It's funny how you keep pimping Brooks. He works for 3d, which is perhaps the biggest cancer in the lacrosse world in terms of scamming parents out of their money.

You are going to decry local clubs but you exempt 3d and their BS 3d Blue Chip events in FL? LOL.

An hour of wall ball a day is about as fun as playing tennis or watching women's tennis on TV. Every school year class in the DMV there will be 50-60 kids who commit to D1 college programs, and good for them I say. About 40 of those kids will never see the field. Then there are thousands more kids who will play rec, some club and HS and then maybe club in college. In a lot of years I've never seen Madlax or Crabs turn an otherwise weak lacrosse player into a first line middie at an ACC school, but I've seen them sell dozens of bench players to same.

When my 11 year old is done playing I want him to say what my college son said to me last summer before heading off for his senior year: "Thanks for all those years of hanging out and keeping lacrosse fun, dad. We had a blast, didn't we." We sure did. BTW, that's not some sublime daddy bragging. He hasn't played a whole lot at an Ivy, but has had a lot of fun and made lifelong friends in that program. Earlier this week he got into a doctorate program at Oxford in the UK. Which means a lot of pints and a lot more laughs. I'll click my heels over there, thinking of your post. Thanks for playin'.

Anonymous wrote:As club lacrosse owners and coaches, we want you to make informed decisions. It's easy for anonymous naysayers to post whatever they want to further an agenda to trash spending thousands of dollars on new recruiting events we literally spend hours and sometimes up to hundreds of dollars to put together websites with credit card payment links added to them.

Have you noticed how many 9th graders committed last year, and how many more have committed already this year? I mean, NOBODY HERE is trying to pressure you and the decision to spend thousands of dollars or zero is yours. The best thing you can do now is to talk to parents who have about 5-8 months and sometimes more experience with this process before their 14 year old verbaled to Hopkins to understand the complex choices you are now facing. And remember, until college coaches who recruited early start getting fired for being this stupid in the next 12-36 months before your son even arrives to play for the school he committed to early recruiting is here to stay!

Sincerely,
[fill in name of Crabs, Madlax, etc. coach or owner]

p.s. Did you get the NLF invite? The registration is due with a $600 payment. Just making sure you got the NLF Showcase invite if you didn't get the invite, let me know ASAP. Not trying to be a pest or pressure you at all. But if you haven't registered for the NLF Showcase or didn't get the NLF invite just let me know. If I don't hear from you in about an hour, I'll just give you a call then. Or call me anytime. Just want to make sure you got the NLF invite and got registered. It's $600. So just let me know please. On the other hand, just calling is way easier than all these emails. So I'm calling you right now, ok? Speak soon!

Very clever, well done.

Better to take the advice of an anonymous poster on the internet who obviously has an axe to grind with the current state of recruiting or certain folks involved. Don't worry little Johnny, if you work hard by yourself or with coach Pugh or Brooks and don't attend any showcases you'll be fine! Coaches will flock to your local high school game just to watch YOU, cause they have nothing better to do! Why would they want to make their life easier and more efficient by attending a showcase, where they could watch top talent? That would be silly.

Oh, and please do reach out to coach Pugh and Brooks. I have no axe to grind with either. Just remember - coach Pugh launched Committed Combine, and oh guess what coach Brooks works for 3D lacrosse. Maybe when you sign up for skills and drills, ASK THEM their thoughts on showcases and the state of recruiting. Maybe ask what did all the kids/parents who played in the Committed showcase or coached by him - what did they do? I'll save you the trouble ... they played at top programs/clubs and attended showcases.

Or, just do what this guy says. Watch some box lacrosse, don't hit the wall, and just click your heels a few times ...

Anonymous wrote:As parents, make informed decisions. Don't rely simply on this forum with anonymous posters saying X,Y or Z is the best thing for you.

Almost every situation is unique - and while we can generalize many things, in the end it boils down to what is best for YOUR situation. It's easy for everyone to post whatever they want behind an anonymous name, and post whatever they want to further their agenda. Its obvious some folks on the forum are passionate about certain aspects of the sport, club ball and what the best mechanism is to "get better" and get recruited.

If your son is serious about playing lacrosse in college, some of the best advice is to simply talk to the parents who've already been through the process. A LOT has changed in the span of a very short time; and at the moment it is what it is. Until/if the data shows that early recruiting isn't panning out for colleges, the trend will continue. Your decision to spend $0 or thousands of dollars is yours.

It takes a lot of courage for a divorced middle-aged man to anonymously post on a moms and dads forum to save the Creator's Game from the club scammers. I fancy myself a people person, but have weathered in this reality: those people are only kids who think I am cool because am retired and take them on really cool outings and pay for everything because I fell ass backwards into .com wealth, dads who think I am kinda cool for being a veg, and college coeds who are ok with meaningful 2-3 week relationships. On this issue I am dug in like Sally Field. You will like me. You will really like me. BTW,

Places in the Heart

was a terrible movie. American Sniper is way better. The speech about bullies and the sheep dog was pretty cool, but perhaps a more apt allusion for this morning's lacrosse life lesson comes from something my pops told me over meatloaf and dried out mashed potatoes: "when you tell someone to do something or else, that's an excellent way to find out what something else is"...ok, you're stuck. Club lacrosse and showcase events in middle school is what you get and you must abide and like that.

Well, club lacrosse is a start. Hey, your kids will practice some and will play in games in a sport they love. But if you just load up the SUV and try a little bit, it can be really fun:
https://vimeo.com/111158965
I mean, how cool is that? But the snarky side in us says, but dude, we don't have that. No beach. No Casey Powell. Not nearly enough hot middle aged women in bikinis to fill out a beach lacrosse experience. It's a hill of beans you're selling. Hold on, I say, this we have a hill just not as many beans.

[guys who are still reading on, i think that worked to shake out the moms and we can level out now...thanks for your patience, read on...yes, i know i'm awesome but focus]

Make due and find our light. Be a mentor, get your kids to the parks and the indoor courts for some pick up play. And don't leave your kid to just figure out what to do with way too much time on the 5 afternoons a week he's not playing lacrosse on the team you are paying $1,000 every 10 weeks for. Just yesterday I had that feeling no parent wants, it was 4:15pm and I did not know where my kid was. Out cruising the barrio on the iffy side of Great Falls, I happened upon this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlsXyUPUr9A

That's not cool. Let's face it guys, there are a lot of bad peer influences out there and you can't just let your boy string out in that west end of Great Falls or Southie over in Potomac. The kids started calling the Seven Locks drag below Mater Dei Southie after seeing Straight Outa Compton, which is also a really good flick. Be a good mentor, be a great dad and honor the Creator's Game by making this simple and fun, free and free-spirited. Like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj0NpZphIqs

And you all have to admit, that looks like a lot of fun, doesn't it? It also makes your sons better lacrosse players and better kids who can just be kids. So get off your ass this weekend, load up that SUV, chew a little Juicy Fruit, have a fart contest with your son and his friends at the burger joint, then hit the field and have some freestyle fun. It's good for the soul.

I've heard of coaches backing away before, and to be most candid it is hearsay. You hear that coaches will counsel a commit in a hush hush way that the earlier deal isn't the deal and he should explore other options. This seems to happen in a way designed to absolve the program and the kid embarrassment. You read it later as de-committed here to go there. Take for what is worth.

The confirmed examples of coaches blowing out commits I know of happen when there is a coaching change. When Tambroni took over at Penn State he contacted all but small few of the commits in two recruited classes that he was releasing them from the commitment. That did happen and created quite a stir, but that stir has subsided some now that it has happened elsewhere. It also happens when there is an assistant coaching change. The biggest known risk now is a coach gets fired and then it affects recruits he committed via the new coach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Committing as a 9th grader is a joke. If you don't think college coaches are going to withdraw their verbals they made to some 9th grader who has gone through puberty and doesn't appear to be the STUD e once was in 8th grade you are delusional.

My son, plays for an Ivy League team and was a preferred walk on. He had the brains to get into the school on his own and his HS coach had a good relationship with the coach which certainly helped the situation.

My son never played club lacrosse after the Fall of 9th grade.

Do you have any actual evidence of college coaches withdrawing their verbal commitment that was made public? I'm curious to know how many there are - cause I'd rather not just assume but see some actual evidence.

Isn't the point of a verbal offer that it can't be documented?

Not documented in the sense it isn't NLI signing, which occurs later. But it's fairly easy to see who has "verbally" committed to play for xyz college. I would suspect if a coach kept backpedaling on all their verbal commitments, that coach would have a hard time doing so in the future.

I've seen some of these "future commits" in the 6th and 7th grades play. They are tearing up the field, but a lot of them are tearing up their bodies while they are doing it. They are overcompensating for their underdeveloped bodies and underdeveloped skill by using over-developed brutishness and bad form that won't sustain an athlete through high school, let alone college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Committing as a 9th grader is a joke. If you don't think college coaches are going to withdraw their verbals they made to some 9th grader who has gone through puberty and doesn't appear to be the STUD e once was in 8th grade you are delusional.

My son, plays for an Ivy League team and was a preferred walk on. He had the brains to get into the school on his own and his HS coach had a good relationship with the coach which certainly helped the situation.

My son never played club lacrosse after the Fall of 9th grade.

Do you have any actual evidence of college coaches withdrawing their verbal commitment that was made public? I'm curious to know how many there are - cause I'd rather not just assume but see some actual evidence.

Isn't the point of a verbal offer that it can't be documented?

Anonymous wrote:Committing as a 9th grader is a joke. If you don't think college coaches are going to withdraw their verbals they made to some 9th grader who has gone through puberty and doesn't appear to be the STUD e once was in 8th grade you are delusional.

My son, plays for an Ivy League team and was a preferred walk on. He had the brains to get into the school on his own and his HS coach had a good relationship with the coach which certainly helped the situation.

My son never played club lacrosse after the Fall of 9th grade.

Do you have any actual evidence of college coaches withdrawing their verbal commitment that was made public? I'm curious to know how many there are - cause I'd rather not just assume but see some actual evidence.

Committing as a 9th grader is a joke. If you don't think college coaches are going to withdraw their verbals they made to some 9th grader who has gone through puberty and doesn't appear to be the STUD e once was in 8th grade you are delusional.

My son, plays for an Ivy League team and was a preferred walk on. He had the brains to get into the school on his own and his HS coach had a good relationship with the coach which certainly helped the situation.

My son never played club lacrosse after the Fall of 9th grade.

Anonymous wrote:As club lacrosse owners and coaches, we want you to make informed decisions. It's easy for anonymous naysayers to post whatever they want to further an agenda to trash spending thousands of dollars on new recruiting events we literally spend hours and sometimes up to hundreds of dollars to put together websites with credit card payment links added to them.

Have you noticed how many 9th graders committed last year, and how many more have committed already this year? I mean, NOBODY HERE is trying to pressure you and the decision to spend thousands of dollars or zero is yours. The best thing you can do now is to talk to parents who have about 5-8 months and sometimes more experience with this process before their 14 year old verbaled to Hopkins to understand the complex choices you are now facing. And remember, until college coaches who recruited early start getting fired for being this stupid in the next 12-36 months before your son even arrives to play for the school he committed to early recruiting is here to stay!

Sincerely,
[fill in name of Crabs, Madlax, etc. coach or owner]

p.s. Did you get the NLF invite? The registration is due with a $600 payment. Just making sure you got the NLF Showcase invite if you didn't get the invite, let me know ASAP. Not trying to be a pest or pressure you at all. But if you haven't registered for the NLF Showcase or didn't get the NLF invite just let me know. If I don't hear from you in about an hour, I'll just give you a call then. Or call me anytime. Just want to make sure you got the NLF invite and got registered. It's $600. So just let me know please. On the other hand, just calling is way easier than all these emails. So I'm calling you right now, ok? Speak soon!

+this is awesome and scary. I for one thank you for the perspective! I definitely get the impression you learned all this the hard way and appreciate your input. Those of us with kids just approaching the hard-sell period are easy pickings for the club salesmen. The only defense we have is information. Are there any stats on how early commits fare once they actually hit college (assuming they do)? Seems like the colleges need to get burned by the process before anything might change. Solve the problem on the demand side rather than the supply side.

As club lacrosse owners and coaches, we want you to make informed decisions. It's easy for anonymous naysayers to post whatever they want to further an agenda to trash spending thousands of dollars on new recruiting events we literally spend hours and sometimes up to hundreds of dollars to put together websites with credit card payment links added to them.

Have you noticed how many 9th graders committed last year, and how many more have committed already this year? I mean, NOBODY HERE is trying to pressure you and the decision to spend thousands of dollars or zero is yours. The best thing you can do now is to talk to parents who have about 5-8 months and sometimes more experience with this process before their 14 year old verbaled to Hopkins to understand the complex choices you are now facing. And remember, until college coaches who recruited early start getting fired for being this stupid in the next 12-36 months before your son even arrives to play for the school he committed to early recruiting is here to stay!

Sincerely,
[fill in name of Crabs, Madlax, etc. coach or owner]

p.s. Did you get the NLF invite? The registration is due with a $600 payment. Just making sure you got the NLF Showcase invite if you didn't get the invite, let me know ASAP. Not trying to be a pest or pressure you at all. But if you haven't registered for the NLF Showcase or didn't get the NLF invite just let me know. If I don't hear from you in about an hour, I'll just give you a call then. Or call me anytime. Just want to make sure you got the NLF invite and got registered. It's $600. So just let me know please. On the other hand, just calling is way easier than all these emails. So I'm calling you right now, ok? Speak soon!

As parents, make informed decisions. Don't rely simply on this forum with anonymous posters saying X,Y or Z is the best thing for you.

Almost every situation is unique - and while we can generalize many things, in the end it boils down to what is best for YOUR situation. It's easy for everyone to post whatever they want behind an anonymous name, and post whatever they want to further their agenda. Its obvious some folks on the forum are passionate about certain aspects of the sport, club ball and what the best mechanism is to "get better" and get recruited.

If your son is serious about playing lacrosse in college, some of the best advice is to simply talk to the parents who've already been through the process. A LOT has changed in the span of a very short time; and at the moment it is what it is. Until/if the data shows that early recruiting isn't panning out for colleges, the trend will continue. Your decision to spend $0 or thousands of dollars is yours.

Jake Reed is a joke. Watered down 3D thing now. The Philly thing is pretty big and well attended, but 460 kids per class is a free for all. At 460 kids per class it is basically bros dropping knowledge for their bros. The coaches will be looking at a few kids they've been cajoled to look at by club guys.

Likely the best one left is Maverik Showtime. That one is relatively harder to get into from the mid-Atlantic because it is run by Carc with a bias toward LI and the other Tri-State and NE kids.

So is Philly Showcase the goldstandard for showcases? Or is it Jake Reed?