The Future of Club, Rec and HS Boys Lacrosse in the DMV

[Anonymous]

So the pandemic has made a lot of people realizing they were doing "too much". Club teams picked up a lot of kids ($$$) because they were playing and the schools were not. No problem with this as its simply supply vs demand.

BUT...where do we go from here to keep this sport healthy?

Nobody started playing to get a scholarship. No one started to play pro as a goal. Everyone started to have fun.

How do we make/keep the game "healthy" for the next generation?

(no offense to the girls side, just don't know much about it but please chime in if lessons have been learned)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the pandemic has made a lot of people realizing they were doing "too much". Club teams picked up a lot of kids ($$$) because they were playing and the schools were not. No problem with this as its simply supply vs demand.

BUT...where do we go from here to keep this sport healthy?

Nobody started playing to get a scholarship. No one started to play pro as a goal. Everyone started to have fun.

How do we make/keep the game "healthy" for the next generation?

(no offense to the girls side, just don't know much about it but please chime in if lessons have been learned)

Need to find a way to reverse the trend of rec program numbers shrinking - especially true in NVYLL. The proliferation of entry level club teams (U9), and their cost, is disincentivizing too many families from giving lacrosse a shot in rec leagues for fun to see if their son/daughter likes it. Now the perception, and maybe reality, is that if you don’t also play club lax at an early age your child is wasting his/her time in the sport. Much less likely today to see examples of great athletes taking up lacrosse in middle school or even 9th grade. And there is little to no meaningful scholarship $$ available in lacrosse, which is a factor as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the pandemic has made a lot of people realizing they were doing "too much". Club teams picked up a lot of kids ($$$) because they were playing and the schools were not. No problem with this as its simply supply vs demand.

BUT...where do we go from here to keep this sport healthy?

Nobody started playing to get a scholarship. No one started to play pro as a goal. Everyone started to have fun.

How do we make/keep the game "healthy" for the next generation?

(no offense to the girls side, just don't know much about it but please chime in if lessons have been learned)

Need to find a way to reverse the trend of rec program numbers shrinking - especially true in NVYLL. The proliferation of entry level club teams (U9), and their cost, is disincentivizing too many families from giving lacrosse a shot in rec leagues for fun to see if their son/daughter likes it. Now the perception, and maybe reality, is that if you don’t also play club lax at an early age your child is wasting his/her time in the sport. Much less likely today to see examples of great athletes taking up lacrosse in middle school or even 9th grade. And there is little to no meaningful scholarship $$ available in lacrosse, which is a factor as well.

100% on this for BOTH Boys and Girls Lacrosse, especially in the NVA area and NVYLL. The girls program is declining even faster than boys for NVYLL. Part of that is the NGLL and Boys younger "travel" programs are affecting it as well. Every player has to start somewhere and the Rec leagues are the back bone of the growth. It's discouraging to see the number of teams continue to decline in NVYLL. The # of travel programs is too many and travel is no longer for "elite" or players that want to take their game to the top level. Too many clubs, too many clubs with "B" teams that are no better and in some cases worse than some of the better Rec programs. A recipe for disaster.

[Anonymous]

Simple answer is to get rid of HOCO, let's club teams have the summer and fall. Spring can be for the Rec teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Simple answer is to get rid of HOCO, let's club teams have the summer and fall. Spring can be for the Rec teams.

You can't tell HoCo to just go away. Why should they? And why should we stop thousands of kids who play HoCo from doing that just because it's supposedly "bad" for rec?

And in any event, club teams encourage kids to be on a rec team even when they're playing HoCo. I know plenty of kids who did HoCo and rec simultaneously from 5th to 8th grade.

Who says there are "too many" club teams anyway? If people are willing to pay for it there is obviously a demand for it.

[Anonymous]

A related issue is that many of the club teams play way too many games. My sons team in late elementary will play something like 50 games this year between fall, spring, and summer. There’s no need for so many games and it greatly increases the cost and leads to burn out unnecessarily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple answer is to get rid of HOCO, let's club teams have the summer and fall. Spring can be for the Rec teams.

You can't tell HoCo to just go away. Why should they? And why should we stop thousands of kids who play HoCo from doing that just because it's supposedly "bad" for rec?

And in any event, club teams encourage kids to be on a rec team even when they're playing HoCo. I know plenty of kids who did HoCo and rec simultaneously from 5th to 8th grade.

Who says there are "too many" club teams anyway? If people are willing to pay for it there is obviously a demand for it.

I know the Bethesda Rec teams don't allow you to play both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Simple answer is to get rid of HOCO, let's club teams have the summer and fall. Spring can be for the Rec teams.

I thought local VA club teams were working on a VA HOCO and had something in the works but then Covid happened.

I would love not to drive 1-1.5 hours every weekend for one game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple answer is to get rid of HOCO, let's club teams have the summer and fall. Spring can be for the Rec teams.

I thought local VA club teams were working on a VA HOCO and had
something in the works but then Covid happened.

I would love not to drive 1-1.5 hours every weekend for one game.

That will never happen the top NOVA clubs are Madlax and VLC who will not leave HOCO so the other clubs will not. With True,Hardlax top Caliber, hammers, Cav all playing HOCO they will just continue to take the priority v NVYLL games. Same thing already played out in MD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A related issue is that many of the club teams play way too many games. My sons team in late elementary will play something like 50 games this year between fall, spring, and summer. There’s no need for so many games and it greatly increases the cost and leads to burn out unnecessarily.

That doesn’t sound right. Maybe 7 games in HoCo, four summer tournaments (maybe 12 games), maybe a tournament and some scrimmages in the Fall (6 games or so). What team plays twice as many games as that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple answer is to get rid of HOCO, let's club teams have the summer and fall. Spring can be for the Rec teams.

I thought local VA club teams were working on a VA HOCO and had something in the works but then Covid happened.

I would love not to drive 1-1.5 hours every weekend for one game.

So don’t do it then. I know dads who pulled their kid out of club so they didn’t have to go to HoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the pandemic has made a lot of people realizing they were doing "too much". Club teams picked up a lot of kids ($$$) because they were playing and the schools were not. No problem with this as its simply supply vs demand.

BUT...where do we go from here to keep this sport healthy?

Nobody started playing to get a scholarship. No one started to play pro as a goal. Everyone started to have fun.

How do we make/keep the game "healthy" for the next generation?

(no offense to the girls side, just don't know much about it but please chime in if lessons have been learned)

Need to find a way to reverse the trend of rec program numbers shrinking - especially true in NVYLL. The proliferation of entry level club teams (U9), and their cost, is disincentivizing too many families from giving lacrosse a shot in rec leagues for fun to see if their son/daughter likes it. Now the perception, and maybe reality, is that if you don’t also play club lax at an early age your child is wasting his/her time in the sport. Much less likely today to see examples of great athletes taking up lacrosse in middle school or even 9th grade. And there is little to no meaningful scholarship $$ available in lacrosse, which is a factor as well.

100% on this for BOTH Boys and Girls Lacrosse, especially in the NVA area and NVYLL. The girls program is declining even faster than boys for NVYLL. Part of that is the NGLL and Boys younger "travel" programs are affecting it as well. Every player has to start somewhere and the Rec leagues are the back bone of the growth. It's discouraging to see the number of teams continue to decline in NVYLL. The # of travel programs is too many and travel is no longer for "elite" or players that want to take their game to the top level. Too many clubs, too many clubs with "B" teams that are no better and in some cases worse than some of the better Rec programs. A recipe for disaster.

Almost all of these are self-imposed situations by the adults.

[Anonymous]

I do know the HoCo league is a BIG revenue generator for the county Parks and Rec. Many of the adult teams play as well so its a very "known" commodity for all levels.

There has to be a solution here, right? Or is it simply a fight for the almighty dollar amongst the club directors?

[Anonymous]

You don’t need a “solution” to HoCo because it is not a problem.

If you want to “save” rec lacrosse, find a way to make it accessible and interesting to all the kids who play soccer now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t need a “solution” to HoCo because it is not a problem.

If you want to “save” rec lacrosse, find a way to make it accessible and interesting to all the kids who play soccer now.

Not just this. Make it accessible to public school kids, starting at least at 5th. My kid is fortunate enough to play club but goes to public school. Not one other kid in the school (3-5 plays), it's not on the radar at the middle school (unlike baseball, basketball, cross country). Some cheap sticks, use a swax soft ball, just teach catching and no-contact scrimmage, sharks & minnows. Would make a world of difference in kids wanting to play rec b/c they'll have had the exposure.