Anonymous
05/08/2019 10:53
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:According to the latest WP HS ranking two public schools in the top 5. Are you claiming this is fake news?
WP rankings are not based on any real system other than wins and losses - in other words, regardless of who they play. Play the weakest teams around and beat them all and you too can have your team ranked number one in the Post. Do a search and read up on it. Its widely known. WP team rankings are complete bs created to make public schools feel better about their sports teams.
Well what do you know Inside Lacrosse also had two public schools in the top 5 for VA. I guess they are BS as well:
Rank Team W L Rating
1 St Christopher's 17 0 94.84
2 Briar Woods 12 0 94.39
3 St Anne's-Belfield 9 6 92.19
4 Riverside 12 2 91.93
5 Norfolk Academy 15 4 91.8
Before you bother posting about this is VA only and does not count, St Christopher's is up there with any DMV area team and played a tough schedule to prove it. I do think this year that Briar Woods is a legit top 5 team. Public schools will never compete for top spot with private schools as they get players from a much wider area. Lacrosse in DMV is all about the clubs. The teams have ties to private schools and manage to get the best players to go there. Some parents decide to save the money for college and use the club to get recruited. It is about the ability of a private school to get as many talented players as possible to the school. This recruiting takes place through the club team. This is not an option for Public Schools.
It doesnt count. Neither appear in any national rankings, and VA has the worst lacrosse in the Mid-Atlantic by far. Plus, as for the priavte St Chris, it has not played a "tough schedule" as its hasn't met a single top teams from north of DC (Kiski Prep in PA doesnt cpount - they suck). Sure, they beat SSSAS boys but so have a lot of teams this year. Give it up.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 10:45
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Anonymous wrote:"OP you pointed to Langley GLAX as an example of a good public school program. "
If you have any knowledge of local girls' lacrosse Robinson would be used as the example of a stronger public school program. Much more success and college placement than Langley as well as playing a national schedule.
Maybe 5 years ago. Not anymore.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 10:33
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
"OP you pointed to Langley GLAX as an example of a good public school program. "
If you have any knowledge of local girls' lacrosse Robinson would be used as the example of a stronger public school program. Much more success and college placement than Langley as well as playing a national schedule.
If you have any knowledge of local girls' lacrosse Robinson would be used as the example of a stronger public school program. Much more success and college placement than Langley as well as playing a national schedule.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 10:24
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:According to the latest WP HS ranking two public schools in the top 5. Are you claiming this is fake news?
WP rankings are not based on any real system other than wins and losses - in other words, regardless of who they play. Play the weakest teams around and beat them all and you too can have your team ranked number one in the Post. Do a search and read up on it. Its widely known. WP team rankings are complete bs created to make public schools feel better about their sports teams.
Well what do you know Inside Lacrosse also had two public schools in the top 5 for VA. I guess they are BS as well:
Rank Team W L Rating
1 St Christopher's 17 0 94.84
2 Briar Woods 12 0 94.39
3 St Anne's-Belfield 9 6 92.19
4 Riverside 12 2 91.93
5 Norfolk Academy 15 4 91.8
Before you bother posting about this is VA only and does not count, St Christopher's is up there with any DMV area team and played a tough schedule to prove it. I do think this year that Briar Woods is a legit top 5 team. Public schools will never compete for top spot with private schools as they get players from a much wider area. Lacrosse in DMV is all about the clubs. The teams have ties to private schools and manage to get the best players to go there. Some parents decide to save the money for college and use the club to get recruited. It is about the ability of a private school to get as many talented players as possible to the school. This recruiting takes place through the club team. This is not an option for Public Schools.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 10:24
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Unlike in NY, CT, and NJ, and especially Long Island, there isnt a single public school team in the entire region that could beat one of the top 5 top private school teams, in boys or girls lacrosse. Public school lacrosse in the DMV and Baltimore and surrounding areas is pretty dismal with a few lights (Langley GLAX comes to mind) but even they can't come close to the best private school teams. Why is it that way down here?
Have you seen Severna Park Or Broadneck play both public schools. Year in and year out beat top private schools.
Maryland, up closer to Baltimore or out toward the Bay, does have very good public school teams which makes sense since the Baltimore area has long been a hotbed of lacrosse . But the closer to Washington you get, the weaker the public school teams are. MoCo has no great teams.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 09:47
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Unlike in NY, CT, and NJ, and especially Long Island, there isnt a single public school team in the entire region that could beat one of the top 5 top private school teams, in boys or girls lacrosse. Public school lacrosse in the DMV and Baltimore and surrounding areas is pretty dismal with a few lights (Langley GLAX comes to mind) but even they can't come close to the best private school teams. Why is it that way down here?
I've had DCs in top private and public HSs in this area and both played lacrosse. I cannot speak to other areas of the country but here, to me, it's all about money and priorities.
Public schools have to educate everyone. Generally speaking, having winning sports teams, especially lacrosse which is viewed as a wealthy kid's sport, is not the priority. Almost all public HSs, to varying degrees, are dealing with FARMS and ESOL students and students with various types of serious learning disabilities. More resources have to be expended to educate these students, leaving less money available to spend on extras like sports. Private schools, on the other hand, can be picky about who they admit and will recruit athletes.
Public schools are funded by taxpayers. Taxpayers do not want to pay more so that the public HSs have top lacrosse coaches and year round programs. Private schools rely on funding from wealthy parents, wealthy donors and wealthy alums who are happy to invest in top coaches and year round programs. Winning sports teams means increased school pride and even school identity in the case of schools like SSSAS, and even more donations.
Wealthy private school lax parents I knew/know are more willing to spend money on fancy equipment, private coaching, clinics, expensive clubs and overnight lax camps during the summer and school breaks. And when many of the parents of your kid's teammates are doing this it seems normal and/or a keeping up the the Jonese kind of thing. Wealthy private school parents fund raise significant amounts of money to pay for even more extras and can afford to pay for their lax teams to travel to distant states to play other top private lax HSs. Most public HS parents cannot afford to annually spend the thousands of dollars that these luxuries cost. Even some of the public school lax parents I know who could afford all of this think that's crazy and are willing to pay for club lax only. OP you pointed to Langley GLAX as an example of a good public school program. The vast majority of Langley students come from wealthy backgrounds. The FARMS and ESOL rates at Langley have to be some of the lowest in the state. I'd venture that parents do some pretty strong fundraising at Langley to afford extras and that most of the girls on the lax teams play club lacrosse and attend clinics and camps. Contrast that with a TC Williams or Wakefield. Do you really think that the girls at Langley are just naturally better athletes than the girls at TC Williams or Wakefield?
My DC who attended public also ran winter track. The contrast between the economic backgrounds of the students who ran track and the students who played lax was stark. All it takes to be good at track is a decent pair of running shoes, talent and motivation. Guess who runs track at DC's public HS and the meets they attended - many of the FARMS and ESOL students. I will bet you can guess who who plays lax at DCs's public HS and it's not the FARMS and ESOL students who are running track. Hopefully someday it will be but considering that money buys advantages that can turn even mediocre HS lax players into decent HS lax players, I don't see that day coming any time soon.
Of course, PP, this part is obvious. You are focused on the wrong things and are missing two important pieces - 1.) There are many wealthy public school families in MoCo, Arlington, and Fairfax, other than Langley. 2.) NY, NJ and CT have the same issues in many (most) of their public schools and yet still manage to field great lax teams. And, in fact, many of those public schools' lax teams are sourced from truly middle class families (i.e., not DC-middle class, and def not rich).
I think the poster below you has the best possible explanation - in our area lax isn't taught the right way at the rec/little kid level. They need to follow the USLacrosse model which is all about small sided play with as many ball touches per player as possible. If someone started a program teaching it that way I think we would see a big difference around here.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 09:39
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Anonymous wrote:According to the latest WP HS ranking two public schools in the top 5. Are you claiming this is fake news?
WP rankings are not based on any real system other than wins and losses - in other words, regardless of who they play. Play the weakest teams around and beat them all and you too can have your team ranked number one in the Post. Do a search and read up on it. Its widely known. WP team rankings are complete bs created to make public schools feel better about their sports teams.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 08:38
Subject: Re:Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
The Private schools skim the cream off the top, and the youth coaching is terrible. Youth lacrosse around here focuses on the elite kids, travel team selection, and then often doesn't develop those kids well. This area is great at picking the best middle school players, instead of developing all the players. Look at Bethesda Lacrosse Youth programs - when they should divide a field into three or four and have every kid playing at the same time in a 4 v 3 or 5 v 4 continuous scrimmage to maximize touches and spacing, they have twenty kids, never mind the boys on the bench, share one ball for an hour. Developmentally stupid, but likely what the parents around here want.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 08:36
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Anonymous wrote:Unlike in NY, CT, and NJ, and especially Long Island, there isnt a single public school team in the entire region that could beat one of the top 5 top private school teams, in boys or girls lacrosse. Public school lacrosse in the DMV and Baltimore and surrounding areas is pretty dismal with a few lights (Langley GLAX comes to mind) but even they can't come close to the best private school teams. Why is it that way down here?
I've had DCs in top private and public HSs in this area and both played lacrosse. I cannot speak to other areas of the country but here, to me, it's all about money and priorities.
Public schools have to educate everyone. Generally speaking, having winning sports teams, especially lacrosse which is viewed as a wealthy kid's sport, is not the priority. Almost all public HSs, to varying degrees, are dealing with FARMS and ESOL students and students with various types of serious learning disabilities. More resources have to be expended to educate these students, leaving less money available to spend on extras like sports. Private schools, on the other hand, can be picky about who they admit and will recruit athletes.
Public schools are funded by taxpayers. Taxpayers do not want to pay more so that the public HSs have top lacrosse coaches and year round programs. Private schools rely on funding from wealthy parents, wealthy donors and wealthy alums who are happy to invest in top coaches and year round programs. Winning sports teams means increased school pride and even school identity in the case of schools like SSSAS, and even more donations.
Wealthy private school lax parents I knew/know are more willing to spend money on fancy equipment, private coaching, clinics, expensive clubs and overnight lax camps during the summer and school breaks. And when many of the parents of your kid's teammates are doing this it seems normal and/or a keeping up the the Jonese kind of thing. Wealthy private school parents fund raise significant amounts of money to pay for even more extras and can afford to pay for their lax teams to travel to distant states to play other top private lax HSs. Most public HS parents cannot afford to annually spend the thousands of dollars that these luxuries cost. Even some of the public school lax parents I know who could afford all of this think that's crazy and are willing to pay for club lax only. OP you pointed to Langley GLAX as an example of a good public school program. The vast majority of Langley students come from wealthy backgrounds. The FARMS and ESOL rates at Langley have to be some of the lowest in the state. I'd venture that parents do some pretty strong fundraising at Langley to afford extras and that most of the girls on the lax teams play club lacrosse and attend clinics and camps. Contrast that with a TC Williams or Wakefield. Do you really think that the girls at Langley are just naturally better athletes than the girls at TC Williams or Wakefield?
My DC who attended public also ran winter track. The contrast between the economic backgrounds of the students who ran track and the students who played lax was stark. All it takes to be good at track is a decent pair of running shoes, talent and motivation. Guess who runs track at DC's public HS and the meets they attended - many of the FARMS and ESOL students. I will bet you can guess who who plays lax at DCs's public HS and it's not the FARMS and ESOL students who are running track. Hopefully someday it will be but considering that money buys advantages that can turn even mediocre HS lax players into decent HS lax players, I don't see that day coming any time soon.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 08:20
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
According to the latest WP HS ranking two public schools in the top 5. Are you claiming this is fake news?
Anonymous
05/08/2019 07:16
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Anonymous wrote:Unlike in NY, CT, and NJ, and especially Long Island, there isnt a single public school team in the entire region that could beat one of the top 5 top private school teams, in boys or girls lacrosse. Public school lacrosse in the DMV and Baltimore and surrounding areas is pretty dismal with a few lights (Langley GLAX comes to mind) but even they can't come close to the best private school teams. Why is it that way down here?
Have you seen Severna Park Or Broadneck play both public schools. Year in and year out beat top private schools.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 07:15
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Because they start playing when they are 4. We push soccer here.
Anonymous
05/08/2019 07:10
Subject: Re:Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
We literally have no coaches in this area.
There are maybe 10 good coaches in all of the DMV,
There are maybe 10 good coaches in all of the DMV,
Anonymous
05/08/2019 00:37
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Not sure but those NE public school tens would beat the pants off the local privates.
Anonymous
05/07/2019 21:49
Subject: Why Public School lax so poor, for both girls and boys, here?
Unlike in NY, CT, and NJ, and especially Long Island, there isnt a single public school team in the entire region that could beat one of the top 5 top private school teams, in boys or girls lacrosse. Public school lacrosse in the DMV and Baltimore and surrounding areas is pretty dismal with a few lights (Langley GLAX comes to mind) but even they can't come close to the best private school teams. Why is it that way down here?