Reply to Club lacrosse early years - share "wish I had known"

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[quote=Anonymous]

The blanket statement that "only rec through most of elementary is just fine" is misleading.  It depends on the kid and some kids are ready and would benefit tremendously from travel lacrosse early.  Parent's can tell if their kid is athletic.  If a kid plays a couple of seasons of rec and are really picking up the game and enjoying the game including working on stick skills on their own, that type of kid should definitely consider club/travel lacrosse.  Otherwise they are wasting time in rec league.  The next challenge is finding the right travel or club team, so nothing is guaranteed.  But to tell parents to stick with rec is just bad blanket advice - most rec programs/teams/teammates are weak [b](hero ball, limited passing/assists, limited to no off ball play, poor spacing, unable to execute simple catching and throwing, discipline/goofing off issues[/b]).[/quote]

[b]As if this is not happening with club teams when the kids are younger than 11-12,  I've had a DS and a DD play on "top" club teams at the younger ages and guess what - 90% of the kids act like 8-10 year olds act, playing hero ball, limited passing/assists and plenty of goofing off issues.  It is not like the kids are magically more mature once their parents pay $$$ for a club team.  Some of the coaches are better than others at reigning it in but the better coaches are not out there coaching 2nd through 4th graders; they are coaching MS and HS players.   And then you've got B team coaches,  most of whom are less experienced, less effective, often barely out of college if they are even out of college - and this is more and more the case as the number of teams for 1-3 graders proliferate.  This proliferation is just going to weaken the rec leagues in the long run, where 99% of the kids belong at the younger ages, while lining the pockets of club owners.[/quote][/b]

^^[u]This comment is spot on.[/u]  Every sentence helps to explain the landscape - and goes to the pros/cons of waiting 'til middle school vs starting club early.  My only addition would be that many clubs allow parents to coach at younger grades as a result of lack of coaching (which can lead to them still coaching at older grades) - and I'm sure many on this board have witnessed both the positive and negative results there.[/quote]

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