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[quote=Anonymous]I'm a parent of one of the kids who left ML to DCE.  The total body count in the move was 9 (as mentioned above, 2 also went to NL).  The total roster was 18 or 19.  There were numerous reasons why the kids left:

1. Cost -- ML is the most expensive club as far as I know.  Parents were getting fed up with the ROI.  We were entering tournaments that were just stupid (Vail and Orlando over new years).  ML28s had a high propensity to only enter tournaments that had a positive impact on the bottom line of the ML organization.  There are many great tournaments in the DMV and we would be heading off to CT or some other location because it was an NL affiliated gathering, for example.  Also, even if you were a member of the everyday regional team, families were charged an additional $450.00 for EVERY national tournament.  Given our "national" team was 85+% our regional team this got to the point of absurdity.  This was an issue, but not "the" issue.

2. Coaching Style --  Players on ML 28 have literally zero freedom to make real time decisions.  Everything...and I do mean everything... is directed from the coach to the players in real time.  I'm sure all of you have heard CM screaming from the sidelines like a lunatic.  Well, try being a kid getting pounded by a pole hearing your name being said in vain because you didn't perform exactly the way it was commanded and, of course, the threat of being pulled from the field if you make a mistake (unless you are of course his kid, which means mistakes don't matter).  You are immediately pulled from the field, benched and berated.  Some kids/parents are okay with this, some are not.

2b. It was the coach's way, always. He didn't want to hear from the kids or parents.  This summer was an absolute disaster for the ML28s. We didn't win a single tournament.  The previous year we won NLF with the same group of players.  That's not sore loser-talk.  That's the truth.  Even when the coach got into some trouble in Vail and was kicked out of the tournament and couldn't coach a game or 2 and missed games at Naptown there was no explanation given to the parents as to why/where/or what the heck was going on.  We are just suppose to eat it, I guess.  But his behavior this summer was clearly the straw that broke the camel's back because several outspoken allies had repeatedly tried to tell him he needs to talk to the parents....there are a lot of problems brewing, etc etc.  Nothing.

3. Playing Time.  This is always an issue for teams, but wasn't a huge issue on ML28s because the roster was small.  However, the coach likes fly ins.  While the fly-in banter about ML28 is pretty overblown (we usually only had 1 to 3 players at any given national tournament), they did get a lot of time on the field even though they were of the same caliber of the existing players. CM really likes the next big thing and he gives them a long leash.  Existing players, not so much.  This is a universal problem within club lacrosse, but the majority of the parents called his bluff on it and he lost bigtime.

ML28s had a pretty good parent ground and most of the kids remain friends.  I can tell you with a high degree of conviction that the kids who stayed are not very happy that they did, and I am expecting a few more of the remaining players to head for greener pastures this spring.  How do I know?  The parents told me.   I don't know how the ML28s are going to be this year, and to be honest, I don't really care.  I do know that every kid and parent who left for DCE and NL are relieved to not be in the ML pressure-cooker.  As for their current roster size...they have several flyin players listed on that roster and there are near zero percent odds they will play for ML again given the meltdown this summer because they witnessed it too.

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