. And by the way the team’s record is important because college coaches will assume that a 2-10 team is lacking in talent and be less likely to come to their games to recruit.

Why do you all assume the kids on the four elite programs don’t love playing with their teammates? You think you can put in enough individual work over the years to end up being a D1 prospect without “loving the game”? 99% of the comments on these lacrosse forums are written by parents of kids who didn’t end up being elite and never played on a top team. Trust me, the parents and kids on the “4 elite teams” are having plenty of fun.

[Anonymous]

Maybe our results are different but my son played for NL until 10th grade and then he just had too much going on with HS sports and academics and wanting to work during the summer to continue with club. He was at a PUBLIC school and played football, basketball and lacrosse. He was recruited for football and basketball at D1 programs and didn't find the exact match he was looking for and ultimately decided on a top NESCAC D3 school for lacrosse. I know it is popular opinion to say you must play club to get recruited but its just not the case. My son went to prospect days and showcases that he knew the coaches he was looking for were going to be at and made his impressions. In many cases, the colleges that saw him as a recruit for football (Duke, Princeton, UVA and yes some lower tier D1s) also pitched him to the lacrosse coaches. We had a great experience with NL but it was just a spread too thin issue for my son. If you want to play in college club may be a great way to help you out but it is absolutely not the only way, neither is playing for a lacrosse powerhouse high school. Those things can certainly help, but if your kid shows well at a showcase or a prospect day the coaches will notice. Good luck. YRMV

[Anonymous]

Great perspective. Thanks for sharing.