Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The school was once a very strong lacrosse school with the best academics in the area.
It’s now still an elite academic school in the greater DC area but it’s lacrosse program has fallen significantly.
The only way I see it getting back to the proud program it once was is if the headmaster and BOT get behind it.
Agreed. I don't know why STA parents/supporters would think you can't have both...strong athletics and strong academics. STA has some strong sports (maybe not top of the league, but in the top half); why accept less for lacrosse, football, hoops etc??
As it relates to lacrosse, darn near every IAC lacrosse program has kids committed to Ivy League schools, which last time I checked, was arguably the top conference in collegiate lacrosse. I would think all of those kids could have easily considered STA if the program showed half an effort to actually want to build a program. But hey....keep using the whole academic superiority angle as cover for an overall lack of commitment by the school to athletics...
Anonymous wrote:The school was once a very strong lacrosse school with the best academics in the area.
It’s now still an elite academic school in the greater DC area but it’s lacrosse program has fallen significantly.
The only way I see it getting back to the proud program it once was is if the headmaster and BOT get behind it.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One challenge as I see it, which then leads to an opportunity, for StA is that they don't even seem to reach out to talented younger lacrosse players to consider the school. I do know that they reach out through the NL network but don't seem to even connect with kids outside the program. I know on one of the top 8th grade club teams not a single kid was talking about StA as they looked to high school. I think there is an opportunity for StA to begin to grow their program if they just spent some time doing basic outreach. Things will not change overnight but doing some of the basic stuff might help. Interesting blog post from a StA grad on this sort of thing: https://www.theexchanged.com/sports-backend/the-founders-cup-how-can-we-do-it
STA’s priority is academics. Period. They don’t want to recruit or need to recruit. If you feel the lacrosse program at STA is not strong enough for you or your son then you should look elsewhere. STA has good athletics but academics are the priority. If STA starts recruiting more lacrosse players they will lose the academic power houses.
Anonymous wrote:STA should simply just drop down to the MAC for athletics.
They are better aligned with the Maret, Sidwell and GDS type.
Move Flint Hill up to the IAC.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile, upperclassmen who were cut added back to the roster.
And kids who were told they made varsity are now playing JV. Sounds pretty disorganized, chaotic, and hurtful to a lot of kids.
Let's give it a day or 2 and see if the roster actually changes on the web site. I think at least 2 of the freshman will remain on varsity and probably more.
It did change on the website. Upperclassmen added back on and freshmen, while kept on varsity roster, added back to JV. What a mess.
Still not seeing the issue. The freshman will be allowed to practice on Varsity and actually hit the field in JV games.
Totally agree. The issue is the Helicopter moms who think their snowflake is the next BFD commit who must make varsity freshman year or their lax recruitment is over. H might not be able to handle these wenches but Smooth C knows the drilll.
Weird post. How many freshman are you talking about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One challenge as I see it, which then leads to an opportunity, for StA is that they don't even seem to reach out to talented younger lacrosse players to consider the school. I do know that they reach out through the NL network but don't seem to even connect with kids outside the program. I know on one of the top 8th grade club teams not a single kid was talking about StA as they looked to high school. I think there is an opportunity for StA to begin to grow their program if they just spent some time doing basic outreach. Things will not change overnight but doing some of the basic stuff might help. Interesting blog post from a StA grad on this sort of thing: https://www.theexchanged.com/sports-backend/the-founders-cup-how-can-we-do-it
STA’s priority is academics. Period. They don’t want to recruit or need to recruit. If you feel the lacrosse program at STA is not strong enough for you or your son then you should look elsewhere. STA has good athletics but academics are the priority. If STA starts recruiting more lacrosse players they will lose the academic power houses.
OP here and never said academics was not a priority but I don't think reaching out to kids to have them take a look at the school is really recruiting as defined by many on this board (lower academic standards to get in, financial aid offered, etc.). If the school does not want to do even basic reach out so be it, we can then end this thread and accept that for the foreseeable future StA will simply suck at lacrosse. There are plenty of kids who can handle StA academically who are going to other schools with better programs simply because the school does not show any interest. You make one large generalization at the end of your post that is simply not true, recruiting more lacrosse players does not mean they "will lose the academic power houses" (horribly written sentence but guess I get the point you are making). You assume lacrosse payers at other schools cannot hack StA, which based on the number of Ivy and other top academic college commitments from other high school lacrosse programs proves how wrong this thinking is and likely why the program is not very good.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One challenge as I see it, which then leads to an opportunity, for StA is that they don't even seem to reach out to talented younger lacrosse players to consider the school. I do know that they reach out through the NL network but don't seem to even connect with kids outside the program. I know on one of the top 8th grade club teams not a single kid was talking about StA as they looked to high school. I think there is an opportunity for StA to begin to grow their program if they just spent some time doing basic outreach. Things will not change overnight but doing some of the basic stuff might help. Interesting blog post from a StA grad on this sort of thing: https://www.theexchanged.com/sports-backend/the-founders-cup-how-can-we-do-it
STA’s priority is academics. Period. They don’t want to recruit or need to recruit. If you feel the lacrosse program at STA is not strong enough for you or your son then you should look elsewhere. STA has good athletics but academics are the priority. If STA starts recruiting more lacrosse players they will lose the academic power houses.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile, upperclassmen who were cut added back to the roster.
And kids who were told they made varsity are now playing JV. Sounds pretty disorganized, chaotic, and hurtful to a lot of kids.
Let's give it a day or 2 and see if the roster actually changes on the web site. I think at least 2 of the freshman will remain on varsity and probably more.
It did change on the website. Upperclassmen added back on and freshmen, while kept on varsity roster, added back to JV. What a mess.
Still not seeing the issue. The freshman will be allowed to practice on Varsity and actually hit the field in JV games.
Totally agree. The issue is the Helicopter moms who think their snowflake is the next BFD commit who must make varsity freshman year or their lax recruitment is over. H might not be able to handle these wenches but Smooth C knows the drilll.
Anonymous wrote: No one is really talking about parents, just the coach and admin. It nice try blaming the parents.
Anonymous wrote:One challenge as I see it, which then leads to an opportunity, for StA is that they don't even seem to reach out to talented younger lacrosse players to consider the school. I do know that they reach out through the NL network but don't seem to even connect with kids outside the program. I know on one of the top 8th grade club teams not a single kid was talking about StA as they looked to high school. I think there is an opportunity for StA to begin to grow their program if they just spent some time doing basic outreach. Things will not change overnight but doing some of the basic stuff might help. Interesting blog post from a StA grad on this sort of thing: https://www.theexchanged.com/sports-backend/the-founders-cup-how-can-we-do-it