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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Our daughter played for MC Elite, starting in middle school.  We chose the club because we didn't want to drive far to practices.  As others have noted, MC Elite is all over the map as far as coaching quality.  With one exception, our daughter's coaches were inexperienced.  One was also vindictive, following the tone set by club management.  Communication from coaches and club management was shrouded with mystery.  And, yes, as PPs have noted, MC Elite often plays in tournaments above their level and ends up being the goat team.

Our daughter's HS team was definitely not a powerhouse.  So, with all the above factors combined, DH and I, who like you, OP, were confused by all things lacrosse, worried that we had made the wrong choice for DD, who hoped to play D3 lacrosse in college.  Starting the summer after sophomore year, we signed her up to play in a bunch of camps and showcases (honestly, I still don't know what the heck a showcase is).  She ended up getting several offers to visit from college coaches and is now playing D3 lacrosse at a school she loves. [b]

If we had it to do over again, I'd still look for a club team that doesn't require a lot of driving.  The time we would have spent in the car was spent on doing HW, having a reasonable social life, participating in church youth group, earning money as a babysitter and dogwalker, and getting enough sleep.  That meant we had a happy and well-rested girl, who went off to college confident in her ability to do well -- which is exactly what she's done.[/b]   [/quote]
This is what I want - I don't want to drive all over to take my DD to practices. Too much time spent in the car but it seems like all the close MoCo teams have problems. Is it really worth dealing with the problems of a close MoCo team?[/quote]

^^PP here -- For us it was because we figured all the other teams would have problems too, and that did seem to be the case.  Families that left MC Elite then complained about the teams they went to.  Mostly, we just tried to keep lacrosse as a compartment in our daughter's life, not the center of it.  In college, lacrosse continues to be something she loves and we enjoy getting to see her play (or, at least we did, prior to the pandemic), but she has other interests and activities and that's exciting to see as well.  [/quote]
This is exactly right. All of the teams have problems. Many, for example, are closely tied to HS teams/coaches. Others have coaches that lie to kids and parents. It is really just important to take a wholistic approach, keeping in mind that not even all of the girls on Hero's or M&D are getting recruited.[/quote]

++++++++++++

I think these are great outcomes and completely reasonable/well-grounded choices. I really love when things work out well for women in sports!

I will caution to those reading this, however, that MC has changed pretty significantly, very rapidly so for those with girls now in college the experience at MC (although some of the same frustrations may be consistent) may also be considerably worse in certain key respects (especially for some, but increasingly more, teams). The “risk” you run staying is that it really undercuts your daughter’s enjoyment of the game and takes away the fun. As a result, even a player who loves the game may decide to quit at some point (or wants to switch at an age where it gets really hard to do that) - after all, it is still a pretty big time commitment even with less driving to practice (games and tournaments still far and take up lots of weekends).

If there is not a consistent positive coach that shows up, team numbers are low (meaning no subs during hot summer tournaments), and the club sends communications or generates “chatter” that bad results are solely because of the girls’ and families’ lack of commitment or “fitness”, then that tone starts impacting team dynamics. It becomes understandable why people would then be willing to drive or risk another choice. Not saying there is some perfect out there and certainly no one (despite club) should expect to play in college. But if the disorganization and problems at MC  make the girls feel uncared about and make it not fun, I am not sure that is a good situation. That doesn’t help improve skill or set anyone up for success and makes the whole thing feel like a chore.

I wish it was still an option to “hang in there” with a local club like MC and it is really sad but just not sure that is the case anymore. Time will tell. 
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