Reply to Feedback on Boys Club Lacrosse summer 2019

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not too bad a summary, some of the rankings could be questioned but overall pretty solid information.

My thoughts:

(1) Check HoCo final standings and get the Tourney Machine App (you can see how teams are doing in the tournaments).  Focus only on the grade your son will be playing in as teams above and below have no real impact (comment following will somewhat contradict this) as there is no one dominant club top to bottom in the area and there can huge variation in coaches, parents, kids, etc.  This is all very simple to do and will give you a fairly good lay of the land for the grade you are looking at.
(2) Things that are making this more complicated.  First, holdbacks.  Because of the dominance of private school lacrosse and entry date for K there are many summer holdbacks, not a huge issue.  The issue is the trend of holding back in 7th & 8th grades, this can have a pretty significant impact on team composition on 7th and 8th (and perhaps even 6th) grade teams.  Not sure how to account for this in choosing a club.  Second, constant tryouts.  It was not that long ago that a team was picked in August and that team played together for the year, there was actually some development associated with club lacrosse.  Now it is somewhat of a revolving tryout schedule: early summer, late summer, winter/fall.  The reality is that if you have an athletic son with some lacrosse skills you can get a look from a club coach at any time now.
(3) If you are new to the sport the best way to get better and get a better feel for clubs is to play for one.  "B" teams are not bad.  No matter what anyone says there is more to the sport than winning NLF or Crabfest or any top tournament you want to name.  All clubs rely on paying members for their existence so it is not hard to reach out to them and see what the process is and get your child a look.  Clinics run by the clubs are also a good way to get to know coaches and clubs.
(4) It is an expensive sport.  Club lacrosse will likely run north of $3k per year and in some cases closer to $6k+ with travel.  There are good rec leagues, if you are not sure you want to make that kind of investment start there.
(5) Do not listen to the noise and hate on this board or BOTC.  It can be an indicator of many things.  If there are things that ring true take what you hear and ask real people you trust about it, this board is generally not chock full of facts and forgets the world is not black and white but some shade of grey.
(6) We have had sons who have played for elite and B teams for 3+ of the clubs you named.  All have their good and not so good points, you actually have to do some work on finding the right fit.  Our sons have been fortunate enough to win some leagues and tournaments over their time in youth lacrosse and I will tell you whether it was at the elite or B level it made no difference in the joy and accomplishment they felt. 
(7) These thoughts are mostly directed at club 8th grade and below.  As you get into high school recruiting can become important to families and understandably so.  At that point if college lacrosse is a goal you need to find the highest level club where your son can get good playing time.  This may end up being on a B team but better to be seen playing than ride the bench for a top team.  Recruiting opportunities are obviously better at top tournaments but most of the high school age tournaments have some level of recruiting involved.
(8) Be self aware of where your child stands in terms of ability.  This can always change and hard work and dedication to anything will make them better.  The reality is that in our experience we have seen very few (if any) kids who are not playing at the appropriate level for their skills.  I am sure they exist but in a club world driven by wins and losses this does tend to actually get it right.
(9) Finally, have fun, it is a youth sport after all.  Reality is most kids will not play DI lacrosse so enjoy the moment.[/quote]

+1[/quote]

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